Gifted and Talented

In My Humble Opinion
41

Dry,

Actually my education had nothing to do with my job, my degree is in English. Oddly enough I was in line to become a legal technician at the Justice Department in SF when a friend of mine offered me the ultimate slacker job - testing computer games. I decided I’d have one last fun job before getting a “real” one and signed on as a tester. I was the only woman in the lab and I was the oldest by several years, but it was great. A year later that goofy testing experience was enough to qualify me for this job, which is just as goofy but pays more than double what I would be earning as a legal tech. Now I test a browser, which means I surf all day and wait for the thing to crash. I swear, my career has been entirely accidental.

If you’re bored with the paralegal stuff (and honestly, who wouldn’t be?) it’s time to get up and do something fun, even if you have to take a pay cut for a few months. I’m so glad I didn’t go down that road.

Ooops, sorry for the hijack!

42

My school didn’t HAVE one on the “premise” that all students were gifted and talented. Uh-huh:rolleyes: so, I was stuck with a bunch of people who SO didn’t want to be doing anything even close to a book, microscope, calculator, etc. Ugh. DM, I know and feel your pain.

In high school it was a bit better . . . some honors classes, though there was a lot lacking.

College is just lovely. Except for having to take annoying, dull intro classes when I’ve been surrounded by the material my entire life, it’s lovely. I managed to test into near-graduate-level French and I’m currently taking a computer/English course that would be a struggle and a half for 1/2 my HS graduating class:)

I wish my grade school had given half a shit about teaching me more quickly than the “peers” I was with. Oh well.

43

The school district that I attended used clustering to handle the different learning levels of kids. Then in 4th they took it a step further and had separate math and English classes for everyone. Separate from homeroom, I mean. If that wasn’t good enough they would try and promote you to the next grade. Some parents didn’t like that option though. My husband was one of those kids and so they stuck him in the hall doing independent studies most of the time. In jr. high then every class was a different teacher and still clustered. In high school they allowed a college level English class and also a math class to seniors who had good enough grades.

Even sitting in the hall has got to be better than what my daughter does. She’s in second grade and they won’t test for the G/T program until the end of this year. She has spent the last two years frustrated with the pace of the curriculum and now she has to spend another one. I hope this year’s teacher has some new and exciting approach. I also hope the G/T program is a good program. I don’t know anything about it.

44

Yeah, I got the label.

It didn’t mean much in school. For a while, in junior high, there was a reading class that the gifted kids got to take. I think it allowed us to go at an accelerated pace. I also recall that that we did some other activities, like bitch about how being smart sucked sometimes. My mom took some classes in gifted education, so she was very interested in this sort of thing.

I also went to a camp for smart kids, at University of Northern Colorado. We took classes (some fun, some educational), enjoyed activities, and basked in the company of other hypersmart kids. On Wednesdays we took tests and stuff, to further the research of the some folks at the university. I loved it, it was a super environment, and I drew upon that experience and its good memories whenever being smart was a drag in jr. high and high school. I was popular at that camp. POPULAR. Me. I couldn’t believe it.

45

Yes, I was another CA MGM kid (Mentally Gifted Minor, if the full name wasn’t already mentioned).

Loved it! Started in the 2nd grade, we had our own little class in the afternoon, lots of reading & math. By the end of the 2nd grade, I was reading the 5-6 grade reading book, and I still remember some of the tricks we used to learn fractions & stuff. Later on, but still in grade school, we put out newsletters, organized boycotts, etc. In junior high, we made films and other stuff, but by then I was already succumbing to the temptations that would pretty much destroy my academic career (happens a lot to gifted kids, allegedly). Got kicked out of the honors program in high school because I didn’t do homework, but sat in on an AP english class my senior year at the insistence of a teacher, and scored a perfect 5 on the AP test. Wanted to mail it to that bitch freshman english teacher who booted me, but I didn’t.

Did it pigeon hole me? I suppose, but I never had a “jock” or other label, so at least I was part of a group.

Did it help me at all? Hell yes! I firmly believe that the strong base in reading has made a huge difference for me. I read very fast, great comprehension, and if I pay attention to what my hands are typing, I am a great speller.

If your child is verball precocious, there is a good chance they will be considered “gifted.”

46

The school I went to was too small for any kind of program, but when I scored insanely high on my MAT (Metropolitan Achievement Tests) in the 6th grade, they got me in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program, which involved taking the SATs in the 7th grade, which I got a 580 on math and a high 600 in English. That then qualified me for MORE testing, and I eventually was invited to go to the JHCTY summer program, which my parents couldn’t afford. My friend went, and it turned out to be a glorified summer school. She was not impressed.

IIRC, “gifted and talented” is the title they give for an IQ higher then 130. FWIW.

47

My program in elementary school was called Horizons. It wasn’t particularly challenging; rather, it was eant to keep the kids who were more scholastically inclined from dying of boredom. We did reports on material than interested us, in-depth readings in mythology, wagon train simulations, etc.

