This fall, I had the opportunity to facilitate an after-school enrichment class for students from low-income neighborhoods in my district. This program was funded by a grant and allowed students a positive place to work and learn after school. My after-school program focused on philanthropy and developing real-world skills. In partnership with She's the First, a non-profit organization that fights for girls' education, I developed a six week unit. Each week, we virtually traveled to a different country to learn about their culture. The countries we visited were all countries that She's the First partners with. The students were able to make connects about privilege in seeing pictures of where and how girls went to school. After learning key vocabulary such as feminism, discrimination, privilege, educational inequalities, my students, both boys and girls, started to become invested in the work of She's the First. The next steps of my after-school class were to start organizing a fundraiser. This is where I turned the steering wheel over to the students. They had to brainstorm ideas that were plausible, pick one, organize it, and implement it on their own. After some discussion, they decided they wanted to hold a bake sale. All proceeds would go to She's the First. They called the principal for permission, organized donations, and determined prices. They made flyers, advertised to their peers, and taught lessons in each class about the work of She's the First. On the sixth week, all of their hard work came together. They made over $100 at their bake sale and donated it all to She's the First. The excitement and engagement of these students over those six weeks proved to me how important student-driven learning is. It showed me that students, any age, can empathize with other humans beings. Philanthropy is now a skill and concept to that is familiar to them. Hopefully this sparks a life-long desire to help others and continually recognize their own privileges.
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As an undergrad, I landed a work labor job in the basement of the admission building at University of Connecticut. Oh great, the one building with no windows on campus, I remember thinking. Five years later, I owe many of my career moves and decisions to that windowless basement in Storrs, Connecticut. It was there that I met and worked for Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli and the amazing staff at the National Research Center for Gifted Education. It was there that I learned about gifted pedagogy by listening to two professors walk by my desk. It was there that I got to read and reread books, journal articles, and other publications on the inner workings of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model.
The Schoolwide Enrichment Model or SEM for short (not to be mistaken with STEM) is a model of talent development created by Dr. Renzulli and Dr. Sally Reis in 1977. Dr. Renzulli and Dr. Reis, the power couple of gifted education, quickly became Joe and Sally to me. Both we so caring and kind, so warm and open-hearted, so willing to help me in any way they could. Imagine this, two world renowned researchers, willing to help and care for their undergrad student worker with no background in gifted education. That tells you a lot. Back to SEM, it is the model most widely used by school systems across the country. Joe and Sally travel all over the world now to talk about the in's and out's of SEM. Up until a few months ago, I'd feel truly unqualified to write my own perspective on SEM. In my new position as gifted and talented teacher for two elementary schools, I work to implement all aspects of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Having more direct experience with the model, I feel compelled to share my perspective. SEM takes theory and puts it into practice. It is comprised of multiple moving parts. The Total Talent Portfolio This idea refers to looking at students through the lens of a total talent portfolio. Students are more than a test scores. This method of identification allows a team or committee of people such as teachers, specialists, administrator to examine gifted potential in each student. A portfolio might consist of standardized test scores, benchmark assessments, nonverbal screeners, work samples. observations and more. Curriculum Modification Techniques In this model of giftedness, students may need their learning to be personalized. Curriculum compacting is a method to modify curriculum. Teaches may find that students pass the certain areas on a pre-test. Using this data, teachers can advance students in the curriculum. They will not provide more work in one area, but instead push the students forward in a standard they have not learned yet. Teachers can also use menus or choice boards to allow students with high abilities the independence to choose their learning. Enrichment Learning and Teaching Enrichment opportunities can be provided schoolwide, in the general education classroom, or as an elective or pull-out class. Students engage in three types of learning, type I, type II, and type III. Type I is when students explore an interest of theirs. Type II leads them to critically think about that topic and work as a group. Type III learning allows the students to connect their learning to a real world service or product. Having seen this model in many different steps of implementation, the results are overwhelmingly positive. This is a brief introduction to the in's and out's of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. More to come! Fore more information and research on the topic, go to the following website. https://gifted.uconn.edu/schoolwide-enrichment-model/ |
Ms. StargardterI am a gifted and talented teacher. Listen to my thoughts on social justice, global citizenship, gifted education, and diverse books. I'd love to hear yours as well! Archives
December 2018
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