Summative Reflection-ASTL Program
So it ends, now is the culmination of my work of three years. My final research projects have become the stepping stone that will launch me to the next phase of my life. I will take all my new found knowledge from my concentration and ASTL classes and build on my research in the future.
I began this program with many years of teaching experience. My experience as a parent showed me that it was time for me to go back to school and pursue a graduate degree. I saw 40 in the rear view mirror and new that when I returned to public school teaching after several years of exploring Montessori methods that I would
have to have a Master’s to show my growth. This had been a growth goal every time
I had completed my paperwork to renew my license and the time couldn’t be better
when I began this journey.
I had been a gifted child and knew that most educators and most schools were unable to address the needs of that component of the school population. I also knew that I was fortunate to live now in an area that recognized the needs of the gifted in their public schools and in the university education programs. Lastly, I knew that I was explaining the needs of the gifted to more teachers I interacted with then I really had the knowledge base for.
Despite my understanding I had little research and precedent to stand on. The last three years gave me the tools to act on those notions that I had honed over many years in the classroom. I knew that something worked but I couldn’t say why. When I had to defend why something worked I couldn’t say how it worked. I knew what worked but couldn’t say where and with which child. I could have completed the next few decades of my career successfully
teaching children based on my well-practiced hunches. My reflection-in-action.
The needs of the gifted child are complex and multi-layered, and yet they are still overlooked. Many are overlooked
because of the standardized testing climate in our schools. These kids are doing fine on those tests and so they go unnoticed. Some are overlooked because they have low motivation to show their talent due to underachievement, or racial and ethnic profiling by teachers in the mainstream classroom. Still more are so asynchronous in their development due to a variety of issues that school districts have no idea what to do with their many needs. Lastly, there are those who are twice exceptional and have schools that have them in special education when the child is capable of much more, but is hindered by a learning issue.
These are intense children with a variety of needs that go unaddressed every day. Kazimierz Dąbrowski was introduced to me in my first class at George Mason University. It is his Theory of Positive Disintegration that has framed the discussions in most every piece I have researched during my degree program. I am ever mindful of the daily storms and stimuli surging through the minds of our most gifted and talented learners, and I have tried to meet those children where they are emotionally.
These are multi-faceted children with a multitude of educational needs. The many types of acceleration and ability grouping that I could use to differentiate the content of every lesson I presented and formulated was never far from my research. The gifted population suffers from the myth that it is homogenous and so I felt a responsibility to develop multi-layered lessons that addressed the social and educational needs of as many learners as possible.
These are multi-colored, multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-economic strata children. Their needs are as different culturally as they are learning content, or interacting with their world emotionally. This is where an educator looks at the needs of her students and realizes that each child must have and requires individualized curriculum and support.
I knew this when I began the program. I had been curious about Montessori education for years, and was fortunate to explore this method through one complete Montessori cycle of three years. The potential of Montessori education and the discovery learning process is profound. I am not sure that even the most seasoned Montessori Directress
understands the complexity within the method and the potential to nurture talent development and giftedness in each child exposed to the method. I was happy to find out during this program that some public school
districts do, and are exploring that.
The classes in my gifted concentration gave me the background knowledge I needed to answer the when, why, where, what, and how. I began to apply the models and theories presented to me and analyze classroom, school and district practice in a more systematic way. Due to the nature of spiraling development and the gifted learner I was able to apply Montessori philosophy to learners within comprehensive multi-grade projects with other teachers. We saw the fundamental need for the gifted learner to have opportunities for unlimited growth in the classroom. The
opportunities presented by open questions and problem-based and other modes of content learning were used to address the needs of the students through differentiation. Meanwhile, I was ever-mindful of the many faces of intelligence that the students could present and their various cultures. I knew this was fundamental to how they would interact with the content.
