tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24576001682186292332024-02-19T01:49:49.823-08:00Wise WordsSee how we do gifted at Seabury School and learn more about what makes the highly capable child tickSandi Wollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03843690000898377478noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-52024649600290357652023-11-02T11:04:00.005-07:002023-11-02T11:04:55.690-07:00Multiage Classrooms and Gifted Students<span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWFyZEzCowSrAmXyfrcEGr3Bxgd0XRRv85x-xK5OL2M5i3iHpXRo7Xhi1TrD7OKYO8cyqyqeTArvnHKLytH3T_6Ukk5VUahlgHzvXptlXkyOGQwMnftWrZ8f0UuyNO31HOXsJGmsMNJrGnQyXvwV6AYx5ggO1gmKzeAeaF-Ay8x6E7Jh2AO-DJao3Ur8/s1440/19793D35-4ADB-4C05-93E8-E9A04751D513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWFyZEzCowSrAmXyfrcEGr3Bxgd0XRRv85x-xK5OL2M5i3iHpXRo7Xhi1TrD7OKYO8cyqyqeTArvnHKLytH3T_6Ukk5VUahlgHzvXptlXkyOGQwMnftWrZ8f0UuyNO31HOXsJGmsMNJrGnQyXvwV6AYx5ggO1gmKzeAeaF-Ay8x6E7Jh2AO-DJao3Ur8/w400-h400/19793D35-4ADB-4C05-93E8-E9A04751D513.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>At Seabury, a child’s grade level does not determine the level of challenge or the kind of work the child is given. All of Seabury’s students are working above grade level (and sometimes significantly above grade level) in at least in some areas. And because no one is equally good at everything, some students may be working at, or sometimes even below, grade level in other areas. <br /><br />Seabury students, like all gifted children, also develop asynchronously. They are many ages and stages at the same time, so their intellectual ability may be ahead of their academic skills, emotional development and physical development. Seabury teachers work with students on multiple levels at the same time – developing higher level, complex thinking while finding and filling gaps in their learning that may have developed as they moved through skills quickly on their own. They also adapt high level curriculum to the age and development of the student – you can’t give a kindergarten student who is capable of doing fifth grade math a textbook meant for fifth graders who can read the text, copy problems to their own paper, and have the attention span to work for extended periods of time. Our middle school students do labs in science that are designed for AP high school classes and college classes, so they have to be adapted for the age of our kids. <br /><br />In practice, this means a first-grade student might read at a fifth-grade level but with the limited understanding that comes from being 6. They might be doing math at a third grade level, but may need some extra help to develop their conceptual understanding because they have been really good at memorizing algorithms without really understanding why they work. They might struggle with writing because they are still developing the fine muscles in their hands, and because their ideas come so much faster than they are able to capture them on paper. They may be able to talk about the solar system like an astronomer. They may have empathy that is well beyond a typical -year-old. And they may argue like an attorney, with have a strong sense of justice, but with arguments that are more reflective of their age and limited life experience.<br /><br />Multiage classes are different from the traditional split classes you may have grown up with. In a multiage class, the curriculum content is the same for all students, but the skills and learning goals are tailored to the readiness of individual students regardless of their grade or age. The same writing assignment may be given to all of the students, for example, but for one student success might be writing a paragraph and for another it might be writing a three page essay. Everyone gets what they need, when they need it. Groupings change from unit to unit and from subject to subject so that every student can collaborate with others who have similar interests or are at a similar place of readiness. Multiage classrooms make it more likely that students will find intellectual peers, academic peers and social peers that they can learn and grow with.<br /><br />At Seabury, we meet students where they are and help them progress as they are ready, paying attention to all of the ages and stages they are at the same time. Having students in multiage classrooms is just one of the many tools we use to challenge and support our gifted students.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Sandi Wollum</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Head of School</b><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p></div>Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-55995477981762470452022-11-18T10:46:00.000-08:002022-11-18T10:46:22.605-08:00Gratitude<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwF8B8Eevi_cBFcq6VdbDGHhS48LvTNM_OJvUC2SIzar-m5YSW1igrOChMmGUXpAu2-0YOoU8eT7v8NGhTogQykZ3bTQh5DMp1q7bjhiT9nmbz1ItayOr0yCIziObDodUigOYfBhbqJaCf82g9rCAbCkryVigo265aKFdB3z4ODMzVyhKg433xShV/s930/3verticalforblog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="930" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwF8B8Eevi_cBFcq6VdbDGHhS48LvTNM_OJvUC2SIzar-m5YSW1igrOChMmGUXpAu2-0YOoU8eT7v8NGhTogQykZ3bTQh5DMp1q7bjhiT9nmbz1ItayOr0yCIziObDodUigOYfBhbqJaCf82g9rCAbCkryVigo265aKFdB3z4ODMzVyhKg433xShV/w640-h330/3verticalforblog2.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Today started with a parade of first grade authors in my office reading their adventure stories. After studying what it means to be an "adventurer," and learning how stories are constructed, each student wrote their own adventure story. Their stories were amazing - filled with spaceships and volcanoes and submarines exploring the Mariana Trench. The absolute joy in their faces as they shared what they had created nearly brought me to tears. They got to experience the thrill of being a storyteller, author, and illustrator, and it was beautiful!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This morning was a stark contrast to a recent prospective kindergarten visitor whom when I asked him what he loves learning about quickly looked at his mom and said, “Not at school, right?” He then proceeded to tell me all about the things he loves learning on his own at home. At only 5 years old, he had already come to see school as a place where he spent time, but not as a place where learning happened for him. In admissions, we often see kids who have hidden their abilities from their classmates because they don’t want their peers to feel bad that they can’t read yet, or because their classmates just don’t care as much about dinosaurs or the solar system or animals of the sea as they do. We see students who struggle to find anyone but the adult in the classroom who understands their sense of humor, or who frustrates their teachers with their endless questions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At Seabury, our kids find their people. We see them finally do work that is matched to their ability and get to learn what it is like to feel good about trying something hard and accomplishing it. We see kids drop the mask they have worn at school previously and learn what it is to truly be themselves with their peers. It isn’t always easy, because true learning isn’t easy. Stretching ourselves to try something we’re not sure we can do, especially when we’re used to things coming easily, is difficult and can be frustrating. That’s why it’s so important to create a trusting and supportive community for our students where they can take risks, experience failures, and celebrate their accomplishments.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In this month of gratitude, I am grateful for Seabury. I am grateful for our amazing staff who take great pains to meet each and every child where they are, to discover and develop their strengths, and to support them as they take on new challenges. I am grateful for our administrative staff who keep things running smoothly and who support our teachers and families. I’m grateful for our families who trust us with their precious children and partner with us in overcoming the obstacles that are inevitable as a child learns and grows. I am especially grateful for our children; for their unique ideas and huge imaginations; for their out-of-the-box creations and their endless questions, and for their ability to see possibilities that none of us could otherwise imagine. Our children inspire me every day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Seabury is a place where kids truly can learn something new at school every day in the company of others who get them and support them. What a gift it is to be part of doing this immensely important work!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sandi Wollum</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Head of School</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuK4PrvL4qZTN-cG0VOyijGDkfRMEKylWjrMFMvEAdjVOrrGDRR0dsIW5MRABhEObuzyedhxtWrjlyDoV3qMhMDurjfOuY7YDlBjwZybVWAjHcUSRUBROcxhmT2V3Tzzs2Zu_xom7G2qNO-HKElo_4R09E9FpJ-p7zEaH8PLp6sR2qaYj2vPK0ORDP/s930/3verticalforblog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="930" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuK4PrvL4qZTN-cG0VOyijGDkfRMEKylWjrMFMvEAdjVOrrGDRR0dsIW5MRABhEObuzyedhxtWrjlyDoV3qMhMDurjfOuY7YDlBjwZybVWAjHcUSRUBROcxhmT2V3Tzzs2Zu_xom7G2qNO-HKElo_4R09E9FpJ-p7zEaH8PLp6sR2qaYj2vPK0ORDP/w640-h330/3verticalforblog1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-38842653917782757582022-10-17T11:47:00.005-07:002022-10-17T11:47:53.148-07:00Our 6th Annual Ada Lovelace Day!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWjD2CqiB5BHe6Ah5bzO9UtEY-qTiuMZ_OFFbmy2fOkSYUxdyVMv_jRgigxypNLPXmdHU0QrGNtbKQqbQzLgWkNWyW8BSpvTFCshk7pvZRQDV6rVYc9_QPGLTzPbr4vfGzxf8f0LgNekzTpB5EaJwYggNtYoOLJi-LGcCy0eoRw4e9UI13GqYsLa3/s3325/IMG_1599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2848" data-original-width="3325" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWjD2CqiB5BHe6Ah5bzO9UtEY-qTiuMZ_OFFbmy2fOkSYUxdyVMv_jRgigxypNLPXmdHU0QrGNtbKQqbQzLgWkNWyW8BSpvTFCshk7pvZRQDV6rVYc9_QPGLTzPbr4vfGzxf8f0LgNekzTpB5EaJwYggNtYoOLJi-LGcCy0eoRw4e9UI13GqYsLa3/w400-h343/IMG_1599.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Seabury middle school science teacher Jared MacKenzie has long been committed to connecting girls with STEM. That commitment led him to begin Seabury's celebration of Ada Lovelace Day six years ago, a celebration that's become an annual tradition at the middle school.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Every year on the second Tuesday in October we give Ada her props as a role model for women in science and technology and an inspiration for anyone who marches to their own drummer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“There are still not a lot of women working in STEM fields,” said Mr. MacKenzie. “I think it’s important that girls at Seabury – boys, too – learn about the different opportunities in those fields from people in the real world.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Established in 2009, Ada Lovelace Day is celebrated internationally – if relatively modestly – in various ways. Here at Seabury, we celebrate by inviting women with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) backgrounds to share their knowledge and experience with our students through conversations, presentations and hands-on activities.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Born in 1815, Ada was the daughter of the famous British poet Lord Byron. Fearing that Ada would develop her father’s moody temperament, her mother sought to instill rigor and self-discipline by insisting she study math and science – an unheard of pursuit for women at the time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ada was a natural, though, and eventually became a protégé of Charles Babbage, regarded as the father of the computer. Ada eventually wrote a paper describing how codes could be created for Babbage’s analytical machine – and went down in history as the world’s first computer programmer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This year our students heard from seven women working in STEM fields: a pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon; a Boeing chemist; a trauma recovery specialist; a structural engineer; a wetlands biologist; a specialist in healthcare analytics; and a doctor who talked about metabolites and chemicals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As always, our kids are excited and engaged by these presenters and ask great questions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A few of their questions and observations:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"From your experience, when people have a hard time hearing, what makes that happen?"</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"What does a cochlear implant sound like?"</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Trauma is more common than I realized."</i></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"A long time ago women didn't have rights. They couldn't vote. It's good that things have changed so much that all our visitors today were women in science fields. It the 60s they would have all been men. It makes me happy that more people have rights to do different things today."</i></span></p><p class="mm8Nw _1j-51 roLFQS _1FoOD _3M0Fe Z63qyL roLFQS public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 fixed-tab-size public-DraftStyleDefault-text-ltr" id="viewer-7rs9j" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; direction: ltr; font-size: var(--ricos-custom-p-font-size,unset); font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; min-height: var(--ricos-custom-p-min-height,unset); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="_2PHJq public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; direction: ltr; display: block; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; 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text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: arial;"><i>Parents know that the development of social skills is crucial for their children. Kids need to know how to make friends, get along with all kinds of people, and act as respectful and responsible citizens if they are going to be successful in school and as adults. Parents also want their children to develop self-confidence, a sense of self-worth, and the ability to advocate for their needs because these are also crucial for success and happiness. </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #38761d; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1biehdHdFJc4zaRjBpynVmRygo30obnyx_DEPz_ewsbFtwGX_7DFCmk2WQbud2ThwSCbRMzubqgrN77cIrRCyQXVBUmXQvfryuxOvoWf3QLLDdJLEP_b3Z4QHX2KxM3IoGQPhufW9VR4/s2048/AdobeStock_50434026.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1biehdHdFJc4zaRjBpynVmRygo30obnyx_DEPz_ewsbFtwGX_7DFCmk2WQbud2ThwSCbRMzubqgrN77cIrRCyQXVBUmXQvfryuxOvoWf3QLLDdJLEP_b3Z4QHX2KxM3IoGQPhufW9VR4/s320/AdobeStock_50434026.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><i>Many gifted children struggle to feel a sense of belonging at school or get frustrated and feel alone when the other kids their age don’t seem to get them. They may notice that other kids aren’t asking the questions they are asking or doing the kinds of work they can do, so they hold back and hide their true selves. </i></span></span><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: arial;"><i>As a former student once said, “There are more people who get me and who I can be myself with in my class of 10 at Seabury than there were in the 90 kids in my grade level at my previous school.” The things gifted kids need to support their social growth can be counterintuitive, leading well-meaning parents and educators to put gifted kids in situations that hinder their growth rather than supporting it.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: arial;"><i>In the article below, Dr. Linda Silverman, founder of the Gifted Development Center and expert in how gifted children grow and develop, reviews what we know about what gifted kids need to develop their social skills and a positive sense of themselves. At Seabury, key to our mission is providing bright children an environment where they can learn socialization skills with peers and caring adults who understand them. We've found over the years that our students leave Seabury feeling good about themselves, well on their way to becoming the healthy, compassionate global citizens that Dr. Silverman speaks to in her article. </i></span></div></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;">Abstract</b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Socialization means adapting to the needs of the group, whereas social development indicates positive self-concept and concern for the welfare of others. The former may result in alienation from one’s inner self, while the latter leads to self-actualization. Gifted children have positive social development when they are respected in their families; when their parents value the inherent worth of all human beings; when they find true peers of similar ability at an early age; and when they interact with the mainstream after they have developed a strong sense of their own acceptability.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Social Development vs. Socialization</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There has been a remarkable prioritization in American education on the process of socialization. This emphasis has intensified in the last two decades at the expense of learning, particularly in middle school philosophy. Students who love learning the most, and who are capable of learning the fastest, are the ones who have paid the highest price for this agenda.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCj0kiTSxDFCcGiV82hNdY2cp1Tkc1KCr9zkbhSfXf-DZcpcRElOvHa-u3rBHdlGMe_ynLXcKz0kPq5euoh1w3y8cV9ar40RxJTB4-HBCmR14poQgTsqUiDSXaasDgZ-S2LHOGrBoYzy4/s2048/AdobeStock_281530594.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1151" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCj0kiTSxDFCcGiV82hNdY2cp1Tkc1KCr9zkbhSfXf-DZcpcRElOvHa-u3rBHdlGMe_ynLXcKz0kPq5euoh1w3y8cV9ar40RxJTB4-HBCmR14poQgTsqUiDSXaasDgZ-S2LHOGrBoYzy4/w400-h225/AdobeStock_281530594.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It is generally assumed that unless the gifted are grouped with students of diverse abilities, they will “never learn to get along with others.” Therefore, all provisions for gifted students—ability grouping, acceleration, pull-out programs, full day programs, special schools, homeschooling – are held suspect on the grounds that they will “seriously interfere with social adjustment.” Contrary to popular beliefs, an immense amount of research accumulated over the last century indicates that gifted children tend to enjoy greater popularity, greater social competence, more mature social relations, earlier psychological maturity, and fewer indications of psychological problems than their less gifted peers (Silverman, 1993, 2013). Almost all of this research was conducted with students involved with special provisions, such as acceleration or special classes. Clearly, socialization does not suffer when special provisions are made for these students’ learning needs. There is no evidence that regular classroom placement enhances the socialization of gifted students to a greater degree than grouping them for instruction with others of similar abilities, level of mastery, and readiness to learn advanced content. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Terms such as socialization and social development are used interchangeably in the gifted education literature, but these actually are very different concepts. Socialization is defined as adapting to the common needs of the social group (Webster, 1979, p. 1723) or acquiring “the beliefs, behaviors, and values deemed significant and appropriate by other members of society” (Shaffer, 1988, p. 2). Gifted youth do have the inclination to adapt to the group, but at what price? If one works very hard at fitting in with others, especially when one feels very different from others, self-alienation can result. In their desperation to belong, many “well-adjusted” gifted youth and adults have given up or lost touch with vital parts of themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Social development is a much broader concept than socialization; it may be thought of as awareness of socially acceptable behavior, enjoyment of other people, concern for humanity and the development of mutually rewarding relationships with at least a few kindred spirits. Lasting friendships are based on mutual interests and values, not on age. Self-acceptance is a related goal, as people who like themselves are more capable of liking others. When framed in this way, social development becomes a precursor to self-actualization, whereas socialization is merely the desire to conform, which may inhibit self-actualization. If the aim for gifted young people is social development rather than socialization, they need to be provided with true peers who are their intellectual equals, a program of humanitarian studies to enhance their awareness of global interdependence, and counseling for greater understanding, acceptance and appreciation of themselves as well as of others.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The Foundation of Social Development</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A parent who had just learned that her son was exceptionally gifted remarked fearfully, “But I want my child to be a good neighbor!” She was worried that if her son was placed in a school or self-contained program for the gifted, he would not be able to get along with anyone except other gifted children. His IQ score was beyond the norms in the manual, estimated in excess of 170. His parents were not prepared for their son to be this bright; his mother wanted more than anything for him to lead a “normal life.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For this child’s parents, as for so many other children’s, “being normal” means having the ability to get along with people from all walks of life. This is an important value for most people, particularly parents of the gifted. How does a gifted child learn to do this? There appear to be four key factors involved in gifted children’s social development:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a responsive home environment in which the child is respected;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>parental respect for individuals of all backgrounds and socio-economic status;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>opportunities to relate to other gifted children—particularly during the early years, when self-concept is being formed;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>opportunities to relate to the mainstream during adolescence.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Children are sponges, absorbing all that their environments have to offer—language patterns, attitudes, values, impressions of themselves. They usually begin life trusting, affectionate, exhilarated with each new discovery. If children are cherished by their parents, they come to cherish themselves and feel secure. A child whose ideas and needs are respected at home is likely to respect the needs of other children. Children also imitate the way their parents talk about and act toward others. When parents genuinely appreciate people of all backgrounds and abilities, their children usually do the same. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrXRnfSxy36XYj_PDNU8mclq3h6p9XTFCDkgI4Iu2NZ2QF17lLR3jw3TLSamYqs-rAy_pWFl_sQNd2IiJburM0cKYymxHLLSuvpQ6PdHhIAI9b3HGldLe0VXshMSf-QIxpB0cxRazYf8/s2048/P1030251.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrXRnfSxy36XYj_PDNU8mclq3h6p9XTFCDkgI4Iu2NZ2QF17lLR3jw3TLSamYqs-rAy_pWFl_sQNd2IiJburM0cKYymxHLLSuvpQ6PdHhIAI9b3HGldLe0VXshMSf-QIxpB0cxRazYf8/s320/P1030251.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Due to their expert ability to pick up social cues, girls are better than boys at imitation.<br /> Therefore, it is important for them to be in an environment where imitation is conducive to growth. If they live in a home filled with kindness, they learn to be kind. If they live next door to children who call each other names, they learn how to swear. And if a girl who is mentally 8 years old is placed in a kindergarten with only 5 year olds, she will imitate the behavior of 5 year olds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Many gifted children receive a good foundation for self-esteem within their families. Then something happens: they meet other children. By the age of 5 or 6, openness and confidence are frequently replaced with self-doubt and layers of protective defenses. Being different is a problem in childhood. Young children – even gifted ones – do not have the capacity to comprehend differences. They have difficulty understanding why other children do not talk like them or respond to their friendship in a predictable manner. They equate differentness with being “strange” or unacceptable, and this becomes the basis of their self-concept. It’s difficult for a child who has been wounded continuously by peers to feel generosity toward others. It takes positive experiences with children like themselves to build the self-confidence needed for healthy peer relations. Later, when their self-concepts are fully formed, they are better equipped to understand differences, to put negative feedback of age peers in perspective, and to gain appreciation of the diversity of their classmates. But acceptance precedes positive social values. