Plays and Players: Finding Your Voice, Mingled with Others

Posted by ctdatnu in Uncategorized

“To become a character—essential to both acting and writing—is to allow a constructed consciousness, another identity, to briefly guide your thought processes. You’re not choreographing, but rather intuiting and channeling the life of the character. A writer has to understand the mind and motivation of every character he creates and to color the world from these perspectives.”

These are the reflections of Taylor Geu, a high school senior from Sioux City, Iowa, on the occasion of studying theater and playwriting in a CTD course he took last summer.  Geu recorded his experience in a journal which was recently reproduced in Imagine (www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine), a magazine published by Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY).

Geu’s journal is an inspiring commentary on how to grow as an actor, writer and analytic thinker. His writing reveals a self-aware examination of the experience he came with, surprises and challenges—especially his newfound fondness for collaboration—along the way, and where he is taking his talent in theater and acting.  He’s already won a Gold and Silver Key in regional Scholastic Writing Competitions and is currently working on two more plays!  To hear more from this up-and-coming playwright, visit www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine/docs/CTDplays_players.pdf.

Has journaling enriched the learning and discovery process of your gifted child or student? Theater buffs—check out the Summer Program website for courses such as Playwriting & Drama (grades 4 through 6), Plays and Players Honors (grades 7 and 8), Persuasive Storytelling (grades 9 through 12), and many more.  Although the regular application deadline has passed, applications are still being accepted for open courses at the 2012 Summer Program.  Courses close quickly, so don’t wait any longer!

Moving Beyond Achievement in School: Nurturing Skills Necessary for Success in a Global Environment

Posted by ctdatnu in Conference, Gifted Education, Parenting

Changing times call for changing strategies.

Today’s students must prepare to perform on the global stage. Content knowledge remains critical but our brightest young people need to develop additional skills to achieve true success. Parents as well as teachers can play an important role in nurturing the necessary skill set. The Center for Talent Development is pleased to welcome Dr. Virginia Burney and Dr. Kristie Speirs Neumeister as Keynote speakers for our Opportunities for the Future family conference on June 23 at Northwestern University. We believe their presentation, summarized in this posting, will prove extremely beneficial for parents of academically talented children.

Moving Beyond Achievement in School: Nurturing Skills Necessary for Success in a Global Environment

By Drs. Virginia Burney & Kristie Speirs Neumeister,

Achieving well in school provides our gifted children with a foundation for future success. However, in an era where a massive amount of information is instantly available, the advantage comes from being a knowledge producer not merely a knowledge consumer.  Indeed, we have left the information age and entered into the innovation age.  Simultaneously, a shift is occurring in relation to the competition for work.  Schools used to compare their students’ performance to that of students in the neighboring school district, across the state or even the nation.  Today’s competition is worldwide.

Moving forward in this expanded global arena, competitive edge will stem from the quality of skills. To be knowledge producers, our students will need to develop additional skills beyond content knowledge.

  • Communication Skills:  Great ideas remain just that unless people can convince others of their value through effective communication.  With the aid of technology, our students need to hone their communication skills in oral, written and visual formats.
  • Collaboration:  In our connected society, people rarely work independently but rather share goals and responsibilities for project outcomes.  Our students must learn how to work well with others by developing both leadership and collaborative teamwork skills.
  • Critical and creative thinking skills:  With the exorbitant amount of information available, our students need skills in evaluating, summarizing, and analyzing information.   Students must learn to be flexible and adaptive thinkers as they figure out how to combine information to solve problems, create new perspectives, and generate new products and ideas.
  • Commitment and confidence:  Seeing a project through from its inception to completion requires the perseverance to continue despite obstacles and setbacks.  Such perseverance is built, in part, from confidence in one’s ability to succeed.   Our students need opportunities to work on complex, challenging tasks, so they can develop skills of targeted practice and commitment as well as experience the confidence that comes from mastering a difficult task.
  • Conscience: The problems of the future will be wrought with ethical considerations.  Our students need practice developing perspective by learning how to consider multiple points of view in order to make well thought out decisions that will contribute to the collective good.

