Brown Brogues

“There should be K.I.S.S. Shoes programs!” said Imaginational Dabrowski in a dreamy tone of voice. “You know – Keep It Simple and Sensible – just do what needs to be done to help students find their own niche and succeed.”

“The Brown Brogues in the De Bono’s 6 Action Shoes fill that role” replied Columbus Cheetah.

The Brown Brogues are sensible, comfortable and flexible for practicality and pragmatism. Actions planned using the Brown Brogues would be based on doing what is the most sensible and practical thing.

The programs for gifted students formed by Brown Brogue action planning would be choosing the most suitable option for the individual student which could be participation in full time programs or could be subject acceleration, extension, participation in withdrawal or holiday programs etc.
The key would be tailoring the course to the individual student’s needs and doing ‘whatever it takes’ to create an Individual Education Plan

Individualized programs which could include acceleration, extension, differentiation or whatever it takes appear to work very well and may lead to formal qualifications.
Or they may be the introduction to the specific niche for the gifted student.
And for the twice exceptional student it would mean providing whatever additional support was necessary to address the problems at the same time as providing appropriate challenge.

“I really like these Brown Brogue Action Plans!” said Intellectual Dabrowski. “It means doing the most sensible thing. So that means choosing from the Smorgasbord of Options for Gifted Education (I’m sorry – I do not have the reference details to give proper accreditation for that – it was a handout Jo received at a conference). It means pretesting and knowing the appropriate level to start and identifying any gaps and problems and taking measures to fix them.
It means working at the appropriate level, pace and depth in every subject even if all the subjects are at different levels. It means not being afraid to let students work at a level six years ahead if that is their ability level and finding ways to make that happen by dual enrolment in school and university or working with a Purple Riding Boots mentor.

“And,” continued Intellectual “the Brown Brogues are such a sensible choice of footware for travelling the Gagne DMGT  Road from Natural Abilities (Gifts) through to Competencies (Talents)”

“It could lead to formal qualifications or it could lead to the student finding their own particular niche in some very unusual or specialized area of expertise.
And the world is your oyster if you find your role and your place in the puzzle!” added Imaginational.

“One thing I noticed,” chimed in Emotional Dabrowski is that Sprite has a number of styles of the brown brogues to choose from – some look quite firm (almost as firm as the Blue Formal Shoes) and some are soft suede like material and look as comfortable as the Pink Slippers.  Some of them are made from the same materials as the Investigative Grey Sneakers and coloured brown which shows how sensible the Grey Sneakers are too. One pair had a camouflage print – ideal for blending in naturally without a fuss; even though what she would be doing is the sensible thing for her and might be quite different from what the others are doing.
And I noticed her Can Do Velcro strap adjustable sandals sitting beside the Brown Brogues and thought that they are very much the same. They are not covered in shoes like the Brown Brogues but they are flexible and adjustable and Spite is able to wear them quite comfortably. It is always good to know that something you have been doing has been on the right track!

Purple Riding Boots

“What Sprite needs is a mentor” declared Columbus Cheetah “She needs a mentor who shares her passion for science especially astronomy and it would be even better if you could find her a mentor who has overcome the same difficulties that Sprite is experiencing!”
“You should look into some of the Purple Riding Boots Programs.”

Sprite had proved, when given the opportunity in the Grey Sneakers Investigation Programs, that she had the ability to comprehend material several years beyond her age grade level; but because of her learning differences and difficulties had not been able to fit into the Blue Formal Shoes programs which included most of the formal programs for gifted students.
The work she had completed in the Orange Gumboot Emergency Plans program had demonstrated that she had leadership potential.
She had felt comforted and supported in the Pink Slipper Compassionate Care Programs but her intellect had not been challenged by them.

The De Bono 6 Action Shoes Purple Riding Boots lead to action plans emphasising leadership, command and authority.

The De Bono 6 Action Shoes Purple Riding Boots lead to action plans emphasising leadership, command and authority
The programs formed by purple riding boot action planning would be Leadership skills programs, Mentoring, Biographical studies.
They could also be creativity and artistically based programs.