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Children only learn to love others when they have achieved self-love. The process usually involves the following stages: </span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">self-awareness; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">finding kindred spirits; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">feeling understood and accepted by others; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">self-acceptance; </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">recognition of the differences in others; and, eventually, </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">the development of understanding, acceptance and appreciation of others.</span></li></ol><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Self-awareness includes being aware of how one is like others and how one is different from others. Gifted children are, in fact, different from their age-mates in many ways. They tend to be ashamed of these differences and try to hide them unless they find kindred spirits early in life. These kindred spirits help normalize their experiences and provide the safety for them to be who they really are. They provide the acceptance, understanding, and give and take on an equal basis that is required for true, lasting friendships to develop. When children find friends who accept them they become able to accept themselves. From this strong foundation, they can see how others are different from themselves without needing to imitate the norm. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">When a solid base of self-esteem is developed in early childhood, gifted students are better equipped to branch out and make friends with others who are unlike themselves. Adolescence is developmentally the most appropriate stage for these widening horizons of social interaction. Gifted adolescents select their closest friends from among their mental peers, but they can also participate in team sports, band, extra-curricular clubs, church and community activities, and social events in which they have opportunities to interact with students who have a wide range of abilities. With a support system of gifted friends and classmates, they can join in other groups without fear of rejection, and they are more likely to gain respect and assume leadership positions. </span></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;">Stages of Friendship</b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Early childhood educators generally hold the belief that children are only capable of socializing with others close to their age. They receive no training about the advanced development of gifted children or the fact that they play best with older children. As the concept of mental age has been abandoned in psychology, there is little awareness that gifted children’s friendship patterns and social conceptions are more related to their mental age than their chronological age (Gross, 2009).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Miraca Gross (2009) proposed a model of age-related stages in the development of expectations about friendship; at each stage, the degree of conceptual complexity increases:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stage 1. “Play Partner”: A friend is a playmate who shares toys. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stage 2. “People to chat to”: Shared interests take the place of shared activities. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stage 3. “Help and encouragement”: A friend is someone who offers assistance and support, but the child does not see the need to reciprocate. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stage 4. “Intimacy/empathy”: True reciprocity develops, along with affection, bonding, emotional sharing and intimacy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stage 5. “The sure shelter”: Faithful friends develop deep and lasting relationships involving trust and unconditional acceptance. (pp. 343-344) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gross conducted studies of the conceptions of friendship held by average, moderately gifted, exceptionally gifted and profoundly gifted children. She found strong correlations between intellectual development (mental age) and conceptions of friendship. Differences between gifted and average samples were much greater in the preschool and primary years than in the later years of elementary school. Significant differences were even observed between exceptionally and profoundly gifted children. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5sE3wDOg9qz7jZf7__LJW_UXLhyphenhyphentc6_8sq-iE7YcrOkSOBk8spxHLavhbOPV91ZJ_AZKW2ZlCW4aSKtxRijL7BH9JfU-7ZlKmFbTbXbLrhmUeM1ermgndZCbDTsmNZqmp_zb-1mOMek/s2048/AdobeStock_198504418.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5sE3wDOg9qz7jZf7__LJW_UXLhyphenhyphentc6_8sq-iE7YcrOkSOBk8spxHLavhbOPV91ZJ_AZKW2ZlCW4aSKtxRijL7BH9JfU-7ZlKmFbTbXbLrhmUeM1ermgndZCbDTsmNZqmp_zb-1mOMek/w400-h266/AdobeStock_198504418.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span>Some profoundly gifted children in the early years of school had expectations of friendship that normally do not appear until the years of early adolescence. These children face almost insurmountable difficulties in their search for friendship, at an age when most children view a friend as a companion for casual play. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This study suggests that it is in the lower, rather than the upper, grades that placement with chronological peers, without regard to intellectual ability or emotional maturity, is more likely to result in the gifted child experiencing loneliness or social isolation. (Gross, 2009, p. 344).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Opportunities to relate to gifted peers in the early, formative years lay the foundation for positive social development. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Mental Age</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Though no longer popular, mental age puts in perspective the advanced development of gifted children and helps parents and teachers understand their needs. Mental age predicts:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the sophistication of the child’s play, </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the age of true peers, </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>maturity of the child’s sense of humor, </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ethical judgment, </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>awareness of the world. </span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A 5-year-old boy who thinks like an 8 year old will be more interested in chess, Monopoly, and more sophisticated games than activities that are of interest to children his age. Young gifted boys appear to have greater difficulty than girls relating to children who are not at their own developmental level. They think the games of average children are “silly,” “babyish.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Average 5 year olds are not yet ready to grasp the concept of rules. They exclaim, “I win!” after each game. That’s the whole point of playing for them. A gifted 5 year old with a mental age of 8 comprehends rules, and is probably rule bound, which is typical for 8 year olds. The average child and the gifted child are at two different stages of intellectual development. When the average child squeals, “I win!” the gifted child retorts, “He cheats! I’m not playing with him anymore.” Gifted preschool and primary children relate much more easily to children who are similarly advanced or to older children who are close to their mental age. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Gender Differences in Socialization</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Young gifted children may shut down emotionally if they cannot connect with the others in their class. By the age of 5 or 6, once-confident gifted children may be filled with self-doubt and have acquired cumulative layers of protective defenses. They may try to imitate others their age, hiding their true selves, or they may withdraw. They notice how different they are from others their age and they begin to feel “strange” and unacceptable. Parents report that their buoyant, confident, exuberant toddler gradually becomes subdued and uncertain during the preschool and primary years. One parent wrote:</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Alice is doing all she can to blend in and not stand out as different. She does not ask all the questions she used to. Alice is not the same person she was before she started going to school. Before she started kindergarten she had an insatiable quest for more knowledge. We are concerned because we think she is a bright child who is turning off.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Profoundly gifted preschoolers are bewildered by the mismatch between their interests and those of their classmates. Antoine’s teacher discouraged him from bringing his favorite video, the ballet of “The Nutcracker Suite,” to share with the other 3 year olds. When he was 4, he made a model of Mars for Show and Tell, and the following week he discussed black holes, implosion and explosion. He couldn’t understand why his classmates weren’t interested.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Alice and Antoine exemplify the gender differences observed in social responses of young gifted girls and boys. Alice sought to blend in with other children her age. Her need for affiliation triumphed over her intellectual curiosity. She readily stopped asking questions and slowed down her natural learning trajectory in order to have friends. Antoine pursued his desire for knowledge at the expense of social connection. Undaunted by his classmates’ indifference to the two moons of Mars, Antoine followed up with a dissertation on black holes. Staying true to himself, Antoine chose his need to learn over his need for friends, and eventually insisted that his mother homeschool him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Because they refuse to sacrifice who they are for the good of the group, gifted boys are considered poorly socialized. By way of contrast, gifted girls are socially adapted at the expense of their giftedness (Kerr, 1994). Gifted girls are chameleons. They have enhanced ability to perceive social cues, making it easier for them to modify their behavior to fit into a group. They frequently don the mental attire of the other girls in their class, and soon become imperceptible from them. They receive daily practice in sliding by without stretching themselves, hiding who they are to make everyone else comfortable, and being less than they are capable of being. Eventually, they trade their dreams for simpler, less demanding goals.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmZd9YonaqoueVym2MfYClUOcTfEX2wBhgGeJsYLbsZrsCEZ9jGoew5Hb1V8HSK3tO4RFPB4lVstwll-SSKgIema5dbR1JPIxM7OQKyUojonXOE-ooRSC4RneWzePMInlyDDX0xfeVhM/s2048/AdobeStock_73419914.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmZd9YonaqoueVym2MfYClUOcTfEX2wBhgGeJsYLbsZrsCEZ9jGoew5Hb1V8HSK3tO4RFPB4lVstwll-SSKgIema5dbR1JPIxM7OQKyUojonXOE-ooRSC4RneWzePMInlyDDX0xfeVhM/w266-h400/AdobeStock_73419914.jpeg" width="266" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The antidote is early contact with others like themselves. Girls who have a gifted peer group in a context that supports diversity do not hide their abilities (Eddles-Hirsch, Vialle, McCormick & K. Rogers, 2012). Gifted peers normalize boys’ and girls’ experience and they do not come to see themselves as “weird.” They make friends easily with others with similar interests, values, vocabularies, and levels of development. Interaction with true peers who are mental equals facilitates social development and prevents social isolation. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It is particularly critical for gifted girls to associate with mental peers early in life. Without the encouragement of the social group to develop their talents, much of their ability may be permanently lost. The amount of waste of talent from atrophy and lack of development is incalculable. Since life goals and attitudes toward achievement are often formed before school-age, the earlier positive intervention occurs, the more likely that girls will be able to value and develop their intellectual capabilities without loss of social status.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Children who have early contact with others like themselves do not come to see themselves as different or “weird.” They are able to make friends easily with others who think and feel like they do, who communicate on their level and share their interests. Association with true peers prevents alienation. “The word peer refers to individuals who can interact on an equal plane around issues of common interest” (Roedell, 1989, p. 25). Wendy Roedell, a developmental psychologist who studied the social development of young gifted children, found that getting along with those who are different depends on opportunities to interact with true peers. She suggested that a major function of programs for gifted children is to help them discover their true peers at an early age. “While adaptation is important, gifted young children also need the give-and-take of interactions with others of equal ability, where they can find acceptance and understanding, the keys to the development of successful social skills and positive self-concept” (Roedell, 1989, p. 26). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Similarly, Miraca Gross and her colleagues in Australia note that gifted children who do not have access to others like themselves face a “forced choice” between their intellectual needs and their desire for acceptance by less-advanced classmates (J. Jung, McCormick, & Gross, 2012, p. 15). Gifted preschoolers and kindergarten-aged children define themselves through their first social interactions, and if the gap between their development and that of their playmates is too great, they have difficulty adjusting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Roedell (1988) reminds us of the essential link between cognitive, social and emotional development:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When parents and teachers understand the implications of the differentness inherent in being gifted, they can create conditions that will support the child’s positive social and emotional growth. The first step is to realize the inextricable link between social and cognitive development ... If the child also makes the discovery that communication with classmates is difficult, and that others do not share his/her vocabulary, skills, or interests, peer interactions may prove limited and unsatisfactory. We cannot ignore the gifted child’s need for intellectual stimulation and expect social development to flourish. (pp. 10-11)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Elitism</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There is a pervasive myth that if gifted children are told they are gifted, they will gain “swelled heads” and hold everyone else in disdain. In fact, the opposite is true. Children who are never told about their giftedness often think that they are average, and if they understand something, everyone else should understand it just as well. When gifted children are given the opportunity to discuss as a group what it means to be gifted, they understand themselves better and have greater compassion for others. Gifted children from various parts of the world have shared in such groups that they believe everyone has equal worth, regardless of ability. Giftedness does not mean “better than”; instead, it means “different from.” When these specific differences are talked about, instead of hidden, children develop healthy attitudes about themselves and about others. Many gifted children want to help, want to be of service, and are eager to support others. They do not adopt elitist attitudes unless these are modeled by adults. Being placed in classes with other gifted children curbs arrogance, rather than fostering it. Perhaps for the first time, the child realizes that someone else is more advanced in mathematics, is reading harder books, and knows more about dinosaurs or space. It can be a very humbling experience to a child who thrives on being the “best” in the class.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHOk4lz5klgBnr0AG8_E9PXaozoLnOGjx9lRpShxdLZTdYW313M8rKQ03iArgwD2CbpWZjuuv7QeOunQbYnkOawCFlP815h6kXOnlboE340SgGaOQGoVHAFFdU1vPNBDzVf5Il1HfUU8/s2048/AdobeStock_265143893.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHOk4lz5klgBnr0AG8_E9PXaozoLnOGjx9lRpShxdLZTdYW313M8rKQ03iArgwD2CbpWZjuuv7QeOunQbYnkOawCFlP815h6kXOnlboE340SgGaOQGoVHAFFdU1vPNBDzVf5Il1HfUU8/w400-h266/AdobeStock_265143893.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Gifted children need acceptance and respect from their families. They need parents who truly believe that everyone on the planet is of equal value and worthy of respect. Parents with humanitarian values, who work for the common good, who are involved in community service, will teach through example how to use one’s gifts for the good of all. Gifted children need to find other children like themselves as early as possible so that they feel accepted and understood. This will form the basis of lasting friendships and true social development. They need teachers to look for and develop their strengths, rather than to focus on their weaknesses or equalize their abilities. And they need experience with the mainstream when they have formed a strong enough self-concept so that they are not dependent on acceptance from agemates who might not understand them. Only then will they grow to be healthy, compassionate global citizens.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Gifted Development Center</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">References</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Gross, M.U.M. (2009). Highly gifted young people: Development from childhood to adulthood. In L. V. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness: Part 1 (pp. 337-351). Amsterdam: Springer Science.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Eddles-Hirsch, K., Vialle, W., McCormick, J., & Rogers, K. (2012). Insiders or outsiders: The role of social context in the peer relations of gifted students. Roeper Review, 34, 53-62.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Jung, J. Y., McCormick, J., & Gross, M.U.M. (2012). The forced choice dilemma: A model incorporating idiocentric/allocentric cultural orientation. Gifted Child Quarterly, 56, 15-24.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Kerr, B. A. (1994). Smart girls two. Dayton, OH: Ohio Psychology.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Roedell, W. C. (1988). "I just want my child to be happy": Social development and young gifted children. Understanding Our Gifted, 1(1), 1, 7, 10-11.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Roedell, W. C. (1989). Early development of gifted children. In J. VanTassel-Baska & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns of influence on gifted learners: The home, the self, and the school (pp. 13-28). New York: Teachers College Press.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Shaffer, D. R. (1988). Social and personality development (2nd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Silverman, L. K. (1993). Social development, leadership and gender. In L. K. Silverman (Ed.), Counseling the gifted and talented (pp. 291-327). Denver: Love.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Silverman, L. K. (2013). Giftedness 101. New York: Springer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Webster, N. (1979). Webster's deluxe unabridged dictionary (2nd ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">*This article was adapted from Silverman, L. K. (2000, Winter). Social development in the gifted. MENSA Journal, pp. 31-38, and Silverman, L. K. (2013). Giftedness 101. New York: Springer.</span></p><div><br /></div><p></p>Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-80824763299277745172020-11-09T17:35:00.003-08:002020-11-13T12:15:53.038-08:00The COVID crisis and the gifted child<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr81KzylW4xQTe90uOf4JXNIyuZfOFBmqv4hU_Koh4nqUSxRrpRhKzNUXKuL2jvQwPKdb7iZXZcEwB1GFAQv7DFBYLKXYcP0cQEmuf9IHbucdm1HPXIjcjlnZ3Z-P_busAiWgjOR_0oCs/s2048/DSC07584-Edit-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1639" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr81KzylW4xQTe90uOf4JXNIyuZfOFBmqv4hU_Koh4nqUSxRrpRhKzNUXKuL2jvQwPKdb7iZXZcEwB1GFAQv7DFBYLKXYcP0cQEmuf9IHbucdm1HPXIjcjlnZ3Z-P_busAiWgjOR_0oCs/w400-h320/DSC07584-Edit-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />We know for a fact that the COVID-19 crisis is impacting the lives of the world’s children and their education in ways we can’t yet begin to quantify. And, the “unparalleled educational disruption is far from over,” the United Nations warned in an August 2020 policy brief.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At Seabury School, our favorite definition of intellectual giftedness comes from Annemarie Roeper, founder of the internationally renowned school that bears her name. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><blockquote>Giftedness is “a greater awareness, a greater sensitivity, and a greater ability to understand and to transform perceptions into intellectual and emotional experiences." </blockquote></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, it should be no surprise that gifted kids experience the COVID pandemic differently in many ways than typically developing kids their age. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Gifted children experience the world with an added intensity. They develop asynchronously, meaning their intellectual, social, emotional and physical development happen at different rates. As a result, they often intellectually understand things they are not emotionally ready to process. During COVID-19, along with everything else that has happened in 2020, that adds to their potential worry and uncertainty. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the best of times, gifted children are often in school programs that are not designed to meet their needs. Because teachers typically do not have training or expertise in the unique needs of gifted students, they often don’t recognize the challenges or know how to best support their gifted students. During COVID, this may be compounded by the shift to distance learning where the focus in many schools has been on minimizing learning deficits for all students rather than providing new challenges for the most capable and where gifted students may find themselves more isolated than ever from intellectual peers who provide support and connection.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We contacted Linda Silverman, founder of the Gifted Development Center in Colorado and expert in the field of gifted education, to get her perspective on what highly capable students need during this crisis. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote>“Gifted children need each other. They need to interact with others who share their sensitivity, asynchrony, questioning of the way things are,” she said. “They thrive in special schools and programs with teachers who are trained and experienced in working with the unique needs of the gifted population.”</blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Since its founding in 1989, Seabury has taken a child-centered approach to meeting the needs of our gifted students, from pre-k through eighth grade. We understand them and have built our program to support them. From the earliest days of the pandemic, it was clear that we would need to apply what we know about our students to our COVID response plans and to be prepared for our students to experience this crisis with the same intensity they bring to most everything else. From the development of our distance learning program to our safety protocols on campus, our plans had to take into account the unique needs and perspectives of our students. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As we enter our eighth month living with the pandemic, we have learned a great deal. We </span><span style="font-family: arial;">continue to adjust as we see the impacts on our students. Here are some things to consider:</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfw6K08oQg-RfngyvAWHwKZrKEQJ8z8E9aPA_aI6y7SrxPuJCfdAeSviDM3GfSYoEjEDXN4y00TFNxyLtRgzKVFspBC2eiA-I7CPGmAzjLOElwyU6j5onBakWToI673hwufJhFb7YpEE/s2048/IMG_1015.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfw6K08oQg-RfngyvAWHwKZrKEQJ8z8E9aPA_aI6y7SrxPuJCfdAeSviDM3GfSYoEjEDXN4y00TFNxyLtRgzKVFspBC2eiA-I7CPGmAzjLOElwyU6j5onBakWToI673hwufJhFb7YpEE/s320/IMG_1015.jpg" /></a></div>Gifted children often have physical sensitivities. At our school, it is common for kids to need the tags cut out of their clothes, be picky eaters, and be sensitive to certain textures. As we began to think about mask protocols, we realized it would be important for students to bring their own masks. There was no way one kind of mask would work for everyone. By allowing families to work with children to find the style, fabric and fit that works best, we are having success with students wearing masks at school. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Being a gifted child can be lonely. It can be hard to relate peers with different interests, different worries and different kinds of thoughts. As we planned for distance learning, we knew it would be important to provide opportunities for our students to be able to interact with peers who ask the same kinds of questions and experience the same kinds of concerns. It was important for teachers and aides to check in to help kids feel safe, understood and appreciated. We found that check-in routines, small group sharing, advisory groups and time to socialize during virtual meetings help students feel connected, better understood, and less isolated. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Gifted children love to learn. Our program is built on hands-on, inquiry-based explorations where questions from students drive the direction of study and inspire deep dives. As we quickly shifted to distance learning last spring, we knew that our distance-learning program needed to maintain this focus. Students needed opportunities to explore ideas but also to build models and do hands-on science experiments. Building a distance-learning program that relied on one-size-fits-all packets wouldn’t be a good fit for our kids. As a result, distance learning has evolved to include monthly distance-learning boxes with supplies for art projects, science experiments, novel studies and more. Distance-learning projects have been developed with the same kinds of open-ended opportunities for creative exploration and expression that are at the core of in-person school at Seabury.</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0tqJ8AtXELSz6Y3HhjHzsQ8BwTdWIk8eD1ILpEa-cSSUpFvb3AvCByEbSgZOo_v8etQcAutnPX0smiPdyL4B7r-TVc_SJhrcGeI1HnJgFGp4GWzlPUsHyxT3v_ddVcqOa0vXQakGQEI/s2048/IMG_5496.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1639" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0tqJ8AtXELSz6Y3HhjHzsQ8BwTdWIk8eD1ILpEa-cSSUpFvb3AvCByEbSgZOo_v8etQcAutnPX0smiPdyL4B7r-TVc_SJhrcGeI1HnJgFGp4GWzlPUsHyxT3v_ddVcqOa0vXQakGQEI/w320-h400/IMG_5496.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Gifted children need the support of people who understand them, from kids who share their endless questions and sophisticated humor, to adults who recognize that they are smart worriers who need support, encouragement and places where they feel safe. Our school is one of those places for our students. For many, it is the first school environment they’ve been able to truly be themselves. Check-in time with adults and peers, whether on campus or in distance learning, has been vital during this time. We published a Distance Learning Support Tree specific to each class, with contact information for staff members.</li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Gifted children can be prone to worry and existential depression. Teachers need to balance their students’ drive to know and understand with their readiness to emotionally cope with reality. We are not only in a pandemic, but also in a time of unrest in many parts of the world. Our students, even the youngest, feel the tension. We work to balance time for questions with opportunities to process big feelings. Mindfulness practices, community service projects, and time to decompress and have fun help kids manage the oversized emotions that can come with being gifted.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Executive function skills include organization, time management, breaking down tasks into smaller parts and managing materials. Those can come later for highly capable students than for typical kids their age. We spend a lot of time in our classrooms, and especially in our virtual classrooms, helping students develop executive function skills so they can turn their incredible insights and unique ideas into finished work. During distance learning, teachers have needed to be innovative to provide the support required for students to navigate virtual meetings, manage their time, learn new platforms and make school at home doable.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Passion projects are opportunities for students to learn about things that inspire them. This has been one positive about the pandemic for many gifted students. There’s been time at home to go down rabbit holes, whether it be to learn the origins of black holes, attempt to memorize all the countries on the globe, explore the chemistry of yeast in bread baking, or discover the fertilizer that makes the garden grow best. Time for exploration that sparks imaginations and inspires independent learning is critical for bright kids. Passion projects have long been part of our regular curriculum, but as we developed our distance-learning program, we built in even more time for passion projects. Teachers have shared that it’s been fun during distance learning to see where kids’ interests have taken them.</span></li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Growing up gifted can be hard. Growing up gifted during COVID is harder. Thankfully, our kids are resilient, and they are finding ways to thrive in spite of the challenges. Understanding giftedness, providing support and connection, and encouraging self-advocacy and independence can make a huge difference for our students as they navigate these strange and uncertain times. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Seabury School can provide resources whether your child is an enrolled #seaburykid or one in another situation, who we still fondly think of as a #seaburykid. Please check out www.seabury.org for more information.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>– Head of School Sandi Wollum</b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-24912096771764282792020-09-24T11:29:00.000-07:002020-09-24T11:29:56.804-07:00In-person learning rolls out at Seabury School <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8eNp3mfjhYeMnrwdq6fsHNC15pEw_odec7b1q3TkIAuobreIpdHITxxeSg1C3QMLdSMOdhaIU16uJXkJRER9xEwakI8FeFC2y8ifnHi94-PnDN71FqLYgviP-ehVj-mdzxXLJBAZzJQ0/s2048/untitled-144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8eNp3mfjhYeMnrwdq6fsHNC15pEw_odec7b1q3TkIAuobreIpdHITxxeSg1C3QMLdSMOdhaIU16uJXkJRER9xEwakI8FeFC2y8ifnHi94-PnDN71FqLYgviP-ehVj-mdzxXLJBAZzJQ0/w400-h400/untitled-144.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica;"><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i><b>Our pre-k kids (covered under childcare regulations) have been at school in person all year. They're doing great.</b></i></blockquote><p></p><p style="font-size: small;"><span></span></p></i><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We have great news to share! We're getting ready to welcome our kindergarteners, first, second and third graders back to campus for in-person learning on Monday, Sept. 28!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And we have you and the rest of our community to thank. You've worn your masks, washed your hands, maintained safe distances and avoided crowds. As a result, Pierce County's COVID-19 transmission rates have declined over the past weeks so much that we can begin bringing our kids back to campus, starting with our youngest. As long as the trend continues, our fourth and fifth graders will be next to return for in-person learning on Oct. 12. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We are so ready. Our large classrooms have been set up for weeks so that kids can be properly distanced. And we're lucky to have individual classroom bathrooms and separate entrances. We're providing kids with their own supplies and big individual containers to keep them in. We've created new outdoor classrooms. And, of course, we will follow all required and recommended health and safety protocols, including morning health screenings, social distancing, wearing masks, and cohort grouping. We have also committed to offering the option of distance learning all year, even when we are able to be in person. Find out more about our Safer Start Plan <a href="https://www.seaburyjourney.org/saferstartplan" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> We're aware that things can change, but right now, we are so excited to see many of our kids and teachers in person! </span></p>Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-71609176618538128402020-08-18T14:00:00.009-07:002020-08-18T17:20:14.591-07:00Distance Learning at Seabury: Personalized, active – and fun!<p><span style="font-family: arial;">With the most recent mandate from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department instructing schools to open the year in distance learning for K-8 students, distance learning will be part of the landscape for all schools in the upcoming school year. So what will distance learning look like this year at Seabury?</span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We have spent the summer preparing a distance learning program designed specifically for Seabury’s gifted students that reflects both our successes and challenges from last spring. Seabury’s teachers know how gifted kids learn and grow. They know how to tailor programs that stretch kids’ thinking, develop their skills, and support both their academic and social-emotional growth. Distance learning at Seabury is not a series of one-size-fits-all, pre-designed packets or dry lessons that keep a student staring at a screen all day. It is personalized, active, and as often as possible, FUN! We have also worked to make it easier for students and families to navigate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzIP7mCL_-kEfjdqIIEke2YJ3rca6tKl8j4mGdZ0zY1rtioXcXrVGi_eImRkpZttm-g_mBSmLbIiiQCWDE00i8iES8q9IOBnPQbWkrMsvgI4lE0OzIG8Q97DWSYsLcKG_Sc_bj9PoQKE/s2048/distance+learning+2.0+banner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzIP7mCL_-kEfjdqIIEke2YJ3rca6tKl8j4mGdZ0zY1rtioXcXrVGi_eImRkpZttm-g_mBSmLbIiiQCWDE00i8iES8q9IOBnPQbWkrMsvgI4lE0OzIG8Q97DWSYsLcKG_Sc_bj9PoQKE/s640/distance+learning+2.0+banner.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Seabury focuses on the development of the whole child, so in distance learning, just like when we are at school, we will address our kids’ unique social, emotional and developmental needs. We know that gifted kids often need additional help with executive function skills, such as organizing their time and materials and breaking larger assignments into smaller parts. They are often highly sensitive and can be anxiou</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s during challenging times when they can intellectually understand more than they </span><span style="font-family: arial;">are emotionally ready to handle. They need opportunities to connect with other students so they can have deep conversations with intellectual peers, share their concerns and fears, and engage in the joy of asking the weird and wa</span><span style="font-family: arial;">cky questions they so love to wrestle with. And they love to learn, especially those things that are of interest to them. They need opportunities to explore areas of interest and get creative with projects. They need teachers who support them when they come up with a unique way of doing an assignment or a different approach to a project.</span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">These are just a few of the many considerations that have gone into planning for distance learning. Here are just some of the features you can expect from Distance Learning – Seabury Style 2.0.</span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in 0in 0in 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Daily morning meetings will allow teachers to check in with students, review plans for the day, help students plan and prioritize their day’s work plan, and share successes and questions.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A stable schedule will allow for a seamless transition to/from in-person and online learning.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Simplified and streamlined daily/weekly schedules, classes, links to virtual meetings and assignments will be given through a fun and easy to navigate virtual classroom.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">There will be explicit teaching of mindfulness, self-regulation, executive function and other social-emotional skills that sensitive gifted learners need most to succeed (both academically and personally) in these turbulent times.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Synchronous math instruction using engaging <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang=""><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span>low-floor, high-ceiling” rich mathematical tasks will encourage perseverance and deeper levels of mathematical thinking and understanding.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Direct small and large group instruction in literacy and other course subjects will be mixed with learning tools that enhance and support instruction. Tools such as NearPod and FlipGrid will help teachers provide engaging instruction and offer students opportunities to share their learning with each other.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Specialists and instructional assistants will provide opportunities for students to connect for fun and enrichment as well as for instruction. Even when we are at school in person, a number of our specialists will be providing their programs remotely so that kids can interact with others in different classes and have the chance to explore more choices for projects such as art.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Teachers will check in regularly with individual students and with families to make sure that learning targets are being achieved, students are doing well, and issues are addressed before they become problems.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The school and teachers will provide training for parents before the start of school so that they are familiar with how the schedule will work, what distance learning tools will be be used, and how students will get help.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">During the first weeks of school, the focus will be on working with kids individually and in a developmentally appropriate manner to teach how to participate independently in distance learning. Our goal is for parents as much as possible to be cheerleaders rather than teachers for distance learning for their children.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Project-based, integrated curriculum focused around a universal concept will continue to be at the heart of the program because it allows gifted kids to dive deep, interact with complex ideas, and develop high level thinking skills.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Personal passion projects will allow students to explore areas of personal interest.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Students will have unique opportunities for engagement through clubs and enrichment opportunities both during and outside of traditional school hours.</span></li></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78qec6qGcEJpt10utnfM9wdXQgMUn2DbGBcbM-3SrU0W-mONvNOPW5sxAJbDW2T0EbiV2kLJFNy3zy2-NPbAwSBab27KSi3rCJEAzR2RiT_oWb7bWhqHjjZj7WcjEjGL5Cm_z-7zj5F0/s2048/AdobeStock_174253484.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78qec6qGcEJpt10utnfM9wdXQgMUn2DbGBcbM-3SrU0W-mONvNOPW5sxAJbDW2T0EbiV2kLJFNy3zy2-NPbAwSBab27KSi3rCJEAzR2RiT_oWb7bWhqHjjZj7WcjEjGL5Cm_z-7zj5F0/s640/AdobeStock_174253484.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You may have read about distance learning plans that revolve around live streaming class for all or part of the day. In those programs, kids at home will spend the bulk of their days at their computers, listening to their teachers and working on the same assignments at the same time. While Zoom meetings, synchronous instruction, and teacher directed lessons will definitely be part of our program at Seabury, we will not live stream class all day every day. First and foremost, this kind of teaching and learning is not what we do at Seabury. Learning is not a passive, sit at your desk, everybody does the same thing at the same time experience. If we’re going to meet individual needs in a class where one child might be on grade level in reading and four grade levels ahead in math, while the student sitting next to her is reading at a high school level but on grade level in math, we need teachers to be able to work with small groups and individuals at the level that’s appro</span><span style="font-family: arial;">priate for each child. Teachers need to be able to provide different assignments to different kids when that makes sense or to adjust the expectations on a common assignment to meet the needs of each individual child. And for kids to do the inquiry based, complex, high level, creative and critical thinking that will stretch them intellectually, they need to be able to step away from the computer to think and create and explore.</span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This year, when students are able to be back on campus, our kids at school will be in cohort groups that will not mix with other classes. We will use virtual tools to connect kids in different classrooms, offer interest-based clubs and activities, and provide opportunities for multiage gatherings. This will be a critical part of our program all year long.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As we prepare to return to school in the midst of a global pandemic, it is easy to become overwhelmed with what we can’t do. But as we think about the year ahead, it is also important to remember the joy with which our children embrace learning and that light we see in their eyes when they make a new connection or acquire a new skill. Whether we are at home or at school, we plan to continue to make learning a joyful experience of discovery and creativity for our kids; to make time to laugh together, debate with one another, and embrace all our quirky, interesting, unique ways of seeing the world. That’s why families seek out a Seabury education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Please join us for our next Town Hall on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 4 p.m. <a href="https://zoom.us/j/93695347095?pwd=SkowbDRwb2NRaUZpN0tZQU1HRWRzQT09" target="_blank">(ZOOM link)</a> We will have more to share about the start of school, distance-learning and parent and student orientations. </span><span face="" style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-35745112234799722122020-08-04T10:31:00.000-07:002020-08-04T10:31:09.884-07:00Seabury’s Safe Start Plan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZG0FlJh6aS_ryxAlwqixAlz-psjBFkcLeY_7d9LiUjP2i5cDqz2jS1fTA_CBYg4SSf-lBU67ZoPIojk1Gr5mCrBr5CZ8IZkIyPaT8dxM5ckg6CA3EZtKeGhJyVnRVccBC7KhaQJWybQ/s2048/IMG_7598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZG0FlJh6aS_ryxAlwqixAlz-psjBFkcLeY_7d9LiUjP2i5cDqz2jS1fTA_CBYg4SSf-lBU67ZoPIojk1Gr5mCrBr5CZ8IZkIyPaT8dxM5ckg6CA3EZtKeGhJyVnRVccBC7KhaQJWybQ/s640/IMG_7598.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><h1 class="null" style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; line-height: 32.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></h1><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">You might have seen the recent headlines. Several private schools in Pierce County plan to open for in-person instruction </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">fall, despite a continued increase in COVID cases. “Is that the right call?” asked The News Tribune headline.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Seabury School was not included in those stories. With Sept. 2, our first day of school, still about a month away and with guidance on safe reopening still emerging and developing, we have not yet decided to make the “call” to either open our campuses for in-person learning or to start with distance learning. What we </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">have done</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> is worked exhaustively to be ready to open safely. That is what our students and staff deserve and what many families want.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">We keep constantly up to date on all guidance from Gov. Jay Inslee’s office, the Washington Department of Health, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, the Center for Disease Control, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) and the Washington Federation of Independent Schools (WFIS). We expect further guidance in the coming days or weeks that will provide us with more specific criteria we can use to determine when it is safe for us to re-open for in person learning.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Seabury’s small classes and unique classroom spaces allow us potentially different choices than are available to larger, public schools. Each of our spacious classrooms has a separate entrance to the outside (no hallways!) and each has its own bathroom, making it easy for us to keep kids and adults in small, cohort groups and minimize exposure during the day. Our maximum class size is 15. Six-foot distancing is not a problem. All staff will wear masks, so will students, from pre-k through eighth grade. Everyone will have daily health checks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">We are also setting up our teachers to be able to easily take class outside. We will have two new outdoor classroom spaces at the lower school. And we have the whole city just outside at the middle school, particularly Broadway Plaza which is just across the street. Each teacher and student will be provided with a portable seat and an outdoor learning kit. The learning kits for our second graders, for example, include a Coleman portable chair, weatherproof pencil box, dry erase pen, mini whiteboard, and clipboard among other items that can be carried in the pocket of their chair.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">If we are at home, our teachers are ready to provide a dynamic and engaging distance-learning program. We</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">are taking lessons we learned in the spring and are planning parent and student trainings that will allow students to operate more independently and adults at home to feel more comfortable supporting students. We're adding morning meetings and daily math and literacy lessons. A combination of virtual classes and digital tools will ensure students get the support they need, including the instruction tailored to gifted learners our teachers are experts at providing. So no matter how we start this fall, students will experience the joy of Seabury learning at school and at home. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">As we plan for the fall, the biggest difference between Seabury and most other schools is that our small size will allow us to pivot quickly between being at school and being at home. If we open, and suddenly need to close, we are equipped to make the switch seamlessly – and vice versa. By being prepared for both in-person and distance learning, we still have time to wait for the best science available before we make a decision about the start of school. And our ability to pivot quickly now and throughout the school year, will allow us to maximize every possible minute for learning this year.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Seabury is a small independent school without expansive grounds or a large endowment. We serve students whose families often find us because their needs aren’t being met elsewhere, and they often sacrifice to pay t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">uition. Our general population doesn’t have deep pockets. But we have invested every dollar we can to make our facility even safer, to ensure distance learning fully meets the needs of Seabury kids and families, and to provide additional financial aid to families that need support during these difficult times. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Our plans for fall are to be ready for learning in the safest way possible and to ensure that Seabury‘s kids engage in the joy of discovery and that they are challenged every day whether we are at home or at school. We will be ready to provide a safe, creative and joyful place to go to school, whether in person or digitally.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">School will start on Sept. 2. And it will start in the safest format for staff and kids based on the best science we can get our hands on. Whatever this year looks like, we'll make it a great one! </span><strong style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /><br /></strong><div><strong style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">– Seabury's Admin Team</strong></div>Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-21072854905907024942020-05-26T15:23:00.002-07:002020-05-26T15:23:53.368-07:00Distance Learning. Online Learning. Homeschooling. What’s the Difference?<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbELJx467gV9qQF3al1NEBShGSx2RicZn_Plg3E_4d5y8I68U3K0FMhhidGidkWT6Cb3cKxHSNlPwMM8x7J_MlQqRH0lKIG_GJ5WDSotlxeNBOwjyn1Xslg2jtSZqf9xk99FRyXSXisd4/s1600/IMG_3540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbELJx467gV9qQF3al1NEBShGSx2RicZn_Plg3E_4d5y8I68U3K0FMhhidGidkWT6Cb3cKxHSNlPwMM8x7J_MlQqRH0lKIG_GJ5WDSotlxeNBOwjyn1Xslg2jtSZqf9xk99FRyXSXisd4/s400/IMG_3540.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">As schools have been required to move their programs from in person to virtual, they have used a number of tools to deliver educational programming to students. Seabury has referred to our at-home program as <b>Distance Learning – Seabury Style</b> because that best describes the program we are providing for our students during this time apart. While we are using online tools and students learn at home, there are some significant differences between online learning, homeschooling, and distance learning. Especially <b>Distance Learning – Seabury Style.</b></span></div>
