Jennifer Serafin Gifted Endorsement Portfolio, May 2013

Reflection Part 1: Based upon your observations and experiences throughout your internship, describe how the diversity within the gifted population impacts your professional practice.
This internship has deepened my understanding of the unique needs of every student. All too often, teachers and parents alike assume all gifted students are simply gifted, and need nothing special or differentiated beyond something harder or more work. We overlook individual student differences and needs within a serviced classroom that can drastically diminish a child's potential and abilities. Just because a classroom is a Talented/Gifted classroom does not mean that the need for differentiation is absent. Within the program, students' specific abilities, desires, and struggles are still present and need to be addressed appropriately. Within our gifted population at Medlock Bridge for example, there is a diverse group of students across ethnicities and racial backgrounds, linguistic groups, some of which do not speak English at home, and socioeconomic classes. I was definitely able to make the connection between case studies we read about in Karen Rogers Re-Forming Gifted Education and our TAG program here at MBES. We have two twice-exceptional students that are identified, and this has surprised many people. Communicating with parents that do not speak English includes meeting with older siblings, using translation tools, and reinforcing with students information to be communicated with parents. The amount of face to face conferences may also increase, and occur with older siblings or a translator present if necessary rather than traditional email or written communication. I've also experienced twice-exceptional students that have specific needs that are extremely different then their TAG peers and this does not take away their "giftedness" whatsoever. Instead, it highlights the fact that students are individuals with strengths and weaknesses, and just because a weakness is present, it does not mean the child is not gifted! I've heard teachers brashly comment on a

child, "he does not deserve to be gifted," based on behaviors or needs present that may not indicate giftedness in a traditional sense. Motivation, homework completion, a learning disorder, and attendance do not determine giftedness. In the text, Reforming Gifted Education, Dr. Karen B. Rogers explains this phenomenon in chapter 2 of the text, where she shares her research on who is gifted, and what kind of gifted child the reader may have. There is such a variety of strengths, including depth of knowledge and curiosity, very specific interests (history or art for example), unconventional levels of creativity, dependability, leadership and charisma. Its been eye-opening to realize that being serviced in the Gifted program is not a singular, definitive label, but a keyhole to begin to understand a childs documented needs within the classroom setting. Throughout this internship, I've embraced the idea that not all students learn the same way, even in the gifted classroom. Some students process visually, audibly, or through kinesthetic learning. Some students respond to role play and other do not. Some students love to be hands on and explore, while others prefer to dive into a book about history or a primary source and lose themselves in the text instead. Some students thrive on sharing in a group while others prefer more private communication of learning goals and outcomes. Some students would rather act out a response to lesson and other students would rather hide in the corner under a desk all day and write pages of responses if they didn't have to perform in front of the class. I'm learning to incorporate these differences and how to assess and monitor progress. I strive to find equity in their choices to respond and participate in ways that give them choice and lean into their natural gifting. This is not to say that all assignments are choice based, especially as students are being exposed to new strategies, formats, and concepts. There is a natural balance between being pushed outside of your comfort zone to try new things rather than stick to old, tried and true methods. I am excited for next year as I have more freedom to direct assessment of learning to incorporate choice, interest, and multiple intelligences. The most rewarding part of this internship has been the impact of realizing and planning for all students needs regardless of level, and this has benefitted all of

my students, not just the gifted ones. One size does not fit all, and this must be reflected not only in our teaching, but how we assess as well. I look forward to collaborating with each grade level team next year to not only bridge communication gaps between staff and the TAG teachers, parents and TAG teachers, and making information more readily available for parents to access. I plan to directly communicate with grade level teachers to share where the enrichment is taking place, and especially to help the teacher enhance learning for the rest of her students in addition to the TAG students. I look forward to learning more this summer in Characteristics and Assessment this summer!