Gifted and talented testing in FBISD (Houston, Howe: school district, floor, special education)

[swopoe]

My head hurts from nodding in agreement so much with this post. The culture is messed up.

I was labeled GT as a child, in a different state. We were not tested until 5th grade, and there were only 9 of us in my class in high school. Much different than they way it is in FBISD. I have done extensive research on the gifted and talented and FBISD (and the parents in this district) is so far gone that I don't know if there is even a way to bring it back.

My son tested as GT in kindergarten. And I truly believe that is the correct label for him. He hates school. He is bored out of his mind. He had a project in a pre AP class last week and did it completely different than all the other students, and the all those other students (who did boring power points, according to my son) got 100s, and my son got the lowest grade. His teacher didn't get his creativity. It is frustrating for a GT child and his/her parents to be in a system like FBISD that really just does not get it.

[Houston321]

Gifted? Pascal, Mozart, Chopin, Hawking, Fischer, Galileo, Da Vinci.....the list goes on and on. They were gifted.

Most of your kids are just really smart. Get over it.

[Lbjen]

Being gifted isn't about being smart, it's about being able to think differently, in a way that most people can't, hence it being a 'gift'. It's this misinterpretation that has people clamoring to have their kids labeled GT, which leads to comments like the one above. It's not something you can study for or work hard enough to develop. It's either there or it isn't. There are plenty of athletes out there who could train every single hour of every day and never have what it takes to be a pro, not because they don't work for it, but because they just don't have it. Nobody is calling up the NFL to demand that Jonny be put on the team or they'll take their taxes elsewhere (well I'm sure some try), but school districts have decided to give in when it comes to the GT thing.

[Houston321]

Oh please....blah blah blah..gifted....blah blah blah...think differently. Give me a break.

[Lbjen]

Nobody is saying they're going to make history, but they'll probably make good scientists, engineers, architects, mathematicians, that you'll probably never hear of, but that doesn't mean their ability isn't there. Do you question every parent who puts their kid in high school sports because they think they have a shot at the pros?

[Houston321]

I could never work at a school or for a school district. The number of parents that think their kids are special would drive me insane. Lbjen, I hope your child with "the gift" does well.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Houston321

Oh please....blah blah blah..gifted....blah blah blah...think differently. Give me a break.

Truly gifted kids make connections that others do not make. Highly intelligent kids are good at academics, but don't make those leaps.

Truly gifted kids see things once or twice and are able to understand the ideas.

Here is one example. A first grade teacher was going over sums to ten and asking the kids to give her examples (you know 6 + 4 = 10, etc.). Gifted 1st grader said -2 + 12 = 10. Teacher response was that's correct, but we have not used negative numbers yet.

Another example. Reading Tico and the Golden Wings. Gifted 4 year old says Tico is like Rudolph because his friends wanted him to be like them instead of being different.

[swopoe]

Originally Posted by Houston321

I could never work at a school or for a school district. The number of parents that think their kids are special would drive me insane. Lbjen, I hope your child with "the gift" does well.

You also do not get it. Do some research on the difference between gifted children and high achievers. You may be enlightened. I gave a talk on this last spring. Maybe you should have come.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by Houston321

Oh please....blah blah blah..gifted....blah blah blah...think differently. Give me a break.

You're ignorance is really shining through here!

School districts have no problem spended millions on sports so why is it an academic program gives people such fits?! It's a SCHOOL!!

What's truly criminal is how underfunded such programs are compared to the sports programs.

[testmo]

I kind of agree - school is preparing children to be successful in future careers. When you have to devise a meeting plan for your project group doing a music ensemble and a collage in a shoebox will get you fired and possibly tested for mental health issues. If an 11 year old can put together a lecture over an indepth topic (not their favorite animal etc but say a scientific principle, literary technique, world problem) and have a concise appropriate powerpoint used correctly - holy ****. if they code a program for the computer and display what they are speaking on - holy ****

if that 11 year old picks something menial but puts together something way "outside of the box" the school for the performing arts is maybe more appropriate.


disclaimer - i was in Wings/GT as a child in the houston suburbs. some of those kids were simply put just "off". i dont know if some even graduated high school or they eventually moved or were put in some other type of school