Parents can make a decided difference in helping their child acquire these important learning and life set skills. At the CTD Opportunities for the Future Conference, we will explore each of these skills in-depth and discuss opportunities for parents to formally (through structured programs) and informally (through family discussions, games, and activities) nurture each of these skills within their children.

Virginia Burney & Kristie Speirs Neumeister are scholars and authors in the field of gifted education. Dr. Burney is a Consultant for High Ability Education; she works with the Indiana Department of Education and teaches graduate courses in Educational Psychology relating to gifted education at Ball State University.  Dr. Speirs Neumeister is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at Ball State University where she directs the Gifted Licensure Program and teaches graduate courses in Educational Psychology relating to gifted education. She is President of the Indiana Association for the Gifted.  Visit our website to learn more about Drs. Burney and Spiers Neumeister and register for Opportunities for the Future family conference.

Going with the “Flow”: Student Engagement and Beyond

Posted by ctdatnu in Uncategorized

“You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi speaking on “flow” during a recent TED Talk

What does it mean to truly be absorbed in an activity? In an article posted on Edutopia, Elena Aguilar, a former teacher and instructional coach describes a state of attention beyond engagement termed “flow.” Coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the state of “flow” requires motivation, clear, attainable goals, high challenge and skill levels, and constructive feedback allowing one to adjust. And, it’s essential to mastering a subject.

“Flow” in an educational setting should be a two-way stream. “When [our students] experience flow, we will too,” writes Aguilar. “When they’re in their student zone of flow then the same will most likely be true for us: our goals are clear, the challenge is high, our skills match the challenge, and we’re getting immediate feedback from kids and adjusting so that we can meet their needs and accomplish the goal.” Aguilar encourages educators to create goal-oriented lessons appropriate to individual abilities.

For gifted students, flow can be difficult to achieve in school because tasks are not always challenging enough. If the material or activities are not differentiated, the challenge level does not match students’ skill level. This is why tasks need to be rigorous and differentiated and there need to be regular check-ins and formative assessments.

What activities absorb the attention of your gifted child or students? What signs of student engagement—or disengagement—help you gauge their “flow-o-meter”?

Finishing High School … In Three Years!

Posted by ctdatnu in Uncategorized

There appears to be an upswing in the number of young people who are completing high school in three years.  The increased availability and flexibility of online courses such as CTD’s Gifted LearningLinks program is a contributing factor.  An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal weighs the pros and cons of early  graduation.  Some states now offer college scholarships to students that accelerate their high-school experience. The scholarships are less costly than funding a final full-year year of public education.  Many parents of  gifted students  find taking online courses to streamline high school has added benefit. It prevents their son or daughter from suffering senior year slump and keeps them motivated as they enter college.

What do you think … how would you decide whether a three-year high school education was the right choice for your gifted student?

Gifted Kids May Be Tech Savvy, But Are They Fluent?

Posted by ctdatnu in Uncategorized

by Susan Corwith & Carl Heine

From iPads and Android phones to Facebook, Twitter and Blogs, we are plugged into technology. Given the accessibility of information through our many technological devices, the assumption is that today’s children, being digital natives, are well equipped to find and use information appropriately.

But, how skilled are they really at locating, using and evaluating information on the Internet? Do they search thoughtfully and analyze critically? The answer may surprise you.

The capacity to use tools to locate digital information and the ability to find, evaluate and use digital information effectively, efficiently, and ethically is called information fluency (Information Fluency, 2012). Although many gifted students perceive themselves to be proficient with skills such as web searching, identifying author bias, and avoiding plagiarism (rating themselves as “good” to “advanced” at these skills on a recent survey through CTD), the reality is somewhat different. When we assessed the skills of middle and high school students in CTD programs, the average level of performance was 45% (poor to average competence).

