Narrative

I work in an intermediate school that consists of fourth and fifth grade students. Our school shares a library and cafeteria with the sixth grade center which is located in a separate building on our campus. My students are serviced through four hours per week of pull out in the gifted resource room. There are two gifted specialists who work at our school. I serve as case manager to 77 5th grade students and Mrs. Sparks serves as case manager to approximately 86 fourth grade students. My classes range in number from 14 to 22. Mrs. Sparks and I work collaboratively teaching a concept based unit on change. I am currently teaching the fifth grade students and Mrs. Sparks is teaching the fourth graders. We will change groups after the semester ends in January. Students in our program are diverse in background and socioeconomic status. Two of them are currently on the homeless list and one is a twice exceptional student. Many of them are involved in extracurricular activities such as sports, dance, music lessons, karate, drama, and activities in their church. Some of them have affective concerns such as perfectionism, ADHD/ADD, and social issues.

Students in our program are exploring change and expression through the decades spanning the 1950s through the 21st century. Concept attainment is stressed in gifted education as opposed to standard based learning in the general education classroom. My students are allowed choice in activities associated with each lesson, are required to present around 50% of their projects done in class, and are scored with teacher made rubrics.

I provide a classroom environment which is safe and non threatening for my students. We address affective concerns through bibliotherapy, current events, and sometimes personal events such as getting along better with classmates and how we should treat others.