Meeting the Needs of Gifted Students

1. Meeting the Needs of Gifted Students August 11, 2011 Melissa Wilson Deb Sowers

2. What are we doing today? • Introductions • What does “gifted” mean? • Differentiation What? Why? How? • Worktime • LUNCH • Review/discussion • More worktime! • Wrap-up

3. Levels of Intellectual Giftedness

5. Myth Gifted students don’t need help; they’ll do fine on their own

6. Myth Gifted students don’t need help; they’ll do fine on their own Truth The role of the teacher is crucial for spotting and nurturing talents in school.

7. Myth Teachers challenge all the students, so gifted kids will be fine in the regular classroom 

8. Myth Teachers challenge all the students, so gifted kids will be fine in the regular classroom  Truth Most teachers have little or no training in the needs of gifted students.

9. Myth Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by providing a role model or a challenge  

10. Myth Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by providing a role model or a challenge   Truth Watching or relying on someone who is expected to succeed does little to increase a struggling student’s sense of self-confidence. 

11. Myth All Children are Gifted  

12. Myth All Children are Gifted   Truth All children have strengths and positive attributes, but not all children are gifted in the educational sense of the word.

13. Myth Acceleration placement options are socially harmful for gifted students 

14. Myth Acceleration placement options are socially harmful for gifted students  Truth Academically gifted students often feel bored or out of place with their age peers and naturally gravitate towards older students who are more similar as “intellectual peers.”

15. Myth That student can’t be gifted; he’s receiving poor grades 

16. Myth That student can’t be gifted; he’s receiving poor grades  Truth Underachievement describes a discrepancy between a student’s performance and his actual ability.

17. Myth Gifted students are happy, popular, and well adjusted in school  

18. Myth Gifted students are happy, popular, and well adjusted in school   Truth It is estimated that 20 to 25% of gifted children have social and emotional difficulties, about twice as many as in the general population of students. 

19. Myth

20. Myth Truth Some gifted students also have learning or other disabilities.

21. Every child deserves an equal opportunity to struggle. – Mary Slade