Like any other skill, information fluency needs to be taught. But, high-level, problem-based web investigation and evaluation skills are not generally taught in school. In an attempt to address this need, Center for Talent Development, in cooperation with Carl Heine and Dennis O’Connor of 21st Century Information Fluency, set out to create a targeted information fluency program that provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in their academic, personal, and professional lives.

The program is designed for students to complete independently using a series of interactive, online modules that involve instruction and application. Initial results are encouraging. In three years of piloting the web-based modules we have found that students make statistically significant gains with just a few hours work.

Students who completed the program improved their overall information fluency post-test scores by an average of 30%. Using a three-hour pretest, interactive tutorial, post-test approach, students identify critical strengths and weaknesses in their skills, receive targeted training and feedback using simulated and online search challenges, and finish with a post-test that documents individual accomplishments.

Information fluency involves a variety of skills, including determining what information is needed through deciding how to use the information ethically. The figure below illustrates the Digital Information Fluency Model developed by 21st Century Information Fluency. Shown in red are the topics/competencies addressed in the modules (Figure 1).

Digital Information Fluency Model

With the positive initial results students are demonstrating, we continue to refine the program and consider ways to incorporate information fluency into the courses we teach at Center for Talent Development. Currently, students involved in the Spectrum (grades 7 & 8) and Equinox (grades 9 – 12) Summer Program and the online Gifted LearningLinks program participate in the modules. Over the next few years we plan to collect more data about how students learn these skills and the best approaches to use in our ever-growing, ever-changing technology based world.

Heine, C. & O’Connor, D. “Digital Information Fluency: Our Model”. 21st Information Fluency, 20 March 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2012. http://www.21cif.com.

Heine, C. & Gerry, J. CoolHub.IMSA, 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2012. http://coolhub.imsa.edu/web/guest.

How savvy are your students when it comes to information fluency? Does your child’s school explicitly teach these skills?

Susan Corwith, Ph.D. is an associate director at Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University and oversees the Summer Program and Civic Education Project. Carl Heine, Ph.D. is currently Lead Innovation Architect for CoolHub, IMSA and TALENT at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Dr. Heine and Dennis O’Connor are also the principals for 21st Century Information Fluency.

The JKC Scholarship – An Advocate Like No Other

Posted by ctdatnu in Uncategorized

by Tammie Stewart

If you are the parent or teacher of an academically gifted child from a family experiencing financial need, I’d like to introduce you to the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program (JKC).

Every year, exceptional scholarships are given to more than 50 high-achieving students who will enter grade 8 in the next school year.  The application process takes time and thought, but for those awarded scholarships the benefits are truly life-changing. The JKC Young Scholars Program is one of the most comprehensive programs I have come across in my years of work in outreach.

Students that earn JKC scholarships gain a personal advocate through high school, college and beyond.  Financial support ensures that recipients have the resources they need to pursue their passions, develop potential and take full advantage of learning opportunities.  Resources can include computers and software, tuition for summer, after school and online programs and more. Each student is assigned a JKC advisor who helps them chart a successful educational path that spans multiple years.

JKC scholars come from every part of the country with backgrounds that reflect the diversity of our nation.  But they all share huge ability and thanks to the program, receive common access to opportunity.

The Center for Talent Development supports JKC enthusiastically, affording me the privilege to help eligible young people apply.  The 2012 call for applications is currently underway with the April 16 deadline approaching quickly, there are no extensions.

So, if you know of a high-achieving student who will enter grade 8 in the fall of 2012 and comes from a family with annual income under $80,000, they may qualify.  Applications are available at the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation website.  Feel free to contact me directly for guidance and additional information on the scholarship program, eligibility and the application process.

Tammie Stewart is Community Outreach Manager at the Center for Talent Development. For additional counsel on the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program, e-mail her at tammie-stewart@northwestern.edu or call 847/491-7127.

