1) After watching these three short videos, I was surprised to learn a few things about gifted students. I had begun to learn and talk about gifted students in my Universal Design Learning class last semester and it was really eye opening. These videos, however, really helped to build on the preexisting knowledge that I had on the topic. I never realized how common this was becoming in education and now thinking back on some of my own experiences, I can't help but wonder if some of the students I came into contact with would be considered gifted. It is interesting to learn how giftedness and lower test scores can be tied together and related to a learning disability. I have sometimes wondered how a student can express so much comprehension in class, often times far beyond how other students are comprehending, and still not show above average test scores. These videos have helped to show me what to look for when trying to identify gifted students. I have learned that it is important to try to identify these students, so they can be challenged to the greatest extent just as their classmates are. One prior belief that I had that could be proven to be false is the fact that when a student is known to have only a few good friends, I thought they would be labeled as socially challenged. I have learned that this may not always be the case, as for gifted students this is perfectly normal.
2) I can definitely use the information learned from these short videos in my future classroom. When I have my own classroom, I will make a point to try to identify students who meet the same characteristics as the ones talked about. In my future class, I will use this knew knowledge to make sure that I am challenging gifted students in a way that they are benefiting just as much from my class that all of their classmates are. I would never want a student to just float through my class feeling like they have not benefited from it, because they were not challenged or pushed to get the most out of their educational experience. In order to challenge these gifted students, I believe I could use technology as a great asset to do so. I could create webquests, interactive assignments, or other activities for them to do online that push them to explore beyond what is being covered in class.
I also wondered if there were people in my class as a student that could have been considered gifted. You could talk to someone and think they were a genius until they took a test and got a B+. You would have thought they were just an average student. I also thought a small amount of friends was considered a little weird. It is nice to know that it is considered healthy. I think we all learned in high school, the more friends you had, the cooler and more normal you were. We assumed those with few friends were weird. I think challenging the gifted students is very important. If a student thinks your class is too easy, they may be more likely to distract other students who need to pay attention.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points and I am so happy for your future gifted students that you have the awareness and will keep a look out for them.
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