Macbeth: The Monster Interview

Prufrock Press recently released Advanced Placement Classroom: Macbeth, the last installment in its four-part Advanced Placement Classroom series. Like the series' previous installments, including volumes devoted to Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet, this teaching resource focuses on developing advanced reading comprehension and analytical skills while providing students with a greater historical context for understanding the story and its tempestuous cast of characters.

Co-author, Daniel Lipowitz has taken this a step further, hosting none other than Macbeth, who, fresh from the battlefield, joins him in this episode of his podcast series Lip On-Line. In this "Monster Interview," Lipowitz transcends time acquiring  affectations of Elizabethan linguistics to create an interview persona appropriate for his Shakespearean subject.  Set immediately after the murder of MacDonwald, the interview primarily focuses on Macbeth's (and to a lesser extent Lady Macbeth's) literary reputation, to which the Scottish rogue supplies a unique perspective.  Not unlike the exercises in AP Classroom: Macbeth, Lipowitz's podcast offers an interactive and introspective method of examining the play.  And it's fun.

Listen to the Podcast

Click here to listen to the podcast

(approximate length: 14 minutes)

Do the Goals and Aspirations of Gifted Young Adults Differ by Gender?

As the nation embarks on high school graduation season, the New York Times blog, "The Choice," ponders several important issues raised in a study that sought to compare male and female high school valedictorians. Published last summer in Prufrock Press' journal, the Journal of Advanced Academics, the study reveals significant disparities for parents and educators to consider as we examine gender issues among gifted students.

The blog's author, Jacques Steinberg, writes:

The goal of the study, by an economics professor at Meredith College in North Carolina, was to examine the college choices, intended majors and career aspirations of high-achieving boys and girls, and see if there were any differences. Specifically, the study examined 150 valedictorians from high schools from the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, and surrounding counties.

Its main conclusion? That when stacked up against the boys, the female valedictorians tended to choose less selective colleges and plan careers in lower-paying occupations. While the girls were more likely to major in the humanities and social sciences, the boys were more likely to plan to major in math, computer science and engineering.

The results of this study seem to indicate that out-dated thinking about the education and career choices are still alive and well, even among our brightest young men and women. While this study was somewhat limited in scope, it raises important questions about how we parent and educate bright and talented females. Certainly, an excellent education can be received at less selective colleges, and majoring in the humanities and social sciences may be more about one's passions and interests than low expectations. However, these choices should be based on explicit decisions about what is best for a talented student, rather than social expectations imposed on young women by schools, parents, and the media.

Read the full text of the blog post, "Do the Ambitions of High School Valedictorians Differ by Gender?".

Parenting Gifted Children: A Beginner's Guide to Finding Support

Although I have made gifted education my business, I'm frequently stumped when it comes to specific questions I receive via e-mail about parenting gifted kids. Frankly, any wisdom I might have about the questions I receive would be dwarfed by the collective wisdom of other parents of gifted children and the excellent Web resources available.

As such, I've developed some recommended online starting points for parents of gifted kids who are seeking help, information, and answers. This list is by no means comprehensive! There are hundreds of fine Web resources for parents of gifted children. However, the resources below, in my opinion, ought to give you a good start.

Local Support Groups for Parents of Gifted Children

Most importantly, if you are not already a member of a local support group for parents of gifted children, I would suggest you that join such a group. To locate a group near you, contact your state's National Association for Gifted Children affiliate. Your state's affiliate should have some knowledge of the various local support groups in your area. Parent support groups are wonderfully helpful as you navigate the issues related to parenting a gifted child.

E-Mail Listservs

Let me suggest that you join one of the e-mail listservs devoted to parents of gifted children. Subscribe to one of the listservs below and pose your question to the members of the mailing list. You are sure to get a quick response from one of the hundreds of other parents who subscribe to these lists.

GT-Families Listserv — This is a listserv for families of gifted and talented children. To subscribe, send a message with "subscribe GT-Families firstname lastname" in the body to listserv@listserv.icors.org.

TAGFAM Listserv — Similar to the listserv above, this also is for families of gifted and talented children. To subscribe, send a message with "subscribe tagfam firstname lastname" in the body to listserv@listserv.icors.org.

American Psychological Association's Gifted Child Listserv — This is an e-mailing list of more than 400 researchers, scholars, parents, and educators who are interested in information concerning gifted children and advocacy on the behalf of gifted children. To join the list, simply send an e-mail to Ashley Edmiston asking that you be added as a member of the CGEPNETWORK listserv.

Web Sites

There are many excellent Web sites that might be helpful to you; however, I would recommend that you first visit the following:

• Davidson Institute for Talent Development — The Davidson Institute for Talent Development Web site features a database of many excellent online articles about parenting and educating gifted children. Although the Davidson Institute is devoted to supporting profoundly gifted children, the database of articles found on its Web site provides helpful information for parents of any gifted child.
• Hoagies' Gifted Education Page — If you visit no other Web site, visit this wonderfully rich source of information and support for those of us involved with gifted children. Hoagies' Gifted Education Page offers resources, articles, books, and links. I highly recommend it.
• Prufrock Press' Gifted Education Web Resources and Blogs — Over the years, we have tried to provide lots of free, unbiased information, articles, and links for parents of gifted children on our site. Start by visiting the Parenting Gifted Children section of our Web site. Then, visit Carol Fertig's Gifted Child Info Blog.

There are many other fine online resources for parents; however, I wanted this blog post to give you the resources you need to "get your feet wet." Once you have explored the options above, you'll want to visit Web sites hosted by the National Association for Gifted Children, Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted, and the many other online resources you discover along the way.

99¢-$1.99 Web-Only Clearance Sale of Gifted Education Books

Here we go again!

As many of you know, once a year, I need to clear out some of our out of print or older overstocked titles to make room for our exciting new releases for the next school year.

During the sale, we offer a selection of titles at drastically reduced prices. The books I have placed on clearance are in perfect condition. Many of these wonderful titles have been quite popular over the years, but I simply have too many in inventory, and I want to sell them while they are still great tools for the classroom.

I know it's a cliché, but do act quickly. We're truly clearing out odds-and-ends, so once a title sells out, we pull it off the Web site (I had to pull one title off the site just 4 hours after the sale began today).

Save money on exciting classroom materials during Prufrock's year-end inventory clearance.

Order before May 15 and receive these books for 99¢–$1.99! Supplies are limited.

Click here to visit our 2009 "Web-Only Clearance" sale. [Link Removed: Sale Ended on May 15, 2009]

School and School District Purchase Orders Accepted Online

If you need to make purchases using a school or school district purchase order you may do so online. Our online shopping system accepts purchase orders.

 

Twitter for Gifted Education Support and Information

Increasingly, teachers and parents of gifted children use the free service, Twitter, to stay connected and keep informed.

What is Twitter?

Think of Twitter as a microblog. A post on Twitter, called a "tweet," is limited to 140 characters. Each of the following would qualify as tweets on Twitter:

• Thursday, the school board will consider increasing funding for gifted programs. Please, everyone, come to the meeting and show support.
• Anyone know of a great unit for gifted students on the topic of how the stock market works?
• Help! Thursday night is "Math Camp" at the school. Anyone have some fun math activities that students and parents would like?

A tweet on Twitter is much like a publicly available text message from your cell phone (in fact, while Twitter is an online service, you can receive and send tweets to and from your cell phone).

Gifted Education Supporters on Twitter

As other social networking sites become cluttered with extraneous gimmicks and advertising, Twitter remains a nice, simple tool for networking with others who share a similar interest. On Twitter, you will find tweets from other teachers of the gifted, gifted and talented state associations, gifted parenting groups, and more ... all sharing ideas and information.

In the last two days, I've read Twitter posts about gifted education teaching positions that are opening at a new school for the gifted, about an important Ohio Senate committee hearing on gifted education scheduled for next week, and about tips for encouraging parent involvement in a gifted classroom. All of that was available on Twitter.

Get involved with Twitter. For the service to reach its full potential as a communication tool for gifted education supporters, it needs you to join in the discussion. Like any social networking site, Twitter thrives on participation from its members, so join the service, encourage other gifted education supporters to join, and start tweeting!

Twitter lets you limit the tweets you see and read to just the few people you want to "follow," so you need a way to find people with interests like yours. Let me give you one "secret" tip for finding those people. Go to the bottom of your Twitter page, and choose "Search." This directs you to Twitter's advanced search where you can search for topics or issues about which people are posting (the search link at the top of the page only lets you search by user name). This advanced search tool is an easy way to find others who are posting on topics important to you.

Follow My Gifted Education Tweets on Twitter

Lately, I've been doing a bit more posting on Twitter. If you would like more frequent updates about gifted education, special needs learners, and my thoughts on education publishing, click here to follow me on Twitter.

Anxiety-Free Kids - Helping Children with Anxiety Disorders (Podcast)

The topic of today's podcast is one that impacts many children, including those who are gifted. In this podcast we discuss the topic of helping children who suffer from anxiety disorders. Research shows that if left untreated, children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, to have less-developed social skills, and to be more vulnerable to substance abuse.

