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TAG CHARACTERISTICS - REFLECTION

Based upon your observations and experiences throughout your internship, describe how
the diversity within the gifted population impacts your professional practice (e.g., choice of
instructional strategies and resources, assessments, communication tools for parents and
students, programming recommendations, etc.). (GEPO-K3, GEPO-S1, GEPO-S6,
GEPO-D1, GEPO-D2, GEPO-D3, GEPO-D4, GEPO-D5)
Throughout my internship in the Talented and Gifted course I was impacted through
learning that not all students display giftedness in the same or even similar ways.
Giftedness comes in many shapes and sizes, from students who are twice exceptional, to
students who are culturally and linguistically diverse, to students who are profoundly gifted
(to name but a few). Prior to taking the characteristics course, I assumed that giftedness
would always show through in how well students did academically. My thinking was that,
if they didnt get well above average scores in the core subjects of reading, math, science
or social studies, then they werent gifted. I remember teaching a class of first grade
students, of which fourteen of the twenty students had been identified as gifted. I couldnt
wrap my head around why a student who was disorganized, or one who did not get on
well with anyone else in my class could possibly be gifted. Now I understand a lot better
how this can be.
This knowledge has impacted my classroom planning and instruction in very positive
ways. I am more aware of planning for all segments of my class, and not just the average
student or those who struggle and need multiple exposure to content in order to
understand. Being able to tune into the various talents that my students display is
something that I will be able to use with any class I teach. My gifted students often
question why we are doing something, and instead of becoming frustrated with the
constant questions, I am better prepared to use those questions to drive the learning.
Assessment is an area that needs to be differentiated to meet the needs of my students
along with the planning and implementation of lessons. While I am able to assess using a
variety of different tools, such as online in Google Classroom, or the more traditional
paper and pencil, or even the creation of a product to show what has been learned, during
the formative assessment phase of our work, I would still like to see more use of these
different assessment tools in the summative assessments that we are given by the county.
It is always a work in progress.
I feel that my students have benefitted from my newly acquired knowledge just as much
as I have, and I look forward to continuing to learn about the varying characteristics of
gifted students as I grow as a teacher.

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