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Online learning is widely available. It is designed to deliver content, often in a step-by-step fashion. Students complete a placement test and begin a series of lessons designed to incrementally increase their knowledge and skills. Even in online programs where students have access to a teacher, the primary role of that teacher is to deliver content. Khan Academy, Duolingo and Beast Academy are great examples of online learning programs. Some of our teachers use online learning programs as part of our broader distance-learning program and find they work particularly well when teaching discrete, sequential skills. These programs typically do not provide opportunities for exploring broader multidisciplinary concepts or for collaboration, discussion or building relationships between teachers and students. Expectations are generalized; programming is based on the progression and pace of typical students. Even when there are opportunities to test out of skills and speed up the pace of learning, the steps still tend to be small and sequential. While this can be helpful for some students, some of our students have found this step-by-step approach to be confining when they are able to take bigger leaps in their learning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46gLIcNuBaJdb_2Kmw92JZMjGPB9rYVFA4yw9TBmwi9WS0cdrOxp7m30qvPZFrVFcUlbsi0DkBa-d0J-g0bbjinOOvXciRepsx6lx3_3oO6l6GpHP2hLWKyykNBZLEtA6G-k3D7lXwNdF/s1600/IMG_6604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46gLIcNuBaJdb_2Kmw92JZMjGPB9rYVFA4yw9TBmwi9WS0cdrOxp7m30qvPZFrVFcUlbsi0DkBa-d0J-g0bbjinOOvXciRepsx6lx3_3oO6l6GpHP2hLWKyykNBZLEtA6G-k3D7lXwNdF/s400/IMG_6604.jpg" width="400" /></a>Distance learning also shares similarities with homeschooling, but it’s not the same. Homeschooling parents are responsible for seeking out curriculum materials, developing lessons, assessing student progress – for both creating and delivering the child’s educational program. In distance learning, Seabury’s teachers are doing that work. Parents provide the space, time and encouragement for learning to happen – ideally they act as coaches and cheerleaders for the learning process. The program itself, including daily lessons, group and individual gatherings, differentiation for individual needs, evaluation of student work, are provided by Seabury’s teachers. It’s a partnership. A number of our families have homeschooled at some point in their child’s life and have shared that there is a huge difference between helping their children access Seabury’s program and having to create their own programs for their children.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Distance learning, and particularly <b>Distance Learning – Seabury Style</b>, is relational. It is built on relationships between teachers and students, as well as among students. Distance learning is a more complete educational program than online learning. It is designed not just to cover content with one-size-fits-all packets or learning modules. Distance learning teachers design learning experiences for the particular interests, needs and abilities of specific groups of students at specific times.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5Bu_tldev4Vt58Mpzo9L30bsx-DZoe162GElpYEDVNxo24Mt38REGGejltQDaShnpdTpf4XZPSvwqTSLdli2-k0ammJBrru8bxK0071IwrzVZpMR3fpbwLAnSTS5Z7PImEro8wkQFYEx/s1600/0320201457b_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5Bu_tldev4Vt58Mpzo9L30bsx-DZoe162GElpYEDVNxo24Mt38REGGejltQDaShnpdTpf4XZPSvwqTSLdli2-k0ammJBrru8bxK0071IwrzVZpMR3fpbwLAnSTS5Z7PImEro8wkQFYEx/s400/0320201457b_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/2/null" name="_Hlk41393276">Just as Seabury’s teachers tailor expectations to </a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/2/null">address an individual student’s academic needs </a>at school, teachers pay attention to the whole child in distance learning and make adjustments daily. They determine who needs extra help, provide additional challenges for students who want more, and make adjustments for learning needs or family circumstances that require changes in expectations, assignments or timelines. Our specialists provide opportunities for students to engage with art, music and movement. Activities such as class meetings, individual meetings, virtual recess, middle school advisories and class clubs provide students with social opportunities, stress management, and support from adults and kids, in addition to those in their families. Middle school students start their day with a mindfulness activity to help them be centered and engaged. Preschool and kindergarten students have regular sharing times where they get to have the spotlight, and also listen to each other, just as they would in circle time at school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just like at school, our teachers evaluate students’ progress and readiness for new material not only through the work they turn in, but through their participation in discussions and individual and small group meetings. Parents and other family members can serve as facilitators and cheerleaders and leave the job of assessment to teachers, who help students decide when their work is good enough and it’s time to move on. Teachers are there to provide the support and encouragement needed for continued growth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Doing school at home is hard work whether you are supporting your child with online learning, creating a homeschool program, or facilitating their participation in distance-learning. The past months have been a time of learning new routines, figuring out how to manage work and play in the same space, and finding new ways to engage with one another.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We’ve learned a lot during this time that has allowed us to make <b>Distance Learning – Seabury Style</b> even more responsive to the needs of our students and their families. We look forward to the day when we can be back together in person. Regardless of what is required of schools next year, we will be ready to provide <b>Learning – Seabury Style</b>, whether we are 6 feet apart or meeting from a greater distance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">– Head of School Sandi Wollum</span><br /><hr align="left" class="msocomoff" size="1" width="33%" />
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Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-4719057979661172922020-05-14T17:33:00.000-07:002020-05-18T15:00:50.866-07:00What We Know<div class="Body" style="border: none; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Exactly two months ago today, I informed our administrative team, teachers, students, families and board that we would be closing our school buildings and moving to distance learning in order to help protect the health of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a Thursday, and I will never forget it. I saw both tears and excitement on our kids’ faces as I told them that the next day would be our last day at school, possibly for quite a while. There was excitement when I mentioned science might include counting the bugs in their backyard and that we would be part of the biggest community service project in history. There were tears at the thought of not seeing their teachers and friends for as long as this lasted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;">Two months later, we have shifted to distance learning, had a successful online school auction, and have learned more than we could have imagined about being a community and doing school when we are physically separated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;">As we approach the end of the school year, we have lots of questions about what school will look like next year for Seabury and for schools in general. We are working hard to plan protocols, strategize various scenarios, and ensure that all our plans maximize the health and safety of our students, families and staff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;">After spending hours combing websites, consulting with other schools, talking with medical and public health experts and planning with our own team, I can tell you that there is much we don’t know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;">But there ARE things that we DO know, things that are at the heart of Seabury and will continue to be whether we are at home or at school or a combination of the two.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: large;">We know our kids</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">With our small classes and child-centered program, one of the hallmarks of Seabury is that we are a place where your child is seen, celebrated and supported. After working remotely with our kids in their homes, we know even more about them. We have seen them in their pajamas and met their dogs and favorite stuffies. We have seen how they have managed the stresses of these past months and have been able to be part of their support system. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Next year, whether we do school at school or school at home or some combination of the two, we will continue to build relationships with our students. We’ll get to know new students, build friendships, and we’ll help our kids connect with each other. We will make adjustments to each child’s program to support their learning, social-emotional and family needs. Because that’s what we do at Seabury. We have learned a great deal this year about how to support kids in making social connections even when we are at home, and we have plans to continue those connections through the summer. Regardless of how we do school next year, Seabury will be a place where kids will know they are seen, celebrated and supported.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: large;">We know how gifted kids learn and grow</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">We know that our students are ready to move faster but that not everyone needs to go equally fast in every subject all the time, so we need to adjust the pace for individuals. We know that our students think deeply and ask profound and interesting questions even at a young age, so we engage in inquiry learning and focus on complex, analytical and creative reasoning. We know that students need opportunities to be creative and to take a different approach to a problem or a project. We know there are some times when there is only one right answer (2+2=4) but that there are lots of times when our students see better ways to solve problems or create projects than we could have imagined. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiB02UA-VFiF9ik3494cqhYV0eOhSOiCw3uz9Y_lfjZEmWAnodToLp1pALDydbVI-BKl38og2txlHtFQlH0Df9S1xVBESI51mQKr2JOOm2RGqJtYz4eK9N-kvUrEq7GxJu6bwwCelWrw/s1600/untitled-273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiB02UA-VFiF9ik3494cqhYV0eOhSOiCw3uz9Y_lfjZEmWAnodToLp1pALDydbVI-BKl38og2txlHtFQlH0Df9S1xVBESI51mQKr2JOOm2RGqJtYz4eK9N-kvUrEq7GxJu6bwwCelWrw/s320/untitled-273.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">When we shifted to distance learning, we built our at-home program with the same priorities as our at-school program – to challenge, inspire, and stretch the minds of our highly capable students. We found new ways to provide structure for those who struggle with executive function. Teachers set up personal meetings with their students to help tailor the program to individual needs and group meetings so students have a chance to collaborate and inspire each other. Teachers created rigorous, thought-provoking lessons, and also developed ways to support students’ social-emotional growth and health, such as providing virtual recess for elementary students and morning mindfulness for those in middle school. As we prepare for next year, we are incorporating all we learned this spring with all we know about our gifted learners to make sure that our program challenges, supports and inspires our students whether we are at home, at school or some combination.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: large;">We know our families</span></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Seabury has always valued collaboration with families. Volunteer hours are written into enrollment contracts because we know that when families are involved in the education of their children, their children do much better. As a small community of families raising kids who are growing and learning in unique ways – and who can be both a joy and a challenge to raise – we create space for families to learn more about how to support their children and to connect with each other. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">As we moved to distance learning, we have gotten to know our families even better. We have been so grateful for their support through the challenges and their honesty when things weren’t going smoothly. We have learned and grown together as a distance learning community, and we will take what we have learned to make sure that we provide families with the tools to support their children and stay connected as a community in the 2020-21 school year, whether we are at home or at school. While our job is to teach our students, we know we can’t do that well without their families, and we will continue to be grateful for our partnership.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;">There is a lot we don’t know about next year. Will we be at school? We hope so! Will we wear masks? We might be. Will we do school at home? We're likely to be back and forth and we'll be ready for that. We have the tools and expertise to ensure that Seabury’s program meets the needs of our students wherever we are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;">There are still many unknowns. But we promise that wherever we are, whether we wear masks or have more pajama days, we will be Seabury. And Seabury will be ready to provide the best in child-centered gifted education.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>– Head of School Sandi Wollum</b></span></div>
Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-35181440848214552472020-05-07T10:45:00.000-07:002020-05-07T10:45:49.905-07:00Is This Good Enough?<div class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">One of the challenges of distance learning is the question, “Is this good enough?” or, “Can I be done now?” Teachers answer this question all the time when we are at school and have context not only about what’s expected for the age/grade level, but also about what each child is capable of. What is outstanding for one child might be minimal effort for another child, so our teachers are constantly tailoring expectations to individual children to make sure that each is being sufficiently challenged, but not overwhelmed. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt;">At school, teachers calibrate expectations not only by seeing finished work, but also watching the children as they do their work.</span><br />
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During distance-learning, parents, grandparents and others working with kids at home are typically the first to get that question. It can be difficult to answer, because although you know your child well, you don’t know your child <i>at school</i> as well. Since starting distance learning, teachers have observed kids who have stepped up and are doing their best work ever. They have seen others who are struggling for a variety of reasons and are working with those kids and families to adjust expectations so those kids can experience success. And we have seen other kids who suddenly have <i>no idea</i> how to do something we have seen them do independently at school on countless occasions. Having family members nearby might seem a convenient escape hatch. They could need an extra push to step up and do what they are capable of doing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The question, “Is this good enough?” is further complicated because many gifted kids are perfectionists. Perfectionism is a trait we see often in gifted people of <i>all ages</i>. So, you can imagine there might be concern at home over the definition of “good enough.” Too much time might be spent on an assignment that wasn’t intended to be that difficult. At school, we help kids judge. For example, a research paper a student has worked on for months with lots of time to edit and revise would have different expectations than a story reflection paragraph where 10 minutes of class time was allotted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Teachers are experienced at helping children navigate these decisions at each grade level. They also know each child’s strengths and weaknesses. They know whether each child, on this particular assignment, typically needs an extra push or needs permission to call it good enough rather than stressing over it, trying to make it perfect.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As an adult at home in this partnership with school, the best thing you can do when you get the “Is this good enough?” question is to respond back with a question:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>“Do you feel like you’re done?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>“Are you proud of your work?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>“Do you think this will give your teacher the best understanding about what you’ve learned / what you know / what you can do?”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Coaching children to reflect on their effort will help them learn that hard work is most important. It’s a key life skill to recognize that the biggest fulfillment comes with producing work that you’re proud of.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s hard to watch children make mistakes on an assignment or realize they could do better. But remember, letting them turn the work in as they have completed it will allow teachers to see what they need and make adjustments to address those needs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our teachers know kids well. It’s one of the benefits of being at a school like Seabury with small classes and a program designed to meet every child where they are. Our teachers continue to do that during distance-learning. Being able to meet the needs of kids is what we do best, and it’s the work that we love.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-68583513901237626192020-04-15T13:49:00.000-07:002020-05-05T09:24:53.834-07:00Distance Learning – Seabury Style: Meeting the Needs of Gifted Learners<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seabury School’s educational program is designed for the specific needs of gifted learners. So much of what we do has always relied on daily face-to-face, individual contact with our students so that we can ensure they get their learning needs met in every subject, every day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But now, we find ourselves in a global pandemic. Our students are learning in their own homes, scattered across the Puget Sound Region. They are working alongside younger and older siblings and adults. Some of their parents are still working outside the home in essential jobs. Some have their own computers or tablets. Some families share one computer. Some students work at desks in their bedroom, at kitchen tables, snuggled with the family dog, on the backyard deck – or all of the above. How do Seabury’s teachers meet the needs of their gifted students in this time of distance learning? How do we address not only their unique learning needs, but also their unique circumstances?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lessons Learned About Educating the Gifted and Talented: A Synthesis of the Research on Educational Practice</i>, by Dr. Karen Rogers, is a synthesis of 150 years of research. The study recommends five key practices for the effective education of gifted learners. These practices are fundamental to our regular program at Seabury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what about Distance Learning – Seabury Style? How do those practices apply now?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Gifted and talented learners need daily challenge in their specific areas of talent</b>.</i> We want our students to learn something new every day at school. Our kids come to us with various interests and abilities. In fact, it’s common for gifted students to have varying levels of abilities in different subjects. A child might be exceptionally gifted in math and less so in reading, or vice versa. Some of our students are also twice-exceptional, meaning they are gifted, but also have a learning difference such as ADHD or dyslexia that impacts how they learn. Our teachers make adjustments in the pace of learning and expectations for each student based on that student’s readiness. Even when the teacher gives every child the same assignment or project, their expectations for the outcome vary – some are asked to do more, and others might complete the work in a different way. The goal is for everyone to be challenged, but not overwhelmed. In distance learning, our goal is the same. During distance learning, teachers </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">teachers can’t observe children during a lesson or while they are working, so they </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">are finding creative ways to get this information by conferencing with students on their work, and through Zoom meetings and tutoring sessions. But they depend on students (or their parents if they are young) for feedback on whether work is too hard, too easy, too little, too much or if it needs to be done differently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What Families Can Do:</b> If children are old enough, have the child reach out to the teacher if an assignment needs adjusting. For younger children, adults working with them at home should reach out. Our teachers differentiate, or individualize, every day and want to make sure that school is meaningful and provides appropriate challenge for every child.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Opportunities should be provided on a regular basis for gifted learners to be unique and work independently in their areas of passion and talent.</b></i> At school, we have many opportunities for this each week through Genius Hour in the MakerSpace, project choices, art, creative writing, passion projects, electives, free choice times – and more. At home, there are also many opportunities for kids to explore their passions and find new interests. Teachers are providing optional assignments for students who want a deep dive into the subjects they are studying. Teachers also recognize while our children are learning at home with parents and other family members as partners, it can be a time to explore interests that might not be possible at school. Baking with a parent or grandparent is an opportunity to learn about fractions and equivalence, as well as nutrition and hygiene. Working in a garden can become lessons in botany, entomology and geology. A neighborhood walk can test powers of observation and accomplish fitness goals. Just as teachers give our kids space to explore interests and passions at Seabury’s campuses, the school-home distance learning partnership will provide those opportunities as well.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What families can do</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">: When children ask questions, encourage exploration. That’s exactly what Seabury teachers do every day. The inquiry process means not only looking for the answer, but exploring the possibility that there might be many answers, and that those answers might lead to more questions. From pre-k to eighth grade, our kids practice the inquiry process every day, and you will see it in our distance learning program. Encourage children to pursue interests outside of assigned schoolwork as well as optional assignments of interest. And encourage children to share what they learn with their teachers. Seabury teachers not only love to know more about their students’ interests, but are then able to incorporate those interests into future school activities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Provide various forms of subject-based and grade-based acceleration to gifted learners as their educational needs require:</b></i> At the middle school this year, we have three grade levels, 20 students and six math levels that range from sixth grade math through algebra two. In pre-k, we have students who are working on reading simple Bob books and students who read chapter books. Children working at home also need greater acceleration in some subjects. Our teachers use pre-assessments to determine what children are ready for each time they start a new unit of study, especially in math. Our students learn quickly. But they haven’t necessarily been exposed to everything equally so even as we accelerate students, we also find gaps in their learning. Add developmental readiness to that. Just because a second grader can read at a sixth grade level doesn’t mean that child comprehends in the same way a sixth grader would. It becomes a complicated proposition to figure out what a highly capable child needs, how fast the child can move through new concepts, and what they need next. Our teachers are experts at working with gifted kids on many levels at the same time and make sure children keep moving at a pace that is right. At school, our teachers have the advantage of being in the room as students are working. At home, as mentioned earlier, they need to rely on work turned in as well as questions raised to get that “just right” fit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What families can do:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> This is another reason it is important to communicate with the teacher when things are too easy, too hard or need to be done differently. It is also important to remember that a child might move more quickly in some subjects or in some units of study than others. Just like a child’s growth in height doesn’t follow a steady, predictable pattern, a child’s academic growth also goes in spurts. Additionally, at this time of heightened stress for everyone, a child’s progress might slow or their attention wander. It’s ok. We’re there to support all of our children and families through this. And when the students are ready to pick up their normal pace – and that time WILL come – our teachers will be ready for that, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYC1R7Kgww_A-O4Rjd9jJI6mmfN3v7rdl75tQnw10yccFukVPO4Povea_uviUAzHcymFofw-LfvYgs-3-HYH67J1k4bpMnaSGf8kkLnd_rAGu-1ToVa3l7b80ERLZgC4iD1Uq_vHJamgb/s1600/IMG_3575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYC1R7Kgww_A-O4Rjd9jJI6mmfN3v7rdl75tQnw10yccFukVPO4Povea_uviUAzHcymFofw-LfvYgs-3-HYH67J1k4bpMnaSGf8kkLnd_rAGu-1ToVa3l7b80ERLZgC4iD1Uq_vHJamgb/s400/IMG_3575.