Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Session 1 - Question 3

Is it important for teachers to understand about asynchrony? Why or why not?

32 comments:

  1. I think it is. GT students are often misdiagnosed or inaccurately "labeled" due to this uneven development. It was mentioned in Chapter 1, page 2, The Black Hole of Education that Middle School has, since the 70's, been considered primarily as a time for social development. For the gifted, if their asynchrony is in social development, I think their academic and social gap becomes more evident to both the gt student and his peers at this time. Without funding or education for guidance, coupled with the public school system's focus on raising the academic level of the lowest quartile to a passing level, the gt student is left with a growing, unfulfilled academic and social need.

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  2. When we have classes with mixed student levels it is very important for teachers to understand asynchrony. I think we there is a misconception that GT equates to academic excellence and these kids will excel whatever teaching style the teacher uses.

    I remember when I was working down in the South Texas, that most GT kids were identified by their english speaking ability which left many non-native english speaking GT kids undiagnosed.

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  3. It is most definitely important to take this into consideration, especially while teaching middle school aged children. Not only does asynchrony apply to their learning style/expectations but it affects so much more in their lives including their personal/social relationships, their interests, and even their perceptions of the world.

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  4. Yes, it is important. Not only is it important for us to understand developmentally (i.e. a student is great at math and terrible at English, but still gifted), but I think it’s important for us to be aware of and understand external asynchrony, in which a “gifted child feels different from others.” We need to remember this as we educate the “whole child” and make sure we are concerned with their emotional well-being as well as their mental education.

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  5. It is important to understand about asynchrony. While I see its academic inplications, I was interested about the internal difficulties students face. To think like an adult on many levels, yet still be so young. Gifted students may feel very socially awkward, even more so than other middle school students.

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  6. Yes, it is very important for teachers to understand about asynchrony. It is crucial that teachers respect and value differences and diversity within the classroom. For example, if a GT students has a love for writing, find ways to encourage him or her to pursue their passion within the subject area being taught.

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  7. I strongly agree with Greg. We also need to make sure that we don't let the "gifted" students are left to meet the requirements (not driven to reach their abilities) while the teachers spend so much time with other students to get the concepts.

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  8. I agree with Kelly A posted on Jan. 30, 2011. We do need to focus on educating the "whole child" and must make an effort to meet the GT students needs on a social and intellectual level. We must cultivate a learning environment where diversity is respected and valued.

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  9. I think understanding of asynchrony is very important for any teacher. Requirements for any student is different and it is more so when you are dealing with GT students as well as academic students. The different is at an intellectual level as well as the capability to think outside the box and be innovative. The demand of a GT student can be more around stimulating compared to regular learning methods for others. Understanding distinct areas of strength for any student is very important for any teacher to grasp to provide a fulfilling learning environment.

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  10. Understanding asynchrony is key to understanding the gifted student. It makes perfect sense that their intellect may develop faster than lets say their social skills. The book talked about a young child (3 years old) being able to read but because their language skills were not that developed, they may not be able to speak all of the words they can read.(pg. 17) I see this dichotomy often with my very gifted students. They can clearly understand the subject (very intensely) but have very underdeveloped social skills for the rigors of a social life in high school. Understanding asynchrony and then accepting it for our gifted students can really help us educate the "whole child" as my colleague KellyA said, because I think it makes us more aware that those students may be different but for a reason!

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  11. Understanding asynchrony is essential to differentiating the curriculum to fit every student. Recognizing that a gifted student's strengths and weaknesses may still be in flux allows you to support them at the appropriate time and push them when they have the ability to work at an even higher level.

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  12. Understanding asynchrony helps us understand that kids come to us with different gifts. While they may have struggles in one area/subject, they likely may be very strong in another. As adults, we know that most of us have strengths and weaknesses. This is true for kids, as well. I think it is important for kids to understand that this does not mean something is wrong with them, but that instead, they need opportunities to challenge and grow their strengths, while receiving support in any needed areas. We should recognize our students' strengths in different areas by encouraging them to share their expertise.