Hey Lady, You’re Blocking My View: Reflections of a Classroom Teacher Moving Online

Posted by ctdatnu in Gifted Education, Parenting and tagged with , , , , , ,

by Anne Stevens

After fifteen years of classroom teaching, I moved some of my favorite content online as a new instructor for Gifted LearningLinks at the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University. Now, I am three courses into the experience, and I am starting to see the ways in which I underestimated online learning.

+ Today’s digital tools require a lot less explaining.

Initially, I wrote up extensive directions and step-by-step guides to building new work with GIMP, Prezi, iMovie, etc.  I discovered that students prefer to use the screencast of our live Adobe Connect session instead. The students go back and watch bits of it if they get stuck, and then they are off and running!

A recording of a demonstration in GIMP in Adobe Connect.

+Long Powerpoint lectures in any context are a thing of the past.

Deep discussion of two or three images in a synchronous online meeting with students is more effective than the delivery of a longer lecture. For an asynchronous experience, engaging media like TED talks, documentary films like Art21, or virtual fieldtrips to sites like the Library of Congress or the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum are much more productive and diverse learning experiences that students can do when best fits their schedule.

+ The online classroom needs to be flexible and asynchronous.

I thought, at the start, that regular synchronous meetings were a necessity. While younger students appreciate the regular online sessions, older students prefer the flexibility of independent work. Online learning serves the motivated gifted student, and reinforces her sense of ownership of her education, interests and time. Revision of my curriculum is done to make it more spare and self-sufficient to fit into my talented students’ distributed learning matrix.

+ Peer- to- peer synchronous interactions are valuable.

While the individualized support I provide is important, students are excited by interactions with peers in the online classroom. While some of these students are digital natives, most have had the core of their education in a standard classroom. Their online experiences express the potential of this new world. The more I can fade into the woodwork, the better: students feel independent and build community.

Students screen sharing their work and using chat to discuss it in Adobe Connect.

Asynchronous online courses like those offered by Gifted LearningLinks are, by necessity, a flipped classroom. We describe our courses as facilitated independent study, which they really are. Students study and watch lectures independently, produce projects and take tests, and interact with the instructor for feedback and next steps. The flipped classroom is an exciting place to be, with comments flying during synchronous sessions and peer critique written out with careful, specific language. Asynchronous communication is used as well—email, screencasts and discussion boards—in much the same ways we use it in our adult work lives: to set meetings, to review deliverables, to evaluate and discuss next steps.

Gifted LearningLinks started out as correspondence courses, where all the student work went back and forth through U.S. Mail and teachers and students spoke by phone. Now, with new tools coming online on a weekly basis, we discuss every change in the field as potential opportunities for our teachers and students. I see now that online teachers are made, not born, and the learning community of the future is flexible, with an emphasis on quality communication and connected experiences.

Anne Stevens is the coordinator of Creative Studies at the Center for Talent Development and teaches in the Saturday Enrichment Program, Gifted LearningLinks and Summer Program. Her upcoming GLL Enrichment course, Images + Text: Reading & Writing Workshop begins April 1, and she teaches an honors elective course, Art & Literature of the Graphic Novel for grades 6-12.

A Summer of Change

Posted by ctdatnu in Gifted Education and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

This post was written by Sabrina Rangi, a 2008 alum of CTD’s Civic Leadership Institute (CLI) and student at Yale University. CLI is a three-week summer service-learning program for outstanding high school students completing grades 9 through 12. The program combines hands-on education, meaningful service, powerful speakers and seminars and an unforgettable residential experience for a summer that students often describe as “life-changing.” This is her story.

I never had to face many urban issues growing up – well, perhaps I did, but in an altered sense of the word. I am from a small, rural, and conservative town in Michigan. Although there was homelessness, poverty, racial and wealth gaps, it was never to the extent seen in large cities and it was something I didn’t really comprehend. As I got older, I began to realize the importance of civic education and became specifically interested in how communities differed from my own. I decided to attend the Civic Leadership Institute the summer after my freshman year of high school. Had I not attended CLI that summer, my understanding of the world would have been stalled. CLI catalyzed the formation of how I viewed the world and the place I sought after within it. I have many memories from my experience in Chicago, but there is one that guided me through high school and especially now, as a student at Yale University.

