ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thank You!! Mrs. Deegan and Dr. Slade want to thank everyone for a wonderful year of Talent Development at Elon Park Elementary School. Our program is truly a collaborative effort and we appreciate all of the support from our extended learning community. We are providing two short articles as part of our last quarterly newsletter for you to read over the summer as you learn more about the Catalyst Model of Talent Development used at our school. Happy summer. The Importance of Academic Rigor to Learning for Talent Development Students By Mary L. Slade, Ph.D. Most people who have tried to explain learning refer to an appropriate level of rigor or challenge as absolutely necessary for students to learn something new. The appropriate level or degree of challenge for each child is critical to learning. Learning is most easily understood in terms of the amount of intellectual comfort versus discomfort that students experience with new information and experiences. The discomfort or “dissonance” is critical to growth or development and best describes learning. In fact, no child realizes her full potential without appropriate levels of challenge on a regular basis. Truthfully, many of this nation’s brightest children and youth sit in classrooms in our schools far too comfortable with their educational experiences. In the classroom this means a child should struggle, intellectually, to learn something new. At first, students are not capable of understanding a new concept or performing a new task. Then, there is some discomfort in developing competence. With practice competence builds. At last, students are intellectually comfortable with new knowledge or skills. Given the importance of rigor to advancing knowledge, it follows that the lack of rigor can lead to the impediment of learning. A lack of consistent challenge or rigor in learning causes premature and unexplained plateaus in students’ studies. This can lead to minimal competencies and limited knowledge acquisition within areas of study, Advanced studies are dependent upon requisite knowledge and skills, therefore, insufficient prerequisite studies can impede or halt the learning process. In addition to limiting optimal learning experiences for students by not moving to the highest possible levels of study, the lack of consistent rigor or challenge can lead to boredom, loss of interest in the subject matter, bad study skills, or loss of personal confidence in learning. Students who don’t experience consistent and appropriate levels of challenge become intellectually comfortable. When too much comfort is experienced, the onset of challenge can appear too uncomfortable thus impeding the learning process as students become frustrated, doubt their abilities, or give up when challenge is presented to them. It is probably that many of this country’s brightest students (as well as many average students) are “too comfortable.” This comfort can lead to laziness. Consistent rigor via appropriately challenging learning experiences is essential to learning. In order for students to advance their understanding and competency within a discipline, learning must engage students through experiences that move students to greater depth, breadth, and complexity in the understanding of fields under study. Advancement within a discipline is dependent upon equitably and consistently applied challenging or rigorous learning experiences. When students are not moved forward there is no advancement of knowledge. Providing Rigorous Learning Experiences to
Talent Development Students By Mary L. Slade, Ph.D. Because students of all ability levels, interests, and experiences need rigorous learning experiences in order to learn, it is imperative that teachers employ differentiation strategies in order to vary the learning experience for differing students. This brief article presents differentiation strategies used to modify and adapt grade-level learning experiences for talent development students. Differentiation refers to the adaptation and modification of age-appropriate learning experiences in order to make them challenging enough to meet the unique learning needs of gifted learners. The differentiation of traditional teaching and learning requires changes in the content, process, and product of the curricular experience. There are three purposes for differentiating classroom experiences for gifted learners: (1) Provision of supplemental curricular resources and materials; (2) Modifying or adapting the general curricula; and (3) Provision of enriching learning experiences for one or more talent development students. Provision of Supplemental Curricular Resources and Materials The grade-level course of study, related curricula materials, and instructional activities in general education classrooms sometimes need to be supplemented with materials consisting of advanced understanding and accelerated pace of learning possessed by talent development students. Therefore, one purpose of differentiation is to supplant materials with resources that address the unique needs of these students. The supplementation rather than addition of materials is critical. Talent development students should be given appropriately challenging resources as part of the learning experience rather than having them added on to the “traditional” materials as an extension or extra credit assignment. There are several strategies for providing supplemental curricular resources and materials to talent development students.
The Modification and Adaptation of General Curricula Talent devleopment students sometimes demonstrate mastery of a curricular unit earlier than same-age studens. Further, they sometimes require less practice of new knowledge or skills. Therefore, educators differentiate the curricular unit(s) to add depth and complexity of learning. Strategies for differentiating curricula include:
Provision of Enriching Learning Experiences Although teachers can plan and implement strategies for the differentiation of classroom resources and specific lessons, some talent development students’ existing knowledge and advanced learning pace necessitate the provision of enriching learning experiences. Individual or small groups of students require learning experiences different from those provided to children their age, thus warranting the use of specific differentiation strategies like those described here.
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