When do a child’s anxieties cross the line from typical worries to an anxiety disorder, how do you know if your child suffers from anxiety, and what can you do to help?

To answer those questions, I've invited Dr. Bonnie Zucker to discuss this important topic with me. Dr. Zucker is a clinical psychologist who conducts therapy with children and families in both her private practice and at the National Center for Phobias, Anxieties, and Depression in Washington D.C.

Dr. Zucker is the author of Prufrock Press’ recently released, Anxiety-Free Kids: An Interactive Guide for Parents and Children.

Listen to the Podcast

Click here to listen to the podcast

(approximate length: 38 minutes)

 

Click here to listen to or subscribe* to this podcast in iTunes

(requires that you have iTunes installed on your computer)

 

 * If you wish to be receive notifications when new podcasts are posted, you need to subscribe to Prufrock Press' "Gifted Education Podcast" in iTunes or subscribe to the "Podcasts" RSS feed in the left column of this blog (see "Categories/RSS"). Click here to read instructions on using RSS feeds.

"Facets of Gifted Education" -- An Interview With ... Me

I recently had the chance to be interviewed by Laura Vanderkam, a co-author of Genius Denied and the author of the Gifted Exchange Blog.

If you get a chance, click this link to read the interview. It's a short piece, but it covers a wide range of gifted education topics (changes in the field of gifted education over the last 20 years, differentiated instruction, and some opportunities the field faces in coming years), and it touches on some of the publishing plans here at Prufrock Press.

Thanks to Laura for conducting the interview and posting it on her blog!

Summer Archaeology Camp

I've always enjoyed the subject of archaeology. In fact, one of the first science books Prufrock Press published was Hands-On Archaeology: Real-Life Activities for Kids (now in its second edition). Written by renowned archaeologist John White, Ph.D., this book shows any teacher or parent how to help kids become young archaeologists. Imagine the thrill students will experience as they discover artifacts from the past. There isn't a single student who won't love the activities in this book!

Today, I received a brochure from the Center for American Archeology advertising their 1-week to 3-week archaeology summer programs for kids. The CAA's High School Field School offers teenagers the opportunity to participate in authentic archaeological research designed to learn more about the prehistoric peoples of the Lower Illinois River Valley, one of the richest archeological regions in the Midwestern United States.  Working with the CAA staff and interns, teens will have the chance to learn the basics of field excavation, laboratory processing, and how archeologists develop their interpretations of sites based upon the information they collect.  It’s a great way to explore the field of archaeology in a hands-on manner.

The program sounds both fun and educational, and I wanted to bring it to your attention.
 
Limited scholarship support is available for girls, and students 16+ can earn college credit. For more information, visit the CAA's High School Field School information page.

A Parent's Introduction to Learning Options for Gifted Kids (Podcast)

Parenting gifted children can be a challenge. Parents are often presented with a menu of learning opportunities for talented kids. From special accelerated classes and dual-enrollment college programs, to homeschooling and online courses, the decisions about quality learning opportunities can seem endless.

Last week, I sat down with Carol Fertig, the author of the new book, Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook, in order to help make sense of some of these many options.

In addition to authoring her new book, Carol is the editor of the periodical Understanding Our Gifted, which is published by Open Space Communications. She is also the author of Prufrock Press' very popular "Gifted Child Information Blog." She is a parent and has been involved in gifted education as a teacher and administrator for more than 20 years.

In our interview, Carol and I touch upon a wide range of learning options for gifted kids and ways that parents can become involved in sorting through those options.

In her interview, Carol makes reference to four important Internet resources:

• Education Commission of the States: a reference source for current state policies regarding dual enrollment and other educational options.
• Open Courseware Consortium: a listing of colleges offering free courseware online.
• Cogito: an exciting online resource for young people interested in math and science.
• Gifted Education Forums: a listing of forums for parents of gifted children.

Listen to the Podcast

Click here to listen to the podcast

(approximate length: 17 minutes)

 

Click here to listen to or subscribe* to this podcast in iTunes

(requires that you have iTunes installed on your computer)

 

 * If you wish to be receive notifications when new podcasts are posted, you need to subscribe to Prufrock Press' "Gifted Education Podcast" in iTunes or subscribe to the "Podcasts" RSS feed in the left column of this blog (see "Categories/RSS"). Click here to read instructions on using RSS feeds.

Ability Grouping for Gifted Children (Podcast)

This blog features a new media format. I'm experimenting with podcasting as a way to share information here on the blog.

I wanted a way that I could bring my readers some short, focused interviews about topics important to gifted education.

Simply click on one of the links at the bottom of this entry to listen to the podcast (use the latter link if you have iTunes installed on your computer).

Today's topic is one that impacts gifted kids in schools on a regular basis. In the past, gifted children often were placed into special gifted classes or accelerated learning groups. The thinking went that gifted children learned at a faster pace than other kids, and if you could group gifted children together it was easier for those students and their teachers to move at a faster pace through the class' subject matter.

However, the practice of grouping students by ability has become a controversial topic in many schools. As a result, during the last few years we have seen the dismantling of special gifted classes. We've seen teachers move away from the use of ability groups in their classrooms.

How are gifted students affected by this change and does it make sense to move away from ability grouping?

To answer these questions, I've invited Todd Kettler to join me in discussing this topic. Todd is the director of Advanced Academic Services at Coppell ISD (Coppell, TX), a district outside of Dallas. Todd is on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Advanced Academics and is the chairperson of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented's Research and Evaluation Committee.

Todd makes reference to the research supporting ability grouping in his interview. For more information on this topic, there are two excellent resources:

• Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(4), a special issue on best practices for gifted education published by the National Association for Gifted Children, and
• Best Practices in Gifted Education: An Evidence-Based Guide by Ann Robinson, Bruce M. Shore, and Donna L. Enersen, an excellent book that offers an overview of effective practices in gifted education.

Listen to the Podcast

Click here to listen to the podcast

(approximate length: 25 minutes)

 

Click here to listen to or subscribe* to this podcast in iTunes

(requires that you have iTunes installed on your computer)

 

 * If you wish to be receive notifications when new podcasts are posted, you need to subscribe to Prufrock's "Gifted Education Podcast" in iTunes or subscribe to the "Podcasts" RSS feed in the left column of this blog (see "Categories/RSS"). Click here to read instructions on using RSS feeds.

Exciting Reading Program that Challenges Gifted Learners

I'm very pleased to announce our newly released Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program.

We just got back from exhibiting at the annual conference of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). We took plenty of these books to display and sell at the conference, and we sold out on the second day!

I heard from so many people at the conference that they are looking for a field-tested reading program that works with kids of all ability levels--including gifted children. When field-testing this program, the staff at The College of William and Mary's Center for Gifted Education found solid achievement gains among mid-level and struggling students. The key difference between this product and others is that it also showed solid gains among gifted students. So many other programs really are geared to only address the needs of struggling students. This program offer a great tool for teachers in mixed-ability and gifted classrooms.

I've created a combination pack that allows you to buy the entire series at a savings ($109.95 for the complete set).

Developed by the Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary, the Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts. Students in grades 2–8 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in these books.

In the form of three skill ladders connected to individual readings in poetry, short stories, and nonfiction, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. Each book, geared to increasing grade levels, includes high-interest readings, ladders to increase reading skill development, and easy-to-implement instruction. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards, such as sequencing, cause and effect, classification, making generalizations, inference, and recognizing themes and concepts.

To read more about this exciting new reading program visit the Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program product page on the Prufrock Web site.

Don't Gifted Children Play the Guitar and Sit in Their Seats!?!

Last week, I spoke with a friend of mine who was in the middle of finishing two weeks of teacher orientation. On one afternoon, the teachers at her school heard a presentation about gifted children. During an afternoon break, one of my friend's table-mates commented that she imagined most gifted kids would be able to play the guitar because she only knows one gifted person, and he plays the guitar with great skill.

Another teacher explained how shocked she was to learn during the previous year that one of the boys in her class was gifted. She was shocked because "he never sat still." How could you be gifted and be out of your seat so much?

Then, last week, CNN posted an article by a free-lance journalist titled, "Is Your Kid Really Gifted? Probably Not."

The money quote from this article was:

"Gifted" has become one of the most tossed-about words in the parenting lexicon. Unfortunately—sorry, but let's get this out of the way right up front—it's also one of the most misused.

While there were many things about this article with which I disagreed, I did think this one paragraph held much truth. There is no end to the misceptions about who gifted kids are and how best to serve them.

Even among experts, there is some disagreement. Currently, there is a solid debate raging on in the gifted education community about whether we should only identify gifted kids who are performing at high levels or whether we should include kids who show potential for high performance, but do not yet (and may not ever) exhibit it.

The most infuriating aspect of this discussion is that giftedness exists along a continuum of human performance and ability. There is not a single agreed upon "line" we can draw that says, "on this side of the line you are gifted, and on that side you are not." Anytime a school or counselor makes the decision to label a child gifted, there is an element of the arbitrary in that decision. A couple of years ago, Prufrock posted an article titled "Definitions, Models, and Characteristics of Gifted Students" by Dr. Susan K. Johnsen. I invite you to read this article in its entirety. The article offers an overview of the many ways giftedness has been conceptualized and the many characteristics of gifted kids.