We had just spent a few days in class learning about homelessness and the complexity of the issue – how homelessness is not an issue that can stand alone, rather, it is composed of layers which contribute to the final societal product. But what I remember the most is going to a homeless shelter for women and children. We were encouraged to meet some of the people and I sat down next to an elderly woman. Without hesitation, she began telling me the story of her boyfriend, the cop, who was traveling the country. He would be back for her, she told me, don’t worry. He had left her only for a few weeks but she knew in her heart that he would come for her. I learned from her frantic demeanor and the state of her affairs that her story was fabricated. It was in that moment I really understood the complexity of homelessness, and in a sense of many urban issues. In this case, I learned that one layer that exacerbates being homeless is untreated mental illness.

This memory has been guiding me as I begin to decide the future of my studies at Yale University. As a freshman at Yale, I have decided to study Psychology and Neuroscience. It is interesting to note that outside my dorm window is Occupy New Haven. What was once a political movement, has become a gathering for the homeless. I am reminded day to day of  the many layers surrounding societal issues, and the work that still needs to be done.

Is your gifted high school student looking to do something meaningful this summer? CTD is now accepting applications for our Summer 2012 Civic Leadership Institute at Northwestern University’s Chicago Loop Campus. In partnership with Johns Hopkins University, Civic Leadership Institutes are also held in Baltimore and San Francisco. Apply now! Apply now!

Rainy Day Activity: Make A Möbius Strip

Posted by ctdatnu in Gifted Education, Parenting and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Rainy Day Activities are back! This month, we explore the mathematical mystery of the Möbius Strip, which is which is a surface with only one side and only one boundary. By twisting a strip of paper 180 degrees, a circle with an interior and exterior becomes a continuous loop. Click here for a post from last fall showing how Project EXCITE students used Möbius strips to explore the relationship between art and science.

by Loretta Rice

Caution:  This activity starts small, but can lead to a colorful pile of fun!

The exploration of the Mobius Strip often comes up after discussing topology in math class.

Vocabulary: to·pol·o·gy/təˈpäləjē/

Noun: The study of geometric properties and spatial relations unaffected by the continuous change of shape or size of figures.

The investigation into the Möbius Strip will lead into a lot of questions that need to be answered. “What is going on here?” “How do these connect?” “What will happen if I change this?”

Understanding the relationship between objects and the way the objects are made is what the Möbius Strip is all about.

Materials Needed:

  • plain paper strips
  • scissors
  • tape
  • pencil
  • magic marker
  • flat surface to work on

Instructions:

1.  Start with a long rectangle. The exact width and length is not that important.

2.  Mark each corner in order. (ABCD)

3.  Give the rectangle a half twist.

4. Using a piece of tape, join the ends so that A is matched with D and B is matched with C.

Investigation: Why does the Möbius Strip have only one side and one edge?

1.  Start midway between the edges of a Möbius Strip and draw a line down its center.  Continue the line until you return to your starting point. Did you ever cross an edge?

2.  Next, hold the edge of a Mobius Strip against the tip of a felt-tipped highlighter pen. Color the edge of the Möbius Strip by holding the highlighter still and just rotating the Möbius Strip around. Were you able to color the entire edge?

3. Now, with scissors cut the Mobius Strip along the center line that you drew. Then draw a center line around the resulting band, and cut along it. Did you predict what would happen?

Further Investigation:

Now, think about what would happen if you cut down the center of your Möbius strip. An ordinary paper ring cut in half would give you two separate rings, right?

If you cut down the center of a Möbius strip, what happens?

For yet another awesome result, try cutting the strip one-third of the distance from the edge. Have your camera ready to document this surprise!

