Gifted and Talented Academy Year 2 Curriculum and Instruction Session 1 HAEAnet Password: education

Agenda Welcome/Check In Moodle Where We’ve Been Making Sense of Curriculum Curriculum Models Team Planning Closure

Targets: I can… Define curriculum Understand basic principles of curriculum Make connections between curriculum for the gifted and Iowa Core Identify which philosophical perspective matches my district’s gifted programming Identify basic differences among and roles of curriculum models Work with my team to set goals for curriculum design

Reflecting Individually Jot down –1-2 key accomplishments from Academy Year 1 –1-2 ways your programming is better now than it was a year ago Share at your table

Handshake Find a partner Introduce yourselves Share one key accomplishment and one programming improvement Repeat twice Large group processing

Web 2.0 Tools Wiki –Set up account –Create team Wiki space –gtacademy2districtname Visit –Download PowerPoint Moodle

Processing Reading Number off by 3’s Discuss assigned chapter and identify key points Jigsaw What shifts in thinking does this information create for you? Your team?

Jeanne Purcell, 2002

Curriculum Defined A set of organized experiences appropriate for gifted learners that are written down and adopted for use in a school district. It represents a formal codifying of the goals, objectives, and activities of a gifted program. The appropriateness of a district's basic curriculum for the gifted is a key consideration. (VanTassel-Baska, 1994).

Curriculum Defined A design plan that fosters the purposeful, proactive organization, sequencing, and management of interactions among the teacher, the learners, and the content knowledge, understandings, and skills we want students to acquire. (Purcell & Eckert, 2007)

Curriculum Defined Curriculum can be divided into three categories: intended, enacted, and assessed curricula Intended curriculum: the content target for the enacted curriculum, often captured in content standards or other similar documents Enacted curriculum: the content actually delivered during instruction in the classroom and other learning settings Assessed curriculum: the content that is assessed to determine achievement (Porter, 2004) As defined in the Iowa Core

Processing In your team discuss –What is common across definitions –Where definitions differ –Key considerations for your context

Making Sense of Curriculum With your team/table group discuss what it means to have “curriculum for the gifted.” –Today’s MeetToday’s Meet

Making Sense of Curriculum Read “Myth: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted!” and “Myth 9: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted” –Identify key ideas and arguments –Discuss shifts in thinking from 1982 to 2009 –How do these ideas connect to Iowa Core: essential concepts and skills, characteristics of effective instruction, and universal constructs?Iowa Core –Consider the connection between gifted programming and curriculum

Making Sense of Curriculum “Thoughts on Curriculum for the Gifted” –Form four groups, each focused on one of the “thoughts.” –Discuss the thought and relate it to what you have read and learned so far about curriculum. –Reform into groups of four, with each “thought” represented in the group. –Share the key ideas of the original group’s discussion.

Making Sense of Curriculum Review Guiding Principles and Best Practices and Traits (p , Purcell & Eckert) Discuss with your team –The ways each of these is evident in what you have read and learned so far about curriculum for the gifted.

Making Sense of Curriculum With your team/table group discuss what it means to have “curriculum for the gifted.” –Post on todaysmeet Read “Myth: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted!” and “Myth 9: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted” “Thoughts on Curriculum for the Gifted” Review Guiding Principles and Best Practices (p. 89, Purcell & Eckert) Discuss in relation to initial perceptions –Have those perceptions changed based on new information? Individually identify and share with your team something you’ve learned about curriculum for the gifted.

Curriculum Philosophy Curriculum as Development of Cognitive Processes Technology Personal Relevance Social Reconstruction Academic Rationalism Precursor to Professional Career VanTassel-Baska & Stambaugh, 2006

Curriculum Philosophy Individually –Identify any of the curriculum orientations you use in your programming. –Determine which best match your own philosophy. With your team –Share individual perspectives –Determine which best match the orientation of your comprehensive plan –Discuss how/why curriculum orientation matters in and/or influences programming.

Influences on student learning LEADERSHIP School Teacher Student 1.Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum 2.Challenging Goals & Effective Feedback 3.Parent & Community Involvement 4.Safe & Orderly Environment 5.Collegiality & Professionalism 6.Instructional Strategies 7.Classroom Management 8.Classroom Curriculum Design 9.Home Environment 10.Learned Intelligence/Background Knowledge 11.Motivation

Curriculum Models In designing appropriate curricula for gifted and talented students, a curriculum model or models may serve as an ideal framework… Schools may choose to adopt a specific model or take a more eclectic approach in adapting several models that suit their needs.

What is a curriculum model? …a format for curriculum design developed to meet unique needs, contexts, and/or purposes.

Parallel Curriculum Model …a set of four interrelated designs that can be used singly, or in combination, to create or revise existing curriculum units, lessons, or tasks. Each of the four parallels offers a unique approach for organizing content, teaching, and learning that is closely aligned to the special purpose of each parallel. --Purcell, 2002

Ascending Levels of Intellectual Demand Escalates one or more facets of curriculum Takes into consideration students’ –Cognitive abilities –Prior knowledge –Schema –Opportunities to learn –Learning rate –Developmental differences –Levels of abstraction

Why ALID? To honor student differences Address varying levels of prior knowledge, varying opportunities, and cognitive abilities To ensure optimal levels of academic achievement To support continuous learning To ensure intrinsic motivation To provide appropriate challenge Provides “mental sweat”

ALID Download ALID document –WikiWiki Read the levels and discuss in your team Add Ideas, Thoughts, and Implications One team member save and upload to team Wiki or Google site or to all team members.

Survey Visit WikiWiki Click on the survey link Each person on team complete

And the Survey Says… Discuss as a team –What the survey results show –How you interpreted the ratings –Discrepancies across buildings –Implications of these results in light of what you’ve discussed today

Team Planning Use planning template on Wiki for team planning/goal setting. Upload to the Moodle site (session 1)

Home Play Respond on the Moodle to chapters 1-3 in text Read chapters 4-6 in VT-B text and post to Moodle forums Finish team plan & post to Moodle by Nov. 16 Share plan with administrative/advisory team Choose an area and explore Iowa Core standards

Next Meeting November 29, 2012 Heartland AEA Ames Office