I have had the pleasure of teaching a number of students that I believe if having been in the Montgomery Public School system would have been labeled as GT/LD (Gifted Talented/Learning Disabled.) One year I taught preschool in a general education setting with 18 students, one of which was diagnosed with autism. This particular child struggled with peer and teacher interactions, but he truly was both gifted and talented. When it came to dinosaurs this child had practically memorized every fact he could get his hands on. He could tell you all about the differences between a pterodactyl and a stegosaurus, knew the average height and weight of a velociraptor, and could tell you what years each species roamed the earth along with their scientific names. He also had an artistic talent and could draw intricate images of each dinosaur. Another child I had in my summer program struggled with reading and comprehension, but had every single student and staff members birthday memorized by the end of the first week simply from having the birthday chart hanging on the classroom wall. This child also had a knack for memorizing dates and times, and could tell you exactly when the last time we served macaroni and cheese for lunch was, or when he had last been chastised for teasing his sister.
The struggle that I sometimes face when dealing with a gifted or talented student that is also learning disabled is that in a classroom with only myself and one teachers assistant it is difficult to properly manage the time between each student. This year for instance, I have eight students only two of which I would consider GT. Of my two GT students, one is completely echolailc and does not currently produce unique words or phrases, the other is verbal, social, intelligent, and about to be removed from special education next year and placed in to a general education setting. Because these two students are able to accomplish more work independently and require less hand over hand interventions from myself and my aide, a great deal of our time is being divided amongst our other students that require far more assistance to complete day to day tasks such as removing a jacket, or remembering how to sign in on the board in the morning. I am often left feeling guilt wondering what I could be doing to better challenge my GT students.
The article provided many examples of ways to differentiate and provide accommodations for students using assistive technologies to help students, but I found that most of the examples seem to be geared towards second grade and up. My gifted students cannot read or write, they do not have the maturity or the experience to self regulate or manage their time, and they still lack the experience that an older student would have in the educational setting to be able to utilize many of the suggestions listed. I would be interested in learning more ways to better assist my very young GT/LD students.
The struggle that I sometimes face when dealing with a gifted or talented student that is also learning disabled is that in a classroom with only myself and one teachers assistant it is difficult to properly manage the time between each student. This year for instance, I have eight students only two of which I would consider GT. Of my two GT students, one is completely echolailc and does not currently produce unique words or phrases, the other is verbal, social, intelligent, and about to be removed from special education next year and placed in to a general education setting. Because these two students are able to accomplish more work independently and require less hand over hand interventions from myself and my aide, a great deal of our time is being divided amongst our other students that require far more assistance to complete day to day tasks such as removing a jacket, or remembering how to sign in on the board in the morning. I am often left feeling guilt wondering what I could be doing to better challenge my GT students.
The article provided many examples of ways to differentiate and provide accommodations for students using assistive technologies to help students, but I found that most of the examples seem to be geared towards second grade and up. My gifted students cannot read or write, they do not have the maturity or the experience to self regulate or manage their time, and they still lack the experience that an older student would have in the educational setting to be able to utilize many of the suggestions listed. I would be interested in learning more ways to better assist my very young GT/LD students.