GIFTED STUDENTS: RECOMMENDATIONS
It is estimated
that students who are gifted and highly talented encompass 5 to 15% of the
school age population. These advances students can have increased capabilities
in academics, creativity, music, dance, art, and/or leadership. The following
are recommended:
1. Compact the curriculum and provide
enrichment activities. Provide environments that are stimulating, and
address cognitive, physical, emotional, and social needs of gifted children in
the curriculum. Let the students move quickly through the required curriculum
content and onto more advanced material. Allow for academic rigor.
2. Implement
a multi-level and multi-dimensional curriculum. Differentiate the
curriculum in order to address differences in the rate, depth, and pace of
learning. This will enable all students in the class to learn about a specific
area by creating projects at their own ability level. For example, if students
are learning about the state of Delaware, students of different ability levels
can be assigned to different types of tasks. At the conclusion of the class,
all of the students can present what they have learned to the entire group.
3. Be flexible with the curriculum. Take
advantage of real-life experiences that can be translated into problem-solving
academics for all students. For example, an impending snowstorm can be used to
instruct students. Students of different ability levels can be given different
tasks, such as figuring out what snow is made of, predicting the amount of
snowfall, or determining how many snow plows will be needed if 8 inches fall.
4. Make
the curriculum student-centered. Engage gifted students in the curriculum
decision-making process, giving them an opportunity to learn how to take
responsibility for their own learning. Draw the curriculum from the students’
interests and educational needs.
5. Allow students to pursue independent projects
based on their own individual interests. Independent projects can be
assigned on the basis of ability level. Encourage creativity and original
thinking among gifted students. Allow them to explore ways of connecting
unrelated issues in creative ways.
6. Allow gifted children to assume ownership
of their own learning through curriculum acceleration. Instruct them to
work ahead to problems of skills that they do not know. To help children learn
the value of attaining knowledge in their lives, encourage learning for its own
sake, rather than emphasizing the end results or accomplishments. Teach
research skills for accessing information; higher level thinking skills for
processing it; creative thinking and problem-solving skills for flexibility in
approach and generation of information; and communication skills for sharing
it. Practical Recommendations and Interventions: Gifted Students
7. Try
to maximize your students’ potential by expecting them to do their best.
Encourage them to advance as quickly as they can. Assist in developing projects
that allow them to achieve success one step at a time.
8. Teach interactively. Have students work
together, teach one another, and actively participate in their own and their
classmates’ education. Note: This does not advocate gifted children being peer
tutors in the classroom; the gifted student should be challenged as well.
Emphasis should be on working together in the classroom. Cluster gifted
children together as a table within the regular classroom and utilize advanced
materials, as well as other suggested resources and modification, to meet their
exceptional needs.
9. Explore many points of view about
contemporary topics and allow opportunity to analyze and evaluate material.
Allow open forums and debates in the classroom about controversial issues. As a
teacher of gifted children, take an active stance. Be an advocate for gifted
students. Utilize specialized training to ensure the ability to meet the needs
of gifted students. Share personal interests with all students, to enrich and
expand their world.
10. Consider team teaching, collaboration, and
consultation with other teachers. Use the knowledge, skills, and support of
other educators or professionals in the schools.
11. Provide opportunities for gifted children
to interact with other gifted children across grade levels and schools through
competitions or collaborative projects.
12. Encourage gifted students to participate in
extracurricular activities that involve academic skills. Examples include
math and debate teams. Because gifted children are often natural leaders, it is
important to invite them to use their talents and abilities in beneficial,
rather than disruptive, manners. For example, encourage the gifted student to
run for office in student council, or another extracurricular activity in which
he/she is involved.
13. Involve students in academic contests.
Gifted students tend to be competitive by nature. Therefore, participating in
regional and national competitions such as spelling bees, science fairs, and
essay competitions will be fun challenges.
14. Allow gifted children to create and publish
a class newspaper to distribute. This consists of assisting students in
understanding their special capabilities and the training necessary for them to
reach their full potential.
15. Set individual goals. Help guide
students in creating their own goals and set goals that are specific,
measurable, aggressive, realistic, and within a reasonable time frame. Be sure
not to place expectations that are too high or too low.
16. Consider parental input about the education
of their gifted children. Practical Recommendations and Interventions:
Gifted Students
17. Always remember that gifted children are
similar in many ways to the average child in the classroom. Do note place
unrealistic expectations and pressures on gifted children.
18. Address the counseling needs of each
student to support emotional growth, as needed. Some gifted students have
issues regarding anger, boredom, bullying, delinquency, isolation, depression,
peer relations, perfectionism, dropping out of school, stress, frustration, and
underachievement. About 20-25% of gifted students have emotional difficulties.
19. Remember that gifted children may not excel
in all areas. They may be ahead of other students in some areas and behind
in some areas. Become aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the children in
your class.
20. Do note assign extra work to gifted
children who finish assignments early. This is unfair and frustrating to
them. Simply offering more of the same only restricts further learning.
Instead, allow those children to work on independent projects or other
unfinished work when they finish an assignment early.
21. If a child attends resource rooms,
communicate with the specialist for suggestions on how to enrich daily
classwork. Avoid penalizing the child for special class attendance. Have
another child in the regular classroom take notes and assignments for him/her.
22. Provide plenty of opportunities for gifted
children and average children to engage in social activities. Some gifted
children may need help in developing social skills.
23. Try to find the joy and uniqueness in each
child. Children may exhibit their gifts on non-typical levels, rather than
in general intellectual aptitude of specific academic abilities. Keep in mind
that every child will have different needs
24. Organize resources in order to free
yourself to work with individual children and give the children greater
control of the learning situation. Supplementary books and learning tools,
community resources, and the use of community members with specific skills as
mentors can be helpful.
25. Establish
and maintain a warm, accepting classroom. Teach your classroom community to
embrace diversity and honor differences. Provide an environment in which the
child can demonstrate his or her potential or aptitude to learn and perform.
Teachers should strive to establish a noncompetitive, individualized, and open
classroom, which allows all students to advance at their own rate of learning.
26. Remember that implementing some of these strategies will benefit all of the
children in the classroom, not just the gifted ones. Practical Recommendations
and Interventions: Gifted Students
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