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  13. Asynchrony needs to be understood. If we choose not to understand or work on ways to encourage development knowing about asynchrony we are not really doing what is best for our students. Nor are we doing what is right by them.
    When the district provided information about asset building in children and what assets or number of assets we worked on things we could do to provide more assets for students. Some of the asynchrony areas are also areas where assets could be built.
    I do wonder what the district will be able to do with all the budget issues on providing staff more ways to build assets and maybe then help narrow the rang of asynchrony in many of our students.

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  14. I agree with Doc on the Bay. "It was mentioned in Chapter 1, page 2, The Black Hole of Education that Middle School has, since the 70's, been considered primarily as a time for social development. For the gifted, if their asynchrony is in social development, I think their academic and social gap becomes more evident to both the gt student and his peers at this time." As many adolescents are try to build peer relationships, if they are not surrounded by supportive, aware, and creative teachers, they struggle to be honest about what they can do just to fit in.
    This also relates back to Agrawal's comment about the "pruning" the brain does and a spiraling curriculum to make sure that concepts are revisited so they are not weeded out. (Our awareness and training needs to spiral back around not just fade into the sunset. We are lucky that part of IB is about educating the whole child through 8 subject groups- even though we have lots to do.)
    The more we understand about learners and the brain functions the better we could educate the "whole child."

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  15. It is so important to understand about asynchrony so that we can best meet the needs of our gifted children. The lagging development of social skills most impacts my gifted students because there are times I find myself at a loss as to how best handle these situations while still meeting their educational needs. The other students may tend to draw away from them because of their social awkardness. It's my job to make sure that this exclusionary behavior doesn't trigger emotional isolation for my gifted child. Everyone needs to feel respected and valued.

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  16. Of course it is important for all educators to understand asynchrony. I agree with all the previous posters on this subject, so I am not sure if there is too much more I can add. However, as a counselor it is often interesting to see the ways in which the most advanced intellectual students have not developed as much in the emotional or social skills areas. Teachers need to be careful not to assume that a gifted child should "have it together". Often times these are the children who turn out to be the most challenging, but it is important to remind ourselves that developmentally this is where they are at the moment.

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  17. Both Stra. Kirklin and Travel Bug mentioned the fact that gifted students should be encouraged to celebrate their strenghts and share this with other students. Many middle school students see themselves as different and not being able to fit in. By helping students recognize that they are unique and have special gifts we are helping them not only build their IQ but also their EQ.

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  18. Like Mrs. Scott I find myself at a loss as to how to this situations where asynchrony sometimes makes it harder for GT kids to socialize when most of the students in class.

    We can talk about it but what can I do better in my classes for kids who may be GT but have not been identified?

    I have some students in my IB classes who freak out on my exams who exhibit some of the characteristics of GT students but they will have to take the IB exam nonetheless in the format every else takes them.

    As C Wegs said with the district's budget issues, how can the staff be provided with the assets needed to deal with the issues asynchrony brings with it?

    Even at the HS level you can still see some of the asynchrony among some of the students.

    I think we all provide our students a very safe learning environment but I'm hoping I will learn more skills to address this issue when it shows up.

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  19. This is in response to Kelly. I like the concept defined wherein a GT student may be gifted in a particular subject. Understanding a student as a 'whole' is very vital in providing the right mix of education that is suitable for his/ her needs.

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  20. In the classroom at has been my experience that he GT student was the most challenging student. If science was their favorite subject they were a constant challenge to keep focused. Asynchrony was evident that they did not know how to express their views without either invading your personal space, without having the preception that they know everything about the topic, or without making themselves the target of a nerd label. It leaves me thinking that the peer to peer relationships that we allow in our classrooms are just as important as the relationships we have with our GT students. Sence we have an inclusion format we need to work developing an environment of acceptance and openness of ideas and how we allow student to speak to each other. The unevenness of development in all of our students is something that we all need to consider.

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  21. I think it's extremely important for teachers to understand asynchrony. However, I think that since middle schoolers in general are all at various places in the spectrum of development, that it's not as notable during this time. Especially with physical development.

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  22. I agree with Mr. C: "misconception that GT equates to academic excellence". Our GT students struggle with many social experiences that it can leave them crippled in the classroom.

