Philosophy

This is important, so don't skip it!

The Charles Townes Center’s teaching philosophy on teaching gifted students is simple:

Teachers should seek to challenge and engage students through instruction that enriches, compacts, extends and accelerates curriculum and that incorporates students’ personal interests to keep them motivated to learn as well as encourages them to become stewards of social justice who manage assets in their chosen field(s). Teachers should never ‘punish’ the gifted student for being gifted by giving him/her more work. Instead, teachers should provide challenging and appealing instruction that engages the gifted student within the regular time constructs of learning, unless the student would like additional, independent study of any given subject/topic that interests him/her. Just because a gifted student can (potentially) do more, does not mean that he/she wants to work more; this is a common misconception of many teachers who sometimes forget that all students are kids, and behave as such.

Ms. J wrote a version of the above philosophy as part of the English Curriculum overview, and our former principal, Mr. Johnstone, decided to adopt it for all of CTC. We truly believe that G/T students have the right to an enriched education over and above that of the standard classroom and that the CTC ELA department delivers this promise without penalty in grade point average. Feel free to contact us to discuss this more in-depth, or if you have questions about our philosophy.

Our goal as ELA teachers at CTC is to encourage every student to seek out his/her passion(s) in life and to pursue those passion(s) with gusto. Because CTC is a different place with different students and where we CELEBRATE these differences, we have the unique opportunity to facilitate students' personal learning journeys. We help them:

Set personal goals in reading, writing, and thinking based on baseline analysis of current skill sets in these areas.
Make action plans to move from emerging to autonomous learners in these areas.
Provide TIME to work on these action plans.
Provide TIME to revise goals, share action items with peers and me, reflect on progress, and continue the process.

All this is completed within the same time constructs of a regular classroom environment. Through compacting curriculum, we FIND the time needed to provide students with this highly personalized method of learning that is unlike most other classrooms and that gives students FREEDOM, CHOICE, and OWNERSHIP of their learning on a REGULAR basis.

Ms. J also actively seeks to impart this philosophy and mindset to other teachers through teaching the G/T endorsement courses via Furman University's Graduate Studies department.

Course 1 - EDCI 675: Nature & Needs of the Gifted & Talented Learner

Course 2 - EDCI 676: Curriculum & Instruction for the Gifted & Talented Learner

Teachers who have completed these 2 courses may add on G/T endorsement to their teaching certificate. If you are a teacher interested in completing your G/T endorsement, please feel free to contact Ms. J with questions about the Furman difference in these courses versus other institutions' G/T offerings.

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