Programs for gifted education which focus on Leadership skills programs, Mentoring and Biographical studies can prove very effective in helping the student to determine their path and find a role model.

The program can be undermined if the mentor proves unsuitable but if successful these programs can be a powerful influence in the development from giftedness to talent and great assistance in travelling the Gagne DMGT Road from Natural Abilities (Gifts) through to Competencies (Talents).

“I love the idea of a mentor for Sprite!” said Imaginational Dabrowski “She could go and listen to her giving lectures and show her the things she has been working on and the mentor could suggest books for her to read and send her encouragement notes. And if the mentor has overcome difficulties too she could help Sprite not feel embarrassed about wearing one pink slipper. And she could come and visit and we could all look at the stars together”

“And” said Imaginational “If Sprite takes part in some Purple Riding Boot Leadership programs she might even become a role model herself!”

Blue Formal Shoes

Have you ever gone shopping for shoes and found that the style that you really, really liked was not available in your size?

That was what happened to Sprite when it came to the De Bono’s 6 Action Shoes Blue Formal shoes.

The Blue Formal shoes are rigid and solid and represent adherence to guidelines, formal routines, drills and procedures.
The gifted programs designed by using the Blue Formal Shoe Action Planning method would be full time dedicated gifted programs, withdrawal programs or select entry residential programs for gifted students.
They would be fast paced, accelerated, above grade level courses for highly motivated, high achieving students.
They would have stringent selection eligibility criteria and selection would usually be by scholarship examination or nomination by the teacher.
There would be no flexibility in regards to moving into and out of the course.

Sprite had demonstrated her exceptional giftedness by performing so well in the Grey Sneakers Investigations programs that it had been suggested that she could apply for Blue Formal Shoe programs.

This is how it was supposed to work

Intellectual Dabrowski and P’est pour Parfait, the perfectionist poodle thought that the Blue Formal Shoe programs represented the ideal solution for gifted education and were exerting pressure on Sprite to attempt to fit in. They considered that the Blue Formal Shoes would be the most suitable shoes for travelling Gagne DMGT Road from Natural Abilities (Gifts) through to Competencies (Talents).

Imaginational Dabrowski could foresee problems with the rigid structure which did not seem to allow for outside the box thinking and Sensual Dabrowski did not think the blue formal shoes would be a comfortable fit for Sprite.

Emotional Dabrowski was upset because she could see how much Sprite wanted the Blue Formal Shoes. She was concerned about how the Twice Exceptional Sprite would feel if she found that because of her learning difficulties she was not able to keep up with the fast pace and large amount of written work expected in the Blue Shoes programs.

Grey Sneakers

“I’m really optimistic about the De Bono 6 Action Shoes Grey Sneaker plan for Sprite’s education!” Columbus Cheetah told me.

“This plan has real potential for getting Sprite all the way along the Gagne DMGT Road  from Natural Abilities (Gifts) through to Competencies (Talents). As long as they let her work at the rate she can manage and are not too restrictive and formal Sprite will enjoy having the opportunity to research topics!”

Grey Sneaker plan programs are based on investigation, exploration and gathering evidence.
The possible Grey Sneaker plan programs for Sprite could include contract learning, project work, passion based projects, incursions and excursions, communities of inquiry, philosophy and metacognition programs, investigation of learning styles and brain research.
They may lead to formal qualifications and may be the introduction to a life-long love of learning.

And the beauty of the Grey Sneaker plan programs is that they are not only focused on Sprite learning by investigation, exploration and gathering evidence. They apply equally to the teachers; who will be finding out about Sprite’s abilities and challenges in order to help her achieve. They will be attending PD sessions and searching for information about learning styles and assistive technology. The best teachers are those who are life-long learners themselves.

The Grey Sneakers plan programs are flexible enough to allow for variations in the methods of teaching and researching and in the way in which the information gathered is presented and assessed.

I found Sprite in the garden happily investigating the night sky.
“I’m doing my homework!” she said. “I have to do a project about a topic I love, and I can use any assistive technology I need.”