The ASTL Program gave me the opportunity to put those large components into praxis. I was able to further
differentiate and individualize in the classroom using the case study of a learner and through an exploration of various methods of teaching. The attention to detail that I had practiced in my concentration courses was suitably applied to the case study and the child I observed. Everything I had learned from my concentration was put to the test with this one child who had issues with motivation, behavior, and intensity. Fortunately, my former colleague in
Montessori allowed me to study this child that she and I had known for three years. I was able to see this student’s culminating year in her Primary cycle and use my knowledge to theorize what could be done to individualize curriculum for that learner and address her other needs.
The cultural inquiry process (CIP) was my last opportunity to utilize another framework to meet the needs of the gifted learner. I was fortunate to have permission to merge the requirements of my last two classes so that they complimented each other. The challenge of the lack of diversity in gifted classrooms is persistent. This issue had been addressed numerous times in my concentration but we had little framework to explore the cultural mismatches between students and their teachers. It is clear that there is a significant mismatch between the gifted student and their teachers. The challenge then becomes addressing the needs of the child, who is not only gifted, or potentially gifted, and the notions and culture of the teachers around them. The CIP was the last piece I needed to attempt to meet the needs of the multi-colored, multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-economic strata children that are in need of talent development programs. It is a critical component given all I learned regarding the future challenges in gifted programs.
Ultimately, there are many ASTL Learning Outcomes that would describe me at the end of this process. One, I have become even more committed to students and their learning. This is clear. I saw myself more resolute to see the needs of the gifted child met as I progressed in my program. The rich and layered needs of these children require experts, and there are too few. Two, I hope I am more effective in my pedagogy. I have striven to exercise my knowledge of learning styles, differentiation, and various models of giftedness programming and teaching in all my projects. Three, when I began this program I had never done a PowerPoint. I have had to challenge myself to utilize new technologies in everything I have developed. I have to maintain my expertise to meet the needs of the digital natives in my classrooms and programs. Four, I have become a change agent.
What can that mean? It means that I now have the knowledge base for those experienced-based ideas that I began the program with. I am on the path to expertise in my field. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to study gifted education and I expect to continue with research and application of this research in the future. I am very good at this and I can be a change agent because I have the ability to outline the needs and applicable strategies for a variety of learners; competently.
I began this program with many years of teaching experience. My experience as a parent showed me that it was time for me to go back to school and pursue a graduate degree. I saw 40 in the rear view mirror and new that when I returned to public school teaching after several years of exploring Montessori methods that I would
have to have a Master’s to show my growth. This had been a growth goal every time
I had completed my paperwork to renew my license and the time couldn’t be better
when I began this journey.
I had been a gifted child and knew that most educators and most schools were unable to address the needs of that component of the school population. I also knew that I was fortunate to live now in an area that recognized the needs of the gifted in their public schools and in the university education programs. Lastly, I knew that I was explaining the needs of the gifted to more teachers I interacted with then I really had the knowledge base for.
Despite my understanding I had little research and precedent to stand on. The last three years gave me the tools to act on those notions that I had honed over many years in the classroom. I knew that something worked but I couldn’t say why. When I had to defend why something worked I couldn’t say how it worked. I knew what worked but couldn’t say where and with which child. I could have completed the next few decades of my career successfully
teaching children based on my well-practiced hunches. My reflection-in-action.
The needs of the gifted child are complex and multi-layered, and yet they are still overlooked. Many are overlooked
because of the standardized testing climate in our schools. These kids are doing fine on those tests and so they go unnoticed. Some are overlooked because they have low motivation to show their talent due to underachievement, or racial and ethnic profiling by teachers in the mainstream classroom. Still more are so asynchronous in their development due to a variety of issues that school districts have no idea what to do with their many needs. Lastly, there are those who are twice exceptional and have schools that have them in special education when the child is capable of much more, but is hindered by a learning issue.
These are intense children with a variety of needs that go unaddressed every day. Kazimierz Dąbrowski was introduced to me in my first class at George Mason University. It is his Theory of Positive Disintegration that has framed the discussions in most every piece I have researched during my degree program. I am ever mindful of the daily storms and stimuli surging through the minds of our most gifted and talented learners, and I have tried to meet those children where they are emotionally.
