Libraries offer Differentiation and Services to Gifted and Talented Learners
Based on the success of Virtual Schooling during SARS, Hong Kong International School decided to explore new ways to differentiate and develop resources for its Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) students. The results were enjoyed throughout the school and indicate the promising role that libraries can provide as information and educational experiences become democratized, thanks to the power of the Internet. The wealth of resources and the advent of technologies such as RSS feeds and Google Alert that bring the information to users make it possible for more individualization of resources with delivery of learning extensions and collaborative use of them easier than ever to set up and monitor.
I enjoyed learning and applying first in my graduate program in Library Science certain skills for learning that are useful in conducting Distance Learning Programs. Later at HKIS I coordinated a team that developed web pages for teachers, students, tutors and parents to “dip into” as needs arose. While providing pull-out lessons for face-to-face discussion, we also connected our top learners outside of the classroom for continued literature discussions by developing interactive forums on Moodle pages online. We established a school newspaper (written largely by students, but with embedded information literacy lessons written by the teacher-librarian.) I e-mailed it to our “subscribers” via an electronic distribution list, so interested parents gained this eye on instruction and sensed the strong community-building (and habit of news reading) that we strove to promote. The literary magazine that our library and GATE program sponsored included all kinds of work by our students: book reviews, stories, digital art, cartoons, essays, scans of non-digital art and photographs where the creative challenge was applying the funny caption that showed lateral thinking and humor. It was distributed in print form, but we were able to publish additional work and honor the contributions and enthusiastic efforts of scores of additional members of the student body by providing an electronic version that was accessible (along with our newspaper, The Dragon's Gazette) at the library's web site. We were effectively building a culture of reading and literature appreciation. As we developed our resources for the GATE program, HKIS developed a unique and wildly popular web site that houses resources and math challenges for our whole community. The web site features differentiated "Puzzlers of the Week." These problems are posed each week, and after solutions are gathered, exemplar solutions penned by our own learners in the community also go online to celebrate student efforts and reinforce standards, showing kids “what does good work look like?” Students are eager to do their best work when they know it's possible that their work might be selected and posted for the world to see online. |
Faculty appreciate how well supported they are for differentiating instruction and meeting the high expectations of our families when they get this kind of support from the library. And students became more immersed in technology and enjoy wider audiences for their creative efforts. Using Moodle forums for discussion mean that students' critical thinking developed as they got feedback from an increasing number of peers – many more than the “sage on the stage” can typically manage in a teacher-centered classroom. Moodle and wikis also allow collaboration space where kids can write stories together. A team of our gifted children actually wrote a 26-page story in this new medium. Was it perfect? No, but there is no question that the students were more engaged with writing that month and came away with more of an appreciation of what collaboration means than they would have been without the medium. Thanks to the Internet, we'd found more time for them to "be together" reading, writing, critiquing, editing and learning.
Subsequent to my days at HKIS, I have been excited to apply ideas for differentiation with older learners. Their skills with technology and the wealth of digital resources that students have access to mean that differentiation is easier than ever to accomplish for older learners-- it just takes a little creative strategizing and resource awareness to connect and channel those learners' interests and abilities. Here are some ideas that Teacher-Librarians can share with teachers as they address the needs of their gifted students and other high achievers:
I have experienced how leadership from the library can make real our promises to differentiate instruction, celebrate learning and make our instruction more student-centered and student-driven. The library can help put literacy into the spotlight and provide confidence-building skills instruction that is relevant to students in our community. It takes an effective change agent to capitalize on how technology can be sensibly harnessed as a motivating and multiplying force for learning. |