Teaching the Gifted - Professionally Speaking -March 2012 BY GABRIELLE BAUER and ILLUSTRATION BY RÉMY SIMARD IT'S 9 AM IN THE GRADE 8 CLASSROOM of Rima Srinivasan, OCT. Peter* opens his math book and starts on an exercise. Bradley reaches for the newspaper. Meet the Grade 8 all-gifted class of Jack Miner Senior Public School in Toronto. Veterans of gifted education agree that teaching these children is both a joy and a challenge. Consider the experience of Brendan. While grateful for gifted programming, the students themselves see room for improvement. The approach What is the best way to teach gifted children? Acceleration: This can mean moving ahead to a higher grade level in some subjects or skipping one or more grades entirely. Compacting: This approach begins with a pretest to gauge a student’s knowledge of a subject such as math. Ability grouping: This means putting learners in small groups according to their ability in a given subject area. Enrichment: Withdrawal programs and congregated classes The delivery Troubleshooting The social network
Teaching Strategies for Students with Special Needs | Teach Special Education All students with special needs are unique. Their needs may be recognized by teacher and parent observations and/or assessment by a certified professional. Some students may have their needs formally identified as an exceptionality through an Identification Placement and Review Committee (IPRC). Regardless of the manner by which needs are determined, teachers and school teams can implement strategies as soon as a student’s need is realized. It is important to document and assess the effectiveness of strategies employed and revise them in order to achieve success. The teaching strategies and resources on this website have been organized along three main lines. Student NeedsFormal Exceptionalities Determined by IPRCDiagnosed Medical/Psychological Conditions You can access all of our teaching strategies and resources pages using the coloured markers below. • Just click on the word SHOW at the end of each marker. • Move your mouse over the various topics to see the definitions for each.
Peer Modeling | Social Skills | Monmouth | Ocean | ABA Peer modeling provides children with the opportunity to learn social skills from typically developing peers through games and activities. Lessons are designed so that children learn while they play and observe the proper behavior of others. Through structured play sessions led by trained professionals, children are able to practice and acquire social skills pertaining to pragmatic language, friendship, self-esteem, and overall socio-emotional development. After assessing your child's skills and determining which skill sets are to be targeted in the program, we will carefully develop lessons tailored to your child's specific language ability and learning style. In addition to cultivating the skills necessary to develop and maintain friendships, our programming will also focus on working cooperatively with others and generalizing these skills to the home, classroom, and community. Your child's programming is customized to fit his or her unique needs. * Language and Communication Skills
21 Awesome Kids Books About Feelings and Emotions I am a huge fan of using books as a resource to open discussion with kids about all manner of situations and problems. This collection of books about feelings and emotions was sparked by the popularity of our Managing Big Emotions emotional awareness series, with the picture books featured here handpicked for their capacity to spark discussions with children about a range of emotions. Helping children learn to identify emotions, the situations that spark these feelings and effective coping skills provides them with a strong emotional foundation, which in turn can lead to increased self confidence and sense of self esteem. 21 Picture Books about Feelings & Emotions Picture books are great for exploring with tiny tots but these stories are also wonderful for initiating discussion with children in preschool, kindergarten and even children in the primary/elementary years. Explore the Managing BIG Emotions series…
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Best Buddies 'can change your life;' Program promotes inclusion The goal is to create as many friendships as possible for students with and without intellectual disabilities “The goal is to create as many friendships as possible for students with and without intellectual disabilities,” said Steven Pinnock, executive director of Best Buddies Canada. Best Buddies runs chapters in high schools, colleges and universities. In 2006, only 85 chapters existed, but six years later, there are 270 across Canada and approximately 6,000 student volunteers. Ms. Suline and Stacy Nguyen are evidence that the program works. “I was nervous at first,” said Ms. But the experience has made her a “more open and caring person,” the 17-year-old said. “Once you have a buddy like this, you’re more interested in learning about [developmental disorders and intellectual disabilities ] because it’s more real to you,” she said. Most people feel a certain uneasiness when it comes to interacting with people with disabilities, Mr. Everyone has this fear or apprehension. Ms. Ms.
How working memory games can improve kids' executive function in 5 minutes a day Are there kids in your class that struggle with multi-step directions and need frequent reminders about what to do? Or students who lose their place in texts, struggle to copy information and take notes, and forget what they were just taught? If so, there’s a strong possibility that the issue might be something that you haven’t yet considered–working memory. What is working memory? Working memory is the information you can consciously hold in your mind in any given moment. Having a strong working memory means you have the ability to retain fresh information long enough to do something with it. People with strong working memories find it easier to recall and manipulate information they hear without needing to write it down. Why is working memory important? Working memory has shown to be a better indicator of later student success than IQ scores, test scores, and even student attitude! Children with strong working memories can: What makes working memory such a challenge for kids? Yes!
When Rote Learning Makes Sense As a youth, I remember feeling cheated out of rich content in my education when I listened to my mother in times of sorrow or tenderness, lovingly recite entire poems and passages from books she studied in high school. We all know that practice makes perfect, but for some reason perfection is not one of the goals of learning in most schools. In today's classrooms, students practice plenty, but are not required to retain knowledge perfectly. The M Word Somewhere along the way, rote learning got a bad rap. The true nature of memorization, however, is not for the teachers at all, really. The total emphasis on critical thinking has it all wrong: Before students can think critically, they need to have something to think about in their brains. The Cognitive 411 Students deserve to know how to learn and teachers do them a disservice when they do not teach them useful learning skills. The brain is a learning tool. Memory Games Learning Aloud Using Rhythm and Breath Jigsaw Strategies