Pink Slippers

“I AM doing my homework!” Sprite said, getting in first before I could ask her if she had finished her homework.
To me she appeared to be sitting in a comfy chair, with her feet up, drinking hot chocolate while she watched ferns and floating feathers on TV with pleasant but not particularly challenging or stimulating background music.

It had been a Pink Slipper day for Sprite at school. Pink Slipper action planning with De Bono’s 6 Action Shoes leads to programs which take into consideration doing what is caring and compassionate and paying attention to feelings and sensitivities.
The possible Pink Slipper programs for Sprite could include programs that focused on social / emotional needs, pastoral and spiritual care and coping strategies. They could also be service clubs, environmental concern groups and fundraising programs. Some of the programs are very helpful and necessary as support programs but most of them do not actually offer curriculum content.

“I’m having lovely lavender lathers later” Sensual Dabrowski said.

“Bravo, Sensual! Lovely Lavender Lathers Later is alliteration in L and, if Sprite thinks about it, Fractal Ferns and Floating Feathers is alliteration also”

There was a chorus of “Shut up Intellectual!”

“These pink slippers don’t really look as if you could run fast in them” commented Columbus Cheetah. “I think they have limited application for acceleration. I am not sure whether Sprite would be able to get all the way along the Gagne DMGT Road wearing slippers”

“Well” said Sprite “I do love love my Pink Slippers.”

“But you can’t run very well in slippers and they are not really suitable for wearing outside. Slippers are the most comfortable shoes for my left foot but too loose and flappy for my right foot and I feel really self conscious if I just wear one slipper because it draws attention to the problem.”

“I can see that the Pink Slipper programs are a big help and they do make it easier to study. Having the Pink Slipper programs might be the thing that helps students to continue and not drop out.”

“But it is a real temptation to just stay in in your comfort zone in the support programs.”

Orange Gumboots

The day after the meeting  Sprite came home wearing one orange gumboot.

I recognised this as representing the Orange Gumboot (Emergency measures) plan.
It appeared to be a stop gap measure to attempt to address Sprite’s giftedness which had not taken into account her difficulties. When that became apparent she had been told to just put on one orange gumboot and hop until they thought of something suitable.

She also brought home a flower in a pot which she claimed was her homework.

Columbus Cheetah consulted the diagram of Gagne’s DMGT Road Version 2.0 http://www.templetonfellows.org/program/FrancoysGagne.pdf  from Natural Abilities (Gifts) through to Competencies (Talents) and declared that, in theory, the Orange Gumboots (Emergency Actions) plan could produce exciting opportunities for acceleration and fast tracking allowing rapid movement between natural ability and competence.

“I know!” said Sprite. “I was really excited when they first suggested putting on the orange gumboots. This is what I thought was going to happen”

“But when they saw I could not get the second gumboot on they said it would not be safe to proceed with that action plan”

“And this is what I ended up doing! They made me an assistant for the day”

“And what do you have to do for homework?” I asked.

“I have to practice watering this flower so that I can show the little kids how to do it tomorrow. I’m not learning anything new myself. It is a real waste of time!”

The Meeting

The meeting with Sprite’s school went reasonably well, as far as I could tell at the time. However, as I think back over it, I am having some concerns.

They explained that there had been several staff changes because of teachers moving interstate, suddenly leaving because of serious health issues or going on maternity or long service leave; and that there had consequently been changes to the programs that the school offered. The new teachers were still getting to know the students and would find suitable solutions soon.

The handover had not been very smooth but then… given that some of the teachers had left suddenly …that was understandable.

I reminded them about the course of action we had embarked on to find the ideal education for Sprite for her journey along Gagne’s DMGT road
 https://spritessite.wordpress.com/tag/gagne-dmgt-model/
from innate giftedness to fully developed talent using the De Bono’s 6 Action Shoes as the planning method and they agreed we would continue to use it.

However they said Sprite should receive more testing in just the same way you would need to be remeasured when being fitted for new shoes.
Sprite has been subjected to testing in numerous ways by psychologists, therapists and education consultants and found to be both exceptionally gifted and to have specific learning difficulties.
I did wonder whether they were stalling for time and why they could not use the results of all the testing she had received so far.