And yes, I took the tests for CTY. But I didn’t want to go to the Hopkins programs during the summer for reasons I simply cannot remember. I’ve done plenty of academic summer gigs since then, so I wasn’t opposed to it in general. Maybe I had something better lined up. Who remembers.

MR

48

I agree with you completely, andygirl.

I student taught in a 5th grade classroom that supposedly had a “Talented and Gifted” program, but they had everyone in the class participate because “every student has a special talent or gift”. The program ended up being one that just let the students show off any hobby they were interested in. A major waste of money that could have gone to helping the few kids that really were way ahead of their classmates.

49

Good catch, SPOOFE! That had to be the clunkiest post I’ve perpetrated in a long time. ::laughs, sighs:: Muddle happens.

Ripping off the ribbons, while some accelerated programs work, some TAG programs are more ego trips for yuppie parents than reflections of academic potential. Nothing more dismal than watching a soccer mom frantically doing Jason/Brittany’s homework. The beleagured yuppie offspring is shoved into a slot just as much as bright kids from less fortunate backgrounds are sometimes overlooked.

I’m not dissing education, but the academic track is game-laden, and it isn’t the only viable, honorable path around.

Oh, hell, I’m blathering again. Continue w/o me…

Veb

50

slackergirl, it’s a good thing I like you. :slight_smile: Otherwise I’d HATE you. :mad:

**

Argh! See above!

EjsGirl–did you also experience the change over to GATE? Did you like it better or worse? Did they seem to add people to the program when it became GATE (possibly lowering or otherwise modifying the standards)?

To **EJsGirl **and slackergirl, did GATE last through all of high school? I seem to recall that I either dropped out or my participation tailed off on it’s own. I recall that this happened around junior high, though I continued to take honors and AP courses (a few, not all of them).

51

Yet another pre-GATE Californian here…my school district had this really cool summer school for MGM kids only, and they offered some great classes, especially considering it was for 4th-6th grades. We got to dissect frogs and chicks, studied how the stock market works (it’s just a big fucking dart board!), played chess in a MATH class…I loved it. Then in Jr. Hi, MGM meant tougher core classes. Oddly enough, we didn’t really have an MGM program in High School. There was a defacto distinction, tho, because only the MGM kids had the background to take the more advanced science and math classes…
Now my kids are on waiting lists for spots in the local GATE school, and we have to check out the curriculum there.

52

I don’t think there was any specific GATE distinctions after about 6th grade, instead of calling it something specific they would just put us in classes with kids a couple of years ahead learning the same material. The schools I went to were pretty small, my high school was 7-12 grade for a while, so it was easy to throw a smart 8th grader in with the senior calculus class if necessary. It seemed to work pretty well for the kids who got to go.

In high school I was put in remedial classes because I didn’t do my homework. I actually ended up teaching my 10th grade bonehead geometry class because the waterpolo coach who was assigned to teach it didn’t understand the material and was happy to leave it to me.

Also, I’m glad you don’t hate me DRY! :wink:

53

In the Chicago Public Schools in the 70s they began what they called a gifted program. Each year they selected one kid from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in each school from our district, and one day a week they would all go to one school. All the kids that were selected one year met together, the kids selected the next year on a separate date. So if you got selected in 6th grade, you wnent for 3 years. Does that make sense?

We had a couple of really neat teachers: Mr. Smith and Mr. Conway. Mr. Smith concentrated on music, and Mr. Conway on art and creative writing. We did a bunch of really elaborate art projects. Each year we put on a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. The teachers tailored elaborate costumes, we built sets, and were accompanied by live music. That was pretty neat. In 8th grade I was Sir Roderic Ruddigore. “When the night wind howls…” We also went to a couple of operas each year and art museums. Nothing in the way of science and math.

In 8th grade, I also got selected for a program at Lincoln Park Zoo. There were about 20 kids from all over the city. We met in the basement of the reptile house, got to work behind the scenes in many of the houses, met all the curators, did some observation of various animals, and prepared some reports. Also pretty neat.

So in 8th grade I was attending my regular school 3 days a week.

I get to high school and my grades and test scores place me in all honors classes. Of course I never had to do any homework in grade school, so I got straight Cs and got bumped down to regular classes sophomore year, where I got all As…

Ended up with some AP credit and CLEPed out of some basic college classes. (Still took five years to graduate, tho. What an underachiever!)

Now my kids have tested into their TAG programs, but the quality of the programs really depend on the individual who is running it. In past years, the woman running the grade school program was a complete ditz, and I didn’t want my kids pulled out. This year my 7th grader said she wouldn’t mind being in the TAG program as many of her friends are. Not sure she needs to be pulled out of additional classes, tho. And they make no effort to pull a kid out at the appropriate time. Say the kid qualifies for TAG math. It would make sense if they could pull him out of his regular math class, wouldn’t it? But NO! For all you know they could pull him out of Reading or something he needs to work on. Not a great system in my view.

54

Well, I don’t have much to go on since the dinky little town I grew up in either didn’t have much or didn’t care.

I suppose you could call me T&G for a few reasons; in 5th grade I tested at a 10th grade reading level, I got 98th and 99th percentile on my PSATs, and after teaching myself Russian for six years or so I tested into junior-level Russian courses as a freshman at Georgetown.