The article explains that there are many types of gifted individuals. For example, some exhibit gifted abilities and exceptional intelligence in many areas and some tend to exhibit gifted abilities in only specific subject areas. In other words, what a gifted child "looks" like can vary as much as snow flakes.

For example, Dr. Johnsen explains that kids with exceptional general intellectual abilities might exhibit the following characteristics to a high degree:

• Has an extensive and detailed memory, particularly in an area of interest.
• Has vocabulary advanced for age—precocious language.
• Has communication skills advanced for age and is able to express ideas and feelings.
• Asks intelligent questions.
• Is able to identify the important characteristics of new concepts, problems.
• Learns information quickly.
• Uses logic in arriving at common sense answers.
• Has a broad base of knowledge—a large quantity of information.
• Understands abstract ideas and complex concepts.
• Uses analogical thinking, problem solving, or reasoning.
• Observes relationships and sees connections.
• Finds and solves difficult and unusual problems.
• Understands principles, forms generalizations, and uses them in new situations.
• Wants to learn and is curious.
• Works conscientiously and has a high degree of concentration in areas of interest.
• Understands and uses various symbol systems.
• Is reflective about learning.

On the other hand, according to the article, a child with exceptional talent in the specific subject area of mathematics or science might exhibit the following characteristics:

• Is interested in numerical analysis.
• Has a good memory for storing main features of problem and solutions.
• Appreciates parsimony, simplicity, or economy in solutions.
• Reasons effectively and efficiently.
• Solves problems intuitively using insight.
• Can reverse steps in the mental process.
• Organizes data and experiments to discover patterns or relationships.
• Improvises with science equipment and math methods.
• Is flexible in solving problems.

The point I would like to make in this blog is that being gifted may look quite different from one child to the next. A little less overconfidence in our clarity about who the gifted child is and is not might be helpful as the school year begins. Let's keep that idea in mind as we look for those kids who might need special gifted education services.

Now, if you don't mind, I believe I will go back to sitting still while I play my guitar.

Cuil: A New Web Search Tool for Gifted Students

If you teach Internet research skills to gifted students or if you spend time yourself looking for great gifted education teaching ideas or parenting tips, the newly launched Cuil Web search engine may be of interest to you.

Cuil (pronounced "cool") seems like a good option for students conducting Web searches because the search results display is free of advertisements and sponsored search results. Also, the layout and images used for search results are more pleasing to the eye. I think kids would be more attracted this kind of design than they would those of other search sites.

For those of us used to other seach engines, Cuil's two- or three-column layout is a little hard to get used to. However, once I got familiar with the way Cuil organizes search results, I found it to be a reasonable alternative to other search engines.

One nice feature of the site is that it is more graphically attractive that other search sites. Each search result is displayed with an image than is (theoretically) associated with the site. Cuil is still working out a lot of kinks in this area. Conduct a search for "Gifted Education" and notice that almost all of the images displayed next to search results are covers of books published by Prufrock Press. I don't mind, but I suspect the Gifted Education Program Web site for the Victoria, Australia, schools isn't too keen on having our old "Clearance Sale" graphic representing their site.

I'm sure Cuil will resolve some of it's rough edges over time. Overall, it is a search engine that you may wish to recommend to your gifted students when they conduct Web research.

[Update: April 10, 2009]

After watching this seach engine evolve over the last several months, I'm going to have to withdraw my recommendation. Frankly, it's just not very accuarate with it's results (seach for "Gifted Education" on Cuil and the National Association for Gifted Children doesn't even appear on the first page). The pictures that Cuil associates with web sits seem arbitrary, and the "Explore by Category" section to the right of the results is so random that it is of limited value. I thought this site would develop into an exciting, advertising-free, and visually-oriented search engine, but it has beed a disappointment.

Save Time and Find the Latest Web Information With RSS

If you are like me, you gather a lot of news, teaching ideas, and parenting tips from the Web. Each day, I visit several news sites, technology sites, teaching blogs, and gifted education blogs and sites. If I had to check every one of those sites to see if new content had been posted on a given day, I would spend a great deal of time checking each site individually.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this: RSS (Really Simple Syndication). An RSS "feed" is an easy way for a Web site to notify users of new content, as if to say, "I've got a new article posted. Here is the title of the article and a sample of what it is about. Would you like to read the article?" RSS offers a fantastic way to keep up to date with your favorite Web sites' most recent posts.

In fact, both of Prufrock's blogs have several handy RSS feeds located on the left side of the page (see "Categories/RSS"). The links to the RSS feeds are the little orange broadcast icons.

Finding Newly Posted Web Articles is Easy With RSS

There are several great tools out there designed to help you with RSS feeds. For example, Bloglines.com is a free, Web-based RSS reader (or "aggregator"). You set up a Bloglines account, add the RSS feeds from your favorite Web sites and blogs, and then Bloglines keeps up with new content posted to those sites. For example, in the image to the right, you can see a small sample of some Web sites I like to read. The feeds that are not in bold are sites that do not currently have new information. The ones in bold have new articles, and the number in parenthesis tells me how many. If I want to read the new articles, I simply click on a feed's title and I get a summary of all the new content.

Some browsers like Safari (Mac or PC) and Internet Explorer 7 (PC) have RSS capability built right in. Want to test if your browser can manage RSS feeds without special plug-ins? Just click this link to the RSS feed for my blog. If you get a listing of articles, you have an RSS-capable browser. If you get a bunch of code, you'll need to use a Web service like Bloglines, a browser plug-in, or a stand-alone application.

If you use Safari on your Mac or PC, Apple has posted simple instructions for using RSS feeds. If you use Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has posted instructions as well.

There is a pretty general video overview of RSS titled, "How to Use RSS Feeds" at videojug.com. It's not detailed enough to explain everything, but it offers a nice advance organizer.

For a more thorough, step-by-step explanation, click here to read an article by Paul Stamatiou titled, "Getting Started with RSS."

Gifted Children and International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools

The Hoagies' Gifted Education Page has reprinted an article that offers an overview of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools and considers whether they meet the special needs of gifted children. The article, titled "To IB or Not IB," provides a special focus on IB's implementation in Michigan's public school system; however, overall the article is informative for anyone interested in IB schools and gifted children.

[Modified on July 14, 2008]

One of this blog's readers, Jonna, commented that the article I've cited above is not as general as she expected. She felt that it focused a bit too much on Michigan's public school system. I think she has a good point.

I did a bit more research and found an article on the topic of AP and IB programs from Gifted Child Today that was published back in 2002. I believe the information still holds true, so I am providing that article in the form of a downloadable PDF for those of you would would like to read it. Click this link to download "The Advanced Placement Program and the International Baccalaureate Programme: A History and Update" from the Winter 2002 issue of Gifted Child Today.

High-Achieving Students Harmed by No Child Left Behind

The evidence that the nation's current education initiative, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), harms the academic achievement of advanced students continues to mount.

According to two studies performed by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, increased emphasis on helping students with a history of lower academic achievement results in lower performance for high achievers.

Today, the New York Times ran a good article, "Report Sees Cost in Some Academic Gains," which reviews the study's results and the implications of those results.

 

May Clearance Sale on Gifted Education Books

As many of you know, once a year, I need to clear out some of our oldest or overstocked titles to make room for our exciting new releases for the next school year.

Each May, we offer a selection of titles at drastically reduced prices. The books I have placed on clearance are in perfect condition. Many of these wonderful titles have been quite popular over the years, but I simply have too many in inventory, and I want to sell them while they are still great tools for the classroom.

Save money on exciting classroom materials during Prufrock's year-end inventory clearance.

Order before May 31 and receive these books for 99¢–$1.99! Supplies are limited, so please act quickly.

Click here to visit our "Web-Only Clearance" sale. [Link Removed: Sale Ended on May 31, 2008] 

School and School District Purchase Orders Accepted Online 

If you need to make purchases using a school or school district purchase order you may do so online. Our online shopping system accepts purchase orders.

 

Support Javits Funding for Gifted Education Research and Programs

Gifted education supporters in the U.S. Senate are circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter urging the appropriations committee to allocate $11.25 million for the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act in 2009.

The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act is the only federal program that specifically addresses the needs of gifted and talented children. The act was passed in 1988 to support the development of talent in U.S. schools. The Javits Act does not fund local gifted education programs. The purpose of the Javits Act is to orchestrate a coordinated program of scientifically-based research, demonstration projects, innovative strategies, and similar activities that build and enhance the ability of elementary and secondary schools to meet the special educational needs of gifted and talented students.

The Javits Act focuses resources on identifying and serving students who are traditionally underrepresented in gifted and talented programs, particularly economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and disabled students, to help reduce gaps in achievement and to encourage the establishment of equal educational opportunities for all U.S. students. Click here to download a PDF file that offers an overview of some of the ways in which the Javits program is making a difference for students from underrepresented populations.