These are multi-faceted children with a multitude of educational needs. The many types of acceleration and ability grouping that I could use to differentiate the content of every lesson I presented and formulated was never far from my research. The gifted population suffers from the myth that it is homogenous and so I felt a responsibility to develop multi-layered lessons that addressed the social and educational needs of as many learners as possible.
These are multi-colored, multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-economic strata children. Their needs are as different culturally as they are learning content, or interacting with their world emotionally. This is where an educator looks at the needs of her students and realizes that each child must have and requires individualized curriculum and support.
I knew this when I began the program. I had been curious about Montessori education for years, and was fortunate to explore this method through one complete Montessori cycle of three years. The potential of Montessori education and the discovery learning process is profound. I am not sure that even the most seasoned Montessori Directress
understands the complexity within the method and the potential to nurture talent development and giftedness in each child exposed to the method. I was happy to find out during this program that some public school
districts do, and are exploring that.
The classes in my gifted concentration gave me the background knowledge I needed to answer the when, why, where, what, and how. I began to apply the models and theories presented to me and analyze classroom, school and district practice in a more systematic way. Due to the nature of spiraling development and the gifted learner I was able to apply Montessori philosophy to learners within comprehensive multi-grade projects with other teachers. We saw the fundamental need for the gifted learner to have opportunities for unlimited growth in the classroom. The
opportunities presented by open questions and problem-based and other modes of content learning were used to address the needs of the students through differentiation. Meanwhile, I was ever-mindful of the many faces of intelligence that the students could present and their various cultures. I knew this was fundamental to how they would interact with the content.
The ASTL Program gave me the opportunity to put those large components into praxis. I was able to further
differentiate and individualize in the classroom using the case study of a learner and through an exploration of various methods of teaching. The attention to detail that I had practiced in my concentration courses was suitably applied to the case study and the child I observed. Everything I had learned from my concentration was put to the test with this one child who had issues with motivation, behavior, and intensity. Fortunately, my former colleague in
Montessori allowed me to study this child that she and I had known for three years. I was able to see this student’s culminating year in her Primary cycle and use my knowledge to theorize what could be done to individualize curriculum for that learner and address her other needs.
The cultural inquiry process (CIP) was my last opportunity to utilize another framework to meet the needs of the gifted learner. I was fortunate to have permission to merge the requirements of my last two classes so that they complimented each other. The challenge of the lack of diversity in gifted classrooms is persistent. This issue had been addressed numerous times in my concentration but we had little framework to explore the cultural mismatches between students and their teachers. It is clear that there is a significant mismatch between the gifted student and their teachers. The challenge then becomes addressing the needs of the child, who is not only gifted, or potentially gifted, and the notions and culture of the teachers around them. The CIP was the last piece I needed to attempt to meet the needs of the multi-colored, multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-economic strata children that are in need of talent development programs. It is a critical component given all I learned regarding the future challenges in gifted programs.
Ultimately, there are many ASTL Learning Outcomes that would describe me at the end of this process. One, I have become even more committed to students and their learning. This is clear. I saw myself more resolute to see the needs of the gifted child met as I progressed in my program. The rich and layered needs of these children require experts, and there are too few. Two, I hope I am more effective in my pedagogy. I have striven to exercise my knowledge of learning styles, differentiation, and various models of giftedness programming and teaching in all my projects. Three, when I began this program I had never done a PowerPoint. I have had to challenge myself to utilize new technologies in everything I have developed. I have to maintain my expertise to meet the needs of the digital natives in my classrooms and programs. Four, I have become a change agent.
What can that mean? It means that I now have the knowledge base for those experienced-based ideas that I began the program with. I am on the path to expertise in my field. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to study gifted education and I expect to continue with research and application of this research in the future. I am very good at this and I can be a change agent because I have the ability to outline the needs and applicable strategies for a variety of learners; competently.