I made a mental note to myself to reread Derrin Cramer’s blog post Do you need to test again?
 http://derrin-thebrightside.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/do-you-need-to-test-again.html

I was also reminded of my own words of a few weeks previous https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/advocacy/

They were made into a photo quote by Mary St George at http://www.flickr.com/photos/51965108@N05/7621345972/in/pool-1680413@N20

And it appears in an album of Gifted Education Photo Quotes at
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1680413@N20/pool/with/7621345972/#photo_7621345972

Various programs and assistive technology measures have been tried with varying degrees of success. You can see these represented by the different types of footwear Sprite wears and you can see by her body language how her comfort and optimism levels vary!

It is one thing to find out which are the best shoes for the DMGT Road but quite another to find ones that will be a good fit.

They said they would review Sprite’s needs but were rather vague about what provisions they could offer.

One thing which did concern me was that they seemed to be emphasizing the deficits and discussing those. They talked about a number of remedial measures, study skills sessions and social/emotion support but did not speak about challenging Sprite at appropriate depth and level in her areas of strength.
Most of the measures suggested sounded like Pink Slipper – (Do what is caring, compassionate and comforting) plans. Although Sprite loves her pink slippers she needs more of the Brown Brogue (Do the most sensible thing) and Grey Sneaker (Investigate) plans at this stage.
Maybe in the future she will be able to manage the Blue Formal Shoes and Leadership Purple Riding Boots type of plans.

I stressed that they should recognise Sprite’s giftedness even while they were trying to remediate the problems and they repeated that they would review the matter.

I left them with a link to a collection of articles and websites at https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/new-zealand-gifted-awareness-week-2012-tba-post-4-part-3/

We set a date for a future meeting in a month’s time.

********************************************

The day after the meeting Sprite came home wearing one orange gumboot.

I recognised this as representing the Orange Gumboot (Emergency measures) plan.
It appeared to be a stop gap measure to attempt to address Sprite’s giftedness which had not taken into account her difficulties. When that became apparent she had been told to just put on one orange gumboot and hop until they thought of something suitable.

The Psych Owl Ogist 6

“Are you really sure that both the Tweetlets are gifted?” Tweet asked the Psych Owl Ogist. “They seem so different from each other!”

“Yes” reaffirmed  the Psych Owl Ogist  “They are both gifted. But Gifted is not a homogenous group!”
As David Harrison of Gifted and Creative Services Australia has said ‘Think of the IQ levels of the whole population as represented by a spiral galaxy. Most of the population would be congregated near the centre. Imagine that the rarer the IQ the further it is from the centre.  But there are many arms to the spiral and there are many other differences apart from IQ There are different areas of expertise and interest. And there are also many differences in character traits and different levels of intensity and sensitivity’

Levels of giftedness
Do you remember the Bell Curve of prevalence of IQ scores in the population?

There are different opinions about how the IQ scores relate to levels of giftedness and the prevalence in the population. You can find a discussion on Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page website at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/highly_profoundly.htm

Here is one example from Prof Miraca Gross quoted in an article at
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/policies/gats/assets/pdf/plk12gtlvls.pdf

Another way of looking at the different levels of giftedness is given by Dr Deborah Ruf in her Ruf Estimates™ of Levels of Gifted at  http://talentigniter.com/ruf-estimates 

Interests, passions, fields of expertise

Another source of differences in the gifted population is that, as you have already noticed with your Tweetlets, they have interests and abilities in different fields. We saw that in the different Competencies in Gagne’s DMGT model diagram.

And we can also see it in the differing ways of thinking and learning shown in Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Personality Types
As well as differences in levels of giftedness and areas of ability and specialization among the gifted population there are differences in personality type.

One of the ways of describing personality types is seen in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment  http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

In fact George Betts and Maureen Neihart have compiled and recently revised Profiles of the Gifted and Talented
http://www.ingeniosus.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/PROFILES-BEST-REVISED-MATRIX-2010.pdf

My guess is that Tweetelle is has some attributes of the Successful Type and some of the Creative Type. Although she does seem to be keen to please and eager for approval, she is certainly highly creative and sensitive, can be highly emotional and is prepared to argue and stand up for her convictions.

