drop into my deep blue yonder... » gifted http://words.edublogs.org English for non-native speakers, learning for the 'very able' and e-learning Sun, 16 Sep 2007 09:09:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 a bright child or a gifted learner? http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/28/a-bright-child-or-a-gifted-learner/ http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/28/a-bright-child-or-a-gifted-learner/#comments Sat, 28 Jul 2007 18:57:33 +0000 words http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/28/a-bright-child-or-a-gifted-learner/ This thought provoking piece which I first came across from Janice Szabos in Challenge Magazine should be in every teacher’s and parent’s consciousness in my opinion. It would be interesting to get the response of bright or gifted children (or their parents) to it:

A Bright Child:
Knows the answers
Is interested
Is attentive
Has good ideas
Works hard
Answers the questions
Top group
Listens with interest
Learns with ease
6-8 repetitions for mastery
Understands ideas
Enjoys peers
Grasps the meaning
Completes assignments
Is receptive
Copies accurately
Enjoys school
Absorbs information
Technician
Good memorizer
Enjoys straightforward sequential presentation
Is alert
Is pleased with own learning The Far Side by Gary Larsen on flickr
A Gifted Learner
Asks the questions
Is highly curious
Is mentally and physically involved
Has wild, silly ideas
Plays around, yet tests well
Discusses in detail, elaborates
Beyond the group
Shows strong feeling and opinions
Already knows
1-2 repetitions for mastery
Constructs abstractions
Prefers adults
Draws inferences
Initiates projects
Is intense
Creates a new design
Enjoys learning
Manipulates information
Inventor
Good guesser
Thrives on complexity
Is keenly observant
Is highly self-critical

It feels right to me based on my experience of both; what do you think?

]]> http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/28/a-bright-child-or-a-gifted-learner/feed/ 0 SWOT analysis and talent http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/27/swot-analysis-and-talent/ http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/27/swot-analysis-and-talent/#comments Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:02:10 +0000 words http://words.edublogs.org/2007/07/27/swot-analysis-and-talent/ One of the most interesting parts of my MBA course all those years ago was SWOT analysis. For those who haven’t encountered it, SWOT analysis involves analyzing a business placement in the market place as a snapshot of its strengths, its weaknesses , the opportunities available and the threats facing it. Why it made such a great impression on me was not merely its application to market analysis but much more its flexibility as a tool for analyzing any learning (or even life) situation. I’ve used it often to great effect but one question still hangs over me. To what extent should one play to one strengths and develop them and to what extent should one try to ameliorate the weaknesses? When we deal with the gifted we react differently to the way we deal with children with learning difficulties. Is it right to foster the strengths of the very able but to try to alleviate the weaknesses of the less able? Does the way you are taught depend merely on your place on the ability ladder and which abilities are we looking at in that situation? Are they merely academic or are we considering the whole range of intelligences? Maybe I need to re-examine Gardner’s views on intelligence Multiple intelligences from C4Chaos on flickrand see how they could be ’schooled’ more skillfully.

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