Twice-Exceptional Children

1. Twice-Exceptional Children

3. Defining Twice Exceptional • Discrepancy between intelligence and achievement • (IQ similar to gifted population along with achievement similar to students with learning disabilities ;difference b/t intelligence and achievement) • Discrepancy between social emotional functioning (behavior) and achievement Social/emotional functioning IQ Achievement IQ Achievement

4. Instructional Strategies • Empathy (empathetic understanding of the population) • 1. Competence> celebrate competence within the child • 2. Choice> providing choices . . . Allowing several options so that student uses areas of strength • 3. Connections> provide opportunities for twice-exceptional children to connect with one another • 4. Compassion> have sympathy and reach out and offer assistance rather than critiquing becoming frustrated and overwhelmed

5. Instructional Strategies • 2 Program Models • Districts with a continuum of service options available for twice-exceptional students • Autonomous Learner Model • Schoolwide Enrichment Model

6. Instructional Strategies • Interdisciplinary Curriculums • Use of complex interdisciplinary curriculums . . . With a focus on critical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving • Students examining complex issues while acquiring basic academic and social skills in the process

7. Instructional Strategies • Social, Emotional and behavioral Supports • 1. Emotionally peacefully, yet intellectually stimulating environment • Non-artificial or layered light • Soft background music • Plants • Comfortable furniture • Separate areas needed for direct instruction, group discussions, self-reflection, and re-centering, one-on-one teacher-student interaction • 2. Self-discovery activities (assisting students with learning his/her strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, emotional needs) • 3. Direct instruction in self-regulation, social thinking (how you look, what you say, and what you do – aware of what others think about them), and anger management

8. Instructional Strategies • Gifted and Special Education Strategies > instruction that targets giftedness and provides specialized interventions. • Gifted • Creative problem solving • Problem based learning • Higher order thinking skills > applying advanced knowledge, reasoning skills, and creativity to group discussions, real world assignments, and challenging projects • Special Education • Organizational strategies (brainstorming, webbing) • Graphic organizers • Multisensory reading programs

9. English Language Learners & English Language Learners with Disabilities Tiece M. ruffin, ph.D.

10. National Statistics • Over the past 10 years, LEP students have increased by 50%; • ELLs now comprise 10.5 percent of the nation’s K–12 enrollment, up from 5 percent in 1990 • Less than 13 percent of teachers have received professional development on teaching ELLs • Dropout rate for Hispanics (largest percentage of ELLs) is 50% • States that continue to be concentrated with a high number of ELLs: • Texas • Florida • Illinois • New York • California

11. Defining the term, English Language Learner • English Language Learner: person who is in the process of acquiring English and has a first language other than English. • From diverse linguistic backgrounds • Different in levels of English proficiency • Learning in and through a new language • Limited English Proficient • Carrasquillo and Baecher (1990) indicate: • There is a significant percentage of bilingual students who are English limited, referring to students who come from homes in which another language other than English is most relied on for communication and who have sufficient difficulty in understanding, speaking, reading, or writing the English language, denying them the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms which the language of instruction is English (p.13).

12. Limited English Proficient • As defined in The No Child Left Behind Act (Title IX, Section 9101): • limited English proficient is defined as an individual who - (A) who is aged 3 through 21; (B) who is enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary school or secondary school; (C)(i) who was not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English; (ii)(I) who is a Native American or Alaska Native, or a native resident of the outlying areas; and; (II) who comes from an environment where a language other than English has had significant impact on the individual’s level of English language proficiency; or (iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a language other than English, and who comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant; and (D) whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the individual – (i) the ability to meet the State’s proficient level of achievement on State assessments described in section 111 (b) (3); (ii) the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English; or (iii) the opportunity to participate fully in society

13. Instructional Strategies • Visual Scaffolding • Visual images, drawings, and photographs connected to English words • Manipulative Strategies • Concrete devices to support thinking and learning • Realia Strategies • Real things; concrete objects to build background knowledge and vocabulary • Leveled Questions • Adapt the way for you to ask questions so that students can respond to them according to their language acquisition stage

14. Sheltered Instruction • Make grade-level academic subject matter comprehensible (more accessible) to English learners, while developing their English proficiency • Sheltered teachers are certified in content areas and have had training in ways to effectively teach English learners, including knowledge of second language acquisition, cultural considerations, and research-based instructional practices for teaching English learners • An instructional approach and a program option • Sheltered teachers design lessons that use English in a variety of ways, including reading, discussing, and writing about standards-based ideas, processes, and information • This approach integrates natural second-language acquisition features with principles of effective instruction

15. The SIOP Model (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) • Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English • Highly effective practice (since 1980s/1990s) • Composed of 30 features around 8 components: • preparation • building background knowledge • comprehensible input • Strategies • Interaction • practice/application • lesson delivery • review/assessment • Not a step by step process, but a framework that offers teachers a way to be sure that the features of effective instruction for ELLs are present in their lessons • In addition to language and content objectives, SIOP lessons are characterized by teacher modeling, use of supplementary materials, clear and meaningful lessons, and concrete examples

16. How Content can be made understandable for ELLs Modeling Hands-on manipulatives Realia Pictures Technology Demonstrations Multimedia Timelines Graphic depiction Bulletin boards Maps