Modifications for Younger or Older Students:

After some practice you can experiment with different flexible materials to create Möbius jewelry or art work for hanging or framing.

Additional Resources and Links:

Math is good for you!: The history and theory behind the Möbius strip.

Videos showing the different experiments that can be done with the Möbius strip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVsIAa2XNKc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVOwuHU-M0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dEnz4tSKNk&feature=related

Have you ever made a Möbius strip before?

Since Fall 2007, Loretta Rice has taught math and science courses for Project EXCITE and Gifted LearningLinks. Some of her past courses include: “It’s a Puzzlement,” “Brain Teasers,” and the upcoming “The Geometry of Architecture” in Summer 2012. Register here!

Ask Paula: Overcoming Perfectionism

Posted by ctdatnu in Gifted Education, Parenting and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Pin It

Each month, we ask you to give us your toughest questions about raising a gifted child. Our resident gifted expert and CTD Director, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, offers her insight. This month: How to help a gifted high school student overcome anxiety issues and stay motivated.

Q: My high-school aged daughter is often overly anxious about her performance in her academic classes. A bad grade (for her) on a test, a forgotten assignment, or similar things will send her into a tailspin of fear of failure. Yet, she also has a tendancy to want to coast through “easy” classes that she doesn’t feel are important. How do I find the balance between allievating some of the pressure for success she places on herself, and instilling a solid work ethic? Thanks! -Kristie B.

A: It is not unusual for gifted students to have very strong reactions to perceived “failures” such as a disappointing grade. Many gifted students have received accolades for their exemplary performances and achievements from adults over the course of their school careers and for them, getting high grades and test scores are the norm and what they believe is expected of them. The  pressure that some students may feel to reach always reach a high standard of performance can be psychologically and emotionally wearing and potentially debilitating. A couple of suggestions.

I recommend that you and your daughter read the book, Mindset, by Carol Dweck. You may have read about this topic in the popular press already. The book is an easy read and appropriate for parents, teachers and also adolescents. This will help you and your daughter understand the underlying beliefs that often are behind a fear of failure–specifically, the belief that failure means you are not as smart as you thought. The book makes the argument for acquiring a growth mindset, one that views “failure” as a valuable learning experience. Dweck discusses some of the messages that adults can inadvertently and with the best of intentions, give to children that can undermine their self-confidence and their willingness to take intellectual risks and pursue challenging courses.

Another good resource is the book, Letting Go of Perfect. Overcoming Perfectionism in Kids, by Jill Adelson and Hope Wilson. This book is available from Prufrock Press. Another great book is Peak Performance for Smart Kids. 7 Habits of Top Performers, by Maureen Neihart, also available from Prufrock Press. This book focuses on helping kids acquire mental habits and performance strategies to cope with stress, anxiety and challenge. Neihart suggests actively coaching gifted students to learn relaxation strategies, to set appropriate goals, to deal with negative emotions, and acquire optimistic and hopeful attitudes and perspectives.

I would also suggest talking to your daughter and reassuring her that less than perfect performance is acceptable to you. Emphasize that you would rather see her opt for challenging courses and assignments and earn lower grades than take easy courses and get high grades. Tell her that you are more concerned with the effort she expends than the outcome. When she does experience a disappointing grade, ask her how much she learned, whether she gave it her best effort, and what she might do differently in the future. You might want to talk to her about times in your or her life when effort and persistence paid off or times when you were less than successful but learned a great deal. Many students are helped by reading biographies or autobiographies about gifted individuals. These illustrate that most eminent and gifted individuals had as many so called “failures” and “set-backs” as successes, and that their most distinguishing characteristic was their perseverance.

As adults, we know that motivation, persistence, resilience, and positive coping strategies are just as or more important to success and happiness than high grades, test scores or other achievements. We must place as much importance on helping our children develop these as we do on finding the right school or program for them.

Do you have your own question for Paula? Let us know in the comments section below, or on Facebook, and watch this space next month for Paula’s replies!