Contact Your Senators and Urge Support

We have until April 1 to help secure Senate cosigners for the letter. Please contact your senators and urge them to support gifted children by adding their name to the Grassley/Dodd letter which urges the appropriations committee to allocate $11.25 million for the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. Click here for a copy of the letter, as well as the list of senators who have already added their names. Fifty three members of the House of Representatives have already cosigned a similar letter.

Contacting your senators via the Web is easy. Just visit the U.S. Senate's Web site, locate your senators, and fill out a brief Web form. 

When I filled out my two senators' Web forms, I wrote the request copied below. Feel free to use some or all of the information I wrote when you contact your senators.

I am writing Senator [NAME OF SENATOR] to urge [HIM/HER] to support gifted children and gifted education by adding [HIS/HER] name to the Grassley/Dodd "Dear Colleague" letter which is currently being circulated in the Senate that urges the appropriations committee to allocate $11.25 million for the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act in 2009.

The Jacob Javits grants are very important to gifted education and gifted children. The Javits Act focuses resources on identifying and serving students who are traditionally underrepresented in gifted and talented programs, particularly economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and disabled students, to help reduce gaps in achievement and to encourage the establishment of equal educational opportunities for all U.S. students.

I hope the Senator will support the Jacob Javits Act by signing the Grassley/Dodd letter.

Thank you for considering this request.

Best wishes,

[YOUR NAME]

Online Advanced Math Enrichment Courses

One of our authors, Sandra Berger, recently pointed me toward a great Web site for parents of children needing extra math challenges beyond what’s offered in the classroom. Art of Problem Solving is a Web site geared to boost problem solving and other math skills through online courses, an interactive community, and textbooks for contest preparation.

The site’s newest focus is Math Jams, a series of online courses aimed at helping students in grades six and up who are planning to participate in MATHCOUNTS, a national mathematics contest. According to the site:

Math Jams are free online classes hosted by Art of Problem Solving for a variety of purposes. Some Math Jams are improvisational problem solving sessions, some are informational sessions about prominent programs, or college admissions, or other topics of interest to our students. Other Math Jams include reviews of major contests, such as the USAMTS or the AMC series of tests. Instructors employ the same Virtual Classroom for the Math Jams as used in our more structured online classes.

Upcoming courses include Introduction to Geometry (March 3–August 18, Mondays from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. CST) and Introduction to Number Theory (February 28–May 15, Thursdays 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. CST). The Introduction to Geometry class includes a full course in geometry for students in grades 7–10 who have a strong background in the basics of algebra. The Introduction to Number Theory course covers fundamental principles in number theory, such as divisors and multiples, prime numbers, composite numbers, remainders, number bases, and modular arithmetic for grades 6–9.

To enroll, or for more information on the courses (including diagnostic tests), visit the Art of Problem Solving course information page.

In order to attend a Math Jam, you must first log on the Art of Problem Solving Forum, then click the Classroom button on the left panel of the site up to 15 minutes before the Math Jam begins. The Virtual Classroom should then open automatically. One of the biggest benefits I’ve found of this site is that the Math Jams courses and membership in the community forum are free—a great resource for parents!

 

Join the Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG)

I would like to ask the readers of this blog to consider joining a dedicated group that speaks up for gifted kids.

For many years, I have had the great pleasure of collaborating on many exciting projects with the Council for Exceptional Children's The Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG). CEC-TAG is made up of individuals from across the nation and world who are devoted to gifted children.

Speaking Up for Gifted Kids Without a Strong Voice

I think this organization has touched my heart because of its tireless work for gifted children, especially those gifted kids who don't fit our preconceived notions—gifted kids from diverse backgrounds, gifted kids with Asperger's syndrome, gifted children with physical disabilities, and other children who are twice-exceptional.

Simply put, this is an association dedicated to challenging assumptions about gifted children and championing their cause. I am a member of this organization, and I would like to personally invite you to join me in becoming a member as well.

Join CEC-TAG and Receive Exciting Benefits

The benefits of joining this professional organization are very compelling. Your annual membership includes the following:

• Four issues of the Journal for the Education of the Gifted (JEG) per year (includes online access to current and past issues)
• Six issues of Teaching Exceptional Children
• Four issues of Exceptional Children
• Quarterly newsletters from CEC and from CEC-TAG
• A discounted member rate for all meetings of CEC and TAG
• 30% discount on all CEC products
• 10% discount on Prufrock Press products
• Peer-to-peer support
• A network of colleagues who are leaders in the field of gifted education

For 50 years, CEC-TAG has been the leading voice for special and gifted education. CEC-TAG establishes professional standards for teacher preparation for the field, develops initiatives to improve gifted education practice, and ensures the needs of children and youth with exceptionalities are met in educational legislation.

Become a member of a team of professionals devoted to (a) improving educational opportunities for individuals from all diverse groups with gifts, talents, and/or high potential; (b) sponsoring and fostering activities to develop the field of gifted education; (c) supporting and encouraging specialized professional preparation for educators; and (d) working with organizations, agencies, families, or individuals who are interested in promoting the welfare and education of children and youth.

How to Join CEC-TAG

You can join CEC's TAG Division in two ways.

Download a CEC-TAG Membership Application
Click here to download a membership application in PDF format that can be completed and mailed or faxed to the CEC offices.

Join Online
Visit the Web site of the Council for Exceptional Children and select the "Membership" tab near the top of the Web page. Please remember to join the TAG Division when your reach the division membership area of the online membership application.

Thank you for considering this request. I honestly believe in the cause of this organization, and I hope you will consider joining CEC-TAG.

 

Prufrock Launches New Gifted Education Online Journals Platform

This week, Prufrock Press launched its new online journals platform. We now offer online access to current and past articles from all of Prufrock's gifted education and advanced academic journals.

We've been working on this project for more than a year, and we're very proud of this new online resource. The site features the following:

• 10 years of back issues for most journals (with more to come);
• Articles searchable by journal, title, author, and abstract;
• Complimentary article downloads for current journal subscribers; and
• Pay-per-view options for nonsubscribers.

Active subscribers have complimentary access to any journal to which they subscribe. If you are a current subscriber, login information and a temporary password will be published on the back of the next journal issue you receive in the mail (the Winter 2008 issue of Gifted Child Today has already been mailed and includes this information).

For non-subscribers, the Web site offers a pay-per-view option.

Let me invite you to visit Prufrock Press' Online Journals for Gifted Education and Advanced Academics.

Alternatively, you can reach individual journals directly by clicking on the following links:

• Gifted Child Today (GCT) online
• Journal of Advanced Academics (JAA) online
• Journal for the Education of the Gifted (JEG) online
• Journal of Secondary Gifted Education (JSGE) online

Prufrock Acquires a Line of Books Formerly Published by Zephyr Press

I am thrilled to announce that Prufrock Press has acquired a group of selected titles formerly published by Zephyr Press. Some of these books are fairly recent releases and some are classics. I always felt that Zephyr had some wonderful titles, and I wanted to bring a select group of them over to Prufrock. I felt that they would be great additions to our growing line of products supporting gifted and advanced learners. I had been working for almost a year to get these titles, and I'm proud to announce that the agreement is complete and the books are in our warehouse!

You can see the entire line of products in a special area of our online catalog devoted to the titles formerly published by Zephyr Press.

However, let me take a bit of time to tell you about some of these exciting books.

Strategies for Great Teaching: Maximize Learning Moments

This is a fun book filled with quick and creative teachings ideas that help students make connections with the content you are teaching. For example, this book offers lessons in which students

• play the part of television reporters, interviewing other students about content they have learned;
• create visually complex pictures and graphs to represent information or concepts;
• use mathematical symbols to capture their understanding of relationship and events inherent in the content; and
• play a classroom version of the old television game show, "The $10,000 Pyramid," to identify patterns and seek meaning.

I like the practical, teacher-friendly way the authors share their strategies. They provide lots of examples to illustrate the teaching ideas they share.

 

A Kid's Guide to Creating Web Pages

I love this book. Written for kids who want to create their own Web pages, the language and instructions are easy to follow and straightforward. The book leads readers step-by-step through the basics of building a Web page. This is an exciting book for any kid who wants to move beyond the basics of "canned" Web 2.0 Internet tools. The emphasis for this book in on fun and creativity.

Also, the lead author of this book is a teenager! Literally written by a kid for kids, this book is a great guide for young Web designers.

 

Brain Food: 100+ Games That Make Kids Think

All about fun ways to get kids to stretch their brains in creative and complex ways, this book contains more than 100 mental exercises guaranteed to make kids think. The book includes

• word games,
• math games,
• logic games,
• memory games, and
• much more!

I like the fact that this book has a bit of an international flavor. It is filled with fun games from around the world that challenge and stimulate young minds. From the Japanese strategy game Hasami Shogi, the traditional African game Wari, to the deductive game Witch Hunt, to the word challenge Wordbuilder, this book is packed with mind stretching tools that encourage complex thinking skills.