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Provide opportunities for gifted learners to socialize and to learn with like ability peers.</b></i> This is one of the biggest benefits of being at Seabury. The chance to learn and grow with kids who “get” you. You have probably seen how important this is to our kids if you have listened in on any of your child’s Zoom class meetings. Our children connect on a deep level and inspire each other. In the classroom, they spark ideas in each other and support each other. When kids come to us from other schools, it is often one of the first things they notice – they can be themselves at Seabury in a way they can’t anywhere else. This is vital as they develop their sense of self-confidence and self-esteem. It is in learning to navigate these early friendships with intellectual peers that they gain the skills they’ll need learn to work and learn with all kinds of people. As we moved to distance learning, we recognized how important Zoom meetings would be for kids to be able to make these connections with each other. Hanging out, sharing ideas, laughing at each others’ jokes is important for their social-emotional learning and mental health. Tools like Flipgrid and programs such as advisory, as well as individual and small group check ins with teachers and virtual play dates are all important ways of keeping our kids connected with each other. You can see the joy in their faces when they connect with friends online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What families can do:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> This is a difficult time as we face an unprecedented global crisis. No matter the age of your child, they feel the stress and uncertainty. It may show up in worry, but it could also show up as silliness, inattention, lack of interest in schoolwork, irritability, etc. Classroom Zoom meetings, advisories, and other real time connections with classmates are as important as academic work in order to help kids feel connected. Adults who have watched classroom Zoom meetings might wonder why teachers take time for silliness or sharing. It’s because because our kids crave these connections. Adults help support their Seabury kids’ social-emotional growth by getting them to as many of these meetings as possible. They can also help set up virtual playdates with friends. We have heard about kids playing Adventure Academy, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Roblox or other games together, practicing ukulele together and hanging out on FaceTime. Older kids know how to do this on their own, but might need oversight. Younger kids may need more adult assistance to connect – and also need oversight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>For specific curriculum areas, instructional delivery must be differentiated in pace, amount of review and practice, and organization of content presentation:</b></i> Seabury’s program includes inquiry learning, multi-disciplinary studies and projects. These are all instructional approaches that are best practice for gifted children. Because our kids learn information quickly, we don’t use a lot of repetitive drills. Rather we take learning and apply it to promote complex, higher level thinking. In distance learning, you may notice that teachers start with a big picture overview of a new unit. Gifted students are more likely to be “whole to part” learners. In distance learning, teachers adjust the pace not only to students’ learning needs, but also to family needs. That’s why teachers are providing a combination of basic work and optional work so that the pace and depth can not only be adjusted to what the child is ready for, but also to what works for the family, especially with younger students who need more help from adults.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What families can do:</b> Our teachers know how to deliver content to our children and know lots about how each of their students learn. What they learn more about each day is how individual children are doing in this stressful environment, how much help (and wifi bandwidth) is available at home so they can determine what are reasonable expectations. Knowing that what is reasonable will change over time. They are ready to adjust expectations and projects as kids get into the groove of working from home. When a teacher gives a big picture overview of what is coming next, nobody should panic; not all the work has to be done at once. It’s a preview, so the child has context for their learning, because this is how gifted kids learn best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As you can see, Seabury’s program both at school and from a distance is grounded in meeting the needs of our unique kids. We have always treated learning as a partnership with families, and we are experiencing that now more than ever. Shifting to distance learning has been a huge learning curve for our faculty and staff. But the fundamentals of our program have not changed. We know gifted kids. We know our kids. And we will walk through this time supporting their academic and social-emotional needs together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">–<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Sandi Wollum</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: Lessons Learned About Educating the Gifted and Talented:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Synthesis of the Research on Educational Practice<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Karen B. Rogers<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">University of New South Wales<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gifted Child Quarterly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Volume 51 Number 4 Fall 2007 382-396 © 2007 National Association for Gifted Children 10.1177/0016986207306324 http://gcq.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-84371617244165974592020-01-24T10:18:00.001-08:002020-04-15T14:18:26.154-07:00Seabury School and differentiation<div class="MsoNormal">
Differentiated instruction – teaching tailored to students’ different learning styles and levels – is an educational concept that has been around for decades. It is a concept that’s embraced by most schools in theory – and varying degrees of practice.</div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";">Because it is essential for gifted children to have a program designed to address their individual characteristics, needs, abilities, and interests, differentiating curriculum so that each child is appropriately challenged is at the core of Seabury School’s mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";">Learn more about differentiated instruction at Seabury in this Q&A with Head of School Sandi Wollum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";"><b>How do you define differentiated instruction?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It goes back to the fundamental philosophy that every child gets to learn something new at school every day. Giving every child equal access to education means you need to do different things for different children.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Not always. Some systems in schools are set up to say that every kid should hit the same academic milestones in same way at the same time. We don’t expect children to hit growth charts like that. We don’t expect their T-ball skills to develop like that. Why do we expect their reading or math or other academic skills to develop like that?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>How do we ensure differentiation happens at Seabury?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At Seabury, we have small classes and highly trained teachers in order to be able to appropriately challenge every single child, every single day. Most gifted kids are not equally gifted in every area. They have strengths and weaknesses like everyone else. Although our classes are small, the range of needs is extremely wide.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>What might that look like in one of our classes?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In a first grade class, we might find students whose reading hasn’t really clicked yet, where they’re still struggling to sound out words, but who also have highly advanced comprehension skills when they hear a story read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Other children might be reading chapter books meant for fifth or sixth graders, and yet only have five or six years of life experience so while they “understand” what they are reading, they don’t comprehend like an older student would. It makes the range of abilities in any class wide. And they’re all still gifted.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>How does a teacher address this?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What it means in a first-grade reading class is that kids who are not decoding well need to be stretched in decoding, while still being offered materials that allow them continue to stretch their already high level of comprehension.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">With the early readers, Seabury teachers know that they </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";">usually start reading spontaneously without relying on phonics, so the teachers work with them to notice things like patterns that they haven’t been exposed to. They don’t need phonics to be able to sound out words, but understanding word patterns will help with spelling and vocabulary development.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";"><b>How can this apply in math?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";">You might have kids who are gifted in one facet of math because they have had some previous exposure to it and learned it quickly. But in other areas, they may have had little or no exposure and be totally new to the concept being taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers need to be able to assess what kids have mastered already and skip that material in order to spend time on concepts they haven’t yet mastered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They need to sort out whether kids really understand concepts, or have just memorized a series of steps for solving a problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they need to adjust the pace of instruction to match the child’s learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gifted kids need fewer repetitions to master new material, so teachers need to be keen observers and able to adjust the pace of instruction as needed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";"><b>How do our teachers find out what children know?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri";">We do a lot of pre-testing and post-testing, and assessments all year long. Our teachers have to know our students really well. They are keen observers every day, </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">constantly monitoring the pace and depth and amount of practice that kids need.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>It sounds complicated.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It means really complex scheduling. Students are loosely grouped. But teachers are constantly observing and readjusting. Who’s ready to go faster? Who needs more practice? Who’s ready to move on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might mean giving out three different homework assignments for five kids. Or at the middle school, a math teacher with a dozen students might need to create five different finals. Recently a college professor looked at some papers done by our middle school students and commented that the writing was better than much of the work turned in by his students. Every one of our middle school students gets one-on-one time with a teacher on those papers. Our teachers are good at asking things like, “I wonder what would happen if you do this?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Could we do what we do if we had 25 kids in a class?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYxUtdzb1Gfj87nvSU5P8iIfehJpe0xQdUvlGC0mZxqfDv7SEf0_yhxLTgg9qF_nGvLD-q_X1MDUWt5b5dtHZE8Ntk-fWN5D_mh5qwu4nXtC5q52zCymhCBuM_V8GnPFy7LwVPLUFGNik/s1600/untitled-406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYxUtdzb1Gfj87nvSU5P8iIfehJpe0xQdUvlGC0mZxqfDv7SEf0_yhxLTgg9qF_nGvLD-q_X1MDUWt5b5dtHZE8Ntk-fWN5D_mh5qwu4nXtC5q52zCymhCBuM_V8GnPFy7LwVPLUFGNik/s400/untitled-406.jpg" width="320" /></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Not to the extent that we do. Not with the day-to-day adjustments we do. No human teacher I’ve met could do it. There’s another layer on top of the academic – the social-emotional stuff. Our teachers also know that this kid really loves this; or this kid is having a rough time in his family; or this kid is a perfectionist. If you’d asked me when I was a public school teacher, I would have told you I knew all the kids in my class, but it wasn’t the same. When I came here, I thought with 15 kids this is going to be so easy. I spent so much more time with each kid. I knew them so much better. At the same time I was working so much harder because the adjustments were so much more nuanced.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Differentiation was originally devised so teachers could move away from tracking groups of kids. How do we at Seabury avoid having children making comparisons or feeling labeled if they know they’re in a less advanced, math group, for example?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Our overall focus is always on everyone getting what they need. We focus on kids’ strengths. After they’ve been here for a little while, they should be very aware of their strengths. This is also one of the reasons it’s important to have gifted kids with other gifted kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a class of more typically developing kids, if they find that they’re always picking up on things before everyone else, they don’t get a sense of their strengths – or weaknesses. They either get a sense that everything should be easy and shy away from challenge, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or they develop a fear that the first time they don’t know something, there’s </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">something really wrong. We want them to understand that they don’t have to be good at everything, and at the same time help them develop the work ethic and grit that comes from taking on challenges and being confident that the effort is worth it. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>What else is important to know about differentiating for gifted kids?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The vast majority of teachers have zero training in gifted kids. That means that despite their good intentions for our kids, they’re often operating on myths that are just not true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, more work is not better work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rigor is not measured in hours of homework per night and, in fact, more work for the sake of adding work can be detrimental to the growth of gifted kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research shows that gifted kids’ achievement goes down with excessive practice beyond what is needed to master the skill they are learning. Gifted kids learn quickly in their areas of giftedness, so need less time practice time to master a skill and more time to apply it in new and more complex ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Seabury’s teachers understand gifted kids – how they learn, what the research says about their intellectual, social and emotional development, and how to both support and challenge them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our approach really goes back to that basic philosophy that EVERY child deserves to learn something new EVERY day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Including gifted kids.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Further reading on <a href="http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/myths-about-gifted-students" target="_blank">myths about giftedkids</a></span></div>
Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-45806874271379993702019-11-14T14:25:00.000-08:002020-04-15T14:28:51.866-07:00The Gift of Adversity<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">I</span>t’s hard to see your child struggle. As a parent, one of the biggest challenges we face is how to handle those moments when our children are unhappy, uncomfortable, frustrated, angry, hurt or overwhelmed. From the time they are born, we worry about them, try to make the right decisions about what they will eat and where they will go to school, and do all we can to help ensure that they can grow up to have the life we dream of for them.</div>
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Now that he is in college, I have found myself reflecting on my son’s growing up – especially on those experiences that seem to have had the biggest impact on his development. I’m grateful he was able to spend his elementary and middle school years at Seabury School, the school I head, a school designed for bright, sensitive, inquisitive gifted kids like him. Seabury was a place where he developed strong relationships with amazing children who are already proving to be lifelong friends. Kids who were, and continue to be, kind and supportive and a joy to be around.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But if I am really honest about it, the experiences that have had the biggest impact on making him the responsible, well-rounded, incredible young man he has become were those that were the hardest. When he was young it was dealing with the kid who was constantly provoking fights on the playground, the group projects with kids who didn’t pull their weight and left it all to him, having to room with the most annoying kid on a school trip. As he got older, it was the difficult roommates and the challenging bosses and the frustrating teachers. These challenging experiences, these times of struggle, are the moments that taught him the most about getting along with others and about how to be a friend. They taught him to be resilient, to speak his truth, to choose friends wisely, and especially that he had the resources to solve problems.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a parent, those times were, and are, hard. It was, and is),heartbreaking to see him struggle. My impulse is to rescue him. To make it easier. To fix what’s wrong. To take the hurt away and make it all better. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m glad that I resisted (most of the time). It isn’t easy. Even now that he is an adult, I struggle to listen and support without swooping in to fix it for him. But I know that is what I must do. I realize that many of the traits that serve him best now – independence, leadership, responsibility, confidence, compassion – were developed as he found his way through those difficult times. Of course it was important that he had good times and experienced tremendous support from his friends But if I’m really honest about it, his incredible social skills were honed by navigating situations with the challenging kids. </div>
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Rescuing him would have not only deprived him of opportunities for growth, but would have sent the message that I wasn’t confident he could handle whatever challenges faced him. Of course, there were situations that required me to step in because they were too dangerous or too far beyond what he was ready for, but those were few and far between compared to those that required me to step back or come alongside while he worked through the challenge and made mistakes along the way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As parents, we need to hold each other up, because parenting is hard. We need to help each other find the courage as we watch our kids struggle. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We need to walk through difficult situations with our kids rather than rescuing them from every bump in the road. To let our kids know we have confidence that they can solve problems for themselves rather than sheltering them from adversity. To give them the gift of experiencing the natural consequences of their choices – even when those consequences are hard to take. Because it’s in the times of struggle that they grow most profoundly. <span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-11867384231963657212019-09-10T16:33:00.000-07:002020-04-15T16:34:31.431-07:00Gifted Girls<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“My son needs your program.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He gets in trouble because he can’t sit still and his teacher says he asks too many questions.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He is like the absent minded professor – knows everything about the solar system but can’t remember to brush his teeth or where his coat is.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I sit in my office talking with this parent about the possibility of her son coming to Seabury, I notice his little sister sitting quietly next to mom, doing page after page of multiplication facts sheets for fun. She has asked for mom’s phone because it is better when she can time herself. She has just turned 5 and is in pre-k at another school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ask the mom whether she would also like to consider Seabury for her daughter. The mom looks shocked. My daughter? No. She is bright, but not gifted like her brother. She does well in school and has friends. She likes her teachers and never talks about being bored like he does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0W13dReEywtH_hXRI0YIt4YomgvWUvPcdqdi9G93U4MysBOY_nx-oRrOMUuecLAJxAkGvDr4SFp09DMrZc2Wqzwdg6Pe2cLd3xNg4D4vaIaRBbpl22VUCWdDMvXXok8pJusQYJsXm9nEd/s1600/untitled-257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0W13dReEywtH_hXRI0YIt4YomgvWUvPcdqdi9G93U4MysBOY_nx-oRrOMUuecLAJxAkGvDr4SFp09DMrZc2Wqzwdg6Pe2cLd3xNg4D4vaIaRBbpl22VUCWdDMvXXok8pJusQYJsXm9nEd/s400/untitled-257.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have had versions of this conversation more times than I can count when talking to parents of gifted girls. When I can convince them to have their daughter assessed – just in case – they are often shocked, as this parent was, to find out that their daughter’s IQ is as high or possibly even higher than her brother’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Research from the Gifted Development Center in Denver, Colorado, has shown that siblings IQ scores tend to be within 5-10 points of each other. So a parent with a gifted boy likely also has a gifted girl. Why is she missed so often?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Research has taught us a lot about gifted girls. And as a gifted girl myself who had no idea of what I was capable of and who still battles with whether I can really take credit for my achievements, it has taught me a lot about me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, these are generalizations. Every child is different. But we see this pattern play out often at Seabury and in gifted programs across the country. And it has led me to be passionate about making sure we are not missing our gifted girls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gifted girls tend to be seen as bright, but not gifted, especially if they are socially successful and willing to do the work given to them, even when it is not sufficiently challenging. Gifted girls are more likely to go along with giving the teacher what s/he wants and hiding the more innovative, creative ideas they have. This leads both parents and teachers to believe they are not as capable of creative, analytical thinking as they really are.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gifted girls are at high risk of developing “Imposter Phenomenon.” Girls are more likely to discount their successes as flukes or luck, or to think that the person evaluating them is wrong. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gifted girls are also more likely to experience what researchers refer to as “The Horner Effect,” in which girls hold back what they are capable of because they are more driven to please others than to compete with them. This can include girls hiding that they can already read or do advanced math for their age when entering preschool or kindergarten and/or monitoring how often they raise their hand in class to ask or answer questions so they don’t stand out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seabury exists because we believe all students deserve to learn something new at school every day, and that all students have a right to discover their unique gifts and develop their talents. Regardless of gender identity or cultural background, Seabury is designed to allow gifted children - boys and girls - to experience challenge, to see what they are capable of, and to experience the joy of learning every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The danger of not identifying and serving our gifted girls is that they will go underground, leaving their talents and gifts unrecognized by teachers, family and even from themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gifted girls need a place where it is safe to be smart. To be themselves. To share their unique perspectives and engage in stimulating discussion with intellectual peers. As a Seabury alum once said, “Seabury is a place where I found my voice, and found that my voice can make a difference. It is a place where I can truly be myself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you have a gifted girl? Is she getting what she needs in her current program? She may have friends, like her teachers and be getting good grades. But is that enough? Is she experiencing all of what she is capable of and being challenged to grow every day? