Ilam School Introduction The following story is about the gifted and ...

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What do I want these children to learn?What does it mean to decide, explore, record, make sense, evaluate, and make adifference?How can I scaffold this learning for my learners?How can I engage them in thinking about thinking and becoming reflective learners?What is powerful learning and teaching? [p. 4]Toolbox resources used in the deciding phase:Task map, Resource suitcase, KW map, Questions the keys to the treasure. [p. 5]Exploring phaseThe teacher sought answers from:the children and their parents through three-way conferencesreading resources by the following authors including 'Learning to Think, Thinking toLearn' by Michael Pohl, 2000 (Hawker Brownlow Education 2000), Lane Clarke,Benjamin Bloom, Tony Ryan, Wiliams, Renzulli, Linda Silverman, June Maker,Sandra Kaplan, Francois Gagne, 'Information Toolkit', User Friendly ResourceEnterprises Ltd. [p. 4]Toolbox resources used in the exploring phase:Treasure digger, Five senses, Picture think, Video think. [p. 5]Recording phaseTo scaffold the children's learning, the teacher developed a range of organisers andpresented them as tools to be used at each stage of the inquiry process. The children usedan inquiry wheel, developed from the work of Lane Clarke, to plan their inquiries. The insidecircle [of the wheel] gave them the triggers to write meaningful inquiry tasks and the outsidecircle gave tools to support learning. The children used a task map to track their progress. [p.4]Toolbox resources used in the recording phase:Experiment think, History think, Animal think, Story board. [p. 5]Teacher reflectionsThe teacher reflections have been organised into the following categories and by schoolyear. (The page numbers in brackets are cross-referenced back to the original Ilam School:Our Story document.)On this page: the overall programme | the participating students | the learning process | theselection of topics | parents and staffTeacher reflections about the programme2003Dawn of an epic journey: I feel buoyed up by the programme and its fluid nature. I lovebouncing ideas with the children. There is a lot of energy in the room, their thinking isamazing. It's like dipping into a deep well – you never know what will come up or how fardown you will go (February, 2003). [p. 1]
The learning jungle: It's so hard to accommodate six teachers, 30 parents (times two) and 30children! (Week 9). At the moment there is no team approach to issues and a lot of behindthe-scenesdiscussion between staff and I am not involved. All the issues seem to be myproblem. There needs be a collective approach to children but at the same time we need acollective philosophy to guide that approach and it needs to reflect in part the power-sharingphilosophy of the learning centre. [p. 6]One-to-one conferences, twice a term – although time consuming – are also time well spentbecause of the learning power. In the first conference we negotiate and record the learninggoals. The second conference is a means of negotiating the learning outcomes. Parentalinvolvement enables another perspective a form of triangulation. [p. 8]Teacher reflections about the students2003Gifted learners know themselves. They know what they want to know and how they prefer tolearn. They need help to develop strategies to think at the level of analysis and creativeproblem solving. [p. 3]Are gifted kids naturally great thinkers or are they fantastic sponges that need to be taughthow to think with the information they absorb? [p. 11]2004The children developed a common language to describe their gifted characteristics. I ambeginning to see that there are more perspectives than their own and that misconceptionscan explain many moments of conflict. Some children felt very exposed and dissatisfied withthemselves. Some children didn't engage and remained flippant. [p. 19]Generally the children wanted desperately to be included and seen as normal. They alsowanted to be kids not brains. [p. 19]My role is changing and I am becoming more involved with individual social/emotionalneeds. There are still huge power issues for some children as they struggle with adults andpeers who are controlling. Children with heightened sensitivities are incensed byrelationships that are less than fair or not respectful. They respond with a degree of emotionwhich is often unexpected and misunderstood. I'm not sure if I help or hinder the process byacknowledging their feelings and perspectives. [p. 18]Perceptive children may need help in understanding that other people are less perceptivethan them. [p. 20]Divergent thinkers have difficulty with linear organisation structures (classrooms) and appeardisorganised and absent minded. [p. 20]2005Celebrations of learning: Gifted kids respond to positive and constructive feedback. Theyneed to know that what they know is valued and appreciated even more than regular kidsbecause often they feel unsure of themselves because they are different. I believe that youcan never praise these children enough. A good dollop of praise is as effective as a dose ofMaxi-crop. Like the plants they flourish and strive even harder to reach their goals. [p. 25]
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