Tweetil appears to be an Autonomous Learner. He is eager to learn the things he wants to know by doing it his own way. He is not afraid to experiment and take risks. Although we want them to become life long Autonomous Learners it does not necessarily make them easy to teach!”

“The main thing to remember is that the Tweetlets have asynchronous development. They are not typical of the majority of Tweetlets their age. You will probably find they meet some developmental milestones earlier and gain understanding of issues earlier than their age peers. For example you may have to discuss ‘the birds and the bees’ with them earlier.”

“Unless you have any further question that wraps up this session” said the Psych Owl Ogist. “But feel free to contact me again. It has been a hoot!”

The Psych Owl Ogist 2

Tweet and Retweet arranged for a baby sitter to care for the Tweetlets and went to visit the Psych Owl ogist to discuss the results of the Tweetlets’ testing https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-psych-owl-ogist-1/

The Psych Owl ogist said that he had chosen to use the Ravens test because it was suitable for young Tweetlets and a good test of visual spatial ability which is very important for Twitter birds. He said that the Tweetlets had scored very highly indeed and added that, to give a complete picture and a more accurate score, a full battery of other tests could be done in future if required.

He showed Tweet and Retweet a diagram of the Bell Curve of IQ scores in the population and showed them how the higher the IQ was the smaller the percentage of the population it represented.
He cautioned that this could make it difficult for Tweetil and Tweetelle to fit in when they started FLOCK Ed as they may not find others who would understand them. He said it was very likely that they would choose older Tweetlets and adult Twitter birds for their friends.
“It is very important for them to find true peers who can be true friends and share thoughts and experiences with them at the depth they will seek” he said.
“I want you to read Prof Miraca Gross’ article ‘From the saddest sound to the D Major chord to see just how important this is!”
He also warned that they could be very disappointed with the introductory years of FLOCK Ed as they would be covering topics which they already understood.
“In most introductory classes they are still learning the nesty rhymes,” he told them.

“In fact,” the Psych owl ogist continued “it may not be wise to send them to the local flock.  You need to select a flock which will allow them to go far!
Tweetil has the intelligence, strength of character, spatial awareness, ability and vigour to be a future Leader of the Great Migrations!”

“See, I said he got it from you, Tweet!” said Retweet and added, for the benefit of the Psych Owl ogist, “There were several Leaders of the Great Migrations in Tweet’s family tree. Tweetelle is more like my family – they were mostly musicians, poets and dreamers.”

“Both Tweetlets are very gifted” said the Psych Owl ogist “but they are expressing it in different ways. It is very common for siblings to shine in different domains. Often, even when one Tweetlet is identified as gifted, the parents do not realise that the second Tweetlet is also gifted because they seem to be so different.”

“And poets, musicians and dreamers are just as important to the Twitter Bird species as the Leaders of the Great Migrations. We need the poets and musicians to record the history and the dreamers and visionaries to show what could be. Future migrations will traverse landscapes which are quite different from those seen now. It is your duty and challenge to do all that you are able to provide a warm, nurturing nest environment for the Tweetlets with exposure to the teachers and experiences that will encourage and enable their abilities.”

At this point the Psych Owl ogist produced a diagram of Professor Francoys Gagne’s DMGT model and pointed to the Environmental Catalysts section to demonstrate how the influence of the nest environment played its part in the development of the Tweetlets innate giftedness into fully developed talent.

“So it is all about a duty to develop the Tweetlets’ talents then?” asked Retweet. “That seems like a huge burden on us and also on the Tweetlets themselves!”

The Psych Owl ogist drew himself up to his full height and fluffed out his feathers.
“Good heavens, no!” he said “Talent development is very important but it is only one part of the story.
Giftedness is not only about what the IQ score is and what achievements are made.
It is about WHO the Tweetlets are!”

The Psych Owl ogist produced a series of giftedness definition flashcards.

“Here is some more reading for you.”