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">– Sandi Wollum</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sources:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/articles/what-we-have-learned-about-gifted-children" target="_blank">What We Have Learned About Gifted Children</a>. Gifted Development Center, 2009. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Smutney, J.F. <a href="https://www.davidsongifted.org/Search-Database/entry/A10171" target="_blank">Gifted Girl</a>. Originally published in “Understanding Our Gifted.” Vol. 11, No. 2, pp 9-13. Winter, 1999. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“... <i>Parents are more likely to bring their sons for assessment and overlook their daughters, and this inequity appears to be getting worse. From 1979 to 1989, 57% of the children brought for testing were male, and 43% were female, whereas 51% above 160 IQ were male and 49% female... In 2008, 68% of the children brought for testing were male and only 32% females.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> Gifted Development Center, 2009.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Gifted girls from all ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds are living an invisible life in classrooms across the nation ... By age 11, many gifted girls do not know they have talents. Others, who know, guard it as a well-kept secret. This means that the abilities they could use to develop their potential are instead wasted on adjusting others' expectations (Eby & Smutny, 1990).” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Smutney, 1999</span></i><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Seabury Schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05253726590556601236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-7792339002641840082019-04-16T14:35:00.000-07:002020-04-15T14:38:07.715-07:00Why Seabury?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMPtZQrvLUVAYuN6_muHeAXVLhbQ6MCCzSkSY7INetCtLv2scRn8BvM7KpRVvoz5Ew8kUPhpVkpogozdiBhVCPeFcfayz6LzgJM5T2FsbqmSzO1brW_be3ZBvI8p2lFV65opNpuu-hg_c/s1600/untitled-131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMPtZQrvLUVAYuN6_muHeAXVLhbQ6MCCzSkSY7INetCtLv2scRn8BvM7KpRVvoz5Ew8kUPhpVkpogozdiBhVCPeFcfayz6LzgJM5T2FsbqmSzO1brW_be3ZBvI8p2lFV65opNpuu-hg_c/s640/untitled-131.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our favorite definition of giftedness comes from Annemarie Roeper, founder of the Roeper School.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“a greater awareness, a greater sensitivity, and a greater ability to understand and transform perceptions into intellectual and emotional experiences.</i>" </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you have a child described in the above quote, you probably realized early on that you’ve had to be on your toes, ready to provide deeper experiences and more complex answers to questions than you ever thought you would.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It follows that when it comes to schooling, gifted students think and learn differently than typically developing peers. We often get the question, “Why Seabury?” It’s phrased in different ways, but people wonder why choose this small, independent school over the other options for youngsters in the South Puget Sound area – public schools, parochial schools, private schools – even the new charter schools?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seabury School, which serves students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, is unique among schools in the south Puget Sound because its program is specifically designed for gifted learners. Seabury's program is designed around research based on best practices in gifted education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are a few things that research has taught us about how gifted children learn and grow, paired with how we address these needs at Seabury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gifted children are often intense</b> and are best served when parents and teachers understand this. Their intensity – or sensitivity – can cause them to be misunderstood or even misdiagnosed. Teachers in public and private schools typically have not had training in recognizing or providing support for the unique learning needs of gifted children. At Seabury, gifted youngsters are supported by teachers who understand them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBj5XnFgbvjM4bKXeTaZPkJbVDIsHwfAcAEKkxz1h9GIXGFxPMymqwc8oUM9LWzKKicWgqi709Y7WfDjEctKoj_5MAti4haiP19OGOEyEP8XW_a3aivwvmCbLmvMaA5dyeGNCmaLr8fiA/s1600/untitled-145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBj5XnFgbvjM4bKXeTaZPkJbVDIsHwfAcAEKkxz1h9GIXGFxPMymqwc8oUM9LWzKKicWgqi709Y7WfDjEctKoj_5MAti4haiP19OGOEyEP8XW_a3aivwvmCbLmvMaA5dyeGNCmaLr8fiA/s320/untitled-145.jpg" width="286" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gifted students are typically not equally gifted in all areas</b>. Seabury tailors instruction and expectations to the needs of each individual student. The goal is to provide appropriate challenge in areas of giftedness and support in areas of growth. By individualizing instruction and expectations, teachers can appropriately challenge each child every single day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gifted children learn quickly and retain information easily</b>, especially in their areas of giftedness. Too much rote repetition of material they have mastered will decrease achievement levels. Seabury teachers work closely with individual students and adjust the amount of practice with new information according to the needs of the individual student, with the goal of providing enough practice to master the skill but not repetition that is meaningless or unnecessary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gifted students understand abstractions at an earlier ag</b>e than typically developing students, and seek complexity in work and play. They tend to be "whole to part" learners, preferring to start with the big picture or a big idea, and then deconstructing it into its component parts. Seabury's curriculum is developed around integrated, project-based units of study. Because students learn factual information easily, the bulk of our time is spent on higher level thinking and problem-solving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gifted students show greater academic and social-emotional growth when grouped with other gifted students</b>. Gifted children, like all children, need peers they can connect with to learn how to make friends, collaborate, and develop self-confidence. Grouping students with intellectual peers provides a rich learning environment, but also an environment where gifted students feel like they fit, can learn the give and take of working with others, and feel safe trying new things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Research into the success of gifted adults, shows that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">intellectual intelligence is most likely to lead to success in life and career if it is coupled with emotional intelligence </b>the ability to communicate clearly and navigate socially. Understanding and supporting the social-emotional development of gifted children is as vital at Seabury as academic challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn more about giftedness on our website – </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.seabury.org./"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">www.seabury.org</span>.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">– Sandi Wollum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Head of School</span><br />
<span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><a href="http://www.seabury.org./"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-36132365432565552212018-12-06T18:47:00.000-08:002020-04-15T17:11:08.755-07:00The "G" word<div class="Body">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHpPuLLZvqB3VzopdPQpTRejMULZemqyfmTN27IOOzNAoEp2hepSq38OUeUbJyncDPWZSj49r9nE4NxBHbMn0PZpxS4XrGTZNUMLwaUFbEex84ZZ81Z8O52O4AEp8WwLbmVhSEe8cYs-t/s1600/IMG_20151020_141650581-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHpPuLLZvqB3VzopdPQpTRejMULZemqyfmTN27IOOzNAoEp2hepSq38OUeUbJyncDPWZSj49r9nE4NxBHbMn0PZpxS4XrGTZNUMLwaUFbEex84ZZ81Z8O52O4AEp8WwLbmVhSEe8cYs-t/s400/IMG_20151020_141650581-Edit.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I heard it again just this
week. "I don't believe in gifted education. I believe all children are
gifted."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin<b></b>; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Of course, all children have
gifts. All children are capable of learning new things at school and showing
growth in a variety of ways each day. But this statement makes me bristle
because I also know that not all children have the same gifts. To treat them if
as if they do, denies them the chance to be the unique individuals they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Many of us who specialize in
gifted education are uncomfortable being saddled with the term “gifted” for the
children we are passionate about serving. There is often an assumption that the
label "gifted" is an honor or achievement, and programs for gifted
kids can be accused of being elitist for that reason. But, for better or worse,
it is the term applied to the students that we serve, first by the field of
psychology and then by education. It's important that we understand what it
means when we use it – also what it does NOT mean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This
is how the Federal Government defines gifted students.</span><i style="line-height: 15pt; text-indent: 31.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="line-height: 15pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt;">“The term ‘gifted and talented' … means students, children, or youth who give
evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual,
creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and
who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order
to fully develop those capabilities."</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At Seabury, we particularly
like this definition of giftedness by the great Annemarie Roeper, a pioneer in
gifted education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt;">“Giftedness is a grea<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">ter
awareness, a greater sensitivity, and a greater ability to understand and
transform perceptions into intellectual and emotional experiences.</span>"
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Society has no trouble
recognizing gifts such as athletic ability or musical talent. It is generally
agreed that that children who show exceptional ability in these areas need
different kinds of training and experiences if they are to fully develop their
gifts. Children as young as 4 or 5 who show advanced skill in sports are offered
opportunities for more challenging play and different coaching than peers who
are still learning the basics. Early music education is a no-brainer for a
child who begins picking out tunes on the piano at age 3. Anyone would agree these
children need an appropriate level of challenge to continue to grow. But
something else seems to come into play when we are talking about intellectual
ability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When a child is speaking in
sentences at 12 months old, or forming complex patterns with blocks at 2, or
counting to 1,000 at 5, many people assume that the parents are pushing her.
When a 3-year-old who is obsessed with learning everything there is to know
about planets points out errors in nonfiction books on astronomy and can name
the moons of Jupiter, his parents feel alone because talking to friends about
their child’s intellectual prowess is seen as boasting. And where will they
find teachers who understand him?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Parents and educators often
struggle with the idea that these are indicators that children like this need
something different than the one-size-fits-all-education program we
increasingly have in our schools. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Why does our society
struggle with the fact that not all kids learn in the same way – that some kids
need more time to learn basic skills, while others the same age learn quickly
and need opportunities to think deeply and to ask more complicated questions? This
doesn't make one child better than the other, just different, each with their
own set of talents and areas for growth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6X-GFZ58TQ7u92yyVvGiFdhNlCsLUeqNh39p8opBAPEGXbVGwfzCbXBz5y5x-8RB4Qe4t3LUgEwr7P12xaWedc8kdTrB9me8Atul3gLwN_vUvUWhTGjM0aPjpr-Ex6GhIOtcthyWlR6Y/s1600/untitled-140-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6X-GFZ58TQ7u92yyVvGiFdhNlCsLUeqNh39p8opBAPEGXbVGwfzCbXBz5y5x-8RB4Qe4t3LUgEwr7P12xaWedc8kdTrB9me8Atul3gLwN_vUvUWhTGjM0aPjpr-Ex6GhIOtcthyWlR6Y/s400/untitled-140-Edit.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I have a passion for gifted
education because I believe strongly that ALL children deserve to learn
something new at school every day. I cannot bear to tell our gifted children
that their job in school is to read a book and wait for the others to
"catch up." Of course the other children have their own gifts, but they
are no more likely to "catch up" to those extraordinary minds than I
am to catch up to Felix Hernandez in my pitching ability. Does that make Felix
better than me? Better at baseball – yes. Better as a person – no. Just
different. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Gifted kids are not the
"good kids" or the "easy kids" as many teaching colleagues
over the years have told me. In fact, gifted kids often have challenges that
are unrecognized. The ability to conceive of things that your body and hands
are not yet ready to make or do is frustrating when you are little. Having
questions that are often unanswerable – like "What is the meaning of
life?" – can be difficult and is the reason many gifted young people
experience existential depression. The strong sense of justice and fairness,
and high degree of sensitivity that many gifted children carry can make them
targets or can cause stress as they worry over the suffering of others. There
can be a profound sense of aloneness when a child is seeing things and asking
questions that other kids their age aren't ready for yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Gifted education is not
perfect. We struggle to find all the students who would benefit from the
services we offer. We hurt our own cause when we are too rigid with assessments
or when the label "gifted" becomes a burden or is treated like an
achievement. But when we are at our best, we can provide a safe space for
highly capable children to be themselves at school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Gifted students are not
better than other children. But, they, like all children, deserve the chance to
learn joyfully, to grow at their own pace, and to be understood and
appreciated. That is why Seabury exists. That is why gifted education is my
passion. That is why we need to continue to work to make sure ALL students,
gifted or not, get to learn something new at school every day. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">– Sandi Wollum</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-9509603380180332152018-10-23T19:42:00.000-07:002020-04-15T17:13:28.613-07:00Big Ideas – Little People: Early Learning at Seabury<div class="Body">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_9hssrLxvRrvCOMJ5G59iNo-Vh-u6mA85fX0_q5_ZrDGLWjk7jLD8BFi2vW21miZgf8mpphq1FlO-CiomNjl0MVZS4T861xI0x_rsBltgsdUOTjm2lKtIMAPEhgHVRGBzfRCESUUHZW6/s1600/untitled-128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_9hssrLxvRrvCOMJ5G59iNo-Vh-u6mA85fX0_q5_ZrDGLWjk7jLD8BFi2vW21miZgf8mpphq1FlO-CiomNjl0MVZS4T861xI0x_rsBltgsdUOTjm2lKtIMAPEhgHVRGBzfRCESUUHZW6/s400/untitled-128.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What do you do with a 4-year-old who asks, in all sincerity,
whether you think Pluto should be considered a planet, and can back up with
scientific arguments the view that it should? How do you support a kindergarten
child who has the fluency to read a 300-page chapter book*, but not the stamina
to manage that long of a novel or life experience to grasp the content of books
aimed at fourth or fifth graders. What constitutes an appropriate challenge for
the 4-year-old who has been building elaborate LEGO structures for as long as
you can remember, but struggles to hold a pencil?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Serving young gifted students is complicated, in large part
because of their asynchronous development. All gifted children develop
asynchronously <span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span> their intellectual development is out of sync with their
social, emotional, and physical development. In the early years, the
differences in their development are especially apparent. Young gifted children
often talk like little adults. You hear the word "actually" a lot as
they correct your mistaken understandings about everything from LEGOS to
planetary science to why ice cream before dinner is a perfectly valid idea. But
they are still young, so after a rational discussion of the pros and cons of
pets in families, can throw a beautiful, screaming temper tantrum because you
said no to getting a puppy. They have big questions about life and death, but
are young and want you as the parent to have clear and concrete answers to the
unanswerable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At school, this asynchronous development can lead to frustration
in typical classroom settings. At writing time, the 4-year-old who has a
complex and fanciful story in his head, but who still struggles to form
letters, might decide to give up on writing because it is too frustrating.
Parents and teachers might be misled by the child's articulate speech and big
vocabulary, and set expectations for work and behavior that is beyond her
maturity level and ability to be successful. Early readers can become bored with
books for their age. Yet, books that sync with their reading levels might not sync
with attention span or emotional maturity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At Seabury, our early learning program is designed specifically
to meet the needs of these asynchronous learners. The prekindergarten and
kindergarten classrooms are full of blocks, toys, craft supplies, books and
materials that support play and imagination, and are developmentally
appropriate for young learners. You won't see kids sitting at desks filling out
worksheets. Worksheets are usually looking for the short, <span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>correct<span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span>
answer. We want our kids to be thinking about big ideas and creating
possibilities. Young learners need to learn with their whole bodies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a Seabury early learning classroom, you will witness kids
engrossed in deep conversations as they build complicated block structures. You
will see them using the language of scientific inquiry as they study concepts
of interest to them, creating hypotheses and testing theories through
experiments and research quests. When it's math time, you might see some
students physically solving addition and subtraction problems by moving along a
huge number line on the floor while others are developing number sense using a
variety of manipulatives and activities that allow them to explore complex
ideas in age-appropriate ways. At writing time, you will see some students
writing independently and others dictating their big ideas to teachers. Then they
may copy some or all of what they dictated so that they can experience the joy
of getting their ideas on paper, while working on developing the physical skill
of handwriting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Individualized instruction in skills such as reading, writing and
math allow teachers to tailor instruction to the skill level and the
developmental level of students. An early sight reader may need to go back and
learn some missed phonics rules to recognize word patterns and be a more
effective speller. A later reader who is bright and intuitive might need
instruction in sounding out simple words, and also to be part of a reading
group doing high level analytical comprehension activities with Junior Great
Books stories that have been read aloud. Instruction for bright young students
needs to address both strengths and areas for growth as students' intellectual,
social and emotional development all move forward at their own pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I once read a quote by a parent who said that she wished her
gifted child had a digital readout on his forehead that said what age child she
was dealing with at any given moment. Seabury's early learning program, like
all of Seabury's programs, addresses all of the many ages our early learners
represent <span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span> the 4-year-old pre-k student who is more like an 8-year-old
in math, a 6-year-old in reading and a 3-year-old when it comes to sharing
toys. This allows students to develop their strengths, address their
weaknesses, and grow as a whole person at a pace and in a way that is tailored
to exactly what that student needs. And, just as importantly, to do so in the
company of other bright kids who "get" them and teachers who can
support and nurture their unique learning needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*A note about early reading: Only about 50 percent of gifted
children are early readers. The rest begin to read when their brain is
developmentally ready and often at the same time as other, more typically
developing children. For a small percentage of gifted children, reading is difficult
because they are both gifted and have a learning disability in reading (check
out "stealth dyslexia"). Don't assume your preschool child isn't
gifted just because s/he isn't reading early. Pay attention to other indicators
of giftedness <span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span> a large vocabulary for his/her age, a passion for
complexity, a more sophisticated sense of humor than most age peers, a powerful
memory, etc.) Research indicates that parents are good judges of their child's
development and of whether or not their child may need more than a typical
preschool or school program offers. For more information about identification
of gifted children, read <a href="http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/articles/what-we-have-learned-about-gifted-children" target="_blank">What We Have Learned About Gifted Children</a> at the Gifted Development Center. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">– Sandi Wollum</span><br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-34088524827176858312017-04-27T13:48:00.000-07:002017-04-28T13:56:57.380-07:00"Extraordinary people have singular issues and needs." <div class="Default">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnuemVz5PEI7ep5MmOiDyBsaQDOeN49bAkPI7EKScEtefI6zkry-rgPMhaA_Q8siohrsWd7btZBGOzS46fbrKUdzVc6-Rx_Xuu72Penyp2IvN6PBvH4aKgiLF9ptsou5PPqKmg3OwYmdf/s1600/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnuemVz5PEI7ep5MmOiDyBsaQDOeN49bAkPI7EKScEtefI6zkry-rgPMhaA_Q8siohrsWd7btZBGOzS46fbrKUdzVc6-Rx_Xuu72Penyp2IvN6PBvH4aKgiLF9ptsou5PPqKmg3OwYmdf/s320/image.png" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I confess that when I
went to a screening of the new film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gifted, </i>last week, I expected to be frustrated and disappointed. Gifted kids are
often portrayed in TV and movies as either social misfits to be laughed at or
mini adults and phenoms to perform for our amazement and
amusement. Stories about gifted kids tend to be simplistic. "Gifted
schools" have nerdy kids with thick glasses, no</span><span lang="PT" style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> recess</span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and chess clubs as the only activity. Putting them at a regular school with
"normal" kids is the way to make gifted kids "normal."</span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arialunicodems" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Gifted</i> took
a nuanced look at the challenges of raising a profoundly gifted child, exploring the
idea of how you provide a childhood to a gifted kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does "normal" really
mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Mary's caring Uncle Frank</span> wants her
to be a kid. He doesn't deny that she has extraordinary intellectual gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, he continually challenges her intellect, engaging in philosophical discussions and supporting her passion and ability to learn increasingly advanced mathematics. He recognizes that that learning is
her joy. But he also understands that she is a kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
wants her to run, play and ride a bike and do all the things that kids do.
