Gifted is a term that is used to describe people with exceptional abilities. These can mean different things to different communities and cultures and are wide ranging in what the ability could be. Māori ideas of giftedness include personal qualities as well as abilities, and are grounded in Māori kaupapa. Often gifted people ask a lot of questions and are very curious. They can have good memories and have a lot of knowledge about specific topics. Gifted students may be difficult to spot in a classroom. They can be straight A students or high achievers but they can also be those that don't finish work (it's not perfect enough), those that are disruptive (they are bored) or those that don't do well on tests (they overthink things - too many possible answers).They can also be Twice exceptional, or 2E, where they are both intellectually gifted and have a learning or developmental challenge. This may be the case for people with autism, ADHD, or dyslexia. Bright or gifted? Gifted people are overall more intense, active and creative. Bright students will find the work easy in class and have good ideas, but the gifted student will often come up with their own projects, be highly curious and will have original and abstract ideas. They will often bombard parents and teachers with questions. There are some people that do not believe in giftedness and I challenge them to read more about it and talk to those that have been disadvantaged because of being gifted. Hopefully we can make school a better place for these students. |
Quick 3
1Testing
Find out what they know before starting a topic. Don't force them to sit through work they already know, offer reading time or extension instead.
Be prepared to have extension work (not just more of the same) for those that test well and do not need to cover the work again. |
2Voice and Choice
Allow students to have a voice in what they learn. Even a small choice is better than none so make sure you give them options even if it cannot be fully their own choice.
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3Interests
Learn what interests the student has, then give them the option to tailor work to their passion. Let them pursue their interests whatever they may be.
Let them choose their way of presenting work. For example in a module on the environment they could do a practical research project or recreate an environment in Minecraft. |
"I did year 11 maths in year 9, then I did year 11 maths in year 10, then I did year 11 maths in year 11. I hate maths now."
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"Having a choice of what I do gives me some chance of finding something I'm interested in and really want to do. Some choice is better than no choice."
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"I love minecraft, I can show my work in different ways and can present it in a format that I'm really good at."
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gifted_quick_3.pdf | |
File Size: | 164 kb |
File Type: |
Easy 5
1 - DifferentiationMake sure you have a range of activities that can extend Gifted learners. You could have differentiated worksheets, task cards or word problems which will give all students the opportunity to have a concept retaught, practiced or enriched.
Practice planning a lesson that's challenging for your Gifted students and then differentiating for other learners by providing supports that will enable them to access that higher thinking learning opportunity. You can also require different outcomes while still exploring the same material. 3 - Independent ProjectOften gifted students have extra time on their hands as they finish work quickly.
Offer them the option of doing an independent project where they can explore a special area of interest to them related to the topic being studied. 5 - MentorsFind a mentor for your gifted student, someone who is willing to work with them in an area of interest. There are parents, local organisations and other teachers who may be able to help.
Don't turn your student into a teacher aide in class. That is not their role and often they are not the best teachers as their brain works differently.
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2 - Group workGive opportunities to do group work in with like minded people, not always in mixed ability groups.
Often when Gifted are put in a group they struggle as they feel they need to be the leader or do all the work themselves. As Winebrenner (1990) says, “The teacher should decide which activities are more appropriate for heterogeneous groups and which require gifted students to work in their own cooperative groups with appropriately challenging tasks.” 4 - CompetitionsInvolve gifted and high achieving students in an academic competition. These provide an opportunity to develop skills in leadership and group dynamics as well as challenging them academically.
A list of competitions in New Zealand can be found at this TKI website. "If we're all on the same level we just help each other ... overall it's pretty balanced. If one kid knows more on one subject, he teaches the other ones, and if another one knows another subject, he just tells them what he knows. I don't think we have a dominant person. [in that case]."
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Dive in
These are some websites that I have found useful over my years of teaching. If you have others to add, please let me know!
https://gifted.tki.org.nz/
https://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-gifted-students/
https://www.teachersfirst.com/gifted_strategies.cfm
Hoagies Gifted Education Page
New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education
New Zealand Association for Gifted Children
A Nation Deceived - a report on acceleration
Exquisite Minds
Gifted students talk about cooperative learning
Activities and Lessons for Enrichment Learning
Gifted and Talented Kids in the Classroom - resource with links to other pages
https://gifted.tki.org.nz/
https://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-gifted-students/
https://www.teachersfirst.com/gifted_strategies.cfm
Hoagies Gifted Education Page
New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education
New Zealand Association for Gifted Children
A Nation Deceived - a report on acceleration
Exquisite Minds
Gifted students talk about cooperative learning
Activities and Lessons for Enrichment Learning
Gifted and Talented Kids in the Classroom - resource with links to other pages