Pondering bright versus gifted this morning ......

Often times people have questions about gifted and talented children, especially in the early grades.  It is such a pleasure to see students who are highly engaged in school but there are two types of learners that one needs to consider.

Bright Child or Gifted Learner?

By: Janice Szabos; Gifted Quarterly

Children who are considered gifted have an exceptional ability as defined by Standard (t)
from DPI.  The bright child has excellent educational strengths which can be supported and enhanced within the classroom environment.  Additionally, with current
innovative teaching practices and a facilitator who extends curriculum to
meet learner needs, some of our gifted learners' needs can be met within the classroom
environment.  The information following can help when discussing with parents and teachers the difference between bright and gifted children.

Bright Child	Gifted Learner
Knows the answers	Asks the questions
Is interested	Is highly curious
Is attentive	Is mentally and physically involved
Has good ideas	Has wild, silly ideas
Works hard	Plays around, yet tests well
Answers the questions	Discusses in detail, elaborates
Top group	Beyond the group
Listens with interest	Shows strong feelings and opinions
Learns with ease	Already knows
6-8 repetitions for mastery	1-2 repetitions for mastery
Understands ideas	Constructs abstractions
Enjoys peers	Prefers adults
Grasps the meaning	Draws inferences
Completes assignments	Initiates projects
Is receptive	Is intense
Copies accurately	Creates new designs
Enjoys school	Enjoys learning
Absorbs information	Manipulates information
Technician	Inventor
Good memorizer	Good guesser
Prefers straightforward tasks	Thrives on complexity
Is alert	Is keenly observant
is pleased with own learning	Is highly self-critical

click here for the full document Copyright for Students

End of the Year Reflection

Thank you, teachers for looking at ME

For opening doors to all I can be

Thank you, teachers for leading the way

The strategies you teach I can use every day

Thank you, teachers

You notice my strengths

You give me hope and go to great lengths

Thank you, teachers for your motivation

Your time, your energy, and inspiration

Thank you, teachers

I just want to say

These are the words

YOU should hear every day.

Adapted from the work of Shelly Bucci

By The Institute for Personalized Learning / September 14, 2015

A collaborative blog series by the Institute for Personalized Learning and Personalize Learning LLC

Defining Learner Agency Learner agency often gets missed in conversations on transforming the educational system. We have a sense of ‘agency’ when we feel in control of things that happen around us; when we feel that we can influence events. This is an important sense for learners to develop. Learners must understand:

• when they need new learning and how to learn what they need
• when they need to unlearn what will no longer serve them
• when they need to relearn what they need to be successful

They must develop the capacity to engage strategically in their learning without waiting to be directed. They must take ownership of and responsibility for their learning. And, they must possess the skills to learn independently, without heavy dependence on external structures and direction.

Why Learner Agency is Needed There is a significant and growing demand for learners to be able to do more than receive instruction, follow a learning path designed by educators and complete problems and assignments presented to them by an adult. Learners need to develop the capacity to shape and manage their learning without over-reliance on the direction and control of others. Too often adults treat children as though they are incapable of making decisions or holding valid opinions. As children advance through the system, they develop a form of “learned helplessness” that keeps them from advocating for themselves. The process for learning and the role learners play must be different than most adults experienced.

Harvard professor Roland Barth has observed that in the 1950’s when young people left high school they typically knew about 75% of what they would need to know to be successful in life. Today, he predicts that young people know about 2% of what they will need to know. (Barth, R.S. (1997, March 5). The leader as learner. Education Week, 16(23). 56.) This shift is not because young people are learning less than previous generations. In fact, there is good evidence that they know much more. The force behind this change is the rapid and ever-increasing pace of change, the complexity of the world in which we live and the unpredictability of what people will need to know in the coming decades – the future for which we are preparing today’s learners.

Implications of Greater Learner Agency The current educational system was designed for teachers to control and manage the learning. This continues today because teachers are the ones held accountable and responsible for the learning instead of the learners. As educators, we must nurture, coach and build in learners more capacity to initiate, manage, and maintain their own learning. Learning will be a constant and high-priority activity throughout their lives and they will need the skills and tools to manage this process.

Adults need to shift their thinking — away from youth as student to youth as learner and partner and resource for their own learning and others. We must make the crucial shift from preparing proficient students to developing skilled learners. The result will be learners who are capable of playing an active role in personalizing their learning and building their capacity to be successful productive citizens regardless of what their futures hold.

In a series of upcoming blogs we will examine a number of key shifts and strategies necessary to transform the educational experiences we have presented to learners in the past and align the focus, strategies and approaches we employ to build the capacity of learners to be continuous, life-long, successful leaders of their learning. We will present shifts and strategies on:

• understanding the connection between good strategy, effort and use of resources to develop learner efficacy
• helping learners understand how they learn best and how they can support their learning
• the role and importance of learner voice and choice
• building learner ownership of their learning

See this blog post on the CESA1 Institute page at:https://cesa1transformation.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/learner-agency-the-missing-link/ ;

End of the Year .......are you getting frustrated? Take a quick look.

           Click here to take the educator's three-step journey to reflect and refocus on student behavior.

IS IT.............