He tries sending her to first grade, where her age would place her. It is
immediately obvious that she doesn't fit in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is incredulous that the other 7 year olds are learning simple one-digit addition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> She calls them </span>"aliens" because
their way of seeing the world is so different from hers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Her grandmother, on the
other hand, believes her enormous potential is a responsibility. Her family owes it to
the world to develop her immense mathematical potential. If</span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> that means she has to forgo
being a child to get serious about her studies so be it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's the sacrifice she has to make because of
the gifts she's been given.</span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arialunicodems" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dr. James Delisle,
scholar and leader in gifted education notes that gifted kids, "...are
normal – they just aren't typical."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Often, however, when students enter school, the fact that they aren't
typical can make them believe they are not normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or that in order to fit in, they have to give
up learning new things at school and to focus on
making social connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, this often leads to kids who find, like the girl in the
film, that they don't fit in academically or socially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They either have to hide what
they are truly capable of, or look to teachers and other adults to be their
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arialunicodems" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is a choice
families shouldn't have to make for their gifted kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, frankly, it is the reason Seabury exists. Not all 7 year olds are the same, and not all need the same things at
the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In specialized programs for intellectually advanced youngsters,</span> kids can be kids and can reach their potential at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bright 4 year olds can have deep conversations about whether Pluto should be a planet as they play
with blocks and learn to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids who lose sleep over climate change can laugh with their friends at the exploits of Captain Underpants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>eachers don't shut a student down who has a different way of doing the project that has been assigned. Kids who have a million questions are with peers who inspire a million more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arialunicodems" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In gifted education, we
call this a</span><span lang="FR" style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">synchronous
development</span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> – kids who are
developing intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically out of
sync. They are many ages at the same
time. An 8 year old might do math like a 12 year old, read like a
high school student, have the physical coordination of a 9 year old, and have
the imagination of a much younger child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because gifted students have the tendency to be highly sensitive and intuitive, when they are in an environment, like Seabury, where other students and teachers understand them, they feel safe asking tough questions and revealing their sensitivities. As educators and parents who want our kids to become all they are
capable of becoming, we need to pay attention to all these ages and stages of
development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to provide supports
where they are needed, and remove the artificial ceilings in the areas where youngsters are ready to fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arialunicodems" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBQ3bPnjccEJfksgEKOKEQznkzCA_aijzMLMzQaB3Xo8xgQ-x3fU7oRyAt1Sn9aYwa9qgWvYezij40OX-MTcAS_OE53ubZoS3MebkrAh6-Chy3fu3gIWZ-qymqZ74-HrFaNjPA2PzDRkt/s1600/DSC09780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBQ3bPnjccEJfksgEKOKEQznkzCA_aijzMLMzQaB3Xo8xgQ-x3fU7oRyAt1Sn9aYwa9qgWvYezij40OX-MTcAS_OE53ubZoS3MebkrAh6-Chy3fu3gIWZ-qymqZ74-HrFaNjPA2PzDRkt/s320/DSC09780.jpg" width="282" /></a><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Parents shouldn't be forced to choose between social happiness and academic</span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Seabury, students don't have to choose between being intellectually
challenged and being in a social environment that works for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can be normal, even when they aren't
typical. </span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I encourage parents of gifted children to see the film. Because it's Hollywood, young Mary possesses gifts that are extreme. Most gifted students are not doing
differential equations at 7 years old. But they are doing things beyond the reach of typically developing kids their age. Notice how the child struggles to make sense of a first-grade curriculum that covers material she's known as long as she can remember. Bring tissues, it's not easy to watch the little girl understand for the first time how different she is, or her uncle as he agonizes over the best choices for her.</span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Over the years, Seabury parents have frequently expressed – sometimes in tears – how grateful they've been to have their children in an educational setting where they can still be kids and also experience work that challenges them. </span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Seabury exists to allow for children to be
fully who they are – intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally – 100 percent of the time.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;">– Sandi Wollum</span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "arial unicode ms"; font-size: xx-small;">(Movie photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures)</span></div>
<div class="Default">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-11690524842799386862017-03-21T18:41:00.003-07:002017-03-21T18:42:33.048-07:00Bridges – A new program for 5th graders at Seabury aims to create leaders, citizens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">A student in Seabury’s fifth grade is hoping to plan a service project to help Tacoma Community House, which has a department that provides services for immigrants.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“My mom and dad are citizens now, but they were originally immigrants,” he says.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another fifth grader’s intentions will come as no surprise to anyone who’s known the animal lover for more than five minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4PNxjzmQMnhW1r-b6droYTBJGXtnQz89pBra0jxNYMuM34KgP8Kr67bd30kOijqOtradlhdeBYFh7lyJfFqA2DncfKuEX4Vy7zoU_ybXFCSKuQsOvhyphenhyphenvHwuI8Q89oEidsONuW0sEJz4-/s1600/DSC09253-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4PNxjzmQMnhW1r-b6droYTBJGXtnQz89pBra0jxNYMuM34KgP8Kr67bd30kOijqOtradlhdeBYFh7lyJfFqA2DncfKuEX4Vy7zoU_ybXFCSKuQsOvhyphenhyphenvHwuI8Q89oEidsONuW0sEJz4-/s400/DSC09253-Edit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“I want to help the humane society,” she says. “But first I’m going to ask them what they need the most. Like if they need more dog food, I’ll do a big drive for dog food. If they need blankets, I’ll do a big drive for that.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These ideas aren’t coming out of nowhere. They are the beginnings of culminating projects required for the fifth graders at Seabury School. These fifth graders have been the beneficiaries of Bridges, an innovative program the school introduced this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our downtown middle school was founded on the belief that intellectually advanced students learn and grow most deeply when they are engaged in projects that are relevant, engaging, challenging and meaningful. Hence, the community is our classroom.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bridges – in its pilot year – takes off on what our middle school has so successfully nurtured. Designed to be a transition from elementary to middle school, Bridges aims to give our fifth graders something that researchers have found missing in education today – civics education that teaches young people how to become vital members of society.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fifth graders and their teachers take the Seabury bus downtown on Thursdays. With the middle school campus as their base, they head out each week to learn about the people and organizations that make our city and community work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the fall, they visited police headquarters, met with a Tacoma city councilman, interviewed the director of Tacoma’s farmers markets, toured the bustling Pierce County Election </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXsGE0pMJsHYheg2vghWPv_DivhyfuawKVStYxJo7C-7vp6iJ4BW1JV1atkgOZfu88awZfMZfdCd0TwDh_fDwzL0N4AL_cR2CO_nreWAYpHNK13mGKrMhHv9lUI_d_eZtqv-yeoNBGu-za/s1600/DSC08559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXsGE0pMJsHYheg2vghWPv_DivhyfuawKVStYxJo7C-7vp6iJ4BW1JV1atkgOZfu88awZfMZfdCd0TwDh_fDwzL0N4AL_cR2CO_nreWAYpHNK13mGKrMhHv9lUI_d_eZtqv-yeoNBGu-za/s320/DSC08559.jpg" width="270" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">headquarters just a few days before Nov. 8 – and more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you ask the kids which visits made an impression, the answers aren't always what you'd expect.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The Economic Development Department," a fifth grade girl says. "We found out what kind of buildings they want to build. They want to make a place with apartments for artists to live in and charge them smaller rent. That appeals to me because I'm planning to be an artist and they don't always make a lot of money."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes, the lessons are exactly what Seabury is going for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I see what's going on in the community – and I see I can make a difference," says a fifth grade boy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As they learn from community leaders, fifth graders get opportunities throughout the year to develop their leadership skills and to become more independent. They run the school store, an enterprise that involves ordering inventory, managing operations and accounting for sales. They mentor younger students throughout the year, helping with STEAM projects, buddy reading and partnering during other classroom activities and field trips.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After winter break, they turned their attentions in the community to nonprofits and community-nonprofit partnerships. Their visits included the Tacoma-Pierce County Humane Society, Multicare, Center for Urban Waters, and they helped out at Tacoma Rescue Mission and FISH Food Bank. They also heard from the director of the YWCA. And last week, Pierce County Council member Connie Ladenburg talked with the students about advocacy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now the students will research a nonprofit and create an action plan for a community service project. They will speak to people in the organization they choose to help and those directly impacted by their service project. They will find statistics about the organization and the number who benefit from it. Once they’ve done the research, they will put together a presentation (video, PowerPoint, Prezi are possibilities) to be presented to the Seabury community – and to people outside of the school, asking for donations. They will present their donations to the organization and write thank you notes to contributors. Then they’ll decide if their presentation is something that should be presented to a government official for additional support.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Along with this awesome preparation for becoming successful middle school students, leaders – and citizens, BRIDGES, is integrated into everything else that makes a Seabury education just right for gifted kids. Combined, it’s unlike anything bright fifth graders can get anywhere in the state – maybe anywhere, period.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The pilot year has gone so well that we are making Bridges a permanent part of Seabury's curriculum sequence. You can find more information on the <a href="http://www.seabury.org/fifth-grade-bridges/" target="_blank">Bridges page</a> on our website. You can also <a href="mailto:office@seabury.org" target="_blank">email us</a> if you have questions or if you would you like your fourth grader to experience a Thursday downtown with our fifth graders. </span><b>And note – We are offering additional non need-based financial aid for the 2017-18 Bridges school year!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-29543815622248125152015-08-11T11:53:00.000-07:002015-08-13T12:20:57.518-07:00Is Seabury a Montessori Program?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYSOxvXkyCy7TA68un0GHUgcdqkYaOYDfhIPhi1KClUv3qDDYQ9DqZ5ElYTw-RlZUDqnlR2W7mMi5xoQ37QemdlLBTZ6aArHhb0aM-VLwwPUX31f6Zl8PNSXaF28C0eaTf8zQAR3pb1zo/s1600/DSC00603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYSOxvXkyCy7TA68un0GHUgcdqkYaOYDfhIPhi1KClUv3qDDYQ9DqZ5ElYTw-RlZUDqnlR2W7mMi5xoQ37QemdlLBTZ6aArHhb0aM-VLwwPUX31f6Zl8PNSXaF28C0eaTf8zQAR3pb1zo/s400/DSC00603.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parents who visit our early learning program often ask us whether
our program is a Montessori program. Like Montessori classrooms, they see
students engaged in a variety of tasks and making choices about the activities
they are participating in. They see an emphasis on learning with the whole body
through hands-on activities and sensory experiences. They see developmentally
appropriate materials and a focus on students learning skills of independence.</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Seabury's early learning program is not a Montessori program.
Montessori schools are developed around the philosophy and practice of Dr.
Maria Montessori, a physician and education innovator who lived in Italy in the
late 19th and early 20th century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seabury's early learning program is a program developed
specifically for gifted learners – students who have unique
characteristics and who benefit from practices designed to meet their
intellectual, social and emotional needs. Gifted students learn quickly in
their areas of giftedness, and young gifted students can often be identified by
having moved through many of their developmental milestones early (talking,
walking, etc.). Their large vocabulary, intellectual curiosity, incessant need
to know why – and to crave concrete, complex accurate answers to their
million questions often makes them appear older than they are. But they are
still young and have the developmental and social needs that all young students
have –
the need to learn with their whole bodies, the need to move frequently, the
need to learn to share and be independent and take turns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seabury's program combines what research has told us about how
gifted children learn with the best of experiential learning programs for young
children to provide a program that is intellectually stimulating, creatively
engaging, and developmentally appropriate. Like in a Montessori classroom,
students learn at their own pace using a wide range of hands-on materials and
activities. Like in Waldorf programs, students have opportunities for creative
expression through art and play and movement. Like in Reggio Emilia, we
emphasize open-ended questions and student-led exploration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of this, fused with a deep understanding of the way gifted
children learn, create Seabury’s program, which is specifically
designed to meet the needs of gifted kids beginning in the early learning
years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">– Sandi Wollum</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Head of school</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-92063359124850282412015-04-14T16:32:00.000-07:002015-04-15T15:20:11.726-07:00Let's hear it for the girls<div class="Body">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJid5NJOsnPJkmnhODqlKlBKzBjrgU8mZmL0UybHbdbxFCGWY70Oqilsfe0V-IfgCvld0qPNibLjUFY8bLloTzKvBjB4i0gJJ2Cdt7eubyci12PZE-_HM6B4HGOIhVDuqnSoFw1cBxLRyU/s1600/_DSC1107.jpg" height="320" title="Girls do science" width="320" /></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">It
happens this time of year every year. Parents come to my office to inquire
about enrollment for their son. He is bored in school, getting in trouble
often, having difficulty sitting still, and generally frustrated. We talk about
why Seabury might benefit him. We would challenge him and give him a group of
peers he could relate to. We would place him with teachers who understand his
needs and would be patient and positive about his incessant questions and his
need to move.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Often
these parents also have a daughter. When I ask whether they might also be
looking for a placement for her, I am often met with this response: "Oh
no, not her." She loves her teachers. She has friends. She gets along with
everyone. She's happy. When I ask if they have considered having her tested
alongside her brother, I am often met with resistance. But statistically,
siblings typically have IQs that are within 5 to 10 points of each other unless
there is a developmental disability. So I know that there is a good chance that
if the family has one gifted child, they probably have two gifted children. If
I can talk the parents into testing their daughter, they are often shocked to
find that her IQ is as high or higher than her brother's.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIJDdyYCId6r7hIdtbfozE13OKBy1tFCayoFortrJiMrPcBb7vdXOC2iAlfQM8Fkd6wYETX_c5YB8qId-1mB9JeSnvvO5jcmx-FX7TQ49gDmPxzbPyGRl1BJ4_A5iYUhRQW_W_zdQRC8l/s1600/sandf-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIJDdyYCId6r7hIdtbfozE13OKBy1tFCayoFortrJiMrPcBb7vdXOC2iAlfQM8Fkd6wYETX_c5YB8qId-1mB9JeSnvvO5jcmx-FX7TQ49gDmPxzbPyGRl1BJ4_A5iYUhRQW_W_zdQRC8l/s1600/sandf-2.jpg" height="234" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">I
worry about gifted girls who are doing "fine" in regular
classrooms. I was one of them. When I was in elementary school, if you had asked my parents whether I needed a different kind of educational setting,
they would have said no. If you had asked me, I would have said the same thing.
With my limited experience, I didn't know that school could be an
engaging place filled with deep thought and interesting investigations. I
thought it was a place where you did what you were told and all was well as
long as you made the teacher happy. As an introvert, I was happy with my few close friends. It wasn't until junior high when I was
placed in a gifted program classroom that I finally understood what school
could be. It changed my life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">What
fascinating discussions we had – discussions that spilled over into lunch and
left me thinking about possibilities long after school was over. We considered questions I had
never encountered. I was given the opportunity to really think and work that was challenging
and not just tedious. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LXDbo67gC7T8yy5CznuRI7WjdwPqVDMvDjkH1OqfYK_dPmPHDNYzdd8cKZEmItvg7cRPAh0lvbiXeDG48QFsAfXOQAVh1hMqHW04ozCscG-JT44s215MGdJt3zS3aL0wgqtNja65o0sm/s1600/untitled-228-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LXDbo67gC7T8yy5CznuRI7WjdwPqVDMvDjkH1OqfYK_dPmPHDNYzdd8cKZEmItvg7cRPAh0lvbiXeDG48QFsAfXOQAVh1hMqHW04ozCscG-JT44s215MGdJt3zS3aL0wgqtNja65o0sm/s1600/untitled-228-2.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">My
own school experience led me to the field of gifted education. I want
all kids to have the experience of being challenged at school – of getting to
wrestle with difficult questions and intriguing possibilities. I worry about
our gifted girls who, research says, are more likely to go underground with
their abilities than boys. I worry about those little girls who figure out at an early age just what to do so that they don't stand out from the others in their class. They wonder "how
many times can I answer questions before the others decide I'm a know-it-all?" </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">When gifted girls who've learned to fly under the radar get straight A's without needing to work hard (maybe long, but not hard), what do they learn about
how to deal with challenges? How do they understand what their true abilities are? If they expect
that everything to come easily, what happens when they hit college, and it isn't easy any more? Will they doubt themselves and their previous successes ("imposter syndrome.")</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Parents
often struggle to find right educational placement for their child. When
their girls have friends and get good grades, parents believe they are ok. In a sense, they are. But is ok enough for our gifted girls? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Be
on the lookout for gifted girls. Let's give them the chance to be stretched
and challenged every day – to see that school is more than slumber party invitations and turning in the paper with the neatest
handwriting. Let's give them the chance to see that they can think hard and ask
incredible questions. Being in a gifted program changed my life</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">. I am committed
to givi</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">ng</span> today's </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">gifted girls the same amazing experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">– Sandi Wollum </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">(For another personal perspective, read this powerful piece by Erin Brooks, the mom of one of our <a href="http://www.seabury.org/calendar-1/?cid=1257" target="_blank">Jellybean</a> students. It appears <a href="http://crushingtallpoppies.com/2015/01/21/gifted-kids-turn-out-just-fine/" target="_blank">here</a> in <i>Crushing Tall Poppies, </i>a blog focusing on gifted education.</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-9667631882649054352015-03-03T18:43:00.000-08:002015-03-04T10:15:23.782-08:00Differentiated Instruction: Q&A with Head of School Sandi Wollum<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-Gje36xS3Hen3Z1hj2yUklXr7yBwIDpMuZd2yx9HN2t2u28373-PDIp7ffULOJWVdQ53xAiIr2Ibwa6uuIZ3d296hqKcgq2BeKTCSSd-cmZtI07jNdxN6t1VUnfE4d9BQLZSRTFeHsnM/s1600/IMG_6342-2-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-Gje36xS3Hen3Z1hj2yUklXr7yBwIDpMuZd2yx9HN2t2u28373-PDIp7ffULOJWVdQ53xAiIr2Ibwa6uuIZ3d296hqKcgq2BeKTCSSd-cmZtI07jNdxN6t1VUnfE4d9BQLZSRTFeHsnM/s1600/IMG_6342-2-Edit.jpg" height="287" width="320" /></a></div>
Differentiated instruction – teaching
tailored to students’ different learning styles and levels – is an educational
concept that has been around for decades. It is a concept that’s embraced by
most schools in theory – and varying degrees of practice.</div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Because it is
essential for gifted children to have a program designed to address their
individual characteristics, needs, abilities, and interests, differentiating
curriculum so that each child is appropriately challenged is at the core of Seabury
School’s mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Learn more about
differentiated instruction at Seabury in this Q&A with Head of School
Sandi Wollum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>How do you define
differentiated instruction?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I would say it goes back to the fundamental philosophy that every child
gets to learn something new at school every day. Giving every child equal
access to education means you need to do different things for different
children. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Isn’t that just common sense?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Not always. Some systems in schools are set up to say that
every kid should hit the same academic milestones in same way at the same time.
We don’t expect children to hit growth charts like that. We don’t expect their
T-ball skills to develop like that. Why do we expect their reading or math or
other academic skills to develop like that? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>How do we ensure differentiation happens at
Seabury?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At Seabury, we have small classes and highly trained teachers in
order to be able to appropriately challenge every single child, every single
day. Most gifted kids are not equally gifted in every area. They have strengths
and weaknesses like everyone else. Although our classes are small, the range of
needs is extremely wide.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>What might that look like in one of our
classes?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In a first grade class, we might find students whose reading
hasn’t really clicked yet, where they’re still struggling to sound out
words, but who also have highly advanced comprehension skills when they hear a story read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Other children might be reading chapter books meant for fifth or sixth graders,
and yet only have five or six years of life experience so while they
“understand” what they are reading, they don’t comprehend like an older student
would. It makes the range of abilities in any class wide. And they’re all still gifted.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>How does a teacher address this?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What it means in a first-grade reading class is that kids who are
not decoding well need to be stretched in decoding, while still being offered
materials that allow them continue to stretch their already high level of comprehension.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">With the early readers, Seabury teachers know that they </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">usually
start reading spontaneously without relying on phonics, so the teachers work
with them to notice things like patterns that they haven’t been exposed to.
They don’t need phonics to be able to sound out words, but understanding word
patterns will help with spelling and vocabulary development.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQKQzL6Yzn615Wy7W_yLjJwRERVcTZcDegVREjZPAihyCHY9he-H5oJS_DrsKztSLb3tQfR3NZIVauDUNhNL_Fx-cu-ddMwXwFgmycmNFYgsm1yK7mxdhLqCrDm5q31JM-zALE06-9ahR/s1600/untitled-162-Edit-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQKQzL6Yzn615Wy7W_yLjJwRERVcTZcDegVREjZPAihyCHY9he-H5oJS_DrsKztSLb3tQfR3NZIVauDUNhNL_Fx-cu-ddMwXwFgmycmNFYgsm1yK7mxdhLqCrDm5q31JM-zALE06-9ahR/s1600/untitled-162-Edit-2.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
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math?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">You might have kids who are gifted in one facet of math
because they have had some previous exposure to it and learned it quickly. But
in other areas, they may have had little or no exposure and be totally new to
the concept being taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers need
to be able to assess what kids have mastered already and skip that material in
order to spend time on concepts they haven’t yet mastered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They need to sort out whether kids really
understand concepts, or have just memorized a series of steps for solving a
problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they need to adjust the
pace of instruction to match the child’s learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gifted kids need fewer repetitions to master
new material, so teachers need to be keen observers and able to adjust the pace
of instruction as needed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>How do our teachers find
out what children know?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We do a lot of pre-testing and post-testing, and assessments
all year long. Our teachers have to know our students really well. They are
keen observers every day, </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">constantly monitoring the pace and depth and amount of practice
that kids need.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>It sounds complicated.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It means really complex scheduling. Students are loosely grouped.