 

Learning vs. Testing: Strategies That Bridge the Gap

Okay, I'm not a fan of the cover, but what is inside this book makes it a real winner. As teachers and parents, we all know bright kids who just don't perform well on tests. There seems to be a disconnect between the child's learning and their ability to perform well on typical school assessments. Yet, for better or worse, these assessments are a part of their educational experience.

In this book, the author offers practical strategies to help students learn how to learn and process information in ways that more closely match how they are being tested. Intended for teachers and parents wanting to help raise student grades and test scores in reading, spelling, math, and vocabulary, the strategies provided are designed to bridge the gap between how students learn and how they are tested.

 

More Exciting Books ...

That is just four of the twelve books we acquired. For the sake of brevity, I'll save my discussion of the other titles for a future blog post. However, I will tell you that these additional titles include some spectacular books for social studies teachers, math teachers, and teachers interested in employing problem-based units in their classroom.

Stay Tuned to hear more about these new titles!

History Enrichment Opportunies and Summer Programs

This week, one of my readers wrote to me with the following question:

My son is 10 and loves history, but no kids his age share that interest. I think he would enjoy meeting people his age who also like history! Are there any history camps out there? Or any “young historian clubs” or anything? I have no idea where to go to look for something like this. Do you know of anything, or could you point me in the direction of someone who might?

In writing this blog, I quite often find that I get a question for which I am not the best person to compose an answer. This was the case here, so I turned to Sandra L. Berger, the author of our recently published, The Ultimate Guide to Summer Opportunities for Teens.

I'll post Sandra's Response below. Because the parent posing the question was from Michigan, that state is slightly more represented in the response.

The following programs will have information and/or sponsor courses that may interest your son. This is not a complete list, but it should give you a good start. Please do not be put off by the word “gifted” in the program titles. The term describes a program, not a child. These programs often include a diversity of children who are interested in advanced topics.

1. It's likely that the Center for Talent Development (CTD) will have something for your son. At the very least, he will find peers who share his interests—many math kids are equally interested in history. To enroll in CTD, your son will need to take an above-grade level test—Midwest Academic Talent Search (MATS). The deadline is February 4.
2. The Center for Talented Youth, another talent search program, at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore offers summer enrichment classes throughout the U.S. The Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP), a third talent search program, is located at Duke University.
3. Check with local universities. Many universities offer special summer enrichment programs for talented young people. For example, Michigan State University Youth Programs offers a variety of summer programs for students your son's age.
4. The Summer Institute for the Gifted has numerous courses on history and philosophy. They tend to be on the expensive side so be sure to apply early if you want to inquire about financial assistance.
5. Check with your state’s gifted education association. They may be able to point you in the right direction. Visit the National Association for Gifted Children's Web site for a list of state affiliates of NAGC.
6. Visit the web site of your state's department of education. For example, the MI Department of Education sponsors summer opportunities for children who live in your state.
7. Your state’s government or historical society may sponsor some event. For example, the Michigan state government Web site lists several resources and programs for kids..
8. Jr. Discovery offers summer enrichment programs for students completing grades 6–8. The four-week program features the "Skills for the Mind & Body" curriculum where students can choose from over 30 interactive workshops.

PBS to Air Documentary on Asperger's Syndrome

PBS is scheduled to air a touching documentary about a man struggling with Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that renders him unable to read social cues and makes him prone to obsessions. Nicky Gottlieb was a child of extraordinary talents and odd behavior. Diagnosed at 20 with Asperger's syndrome, he is like a gifted child in a man's body. This sensitive and candid film by his sister chronicles his struggle to leave the shelter of his loving family.

In most areas the film will air on Tuesday, January 8 at 10 p.m. (EST). However, check your local listing. Click here to visit the PBS Independent Lens Web site for more information.

Your Gifted Students Could Be Featured in a New Book

Two of my most respected authors are hard at work on the revision of their best-selling book, The Ultimate Guide for Student Product Development & Evaluation, and they are requesting your students' participation.

This book, released more than 7 years ago, offers a step-by-step introduction to confidently using creative projects in your classroom. The authors give ideas for integrating projects into your existing curriculum, ways to help students plan and create their projects, and easy, effective evaluation strategies. The book also provides strategies for making sure that your students' hard work is noticed by other students, parents, and community members. As an additional part of this book, the authors feature several students and the exciting products they've created.

Now, it's time to revise this best-selling book with new products and expanded evaluation rubrics. The new edition will also feature several new students and the creative projects they have completed.

Seeking Students With Creative Classroom Projects and Products

If you know a student who would like to be featured in this book, please click the link below to download a PDF of the authors' invitation for inclusion in the book.

Click here to download a PDF of the authors' invitation for students to submit a summary of their project.

The submission deadline for this project is February 1, 2008.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the authors: Frances Karnes, Ph.D., or Kristen Stephens, Ph.D.

Debunking the Science Education Myth

BusinessWeek recently ran an article about the current state of science and engeneering education in the United States. I haven't reviewed the actual research report cited in the article, but BusinessWeek does a nice job of summarizing the results.

The article, The Science Education Myth: Forget the conventional wisdom. U.S. schools are turning out more capable science and engineering grads than the job market can support, contridicts conventional wisdom. According to the article, the U.S. is doing a good job of preparing students in science and engineering.

From the article:

The authors of the report, the Urban Institute's Hal Salzman and Georgetown University professor Lindsay Lowell, show that math, science, and reading test scores at the primary and secondary level have increased over the past two decades, and U.S. students are now close to the top of international rankings. Perhaps just as surprising, the report finds that our education system actually produces more science and engineering graduates than the market demands.

Quality Summer Opportunities for Gifted Students

I'm so excited to tell you about Prufrock's newest release, The Ultimate Guide to Summer Opportunities for Teens: 200 Programs That Prepare You for College Success. I think this book is a fantastic addition to our line because it focuses on quality summer learning experiences.

Record numbers of teens are applying to selective universities and the competition to gain entrance into college is tougher than ever before. With today's teens becoming increasingly more involved in college preparation, their summers are no longer filled with days by the pool or hours of TV and video games. The Ultimate Guide to Summer Opportunities for Teens: 200 Programs That Prepare You for College Success helps teenagers find the coolest, most exciting, and most fulfilling summer programs across the United States.

The author, college-planning expert Sandra L. Berger, provides students and parents with advice on using summer opportunities to help gain entrance into selective universities, and guidance on researching, choosing, applying for, and making the most out of summer programs.

In this directory, students will be able to explore more than 200 of the best summer opportunities in the areas of

• academic enrichment;
• fine arts;
• internships and paid positions;
• leadership and service;
• math, science, computer science, and technology; and
• study abroad or international travel.

In preparing this book, my staff helped the author build a database of more than 1,000 great programs for kids. Then, through careful evaluation by the author, that list was culled down to a little more than 200 exemplary programs for teens.

I'm proud to announce this fine new resource for parents, teachers, counselors, and students that features the very best programs designed for college-bound teens.

New History Fair Project Handbook Released by Prufrock Press

If you are involved with students in grades 6-12 and want to engage them with hands-on history projects, Prufrock has just released an exciting resource for you.

Thousands of students across the nation each year participate in history fairs at the local, regional, and national level. Until now, however, these students and their parents and teachers have had to rely on their own ingenuity and skill to develop history fair projects. Creating Award-Winning History Fair Projects: The Complete Handbook for Teachers, Parents, and Students fills that gap. This exciting new release provides all of the following:

• successful tips for developing exciting projects,
• practical tools for middle school and high school,
• strategies for organizing and planning, and
• ready-to-use planners and student handouts.

The only comprehensive guide of its kind, Creating Award-Winning History Fair Projects also gives teachers and administrators tips for organizing and conducting history fairs at the local level to showcase their students' work. The author, an experienced regional history fair coordinator, judge, and coach, provides teachers, parents, and students everything they need to ensure blue-ribbon success!

To find out more about this exciting new social studies resource or to browse samples of the book's inside pages, please visit the Creating Award-Winning History Fair Projects Web page.

Gifted Children Leaving Some Public Schools Because of NCLB

On Monday, August 27, 2007, the Washington Post ran an interesting column titled "The Gifted Children Left Behind." The piece focused on the impact that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative is having on gifted children in many public schools. From the article:

The law is causing many concerned parents [of gifted children] to abandon public schools ... These parents are fleeing public schools not only because, as documented by a recent University of Chicago study, the act pushes teachers to ignore high-ability students through its exclusive focus on bringing students to minimum proficiency. Worse than this benign neglect, No Child forces a fundamental educational approach so inappropriate for high-ability students that it destroys their interest in learning, as school becomes an endless chain of basic lessons aimed at low-performing students.

I'm excited to see this issue beginning to get the attention it deserves. NCLB's emphasis on ensuring that all students meet minimum standards is having a devastating impact on gifted children and their experience in many schools.

Prufrock Releases More Than 30 New Gifted Education Books and Kits

If you have not already received your copy, the Prufrock Press Fall/Winter 2007 catalog will arrive in your mailbox soon. In this catalog, you will discover more than 30 new products designed to help you teach gifted children and advanced learners. If you are not currently on our mailing list and would like to receive a copy of our latest catalog by mail, please visit our catalog request page.