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  23. It is very important for teacher to understand how students develp asynchronously, especially in middle school. When I read about asynchrony, they first thing that popped into my head was of my dog when she was a puppy. When she began to grow out of her puppy stage, her ears were larger than her body, her feet were huge...she just didn't seem to fit in her skin. I feel this is how many GT middle school children feel. They never seem to know where they fit in. They might lag behind socially, or they might lag behind in certain academic skills. Being able to find a place of acceptance where individualism is valued will be tremendously helpful not only to GT students but all middle school students.

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  24. I believe it is important to understand about asynchrony. Not only do students, GT or otherwise, not all develop at the same rate in the same way, but asynchrony describes uneven development of a student. Students can be very advanced in one area, but not as developed in another area. Since GT students have this characteristic at a higher percentage than other students, if I see a student highly developed in one area, but definitely not as developed as his/her peers in another area or couple of areas, that is a sign that I should look for other characteristics of a GT student. The reverse is also true… there may be a student that seems to not be as developed in a couple of areas as his/her peers. The question then is whether there is an area of advanced development. Asynchrony can be coupled with Kidwatching (p.24). If I consider each of my students, one at a time, and consider their strengths and weaknesses, I can recognize strengths of the student and help him/her work to their strength without totally frustrating the student.

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  25. It is important for a teacher to recognize this in a student. The giftedness can still be cultivated and harvested while the student continues to develop social skills, or other lacking skills. With the teacher understanding this type of development they can encourage the student to take chances and risks in going beyond their comfort zone in other areas underdeveloped. Without the teacher understanding these inept skills the student could be further at risk for later development.

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  26. I spent this past weekend listening to another GT training. By the end of that presentation, I was thoroughly convinced that asynchrony, and understanding how it affects learning, is terribly important.

    As a GT kid myself, I thought about how awkward I felt growing up. I was far smarter than my body gave me credit for. I was very intuitive, and definitely very intense. I admit, I was a brat.

    Given the difference in development, a GT student needs to be in a program that can encourage the accelerated levels, while not ignoring the slower-developing levels. They are deeply inter-connected, and what affects one, often affects the others.

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  27. Yes, it is important for teachers and parents to understand about the asynchronization of children and young people. People rely on visual clues when making decisions regarding their world and other individuals. Asynchrony is the development of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social growth. Gifted students develop in the cognitive area at a much faster rate than other students and may not develop in one or more of the other areas as quickly. With the uneven rate of growth it may be difficult to believe the intellectual/academic growth of some gifted children. Understanding asynchrony will assist in understanding for all educators in the development of our students…inside and out.

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  28. In response to Amy H., I like the awkward puppy metaphor to describe asynchronously (does anyone know how to say that word :). I think our GT kids often do struggle socially, and don't quite know how to make those strong emotional connections with their peers. In some cases, I think they are not even aware that they struggle in this area. Perhaps we could do more to help our kids who do have these difficulties, so that they can develop more positive relationships with their peers. Maybe we could have an after school group that is diverse and works on strengthening skills that will develop positive relationships. Perhaps our wonderful counselor may have some ideas in this area.

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  29. In response to dock on the bay on 1.29.11

    I agree that funding and focus needs to be on the gt children so that we can meet their needs just as much as any other child.

    In response to Mr. Clouse on 1.31.11

    Yes, understanding asychrony can better help us to understand and support our gt kids. Just realizing that my expectations were skewed is a start!

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  30. In response to T. Williams:
    I love the idea of cultivating giftedness in a student. It is definitely important to encourage students to take risks and to recognize where students need more of a push. It seems like it can be easier to push a student toward something they already love, but we should also try to push them toward the concepts they find challenging (in a nice encouraging way, not in a scary way).

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  31. Mr. C,

    I agree with you how we make the assumption that GT equates academic excellence. We need to remember to look at the whole child and not just the label.

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  32. Tiggeronmars stated “Gifted students develop in the cognitive area at a much faster rate than other students and may not develop in one or more of the other areas as quickly. With the uneven rate of growth it may be difficult to believe the intellectual/academic growth of some gifted children. Understanding asynchrony will assist in understanding for all educators in the development of our students…inside and out.”

    I agree with this because often I find myself impatient with the immature behavior of my GT students. By being so gifted in one area, I forget that the emotional level has not quite caught up. Before reading this, I didn’t understand that this uneven rate of growth is all a part of being GT. I think knowing this has given me a new perspective and perhaps I handle student grouping and expectations a little differently.

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