GTC 008: Social/Emotional Secondary

Course Description

Secondary students have many emotional, physical, and social changes that they will experience. In addition, gifted students encounter another layer of complexity in navigating these years. This course provides the research behind the needs specific to gifted secondary students, and how those needs can be addressed in practical ways.

Participants 

This course is designed for any K-12 educator or mentor who serves in roles as teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, or other professional positions working with students or potentially working with students who receive Gifted and Talented services.

Course Objectives

• Recognizes characteristics of gifted and talented students (e.g., social, emotional, cognitive) and demonstrates knowledge of definitions, types, and manifestations of giftedness (e.g., visual and performing arts, creative, intellectual, academic, leadership) and criteria for identifying gifted students.
• Demonstrates knowledge of theories and models of educational psychology (e.g., Bruner, Vygotsky) and analyzes their implications for gifted and talented students.
• Understands and analyzes issues related to the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of gifted and talented students (e.g., asynchrony, degree of giftedness, general intellectual abilities, specific aptitudes, creativity, identity, self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem, locus of control, motivation, self-reflection, character development, lifetime decision making, leadership, perfectionism, loneliness, depression); knows how to provide instruction that meets the needs of gifted and talented students (e.g., support groups, discussion groups, bibliotherapy, referral to school guidance and counseling services, mentorships); and applies procedures for creating a learning environment that supports the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of gifted and talented students.
• Demonstrates knowledge of internal and external conflicts that may arise from various manifestations of asynchronous development and knows how cognitive characteristics of gifted and talented students (e.g., creativity, superior intellectuality, leadership qualities, specific content strengths, excellence in the visual and performing arts) may be evidenced and perceived both positively and negatively.

Scope and Sequence

• Introduction to GTC 008: Social & Emotional Needs for Secondary Students
• Unit 1: Brain Development
• Unit 2: Learner Traits
• Unit 3: Mindset
• Unit 4: Motivation 
• Unit 5: Socialization
• Unit 6: Social & Emotional Application    

Required Course Materials

Please visit the Computer Requirements page to view minimum device, internet, and application requirements for all UT High School courses. Generally, a desktop or laptop device five (5) years or newer with access to an office suite, such as Microsoft Office or Google Workspace, will be adequate to participate in most UTHS courses. 

Course Structure

The course consists of 6 modules/units:

• A good way to help break up the course and to manage your time is to set aside 1 hour for each module totaling 6 hours of work per course.  
• Each module includes 2-6 lessons, 1 major graded assignment, and 1 or more minor assignments (self-assessments/discussions).  
• You MUST complete all assignments before moving on to the next assignment. Assignments can take many forms. Assignments can be in the form of a quiz, a text entry, a discussion, or a file upload. 
• The course has an interactive notebook for you to process your knowledge. The completion of the interactive notebook is OPTIONAL and for your use only. 

Course Grade 

For successful completion of the course:  

• You MUST complete all lessons including surveys, quizzes, and graded-assignments and successfully pass 5 of 6 graded assignments to earn your certificate of completion for the course. 
  • Graded assignments begin with a number (01 to 06) and are followed by the phrase —Graded Quiz or Graded Assignment. 
  • Graded assignments will specify a maximum number of attempts (between 1-3). 
    • Re-dos may be required to earn your certificate of completion.