Built into every product we develop is a commitment to helping you challenge kids and grab their interests. Our most important goal is to offer ideas for the classroom and home that no bright child can resist. In an age when many publishers are developing drill-and-practice learning materials focused on basic skills, Prufrock continues to develop high-quality, challenging products that demonstrate our commitment to helping you achieve outstanding performance from your students.

Visit the "New Releases" Section of Our Web Site

As you may know, Prufrock's line includes more than 400 products for gifted education and advanced learning. This season, we've added more than 30 new books and kits designed to help you teach gifted and advanced learners.

• Ready-to-Use Differentiated Curriculum for Gifted Children and Advanced Learners
• Professional Resources Focused on Critical Issues in Gifted Education
• Exciting Teaching Resources for Every Subject Area
• Activity Books that Challenge Advanced Learners

I invite you to visit the "New Releases" section of our Web site. There you will find many new and exciting tools for challenging gifted children and advanced learners.

Prufrock Press Acquires Leading Publisher of Differentiated Curriculum

I'm very excited to announce that Prufrock Press is now the proud owner of McGee-Keiser Academic Programs, one of the nation's most respected publishers of differentiated curriculum for gifted and advanced learners.

If you have been seeking curriculum that inspires depth and complexity of learning, Prufrock's new differentiated curriculum products offer just that! These exciting, ready-to-use curriculum kits include everything you need to create fun, engaging, differentiated units for the classroom.

This new line of products includes:

• Multiage Thematic Curriculum (perfect for pull-out programs and multigrade classrooms);
• Single Grade Thematic Curriculum (great for teaching advanced learners in grades K-6); and
• Topic Specific Curriculum (a wonderful collection of units that ranges from a unit on the science of the jumping bean, to arranging a reader's theater in your classroom, and lots more).

Challenge advanced learners and save valuable planning time with this exciting line of products. The units in this series contain everything you need, including:

• hands-on, research-oriented activities,
• step-by-step lessons,
• correlations to national standards, and
• complete assessment rubrics.

Visit the "Differentiated Curriculum" area of our online store to see these exciting new additions to Prufrock's growing list of titles that support advanced and gifted learners.

Free Advanced Math for Gifted Children

Looking to challenge a gifted children with activities focused on statistics and probability?

Recently, I received an e-mail from the The Actuarial Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes "education and research programs that serve the public by harnessing the talents of actuaries." The foundation coordinator asked me to let my readers know about two free books developed by the foundation that support math education. The books can be downloaded from the foundation's web site.

The first is called The Math Academy, Are You Game? – Explorations in Probability and is for students in grades 3-6. This book includes hands-on activities for grades 3-6 that you can use to enhance your math instruction while staying true to the academic rigor required by state standards.

The second one is Shake, Rattle, & Roll. Using a variety of mathematical skills common to the actuarial field, lessons are designed to teach sixth to eighth grade students how to use scatterplots for data analysis and histograms to analyze the frequency of events, probability, and other functions as they are applied in determining the financial impact of randomly occurring events like flood and earthquakes and the calculation of property loss.

Free Learning Resources From Top Universities for the Mac or PC

Want your students to watch a video lecture on electro-magnetism given by one of MIT's most respected scientists? Maybe you would like to encourage your students to explore a photograhy exhibit at the University of Maryland by master photographer David Seymour. Perhaps, you would like to include a lecture from Stanford University on the topic of globalization. Want to encourage a teenager to take a video tour of a farflung college campus?

If so, I've found an exciting, free learning resource for the Mac or PC that you should explore.

Apple has recently launched "iTunes U," a dedicated area within the iTunes Store that features free content such as course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours provided by top U.S. colleges and universities including Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, Duke University, and MIT. "iTunes U makes it easy for anyone to access amazing educational material from many of the country's most respected colleges and universities," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "Education is a lifelong pursuit and we're pleased to give everyone the ability to download lectures, speeches and other academic content for free."

Created in collaboration with colleges and universities, iTunes U makes it easier to extend learning, explore interests, and learn more about a school. Content from iTunes can be loaded onto an iPod with just one click and experienced on-the-go, anytime, making learning from a lecture just as simple as enjoying music.

Visit Apple's iTunes U introduction and information Web pages to learn more about this exciting learning resource.

End-of-School Clearance Sale on Gifted Education Books

Books on Sale for 99¢–$1.99!

As many of you know, once a year, I need to clear out some of our oldest or overstocked titles to make room for our exciting new releases.

Each May, we offer a selection of titles at drastically reduced prices. The books I have placed on clearance are in perfect condition. Many of these wonderful titles have been quite popular over the years, but I simply have too many in inventory, and I want to sell them while they are still great tools for the classroom.

Save money on exciting classroom materials during Prufrock's year-end inventory clearance.

Order before May 31 and receive these books for 99¢–$1.99! Supplies are limited, so please act quickly.

Click here to visit our "Web-Only Clearance" sale.

School and School District Purchase Orders Accepted Online

If you need to make purchases using a school or school district purchase order you may do so online. Our online shopping system accepts purchase orders.

Authors Sought for Advanced Placement Shakespeare Guides

At Prufrock Press, we are interested in developing an innovative line of teaching resources for Advanced Placement teachers using Shakespeare in their classrooms.

Specifically, we are seeking teacher-authors who could write exciting, innovative guides to teaching the following plays:

• Macbeth
• Romeo and Juliet
• Hamlet
• A Midsummer Night's Dream

These guides would include debates, role-play activities, engaging discussions, critical and creative writing activities, and creative projects within the context of a rigorous academic study of Shakespearian works. Authors must be able to offer teachers practical, field-tested ways to make the study of Shakespeare meaningful, creative, and substantive. Additionally, each guide would be aligned with Advanced Placement guidelines and standards.

We are seeking teacher-authors who could work collaboratively with us to develop one or more of these guides over the next 6–12 months.

If you or a teacher you know has a special talent for effectively teaching Shakespeare to teenagers, we would love to hear from you. Please send your name, current position, and summer mailing and e-mail address to ap_shakespeare@prufrock.com. Doing so will ensure you receive an information packet in approximately 4 weeks.

Please respond before May 25, 2007 if you would like to receive an author information packet for the four AP Shakespeare projects listed above.

Asperger's Syndrome -- An Overview

On April 5, 2007, ABC News ran a nice introductory article about Asperger's syndrome that I believe offers a good overview of the topic. The article, Asperger's Syndrome: Separating Myth From Reality, includes this brief description of the condition: 

In short, the syndrome is a developmental disorder most often characterized by certain social deficiencies or "quirks." This often includes an unusual preoccupation with a particular subject, repetitive routines or rituals, peculiar speech patterns, and other behaviors that may make interacting with peers difficult.

"Basically, you get an individual who might have a real restricted repertoire of things they are interested in," Roane said, adding that those with Asperger's may attempt to engage in conversations with others that focus only on their particular area of interest to the exclusion of all other topics.

However, what separates this disorder from many [autism spectrum disorders] is the fact that in most cases, those with Asperger's have normal, or even above normal, intelligence.

The rest of the article goes on to discuss ways Asperger's is diagnosed, common misconceptions about the condition, and provides a look at future directions for research.

Treatment for Kids with Asperger's Syndrome

The article was interesting to me because of our newly released book, School Success for Kid With Asperger's Syndrome by Stephan M. Silverman, Ph.D., and Rich Weinfeld. The most important feature of this book is its focus on interventions that help kids who have the disorder. With their wide ranging background in psychology and exceptional education, the authors have written a book that focuses on practical, effective ways that parents and teachers can help kids with Apsperger's syndrome.

Asperger's Syndrome and School Success

Back in September of 2006, I posted a blog entry about Asperger's syndrome in response to a reader's question. In that post, I mentioned that Prufrock was preparing to release a book on the topic titled, School Success for Kids With Asperger's Syndrome by Stephan M. Silverman, Ph.D. and Rich Weinfeld. I'm proud to announce the release of this new book from Prufrock Press.

Hundreds of thousands of children face life with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder that affects a child's language and social skills. In their book, Silverman and Weinfeld describe 10 of the most common school concerns faced by students with Asperger's syndrome, including:

• problems with social interactions;
• very focused areas of interest and expertise;
• need for predictability;
• problems with language;
• problems with abstract reasoning;
• problems with sensory hyper- or hyposensitivity;
• problems with anxiety, depression, and emotional regulation;
• problems with attention, organization, and other areas of executive functioning;
• problems with motor issues including written production; and
• problems with ritualistic, repetitive, or rigid behavior.

The authors provide detailed explanations of each of these problem areas and describe field-tested strategies to help teachers adapt their classrooms to provide opportunities for students with Asperger's syndrome to overcome their weaknesses in these problem areas. The book also offers strategies for parents that will help their child with school success.

School Success for Kids With Asperger's Syndrome includes an excellent chapter about the behaviors a parent might see in their child with Asperger's syndrome. Feel feel free to share this link with others. I think the chapter offers some important insights.

