French Shoes And Building A First-Rate Gifted Program

Recently, during an open house, I met a students uncle, who had an accent. I became curious as to his nationality. I pointed to the mans pointed dress shoes and told the other teacher in the classroom, I bet he is French. Having spent some time in France this summer, I unimpressively explained to the teacher that I noticed pointed shoes were in fashion there.

Sure enough, the man was French.

I told him I really liked the shoes and explained how I unsuccessfully tried to find these European-style shoes when I returned to the United States, to which he replied.

Oh, I usually find these shoes here at Kohlson the clearance rack.

We all laughed, and I realized that what I had been looking for was not in some foreign country, but right in my own backyard.

The same holds true for building a successful gifted program at your school. In my experience, it does not take lots of money and resources and outside help but rather requires cooperation, mutual goals among staff and other stakeholders, and a vision for whats possible. In this blog, Id like to share some personal insights into what has really helped me improve and develop a solid gifted program, which not only benefits students identified as gifted but the whole school population.

Insight One:
Keep a focus on enrichment and gifted services.

With the pressures of standardized testing and administrators and teachers struggling to meet so many district, state and federal mandates, its easy for enrichment and gifted education to be lost in the shuffle. This is why I believe it is the teacher of gifteds job to keep the focus on these types of programs. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to establish a schoolwide enrichment committee, which is comprised of administrators, teachers, parents, and students. The committee can meet regularly to discuss enrichment activities, gifted program services, and other issues. This method requires an investment of time and energy but does not cost the school money and can be achieved through the people currently serving at your school. Other ideas include publishing a schoolwide newsletter regarding the gifted program and enrichment programs or including a section in the schools existing newsletter.

Insight Two:
Identifying gifted and talented students should be a group effort.

Get everyone onboard in regards to finding and screening potentially gifted students. I send e-mail reminders to classroom teachers, asking them to send names of possible candidates for the gifted program. I include character-trait checklists to help them identify these students. You never know the source of a strong recommendation so keep an open mind and ask everyone on campus to help. Also, more than one staff member at the school can be trained to administer gifted screenings, which could speed up screening times and also provide a backup in the event the assigned screener leaves the school or is absent.

Insight Three
Volunteers are a tremendous resource

Developing a team of parents of the gifted or those interested in expanding enrichment opportunities is a surefire method for building a solid program. With the support of parents and other volunteers, I have been able to launch an enrichment cluster program and it expand it to the entire elementary school. I have also been able to offer additional enrichment opportunities, including a science cluster, where students experimented with rockets and planes as they learned about principles of flight, and the school has been able to participate in district-wide math competitions and other events. We have also offered gifted students workshops to help with social-emotional development.

Insight Four
Utilize your schools specialists
Enlist the aid of the schools media specialist, reading specialist, writing coach, and other faculty members, who can help challenge your gifted students and take curriculum to the next level. These specialists have helped me a great deal in implementing the SEM-R reading program developed at the University of Connecticut by providing resources and expertise.
Like the pointed European shoes I was looking or, you dont have to search far and wide to find what you need to build a first-rate gifted/enrichment program. Instead, begin looking on campus and focusing on the people and resources that exist in your own backyard.

Wishing you the best,
Steve