Discussion 5

Discussion #5

            Talents lessons have been put into place to enhance the cognitive ability of all of our students (Schlichter, p. 21).  The teacher’s goals in creating the Talents Unlimited project were just this.  They wanted to use the five different talents to teach different skills that would benefit the students.  The lessons are design in a way that so while a teacher is teaching one talents lesson, it would further strengthen the other 4 talents (Schlichter, p. 25).  In Jane Newman’s, Talents are Unlimited: It’s Time to Teach Thinking Skills Again!, teachers can find a breakdown of what each talent consists of and what they are designed to target (Newman, p. 36-42).  I personally found this article helpfully so I believe teachers who do not know much about talents at all will as well.

            I believe using the talents to deliver lessons to students with special needs can be a success.  There will have to be some accommodations made to the talents lessons, but in the long run these lessons can become very beneficial to these students.  Take a student with autism for example.  This student would greatly benefit from lessons in the communication talent because a symptom that usually accompanies autism is a lack in communication and social skills.  Helping this student explore these fields may help them increase their communication and social interaction.  Another great talent for a student with autism would be the planning talent.  These students do not like change, but if we help them work through planning events and change maybe their aversion to change with decrease.  So as you can see implementing the talents lessons with students with special needs can be very beneficial.

References

Newman, J. (2008). Talents are unlimited: It's time to teach thinking skills again!. Gifted Child Today, 31(3), 34-42. Retrieved from https://elearning.ua.edu/webct/urw/tp0.lc5116011/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?appforward=urw/tp1830419916121.lc1591466997011/startFrameSet.dowebct?forward=studentCourseView.dowebct&lcid=1591466997011

Schlitcher, C. Talents unlimited:implementing the multiple talents approach in mainstream and gifted programs. (pp. 21-25). Retrieved from https://elearning.ua.edu/webct/urw/tp0.lc5116011/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?appforward=urw/tp1830419916121.lc1591466997011/startFrameSet.dowebct?forward=studentCourseView.dowebct&lcid=1591466997011