Council+For+Exceptional+Children

=//"The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) works to improve the educational success of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents."//= Some articles on this site which I have found intersting are:

Background information about Autism: []


 * Typically appears the first three years of life
 * It is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain
 * It impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communications skills
 * People with autism may exhibit repeated body movements, unusual responses to people or attachments to objects, and resistance to changes in routines
 * There are many approaches to the treatment of autism; educational treatments usually address communication and behavior; one of the most widely accepted is applied behavior analysis.

Working with children with Autism: [|http://www.youtube.com/user/CECHeadquarters?feature=mhum#p/u/0/2RoXeq8GK7Y]

A podcast found on Youtube from Vanderbilt University speakers and their main points include:
 * Dr. Craig Kennedy- Preschool- Students with autism by definition has social issues, therefore including them in the gen.ed classroom can also help address these as well. However, just being in the environment is not enough, they need many opportunities throughout the day with assistance and monitoring. Teachers need most, support from ongoing expertise.
 * Dr. Debra Kamps- Elementary- Peer mediated interventions are very effective, create multiple peer networks for students, such as play groups, tutoring. Peers will influece children with autism, so want to make sure this is done in a positive way. Train peers how to give simple instructions, how to promt, tell them to say what they want to see (instead of just saying no,) to wait for answers. Should have about three peers with the student.

// Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom //
Background information about Giftedness: []


 * "Giftedness in young children refers primarily to "precocity," a rapid rate of development in one or more realms...But giftedness is more than developing skills faster or going through the developmental milestones earlier. Young gifted children are intensely curious, produce a constant stream of questions, learn quickly and remember easily, and think about the world differently than their age-mates" (Smutny,2000).
 * No one child manifests all of the attributes described by researchers; it is important for parents and teachers to be aware of the ways giftedness can be recognized, and how their child displays it, if at all
 * Gifted children are at risk for boredom, frustration, and depression

Working with gifted children:


 * Early identification and intervention are necessary for the growth and development of gifted children, look for the signs, assess students formally
 * Use flexible grouping, ideally 4 -5 students, but evaluate and give feedback individually
 * Provide students with variety and choice, brainstorm ideas for types of projects they could do
 * Incorporate creative thinking; use "what if" questions
 * Compact curriculum, based on data collected through testing and observation
 * Use ongoing assessments to better understand the students' talents and provide them with future experiences

At my partner school:

I am currently working with a group of 4 identified GT students in third grade at my partner school. I take them out of class during math for 30 minutes once a week. So far, I have been creating worksheets for them with problems similar to those in class, but with larger numbers, and more word problems. I have also asked students to write their own word problems and solve those written by their groupmates. I would like to begin work on a creative project with my students, but have felt the subject area difficult for creativity. For this reason I found the article below particularly interesting and took extra notes on it. Also, as the above article mentioned, I have decided to brainstorm with my students to see it they can come up with a project.

__//Teaching Mathematics to Gifted Students in a Mixed-Ability Classroom//__
[]

How Gifted Learners Differ from Classmates and the Relationship to Mathematics Learning:


 * Pace at which they learn. The sequential nature of math content makes pacing an issue.
 * Depth of their understanding. Deeper levels of understanding and abstraction are possible for most mathematical topics, so differentiation becomes important.
 * Interests they hold (Maker, 1982) If the interest is snuffed out early, the talent may not be developed.

Things I will consider when creating lessons for my GT math group:


 * Use inquiry-based, discovery learning approaches that emphasize open-ended problems with multiple solutions or multiple paths to solutions.
 * Allow students to design their own ways to find the answers to complex questions. Gifted students may discover more than you thought was possible.
 * Use multiple resources. No single text will adequately meet the needs of these learners
 * Use lots of higher-level questions in justification and discussion of problems. Ask "why" and "what if" questions
 * Offer challenging mathematical recreations such as puzzles and games
 * Provide opportunities to participate in contests such as Mathematical Olympiads for the Elementary School (grades 4-6),
 * Provide access to male and female mentors who represent diverse linguistic and cultural groups
 * Provide some activities that can be done independently

More info about GT learners

References for this page come from: [|www.cec.sped.org/]