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(Peyrot)
I also agree that our process of identifying gifted students isn't as flexible as it should be. I also liked the idea that as teachers, we need to be  the biggest advocate for our students. After all, we do know them best.

I think the part of the reading that stood out the most to me was when it was discussing the importance of looking past what most people see as "gifted." Gifted students do not fit into a mold. Not all gifted students look and act the same. They're not always your "teacher pleasers." This ties in to my other favorite part when it states that we need to be a "treasure hunter." We have to learn how to look past the "undesirable" traits or looks a student might have because they very well could be gifted. Many times, those become road blocks for those kids to be identified. I myself have been guilty of this. Being identified as gifted myself, it was hard for me to realize that not all gifted students are like me. I'm hopeful that with a new outlook on identifying gifted kids, I will be better at seeing that possibility in more of my students, finding those atypical gifted students, and that I will be able to advocate for them.

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(Venjohn)

I feel like the process of identifying learners for a gifted program is not as flexible as it could be. I like the idea of an educator having the opportunity to collect work samples in order to create a portfolio and have a panel of educators look over the work included. This could be a panel of educators who do not already know the learner because it was mentioned in the chapter that educators can have bias when making a decision about who is gifted.

I enjoy identifying learners as gifted when they surprise me with their thinking and see the solution to a problem so differently from their peers.  I would not know how to help create a rubric for that learners project because they would not fit the typical rubric that I would create in order to evaluate the project.  I hope that makes sense.

I also really enjoyed reading about a probationary period of time for learners to be apart of a gifted program.

I also really enjoyed the part of the text that mentioned for educators to focus on the reality that the child's needs, intellectual and emotional, may not be better met in a gifted classroom but instead in the general education classroom.

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I agree with Batson about helping the students that do not qualify through our inflexible testing, but may actually be atypical GT kiddos. We absolutely can differentiate in our classroom. I feel like it is a good idea to treat identification as an ongoing process. I had a student not qualify when I taught him, though I was certain he was GT, and yet later on he was retested and qualified. I believe that the test may be biased towards certain high achieving students, ones that have had the privilege of various life experiences due to great parenting. I think this happens in the early grades especially. I believe we are guilty of labeling high achieving Kinder students as GT.

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I agree with Batson about helping the students that do not qualify through our inflexible testing, but may actually be atypical GT kiddos. We absolutely can differentiate in our classroom. I feel like it is a good idea to treat identification as an ongoing process. I had a student not qualify when I taught him, though I was certain he was GT, and yet later on he was retested and qualified. I believe that the test may be biased towards certain high achieving students, ones that have had the privilege of various life experiences due to great parenting. I think this happens in the early grades especially. I believe we are guilty of labeling high achieving Kinder students as GT.

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Is our process of identification flexible?

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Is our process of identification flexible?

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I agree that our process of identification is not flexible. I also agree that it is up to us as teachers, who spend the most time with our students, to advocate for our students! I think that it is also important to accept that we are working on a judgment call and can only do our best to navigate an often inflexible system. This doesn't have to be a difficult task. We need to try to give enough choice to allow our students "to show us the glow of their fine minds."

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I agree with the comment made that the process of identifying is not flexible. Because some students do not test well or might be having a bad day, for example, the testing might not show the true results. There are so many variables to testing. I liked the suggestion of being a "talent identifier and student advocate." Even if a student isn't identified/qualified as a GT student, that doesn't mean that we can't differentiate in our classroom and extend their learning. What good teacher doesn't do that? This will also help with identifying atypical GT students. (Because I have been guilty of confusing a teacher pleaser with someone who was gifted. Again, we need to advocate for our students and recognize the attributes that aren't typically associated with GT--rebel against conformity, those creative connections and those easily bored--not always a bad thing.

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I feel our process is has the capabilities of identifying students.  Working in a non-typical classroom environment I am able to see other strengths not normally seen during math/LA.  I think this is a MUST READ for all teachers.  I feel having the opportunity or time to make connections allows teachers a chance to offer choices to complete assignments.  I know there is a current 5th grade student that would qualify but is not in program. 

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I feel our process is has the capabilities of identifying students.  Working in a non-typical classroom environment I am able to see other strengths not normally seen during math/LA.  I think this is a MUST READ for all teachers.  I feel having the opportunity or time to make connections allows teachers a chance to offer choices to complete assignments.  I know there is a current 5th grade student that would qualify but is not in program. 

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Bates

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I do like the idea of testing whole group in Kindergarten and then again in 2nd grade. I have seen kids qualify at an older age. After reading this chapter 2, I realize the student may not be a good test taker,(especially in kinder) and some students may be shy or the test may be biased towards a certain ethnic/cultural group. I don't think testing alone should be the end all be all of identification.
I like the idea of not only standardized achievement tests  count and that real -world evidence of the creativity parents and teacher see on an ongoing basis. The most powerful thing I read in chapter 2 is that the teacher needs to be the advocate for the student. Offer evidence that doesn't show up in test scores.

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I do not believe that our process of identifying gifted students is necessarily flexible.  I know that while reading chapter 2 I found myself guilty of thinking of the "once not identified, never identified" and that identification is an "April Event" or in our case a "September/October event".  Regardless I do feel that students even recommend by teachers and parents still have to meet certain requirements making the group somewhat inflexible.  One way to ensure that we are identifying atypical gifted students is to make sure that we as gen ed teachers are giving our students a variety of assignments where they will have the freedom to show their talents in many different ways.  We need to allow students a sense of choice and ownership in their learning.  This is beneficial not only for identifying potential gifted students; but also to the regular students, and it also helps alleviate misconduct in the classroom.