But teachers are constantly observing and readjusting. Who’s ready to go
faster? Who needs more practice? Who’s ready to move on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might mean giving out three different
homework assignments for five kids. Or at the middle school, a math teacher
with a dozen students might need to create five different finals. Recently a
college professor looked at some papers done by our middle school students and
commented that the writing was better than much of the work turned in by his
students. Every one of our middle school students gets one-on-one time with a
teacher on those papers. Our teachers are good at asking things like, “I wonder
what would happen if you do this?” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Could we do what we do if we had 25 kids in a
class?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Not to the extent that we do. Not with the day-to-day adjustments
we do. No human teacher I’ve met could do it. There’s another layer on top of
the academic – the social-emotional stuff. Our teachers also know that this
kid really loves this; or this kid is having a rough time in his family; or
this kid is a perfectionist. If you’d asked me when I was a public school
teacher, I would have told you I knew all the kids in my class, but it wasn’t
the same. When I came here, I thought with 15 kids this is going to be so easy.
I spent so much more time with each kid. I knew them so much better. At the
same time I was working so much harder because the adjustments were so much
more nuanced.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvSjXdsDmjLRo8lW7BN8r8vblmGVhsn-WmLhgKwtRIAGA4MkjpOrZ_VrPnyjKxzNIEhOdwlVhq6kopefr1clV2-pEfxHR-u7jHRBhVZRWDs1zbe0RhxsNM8rQ0YHEo3GRx63LZr3XpCDt/s1600/teacherhands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvSjXdsDmjLRo8lW7BN8r8vblmGVhsn-WmLhgKwtRIAGA4MkjpOrZ_VrPnyjKxzNIEhOdwlVhq6kopefr1clV2-pEfxHR-u7jHRBhVZRWDs1zbe0RhxsNM8rQ0YHEo3GRx63LZr3XpCDt/s1600/teacherhands.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Differentiation was originally devised so
teachers could move away from tracking groups of kids. How do we at Seabury
avoid having children making comparisons or feeling labeled if they know
they’re in a less advanced, math group, for example?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Our overall focus is always on everyone getting what they need. We
focus on kids’ strengths. After they’ve been here for a little while, they
should be very aware of their strengths. This is also one of the reasons it’s
important to have gifted kids with other gifted kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a class of more typically developing kids,
if they find that they’re always picking up on things before everyone else,
they don’t get a sense of their strengths – or weaknesses. They either get a
sense that everything should be easy and shy away from challenge, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or they develop a fear that the first time
they don’t know something, there’s </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">something really wrong. We want them to understand that they don’t
have to be good at everything, and at the same time help them develop the work
ethic and grit that comes from taking on challenges and being confident that
the effort is worth it. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>What else is important to know about
differentiating for gifted kids?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The vast majority of teachers have zero training in gifted kids.
That means that despite their good intentions for our kids, they’re often
operating on myths that are just not true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, more work is not better work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rigor is not measured in hours of homework
per night and, in fact, more work for the sake of adding work can be
detrimental to the growth of gifted kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Research shows that gifted kids’ achievement goes down with excessive practice
beyond what is needed to master the skill they are learning. Gifted kids learn
quickly in their areas of giftedness, so need less time practice time to master
a skill and more time to apply it in new and more complex ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Seabury’s teachers understand gifted kids – how they learn, what
the research says about their intellectual, social and emotional development,
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</span>Including gifted kids.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Further reading on <a href="http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/myths-about-gifted-students" target="_blank">myths about giftedkids</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-89527234534001504132014-12-30T20:14:00.000-08:002014-12-30T20:50:03.572-08:00Inspiring gifted kids for 25 years – and they sure inspire us!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5m1swMcoCz2ys9zyMkInENZI0ZLDGAdHxu6UkVjLmh9OsSdz-OThWl2SjFhIjJqISY5Kb0U57rK21n4aHbHnO8US-D0Bgh0pM9UIlLp-AQoegMo49Zwi4tsYHAEm91eMJliiD9P4gMwAo/s1600/untitled-273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5m1swMcoCz2ys9zyMkInENZI0ZLDGAdHxu6UkVjLmh9OsSdz-OThWl2SjFhIjJqISY5Kb0U57rK21n4aHbHnO8US-D0Bgh0pM9UIlLp-AQoegMo49Zwi4tsYHAEm91eMJliiD9P4gMwAo/s1600/untitled-273.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December has been a month of reconnecting with Seabury alumni who
have come back to share their stories of life after Seabury. After having been
at Seabury for a long time now, it is always exciting to see former students
and meet those who were at Seabury before my time. I love to hear the stories
of where they have gone and what they have done since leaving our program.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the years, I have talked with and heard the stories of many
of our alums – both recent grads who are still in high school and those
who have gone on to colleges and careers. A number of themes have emerged from
those conversations, themes that both validate the work that we are doing with
our current students and that provide valuable information for parents
regarding the benefit of the significant investment they are making in their
child's Seabury education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>First, every alumnus I have ever talked with or heard from
through others has said that their experience at Seabury has had a significant
impact on their lives, choices and successes. </b>Alumni consistently tell us
that Seabury was the place where they recognized their passion for learning and
where they discovered what true academic rigor looked and felt like. Many have
shared experiences of going on to high school programs with a reputation for
rigor and challenge and finding, instead, that there was a great deal of work
and hours of homework, but much less rigor in terms of thought, analysis and
application of learning. At Seabury, students from pre-k through eighth grade
are expected to take information they learn and apply it in new and unique ways
–
a rigorous activity requiring higher level thinking and deeper understanding. A
number of alums have shared that Seabury set the bar for them, and that they
demanded that kind of rigor from the teachers and professors they had in high
school and college. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Second, alums consistently tell us that Seabury is the place
where they gained self-confidence. </b>Research tells us that when gifted
students learn with other gifted students, they not only increase their
academic achievement, but also show greater social/emotional growth than when
they are in classes with more typically developing students. We see that every
day at Seabury – our students inspire and stimulate deeper levels of
questioning and discovery in each other. And they grow in confidence as they
recognize that they not only have areas of strength and expertise, but that
others have areas of strength as well and that they can learn from and support
each other. We see that self–confidence carrying forward with
students as they move into high school, college and career. We see alums
demanding excellence from themselves and seeking out those who support and
encourage them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdPwnBSic7lCLijXDyaeczxRX3WaTgi2QBvYAMRcVAfjwKl_2oqK1LRPJU-bC2AkRmc5rZiaznH7ajTzkaZT6ASRYiei38URUGvS8JLLWmfygkEPLPbz_coshFVRqSoc1gsgnmon_I4w2/s1600/029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdPwnBSic7lCLijXDyaeczxRX3WaTgi2QBvYAMRcVAfjwKl_2oqK1LRPJU-bC2AkRmc5rZiaznH7ajTzkaZT6ASRYiei38URUGvS8JLLWmfygkEPLPbz_coshFVRqSoc1gsgnmon_I4w2/s1600/029.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Third, our recent grads talk about Seabury's program giving
them the tools to advocate for themselves, getting what they need from school
and other experiences. </b>When we talk with graduates of our current middle
school program, we hear again and again that the community element of the program
–
our students’ experiences interacting with people of all ages through partnerships,
field studies as close as Tacoma and as far off as the D-Day beaches at
Normandy, participation in the Model UN – even Thursday lunches out –
has given them confidence, poise and sophistication beyond their years. They
are able to advocate for themselves appropriately in their high schools, asking
for more challenging classes, talking with teachers, seeking out internships
and relevant experiences, and getting what they need to be successful. Whether
they are at public or private schools, they tell us they have learned how to be
their own advocates and they attribute that to their experience at Seabury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Finally, we our alumni show us that Seabury is not a school
that produces "cookie cutter" students who look the same and follow
similar paths after leaving our school. At Seabury, our goal is to help
students discover their passions and develop their talents, whatever those
might be. </b>When we look at our alums, we see young people who are pursuing
careers in medicine, business, social service, law and academia. We have
musicians, dancers, and artists. We have alumni who have studied at Ivy League
schools and students who have military careers. We have a successful Indie
musician, an Olympic athlete in training, technology experts, a rocket
scientist, world travelers, and students who have made their way from high
school to college early. The broad range of schools our students attend and
careers they have chosen reflects Seabury's commitment to helping our students
define success for themselves and to giving them the tools to ask great
questions, think deeply and seek inspiration and innovation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQQ2DojVo4zHVfPmzVBC45mI5lEEbNGC0nE3iyvka8kWKnqkxMQ8qy_mDLFTA16FTy-x9ZuKSgPr9t7eckdj4UzM8n4JWep6PEGubLY2Wgby-s3teZU-qdet0RxUewDNVTmrD1DyZpEWF/s1600/IMG_9030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQQ2DojVo4zHVfPmzVBC45mI5lEEbNGC0nE3iyvka8kWKnqkxMQ8qy_mDLFTA16FTy-x9ZuKSgPr9t7eckdj4UzM8n4JWep6PEGubLY2Wgby-s3teZU-qdet0RxUewDNVTmrD1DyZpEWF/s1600/IMG_9030.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether they started at Seabury in pre-k and finished the eighth
grade here, or spent just a remarkable year or two with us, our alumni are an
inspiration. Seeing them discover their passions, set their personal bars high
and seek excellence in a variety of ways reminds me of the tremendous
importance of our work. It is significant to me that Seabury is the only school
I have worked at in more than 30 years in education where students cry on the
last day of school because they don't want the school year to be over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seabury students past and present inspire us and inspire each
other. We are grateful for all of them, and I am humbled when I see what they
are contributing to the world. It is a privilege to be part of this special
school!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">– Sandi Wollum</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457600168218629233.post-49866899654170549282014-11-30T18:54:00.001-08:002014-12-01T14:13:19.956-08:00Discovering their gifts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Giftedness
is a greater awareness, a greater sensitivity, and a greater ability to
understand and transform perceptions into intellectual and emotional
experiences.” </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">– Annemarie Roeper,
2000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHbUQKjJYB3xwM0uWK7AOuucDFHL7daTwIzCw7QFABbdwmhxykW8wN_npehKx9sJNgDq6bIT8EfD8Rk040l6eujb6wp9SfDu4XqjY7KATQYQYs-SgnZjb4ZBLqMVOCsrt-L1Wp0NYg_JAT/s1600/_DSC9542-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHbUQKjJYB3xwM0uWK7AOuucDFHL7daTwIzCw7QFABbdwmhxykW8wN_npehKx9sJNgDq6bIT8EfD8Rk040l6eujb6wp9SfDu4XqjY7KATQYQYs-SgnZjb4ZBLqMVOCsrt-L1Wp0NYg_JAT/s1600/_DSC9542-Edit.jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What
does it mean to be “gifted?” We are often uncomfortable with that word and
unsure what it means. Parents of young children who come to visit Seabury often
tell me that they are not sure their child is really “gifted” but they can see
that their child is developing differently – more quickly in many areas – than
other children of the same age and they are concerned about what that will mean
when it’s time for school. They’ve read the list of characteristics of
giftedness and recognize their child in many of them, but what does that really
mean for schooling, for parenting and for life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On
Wednesday after our annual Seabury Thanksgiving feast was over and everyone had
gone home, I was locking up the lower school building when I saw a family
wander into the parking lot. I walked over and introduced myself. As it turned
out, it was a Seabury alum, out for a walk with his mom and a friend. He
attended Seabury from kindergarten through eighth grade and was eager to share
his memories and tell me about what he is up to now. He is working as a French
chef, building on an interest in the culture that was sparked in Mme.
Olliphant’s French class. We talked about classmates who have become video game
creators, who design high tech security systems, who have make successful phone
apps, and one who is an indie rock star. He said that Seabury was the place
where he and his friends felt safe being who they were, pursuing their
interests, learning at a rate that was appropriate for them, and developing the
confidence that would allow him and others to pursue their passions as they
moved beyond Seabury. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
week, we will be hosting several of our more recent graduates who are currently
in high school. Again, as we look at our graduates, we see them finding success
in art schools, technical and science schools, AP and IB programs, and
sometimes creating their own paths through Running Start and other forms of
early entrance to college. We hear them tell us that Seabury supported their
love of learning, encouraged them to seek out those who challenged and
supported them, and gave them the confidence to pursue the things they loved
doing. They tell us often that at Seabury they found what learning looks like,
and they seek that for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaUF3c8pdqOhKYvDXz0yIfA7Lqt3Bh1Xs3jU51WNNoXodXNjc3Kzet4oX6IU69lp5U-AKSSJKVLluW2qzGo1NUYrRuM6vf7nWkMCRCH3Itv4lXTIDjE3vAKvBUbXy73TC27V3y82tv03a/s1600/untitled-309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaUF3c8pdqOhKYvDXz0yIfA7Lqt3Bh1Xs3jU51WNNoXodXNjc3Kzet4oX6IU69lp5U-AKSSJKVLluW2qzGo1NUYrRuM6vf7nWkMCRCH3Itv4lXTIDjE3vAKvBUbXy73TC27V3y82tv03a/s1600/untitled-309.jpg" height="178" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
people ask me to describe gifted children, I often say that the biggest thing
they have in common is that they are all so unique. Our students come to us
with a wide range of gifts. Some are incredible readers who develop insights
that are deep and highly perceptive. Others love numbers and patterns, and
shine best when they can model an idea in three dimensions or through a
mathematical function or equation. Some are incredibly creative, constantly
asking, “Why can’t we do it this way?” whenever they are given a task – always
seeing new ways to put ideas or objects together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At
Seabury, we are committed to helping these highly aware, highly sensitive,
highly perceptive students develop their passions. We are not a school that is
out to produce cookie cutter students – each one looking the same as all the
others. We are a school that is designed to support students as they discover
their unique gifts and talents. We give them opportunities throughout their
education to connect with adults who are passionate about what they do, so they
can recognize that passion when they experience it for themselves. We are a
school where kids are engaged, inspired, encouraged to ask great questions and
explore possibilities. We are a school that teaches to students’ strengths,
whatever they might be, and uses those strengths to address areas for growth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8_7vfix0ybFXPLR9sLoftttPsCUzTLD2oylLJveeA_WEOCsW7gtUfhJkuaYZk5J9IhmVNgYiZ7ZjiKsBk8fAPGVaKro79E66qC1srhA4gnj9zW2r7H00fWaeoRxn-pYsb_EfBgh8bZq0/s1600/IMG_3934-2-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8_7vfix0ybFXPLR9sLoftttPsCUzTLD2oylLJveeA_WEOCsW7gtUfhJkuaYZk5J9IhmVNgYiZ7ZjiKsBk8fAPGVaKro79E66qC1srhA4gnj9zW2r7H00fWaeoRxn-pYsb_EfBgh8bZq0/s1600/IMG_3934-2-Edit.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our eighth graders are spending the school year working on capstone projects that combine their individual passions, the middle school focus on service and Seabury's continued commitment to exploration and discovery. One student with a passion for geography is working with teachers to design a curriculum that he'll try out on our lower school students. Another </span></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">eighth grader, who is a gifted ukelele player and songwriter, will create an extended play recording. A third is working to learn Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop so that he can offer graphic design services. An eighth grade girl, interested in medicine, will shadow a doctor at a local hospital. Another girl, a talented artist, is submitting a mural proposal to the city.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the lower school, we see passions emerge early. There's a fifth grader who has checked out a thick book called <i>The Elements</i> and a fat field guide on North American birds several times a year since he was in second grade. In fact, that bird field guide is one of the most popular books in the library. We have a kindergarten student who holds geography as one of his passions. In pre-k as the class was brainstorming words that started with the letter B, he offered "Belarus." He also could draw an accurate map of the United States on a white board from memory. Last year's kindergarten class became passionate about writing and publishing books. One boy started his own book blog, which he still contributes to as a first grader.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQtrYgStPnHj4daDpANOeqbS73agcssbrWJyX1RCZ2kwdXgK25L6AEGnom_Bkgl8V-NcPJfW7JGqA11Cj8SS70gpcF5btGT6BhgR03CqVPrq9lTCuv8_GHhOZdazG2FZEKrSNW_Sq8yAh/s1600/_DSC9287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQtrYgStPnHj4daDpANOeqbS73agcssbrWJyX1RCZ2kwdXgK25L6AEGnom_Bkgl8V-NcPJfW7JGqA11Cj8SS70gpcF5btGT6BhgR03CqVPrq9lTCuv8_GHhOZdazG2FZEKrSNW_Sq8yAh/s1600/_DSC9287.jpg" height="287" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If
you know me, then you’ve probably heard me quote theologian Frederick
Buechner’s definition of vocation. “Vocation is the place where our deep
gladness meets the world's deep need.” Our goal at Seabury is to provide our
students with skills and experiences that will help them discover where their
“deep gladness” is – whether it’s in scientific discovery or the creation of
art or music or serving others. It is to encourage our students’ ingenuity so
that they can continue to reinvent themselves in a world of every changing
technology and opportunities. It is the reason that our alums can be found in
such a wide range of vocations, having attended everything from Ivy League schools
to apprenticeships and trade programs. They are creating new ideas,
technologies and works of art that are making our world a better place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQtrYgStPnHj4daDpANOeqbS73agcssbrWJyX1RCZ2kwdXgK25L6AEGnom_Bkgl8V-NcPJfW7JGqA11Cj8SS70gpcF5btGT6BhgR03CqVPrq9lTCuv8_GHhOZdazG2FZEKrSNW_Sq8yAh/s1600/_DSC9287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQtrYgStPnHj4daDpANOeqbS73agcssbrWJyX1RCZ2kwdXgK25L6AEGnom_Bkgl8V-NcPJfW7JGqA11Cj8SS70gpcF5btGT6BhgR03CqVPrq9lTCuv8_GHhOZdazG2FZEKrSNW_Sq8yAh/s1600/_DSC9287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s
a privilege to be in the position I’m in. I get to see our students, from our
youngest entrepreneurs</span></span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">developing a pretend latte/pumpkin stand in the pre-k
room to our alums who are attorneys, chefs, artists, writers and rocket
scientists finding what it is they truly love and developing the skills and
abilities they will need to pursue those interests. It’s one of the things I am
most thankful for!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">– Sandi Wollum</span></span></div>
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