On Gifted Education Awareness 2012

‘On Gifted Education Awareness Events’

It has been quite pleasant noting that Gifted Awareness has been marked and/or celebrated in several places already here in the initial months of 2012.  In the USA, as far as I am aware this has happened in the  State of Maryland, which has dedicated a whole MONTH, the month of February, as Gifted Awareness Month, and also the State of Kentucky, which has set aside the dates of February the 19th- 25th as Gifted Education Awareness Week.

The third Awareness event, that I am aware of so far, is Ireland.  Ireland had its first Gifted Education awareness Day last year in 2011.  This year it is celebrating a Gifted Education Awareness Week,  during which it’s organisers have worked hard on several planned  events,  from the February the 27th thru to the 3rd of March, and twitter chats onthe 27th  #gtie and 28th #efchatie at 8:30pm(Irish time).   This year the 3rd of March is also the date for the yearly CTYI conference in Dublin, Ireland, applications are available by email through the CTYI website.  Dr. Kimberly Chandler from the College of William and Mary will be the Keynote speaker this year.

Personally, I am also exited because I’ve been given the opportunity to raise awareness through a  three-hour input lecture on Gifted Education to a large group of Learning / Resource Support teachers during the same week out at UCD, here in Dublin, Ireland.

Over the last year Giftedkids.ie and MissionV have also done an amazing job raising awareness with piloting cutting edge technology programs in schools targeting high potential and hidden potential in students here in Ireland.

It is very encouraging to see these kinds of initiatives happening and I would, again,  like to encourage any readers in other countries to give a thought to how having a yearly focal point such as this could help motivate more support for their gifted populations.  I would love to continue to include any new Awareness events, such as these taking place, anywhere in the world, as I encounter them and in this post as the year unfolds.

Encounters with Giftedness and writing with dragons

I was remembering a group of students I was working with on a writing workshop long ago.. it was a story about dragons on a different planet.  Not very innovative, granted, as there are many stories out there about dragons.  However, it was writers choice, so there you go.  Kids like dragons.  Gifted kids not excluded.  The difference was, they decided that each dragon had to be part of the same story, however each dragon would have a special strength, that would help them on a quest, a strength that  would  be  linked to their  riders in some  way. The idea being that this would get them to reflect on their inner selves and what they felt their strengths were, and how this would manifest in another (their dragons).  (the writers were the riders.. you understand)… they would be searching the planet for a ‘lost dragon egg’.. (no novelty there either I am sure.. )…  None of the students in this group in school had been identified as particularly able.  The interesting thing  about this story was the identification of one young lads perception of his strength and how this was displayed.  Jake ( a fictitious name), was rather quiet, timid and seemed reluctant to join into the conversation, however oddly, his eyes seemed to off into another place, as the possibilities within the story idea where being discussed.  A few minutes were given for the participants to draw a rough picture of their Dragons, which many did, complete with some of the various features associated with the ‘strengths and abilities’ they wished to attribute to their steeds.

We had many large and ferocious beasts, most breathed fire, had talons and special magic powers. Some were strong and athletic looking.  Some were very smart, and could mind read, or outsmart enemies.  Some were very colourful. We had a kind one that could heal others with it’s breath.  Jake, now Jake worked on his slowly and carefully, and was one  of the last to show me his  sketch. I was  taken aback by it’s unusual nature, as unlike the others it was not quite as big or bold or colourful.  Jake’s dragon not only wore glasses (like Jake), it was drawn in black ink, and constructed from swirls and curls, graphic artish, with large and beautiful wings.  More interestingly, instead of claws or talons, his dragon had pen nubs at the end of each toe on each foot..  When I asked him to tell me about this wonderfully intriguing creature, he replied ‘Well, as I am am ‘actually’ only  good at  writing, and  I am not very strong, at sport or anything, I thought I would give my dragon the power to ‘Rewrite’.  If I don’t like the way the story is going, or we need to change it than my dragons feet have the power to do that…..  ‘  Wow..

I think that was a powerful gift for a dragon to have…  I also think this was rather a good example of outside the box thinking from Jake.  A sign of potential giftedness, maybe??  As a teacher, would I be giving this kid a second look?  I like think about Jake now and then and wonder.  I’d like to think he’s doing alot of rewriting and writing and that someday I may be reading and rereading his stories… ;-D