The moral sensitivity of gifted children and the evolution of society by Linda Kreger Silverman
http://www.sengifted.org/archives/articles/the-moral-sensitivity-of-gifted-children-and-the-evolution-of-society

“Even if Tweetil never gets to be a Leader of the Great Migrations he will still be a gifted Twitter Bird and even if Tweetelle spends her whole life nest making and raising Tweetlets she will not cease to be a gifted Twitter Bird!”

A Picnic at the Intersection

This week a picnic table has been set up for the #gtstoogies at the Intersection of Gifted Way and Asynchronous Drive.

In a post  at http://deepwaterscoaching.com/blog/?p=111 on her Deep Waters blog, written for the  Blog Tour for New Zealand Gifted Awareness Week Lisa Lauffer, alias Deepwaters Coach, gave an invitation to “Meet me at the Intersection of Gifted Way and Asynchronous Drive”
Very soon the #gtstoogies had arranged on FaceBook to not only keep the appointment with our beloved Chief Sanity Officer, but also to have a picnic at the crossroads.
Lisa Conrad, whose great  blog entry on her Gifted Parenting Support Blog stated    http://giftedparentingsupport.blogspot.com/2011/06/making-connection-evidence-based-policy.html
“The time has come for members of the gifted community – parents, teachers, researchers, and advocacy groups – to come together and engage in practical and meaningful dialog on how to promote the needs of gifted children both in school and society in general”
was quick to agree to a picnic at the Intersection of Gifted Way and Asynchronous Drive.
Leslie Graves, aka LesLinks, from Ireland who also wrote excellent posts for the Blog Tour, one about parent power at http://innreach.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/giftedness-awarenessparent-power-and-taking-that-first-step/ and one about fun activities  at http://innreach.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/on-giftedness-a-few-activities-a-little-fun-and-keeping-the-spark-alive/ said that when a picnic is held at the crossroads in Ireland, it is also a time for dancing to Irish pipes and whistles.
So the Twitter Bird Band members were quick to find Irish musical instruments and head to the crossroads to participate in the festivities.
The telescope, which was set up for viewing the total lunar eclipse, is still available for the use of the #gtstoogies.
A description of the way the lunar eclipse would appear in Melbourne, Australia is given in the Melbourne Planetarium Sky Notes video at http://museumvictoria.com.au/planetarium/discoverycentre/skynotes/skynotes-video-june-2011/

When Sprite arrived at the intersection of Gifted Way and Asynchronous Drive she had a feeling that she had been there before. The Memory Elephant confirmed that she had actually been to the crossroads before, but at that time had not known the name of the roads and produced a picture to prove it.
As always when memories were being brought out the Dabrowski Dogs gathered round to add their comments.
On her first visit to the area (see the Feetspeak 2E Shoes page on Gifted Resources website at  http://www.giftedresources.org/gr/feetspeakforweb01.htm )  Sprite had been making very painful progress toward the De Bono 6 Action Shoes shop where she hoped to get the ideal shoes for Gagne’s DMGT Road from innate giftedness to fully developed talent. See http://www.templetonfellows.org/program/FrancoysGagne.pdf 
Sensual started scratching and Emotional started howling at this memory.

In Sprite’s mind the roads were called Shoes Rd and DMGTRoad. She thought of the other end of DMGT Road as Fund Road because that was where she had to go to find out whether she would be eligible for any funding,  special considerations  or assistance.
The other end of Shoes Rd was what Sprite called Plan Rd; because it was there that strategies for building an education plan for her could be found. Imaginational speculated about what plans could be made incorporating the “ideal funded solutions plaster cast” and the “do the most sensible thing” brown shoes and how the sensible brown shoes were well suited to the DMGT Road.
Sprite always wondered whether DMGT Road  and Plan Road met each other somewhere behind the distant hills.
Intellectual said that it could be reasonably extrapolated that if the plans made on Plan Road were suitable and were pursued to their conclusion that Plan Road  and DMGT Road would indeed meet up.
Psycho Motor was not really interested in the map of the roads. He knew he had seen the place before and the mention of shoes reminded him that he had taken one of Sprite’s shoes out to the garden to play with; so he bounced off to look for it!