When the authors of this book first approached Prufrock Press, they made it clear that they wanted to write a sensitive book that would focus on the strategies that would promote school success for kid with Asperger's syndrome. They wanted to write a positive book that focused on ways parents and teachers can take positive action to help these children.

They have achieved this goal, and I would recommend that anyone touched by this issue purchase this book or check it out from their local library.

PBS Launches Free Educational Resource

Earlier this month, PBS launched PBS Teachers (http://www.pbs.org/teachers), a "front door" Web site for all of the educational resources and services PBS offers. The site offers plenty of quality resources for classroom teachers and home-schooling parents.

The site also provides a one-stop resource for educators searching for wide-ranging curriculum resources, video archives, and more.

The site offers lots of free teaching resources that include:

• Thousands of free standards-based lesson plans, classroom activities, interactive resources, and more—organized by subject, grade level, and curriculum topic.
• Hundreds of curriculum resources from local PBS stations—forming a local-national search, combining the best educational resources from around the country.
• PBS' newest blog, "Media Infusion" (http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mediainfusion), which will showcase ideas for and encourage conversations about using media and technology in the classroom, to be hosted by practicing classroom teachers and educational technology experts.
• Dedicated areas for early childhood educators, library media specialists, and technology coordinators.
• Showcases for public broadcasting's video content—including on-demand streaming video from selected PBS programs, customizable local PBS station TV schedules, and Shop for Teachers, a source for purchasing video programs.

At first glance, this appears to be a solid resource for teachers, especially teachers with Internet access in their classrooms (many of the lessons direct students to watch a brief streaming video from the PBS archives). Take a look at the site and let me know what you think.

The Journal of Advanced Academics

I'm thrilled about a new product we've launched: the Journal of Advanced Academics. Because you are reading this, I'll assume you are interested in the history of this professional journal. It's a big assumption, so if you just want to read about the new journal specifically, visit the Journal of Advanced Academics information page.

The Journal's History

I started Prufrock Press more than 18 years ago with one product, the Prufrock Journal. The idea behind this journal was to offer teachers involved in secondary gifted education a source of information and ideas for the middle school and high school classroom. I was the journal's editor, publisher, designer, and "mail room" manager. I took out a loan from the local teachers' credit union (I was a high school English teacher at the time) to publish the first issue. I printed 5,000 copies and mailed them as complimentary samples to teachers across the country. Because I could not afford the permit for a bulk mail imprint, I licked and stuck a stamp on each of the 5,000 copies.

By the journal's fourth year, I was running out of steam and wanting to expand Prufrock Press into other projects that demanded my time. I spoke to Dr. Tracy Cross, a respected professor at Ball State University, about taking over the journal, refocusing it as a peer-reviewed journal, and renaming it the Journal of Secondary Gifted Education. The journal would now focus on research and critical theory related to secondary gifted education programs.

Over the years, I've had the chance to work with some wonderful editors of the journal: Tracy Cross (Ball State University),  Paula Olszewski-Kubilius (Northwestern University), Rena Subotnik (American Psychological Association), Marcia Delcourt (Western Connecticut State University), and Bonnie Cramond (University of Georgia). The annual JSGE advisory board meeting offered me a chance to interact with some of the best minds in the field of education.

As the years passed, however, the defining focus of the journal seemed to grow dated. Gifted education at the secondary level seemed too narrow a concept to embrace the new menu of programs being offered to gifted and talented students. For better or worse, the secondary "gifted program" expanded to include Advanced Placement programs, International Baccalaureate programs, early entrance to college, dual-enrollment in high school and college, and various new acceleration approaches. 

Furthermore, the term secondary became a liability: What do you call it when a fifth grader is allowed to take a precalculus course at the high school or a junior in high school heads off to college? Were those situations covered by a secondary journal?

A New Vision for the Journal

For more than 2 years, the advisory board and current and former editors and I struggled to re-envision the journal. That new vision for the journal launched this month with the premier issue of the Journal of Advanced Academics (JAA).

This journal is in a unique position to critically evaluate trends related to advanced academic education.

In particular, JAA publishes articles that feature:

• strategies for increasing academic achievement,
• programs that promote high levels of academic achievement and engagement, and
  
• programs that prepare students to engage in high-level and rigorous academics.

Under the leadership of Del Siegle and D. Betsy McCoach (University of Connecticut), this journal promises to be the preeminent source of critical analysis and research related to those strategies, programs, and approaches that support and enhance advanced academic achievement for students of all ages. Potential authors should visit JAA's author and manuscript support Web site at the University of Connecticut.

I invite you to subscribe to the Journal of Advanced Academics. I believe it offers a new and innovative view of the education of gifted and talented students.

NCLB Devastating Gifted Education Programs

On February 7, The New York Times ran a good article on the negative impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act on gifted education. The article, "Federal Law Drains Resources for the Gifted," offers a powerful look at how the act has devastated gifted and talented programs across the county.

From the article:

The federal No Child Left Behind law requires that virtually all children become proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014, and this demand is forcing many school districts to focus attention—and money—on students who are not proficient in reading or math. Many families of exceptionally bright children like to say that it is the gifted who are being left behind.

In the years after the law’s signing in January 2002, Illinois jettisoned its $19 million allocation for gifted programs and Michigan cut spending to $250,000 from $4 million. Here in Connecticut, 22 percent of the state’s districts eliminated or shrank gifted programs in 2002, and others have since scaled back. It doesn’t take a gifted person to figure out that the law is siphoning off the money.

CBS Seeking Gifted Kids for Primetime Game Show

I thought this opportunity sounded so fun and exciting that I couldn't wait to tell you about it.

CBS is currently in production on a new one-hour primetime game show for the CBS television network. According to a letter I received from the show's casting director, "In this one-hour unique and positive game show, one adult stakes his or her pride and reputation against a team of talented and gifted kids. Our purpose is to celebrate young people and education by making role models out of kids who are working hard to fulfill their educational goals.

"From geography to sports, history to movies, the kids will defend their intellectual capital against these grown up challengers, combining their academic talents to challenge the adult and send him or her packing."

The casting director went on to say, "We are looking for academically accelerated and gifted children nationwide to participate in our new kids game show. We are targeting well-rounded children of diverse backgrounds with unique interests."

If you know of a gifted child (grades 3–7) who might be interested in this opportunity, the following information will be helpful (each document is a PDF file and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing):

Casting Director's Overview of the Program

CBS Parental Consent Form

KGS Audition Video Submission Outline

Please note: The deadline mentioned in the "Casting Director's Overview of the Program" has been extended to February 19, 2007.

Gifted and Talented--Doesn't It Mean Something?

Two weeks ago, I received the January 2007 issue of Teaching Pre K–8 (one of the largest circulation magazines for teachers). The cover of the magazine read, "Highland Park? Really? At the Barber School of the Gifted and Talented, children thrive while a city struggles." I quickly opened the magazine to read the article, titled "School Story."

The article profiled the Barbar School for the Gifted and Talented and offered a positive look at a school that is succeeding in a difficult environment. The school's staff and students are to be commended. However, The Barber School is a neighborhood school that services a broad range of students—not just those who are gifted and talented.

Gifted and talented is a label used for children with specific learning needs. There are methods for identifying such children, national guidelines for servicing such children, and methods for supporting the unique social and emotional needs of such children.

I've seen kids fester in classrooms because they are years above their age-peers in knowledge, skills, and ability. I've seen what can happen to kids who spend years in classrooms "learning" material they already know. Being able to identify such children is the first step to getting them relevant and appropriate services.

The label gifted and talented has specific meaning and invokes a set of services and counseling approaches that have a research base to support their use with these types of children.

When Everyone Is Gifted, No One Is

I often see school administrators attempt to eliminate programs for gifted children by saying something like, "we don't need a special gifted education program because all children are gifted." Well, they are not—not any more than all children are autistic or dyslexic. Every time I hear someone pronounce that all children are gifted, I can bet money they are going to start talking about eliminating programs for gifted children in a sentence or two. If they can relegate the term gifted and talented to a phrase that applies to everyone, then special services for gifted children are provided to no one.

Learning Disabilities Podcast Interview with Rich Weinfeld

The LD Podcast is a fantastic resource for those of you who parent or teach kids with learning difficulties. The site offers information and support in the form of a blog and an ongoing series of podcasts on various issues related to learning difficulties. While the LD Podcast bills itself as a resource "for parents by parents of kids with learning disabilities," I think it also offers some great information for teachers, as well.

Recently, the LD Podcast featured a podcast with one of Prufrock's most popular authors, Rich Weinfeld. Rich is a coauthor of Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential, and Helping Boys Succeed in School. In the interview, Rich discusses how we identify kids with learning disabilities, how parents can talk with teachers and administrators to make sure their child is getting what they need while forging constructive relationships, and when a parent might want to consider an educational advocate.

Click here to listen to the LD Podcast's interview with Rich Weinfield on the topic of helping kids with learning disabilities.

