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Week Fifteen

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Gifted - Movie Final There are 1 replies: View/Reply options

Ashlee Breanna Carnahan Students

Gifted - Movie Final Original post: Wed 4/25/2018 at 10:30 PM

From the teacher's perspective, what would you have done differently in addressing the needs of the little girl. What should have been the process followed?
- I would not have approached the child's guardian directly. There are procedures for such instances where an ESE committee would need to come together to discuss Mary's strengths and weaknesses in the classroom and how it could be remedied via other methods. Approaching the father directly can cause animosity between the child, the teacher, and the guardian(s) and further issues could develop as Mary already dislikes school.

How could the grandmother and uncle have reached a compromise working with the teacher and principal?
- The principal should have made options available and brought them to the family's attention during the ESE committee meeting. Also, the grandmother and uncle should have handled their disagreements outside of the school before coming into the meeting so that the sole focus was on Mary and her success. Both should do what's best for Mary: provide her with the education at her intellectual level and the ability to socialize with her peers. I believe that it took far too long to sort out the educational plan for her than it needed to take and that is because of the constant back and forth between the grandmother and the uncle. Likewise, the teacher and principal treated her like she was different which probably did not help her succeed in the classroom.

What were some aspects to be taken into consideration specific to gifted children? For example, her anger issues.
- Gifted children often get bored and lash out when they are given work far below their learning capabilities. This can lead to violent outbursts (like Mary yelling at the principal) and negative attitudes towards school (Mary did not want to attend school). Her anger issues were only a side effect of a bigger picture that people tended to overlook. By treating the "symptoms," the original problem continues to fester and cause more issues. Gifted students often feel like an outcast and have a hard time making friends their own age. They also tend to get frustrated at the slower pace of other students. As a former gifted student myself, I can confirm that all of these are valid.

List 3 good points you took away from the movie and 3 negative specific to education.
- Three good points I took away from the movie were 1) all gifted students should have the opportunity to flourish by receiving the workload appropriate for their intellectual capabilities, 2) the child and their educational success should be the focal point rather than family disputes, and 3) that it is important for the teacher to be adept at picking up on behavioral issues that could possibly stem from an intellectual gap.
- Three negative points I drew from the movie were 1) the teacher approached the guardian directly and made the assumption that Mary was gifted without asking the ESE committee to meet, 2) the teacher seemed to single Mary out in class which probably did not help her disdain for public education, and 3) Mary was not pretested before being put in the grade level. They put her into her age group whereas a pretest would have been advantageous in showing Mary's intellectual, and gifted, abilities which would have placed her into a higher grade level.

Jeffrey Li Bindeman Students

Re: Gifted - Movie Final Posted: Thu 4/26/2018 at 11:02 PM, in reply to Ashlee Breanna Carnahan

I too was a former gifted student. It's been so long since the tests that I can't remember precisely what I excelled at, but I remember on Wednesdays my mom would take me to a different elementary school to be in an all-gifted class for the day, and when it was over I would go back to my old school to finish up learning there. It helped to challenge me academically, while still letting me learn subjects and hang out with all the friends I had made at my old school.