The Pendulum

The pendulum that determines the direction and philosophy of educating gifted kids has swung wide in past decades. It is currently resting to the far left, where the idea of "identifying" and teaching gifted children differently is considered blasphemy, while inclusion is the new buzzword. While there are some teachers in this world who have been successful at differentiating curriculum and leveling it so gifted kids have qualitatively different content, have different expectations about the thinking skills they will utilize, and have higher expectations about the quality of the end product, most teachers are simply too overwhelmed to even dream of having to prepare different sets of lesson plans for the bright kids in their rooms. That said, I take my hat off to these few teachers who are mindful and adaptive to teaching the gifted kids in their classrooms, and I bow deeply. It is, after all, the exception, rather than the rule.

The purpose of this blog is to introduce parents, teachers, and administrators to the philosophy of teaching gifted and talented students that I believe, by my experience of teaching this population for twelve years, is the best way to meet their needs.

I welcome your input!