But the only G&T-related class I remember having was around 3rd grade. I think it was more the guidance counselor’s pet project than any state program (did/does NH have a G&T program?). All I remember is a project on making up our own constellations and some mural/report on the African savanna. In middle school I remember my parents making an effort to try to get me ahead a grade, but the guidance counselor said it would only happen if my grades improved. Very confusing matter, that.

Nothing in middle school, nothing in high school (a Catholic day school, so no surprise there).

What does it mean to me? For most of school it meant being able to memorize a whole trashbasket full of trivia, which did come in handy during our high school’s Granite State Challenge ass-kicking :smiley: but otherwise pretty useless. These days it means realizing I have a number of talents I wish I’d had the opportunity to exploit when I was younger so I could be doing something serious with them now.

I honestly believe kids do have talents and gifts and that they existed long before the 70s and still do so today. It’s just that the focus on marketable skills for the workplace and office often shunt them aside.

[rant]
Personally, I have no problem with the words “gifted and talented”. In school, it really should just mean kids who are good enough to move beyond the challenges of the regular curriculum and need something a little extra to occupy their attention. IMHO, though, school should be about getting the most out of your education, which means administrations should be more concerned about giving the teachers what they need to make a star pupil out of every student, not just getting as many kids up to the next grade as quickly as possible.
[/rant]

55

Ah yes. The gifted and talented program. I was in it from elementary school through junior high. Then I was sent to Catholic school for disciplinary problems. I guess it didn’t do me much good.

56

DRY- I am 33 years old, it was MGM the whole time for me in grade school. The section of my brain responsible for junior high is a bit fragmented, but I think it was still MGM there too- that was up through the 8th grade.

Nothing in high school except for honors classes in English and a couple other subjects. You stayed in honors for three years (if you could!) then took AP classes in your senior year.

Frankly, I was never truly challenged by high school. By challenged, I mean engaged to the point that I really wanted to work on something. Not necessarily their fault, I suppose they did their best. I can count on one hand the teachers who were more than just automatons reading a few pages ahead in the textbook.

57

Ugh. My family moved to North Carolina when I was entering 8th grade. The school district promised us educational heaven and lied through their teeth while doing so. After one semester of bullshit, we started homeschooling. Dad worked, Mom took care of the gardens, and I taught myself for the next 2 years. After that, it was dual enrollment at the local community college to cover lab courses and advanced maths. By the time I graduated high school (homeschool), I had about 55 hours in college credit that I could transfer to the university. I think that was a great “gifted and talented” program! I’ve never had a problem adjusting to the level of work required in upper-level college classes because of the excellent preparation that I received.

58

I think the gifted and talented program we had in elementary school had the stupidest acronym yet: SPURT, which stood for “Special People Using Rare Talents.” Seriously. We, too, had Junior Great Books, and we also competed in Odyssey of the Mind, worked on the state of the art Tandy computers, etc.

When we got to middle school, they gave up on G&T as such, and just tracked us into regular and advanced classes in English and, later, math. I also took the SAT in 7th grade for the TIP program and I got invited to the summer camp at Duke but didn’t go. I can’t remember why.

59

EjsGirl–well, you and slackergirl have pretty much pinpointed the time MGM changed over to GATE.

It sounds like your experiences were similar to mine. I don’t recall participating in any GATE related activities in high school, though I don’t recall if GATE simply “petered out”, or if I just dropped out of the program. I took a fair number of honors classes–though I ended up taking only one AP test (European History). And I was never truly challenged by High School, either.

My grades were nearly as strong as they should have been, and frankly, I should never have been let into UCLA with my grades and SAT scores (very good but not great). As a matter of fact, I’m still not sure how I got in (possibly the fact that I was invited into that program where you take a class or two at UCLA your senior year helped, though I ended up bowing out of that). If I were a couple years younger, there’s NO WAY I’d have gotten in–UCLA became significantly tougher to get into within a few years.

Anyway, being “test smart” but having a poor work ethic meant that my grades absolutely DIED my first two quarters at UCLA. Heck, my grades there weren’t what they should have been.

Oh, and D Marie: SPURT??? My god, what a TERRIBLE name! Particularly bad if the smart kids got hazed already!
Can you imagine? “Spurt this”, “I got your spurt right here, buddy!”

Geez, I think the name alone might make me drop out. :eek:

60

“Gifted” here; that’s the term that was used in the LA school district ca. 1967.

In about fifth grade, I was placed in small gifted class; I think it was instead of the afternoon class session that everyone else got. I honestly can’t remember a thing that we did; but I don’t remember it being particularly challenging, or focused on any particular type of activity.

Already by that time I was terrible at math despite being above average in other measures of intelligence. I’d have been a lot better served if they’d decided to work on that problem instead of placing me in the general gifted class. Being gifted but weak in math can be a drag, if your aspirations tend toward such things as technology and science; you feel drawn to those things but can’t really do anything about it, and you don’t really fit in with the science geek crowd.