Is Homeschooling an Option for Gifted Children?

HomeEducator.com recently ran a short article titled, Gifted Children and Homeschooling by Kathi Kearney. I think the article offers a balanced and thoughtful overview of the topic. From the article:

Not every parent should consider homeschooling for a gifted child and not every gifted child should be homeschooled. That said, homeschooling is an excellent alternative for many gifted children at some point in their development.

Homeschooling is an especially important option in situations where a child’s school can’t—or won’t—provide appropriate services and, as a result, the child’s social-emotional development, behavior or school achievement starts to deteriorate.

Kearney feels that homeschooling can offer greater flexibility in curriculum pacing (acceleration strategies) and in the depth and type of enrichment activities that can be offered gifted children. She also points to some of the pitfalls that homeschooling parents may experience. For example, she says that many homeschooling families may find the "canned" curricula offered for sale to homeschooling families fall short where gifted children are concerned.

Meet Dr. James Delisle at TAGT

If you will be attending the annual conference of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented in Austin, TX (November 16-18), I would like to invite you to a special book signing.

Dr. James Delisle, a popular gifted education expert, will be signing books at the Prufrock Press booth (booth #201) from 10:15-11:15 a.m. on Friday, November 17.

Dr. Delisle will be TAGT's Friday morning keynote speaker. After delivering his keynote address, "Highly Gifted, Barely Served: Being Gifted in an Era of Inclusion," Dr. Delisle will come to the Prufrock booth to discuss his ideas and sign books.

Dr. Delisle is the best-selling author of many books, including:

• Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy and Successful Children;
• Barefoot Irreverence: A Collection of Writings on Gifted Child Education;
• The Survival Guide for Teachers of Gifted Kids;
• The Gifted Kids' Survival Guide: A Teen Handbook;
• Smart Talk; and
• More Than a Test Score.

Please come by the Prufrock booth to meet Dr. Delisle and have him sign your copies of his best-selling books!

Dr. Delisle also will be available to sign copies of his book Parenting Gifted Kids following his Saturday morning keynote address to parents.

March 2 Success: A Free Online SAT and ACT Prep Course

Sandra Berger, the author of College Planning for Gifted Students: Choosing and Getting Into the Right College sent me an e-mail this week to let me know about a free SAT and ACT test preparation site. She felt the readers of my blog would find it valuable, and I agree.

The site, March 2 Success, is sponsored by the U.S. Army; however, the resources available are "no-strings attached" (i.e., a recruiter will not contact users of the site useless a user explicitly asks them to do so) and are free. Given the site's quality and that the content was developed by Kaplan, a similar course would cost between $500-$700.

According to the site, March 2 Success "is a free, web-based program that makes high quality, test preparation instruction available to all. Designed by Kaplan and Educational Options and sponsored by the US Army, it is more inclusive than traditional college entrance test preparatory courses."

To see a demo of the site's features, visit the March 2 Success demo page.

CNN to Air Special Report on Genius

On Sunday, September 17, 2006, CNN will air a special report on the subject of genius.

Being gifted and being a genius are not the same thing. Geniuses are a small subset of the total gifted population. Although "genius" is probably the more popular phrase for this subset of individuals, most gifted education professionals choose to use the phrase "profoundly gifted." I think the latter phrase is less loaded with implication, expectation, and bias. However, I don't get to name CNN programs, so I'll use the term "genius" in this post.

The following is excerpted from the CNN press release titled "CNN’s Gupta Unravels Mystery of Genius for Prime-time Special."

In the new Dr. Sanjay Gupta Primetime Special, CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines the mysteries behind genius and attempts to answer the classic nature/nurture question of whether high intelligence is inborn or the product of environment. The one-hour program, “Genius,” premieres Sunday, Sept. 17, at 10 p.m. (ET)

A practicing neurosurgeon, Gupta starts with a look inside the brain and a discussion with scientists who are using cutting-edge brain imaging to find remarkable differences in the brains of highly intelligent people. Gupta’s quest takes him from the physiology of genius to the links and differences between intelligence and creativity. Along the way, he meets savants – people with severe mental limitations who possess breathtaking talent – and gifted students, whose educational needs are often unmet.

"As a new parent myself, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the best ways to nurture intelligence and creativity, especially in children," Gupta said. "From that starting point, we’ve met all sorts of remarkable people, from those you might call geniuses or prodigies to the people who study the concept of genius from all sorts of perspectives. Hopefully, we’ll shed some light on the meaning of genius and the way great ideas are born."

Visit Prufrock Press at the NAGC Conference

If you will be attending the annual conference of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in Charlotte, NC, this weekend (November 1-5, 2006) please stop by our booth (booth #139) and say hello. The NAGC conference offers attendees a great opportunity to hear experts from around the world discuss what is happening in gifted education. It also provides a chance for educators and parents to network. Prufrock always has a strong presence at the NAGC conference. We like to use the conference as a way to meet our customers and hear what is on their minds. Please stop by our booth (you can't miss us, we are the first booth as you walk in the exhibit hall door). I would enjoy meeting you.

Gifted Education Web Resources for Fall 2006

The Web resources below originally appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of Gifted Child Today.

This popular journal offers teachers and parents the practical information needed to create a successful education for gifted children. Visit the Gifted Child Today homepage to download sample articles or to order a subscription to Gifted Child Today -- the nation's most popular gifted education journal.

Sudoku

http://www.websudoku.com

It's the new craze! Sudoku is a puzzle that is solved by logic. Players enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces so that every row, column, and 3 x 3 square of the puzzle contains one of each digit. This fun site offers Sudoku puzzles with four levels of difficulty. A JigSawDoku link takes the visitor to an interactive game that is timed and offers hint and help features. Visitors can play as much Sudoku as they want on this Web site. If that's not enough, customized Web Sudoku eBooks of various sizes, difficulty levels, and styles can be ordered for $2.95.

Music to My Ears

http://www.classicsforkids.com

This is a wonderful interactive resource for kids where they can learn about music's great composers and even compose their own music. There is a musical dictionary that offers pictures, audible descriptions, and sounds of the different instruments. The Composer Time Machine, Rockin' Rhythm Master, and Note Name games teach youngsters about music in a fun way they will love. Also, the site offers teaching resources based on National Standards for the Arts and state Academic Content Standards for Music. This is a great way for the young Mozart to be immersed in classical music!

The Stock Market

http://library.thinkquest.org/3088

It's never too early to learn about disciplined investing. Edustock has tutorials on how the stock market works, what a stock is, and how to manage a portfolio. There are also profiles on select companies to help visitors get started in making wise investing choices. The Web site even features a free real-time stock simulation.

The Big Mac Index

http://www.economist.com/markets/Bigmac

Ever wonder why certain items are more or less expensive depending which country you are in? How about the Big Mac? McDonalds has restaurants all over the globe and uses the same ingredients in all countries, so the signature Big Mac sandwich should cost roughly the same price anywhere you go, right? Take a look at the Big Mac Index to find out. This Web site offers an explanation of exchange rate theory via a short video. The site includes some indexes of hamburger and Starbucks coffee prices around the world. For access to the full index, you must subscribe to the Economist magazine, but the free introductory materials offers much ... um ... food for thought.

Snow Crystals

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals

Have you ever made a snowman or wondered where snow comes from? Caltech's physics lab offers information on how snow crystals form and why they take different shapes. The Guide to Snowflakes gives details on the different types of snow flakes. This fascinating Web site also offers movies of snow crystals forming!

Neopets

http://www.neopets.com

Do you or your family members suffer from allergies so much that you can't have a furry pet in the house? Here's a way to have the pet you've always wanted. You can choose the species, name, and color of your Neopet. How your Neopet behaves and where your Neopet likes to live is also up to you. Once you sign up for a free account, you can feed and play with your Neopet and have many adventures in Neopia.

A View Into the World of a Gifted Child

As parents and educators of gifted children, we know that, at times, gifted kids can feel isolated and "different." We look for ways to help break that isolation--to help gifted kids realize that there are others who share their views and ways of thinking.

To this end, I would like to suggest that you visit Gifted Gear Reviews. Here you will find an insightful running narrative by Stephen, who describes himself as "a gifted and talented 10-year-old who likes anime, manga, rock and roll, and theoretical physics and who has a mild form of autism called Asperger's syndrome."  I had to Google "manga" (Japanese comics).

Stephen's blog offers a unique view into the world of a gifted child. I believe you will enjoy reading his blog. I'm learning a lot about the inner world of a gifted 10-year-old. The author has a talent for introspection, and the blog is filled with good humor and insights into being gifted and having Asperger's syndrome.

Drop by Stephen's Gifted Gear Reviews and leave a note of encouragement in the form of a posted comment. I'm sure he would enjoy getting some feedback from you.

Recommend Gifted Gear Reviews to a Gifted Child

More important, I think that many gifted kids will find Stephen's blog of interest. A gifted child with Asperger's may find this blog especially valuable. A feeling of isolation can be so hard for kids, and getting to read and comment on a blog by an open and insightful kid like Stephen can be quite helpful.