Gifted and Talented Tidbits 17
By Lenora Barnes 1/22/16
THIS WEEK
This week the students used critical thinking, problem solving, and deductive reasoning to complete a variety of activities including analogies, mystery problems, and math contest practice problems at their grade level. We continued reading from our read aloud books about gifted children and discussed issues in the stories.
The third and fourth graders worked on their Texas Performance Standards Projects. For those of you that are not familiar with the TPSP projects, you may learn more about them here. http://texaspsp.org/ The students have chosen one of the following projects: Gift of Age, Enigmas, Pursuit of Passion, Math Around Town, Innovation Celebration, or We Are Texans. The majority of our class time will be spent on these projects until they are completed. If the students have extra time in class, it would be great if they could use that time to research for their TPSP project.
The first and second graders worked on their TPSP Animal Nation project. The students have chosen a variety of animals to study, some cute and cuddly, and others not so much. The students are excited about the interesting and sometimes strange things they are learning about their chosen animal. The students are looking forward to sharing their projects once they are complete.
UPCOMING
No GT Class (I will be attending the TAGT Leadership Conference.) - April 4-5, 2016 (Mon. & Tues.)
Noetic Math Challenge Contest - Week of April 8, 2016
Third and Fourth Grade TPSP Project Presentations - Week of April 25, 2016
DID YOU KNOW?
The Gifted Brain
Brain research and advances in technology have proven that giftedness is a biologically rooted concept. Scientists have measured the brains of many different people and have used functional MRI scans to record activity levels in particular areas of the brain. The studies have shown a number of interesting things.
There is a clear link between intelligence (based on test scores) and the size of the brain, especially the frontal lobe.
Scientists have also discovered that intelligence is related, at least in part to how the brain cortex, particularly the prefrontal cortex, grows and matures.
Information moves through the brain in the white matter. The white matter is like the wiring that connects parts of the brain together. In gifted individuals the white matter is more organized and has more efficient connections.
The large cortical areas of the brain gives the gifted brain power and the white matter gives it speed.
- Sousa, D. (2009)
What Do Gifted Students Need to Succeed?
Self-awareness- Gifted kids need to know themselves. Gifted teenagers often struggle making college and career decisions because of their multipotentiality. You can help them develop self-awareness by asking them to think about questions like the ones below.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What are your hopes and dreams?
What do I enjoy most?
What kind of person do I want to be?
What do I think and feel, and why?
How do I want to spend more of my time?