Fitting Square Pegs in Round Holes
Gifted Kids Don’t Always Fit
Dr. Barbara L. Branch
Director, GATE/Extended Learning
Nancy Craig, M.S.
Curriculum Training Specialist
Sacramento City Unified School District
Dr. Barbara Branch
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General Ed Teacher
GATE Teacher
Principal of a school with GATE Program
Director of the GATE Program – Sac City
Gifted Ed. Consultant
College Instructor in Gifted Certificate Program
Author
Chairman – Capital Region GATE Consortium
Educator Rep to the California Association for the
Gifted (CAG) State Board from the Capital Region
Incoming Executive Director of CAG
Passionate about gifted kids
Who are the
Gifted?
8 Gripes of Gifted Students
1. No one explains what being gifted is all about - it's keep
a big secret.
2. School is too easy and not challenging
3. Parents, teachers, and friends expect us to be perfect
all the time.
4. Friends who really understand us are few and far
between.
When Gifted Kids don't have all the answers, by Jim Delisle & Judy Galbraith
8 Gripes of Gifted Students
5. Kids often tease us about being smart.
6. We feel overwhelmed by the number of things we can do
in life.
7. We feel different and alienated.
8. We worry about world problems and feel helpless to do
anything about them.
When Gifted Kids don't have all the answers, by Jim Delisle & Judy Galbraith
Differing from the norm can
have disadvantages…
Bummer of a birthmark, Hal…
Social and Emotional Needs
 Asynchrony
 Perfectionism
 Sensitivity and Intensity
Asynchrony
 Uneven development
 Cognitive abilities surpass motor or
emotional development
 Seeks friends who are older
 Relates well to adults
Asynchrony
Gifted students are asynchronous. Their
chronological age, social, physical,
emotional, and intellectual development
may all be at different levels.
For example, a 5-year-old may be able to
read and comprehend a third-grade book
but may not be able to write legibly.
Perfectionism


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High expectations of self and others
Sometimes leads to limited risk-taking
May lead to low self-worth
Highly self-critical
Healthy Perfectionism vs.
Dysfunctional Perfectionism
 Healthy
• Reflective organism
• High personal standards
• Agreeable
• Extroverted
• Conscientious
An Empirical Typology of Perfectionism in Academically Talented Children, Parker 1997
Healthy Perfectionism vs..
Dysfunctional Perfectionism
 Dysfunctional
• Excessive concern about mistakes,
doubts, or parental criticism
• Anxious
• Disagreeable
• Doubts about actions
An Empirical Typology of Perfectionism in Academically Talented Children, Parker 1997
Healthy Goal Setting
The pursuit of excellence by
individuals who enjoy setting and
attaining
high standards is not
perfectionism.
What Parents Can Do
Help your child to
• Keep striving when first attempts are
unsuccessful.
• Don’t quit when the going gets rough
• Don’t punish yourself for failing.
• Hold onto your ideas and believe in your
ability to reach them.
• Recognize that there are good parts and
bad parts to perfectionism.
Perfectionism, Carole C. Peters
Intensity
Emotional intensity in the gifted is not a
matter of feeling more than other people,
but a different way of experiencing the
world: vivid, absorbing, penetrating,
encompassing, complex, commanding - a
way of being quiveringly alive.
INTENSITY
A salient descriptor that characterizes the
personality of a gifted child is intensity.
Intensity takes many forms that can be both
strengths and weaknesses. Recognizing and
understanding these intensities can help
toward improving the social and emotional
life of a child.
From J.R. Delisle, Once Upon a Mind: The stories and scholars of gifted child education. 2000.
INTENSITY OF THOUGHT
“Her mind is always whirring.”
From J.R. Delisle, Once Upon a Mind: The stories and scholars of gifted child education.
2000
.
INTENSITY OF PURPOSE
“Once he makes up his mind
to do something, he’s not
satisfied until it’s
accomplished.”
From J.R. Delisle, Once Upon a Mind: The stories and scholars of gifted child education. 2000.
INTENSITY OF EMOTION
“She internalizes
anything anyone says
about her.”
From J.R. Delisle, Once Upon a Mind: The stories and scholars of gifted child education. 2000.
INTENSITY OF SPIRIT
“He’s always looking
for someone less
fortunate who needs
help.”
From J.R. Delisle, Once Upon a Mind: The stories and scholars of gifted child education. 2000.
INTENSITY OF SOUL
“She asks questions that
philosophers have asked for
centuries and gets upset
when we can’t give her
definitive answers to them.”
From J.R. Delisle, Once Upon a Mind: The stories and scholars of gifted child education. 2000.
Gifted Kids and Brain Activity
MRI Research
“Brains on Fire”
 Bright red blazes of high metabolic
activity burst out all over the scan. Each
red patch represents millions of
microcombustion events in which glucose is
metabolized to provide fuel for the
working brain.
 Gifted brains are remarkably intense and
diffuse metabolizers.
education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Brains%20on%20Fire/
MRI Research
“Brains on Fire”
 Gifted thinkers are rarely one-mode
thinkers.
 Gifted brains are essentially "hypersensitive
education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Brains%20on%20Fire/
MRI Research
“Brains on Fire”
 Enhanced Sensory Awareness / Sensitivity
 Enhanced Memory Efficiency and Capacity
 More Efficient Organizational-Analytic Capacity
 More Extensive Associational-Synthetic Capacity
 Greater Potential for “Creative-Corporate Thinking”
education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Brains%20on%20Fire/
MRI Research
“Brains on Fire”
 Neurological characteristics carry a number of
potential drawbacks
• sensory, emotional, and memory overload,
• sensory hypersensitivities,
• personal disorganization,
• sensory distractibility,
• delayed processing due to "analysis paralysis"
(or getting "lost in thought" due to an excess
of options)
• mental fatigue
education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Brains%20on%20Fire/
What Parents Can Do
 Accept children's' emotions:
 Exercise appropriate discipline as this helps
develop a sense of security
 Discuss feelings openly
What Parents Can Do
 Take time to listen to children's
ideas, opinions and feelings.
 Appreciate their sensitivities,
intensities and passions.
What Parents Can Do
• Reassure them when they are afraid and help
them to find ways of expressing their intense
emotions
• Realize that they become frustrated when
their physical capabilities do not match their
intellectual abilities
• Honor emotions in boys as well as girls.
What Kids want you to know
 Come into my bedroom at night,
tuck me in and sing me a song. Also
tell me stories about when you were
little.
 Give me hugs and kisses and sit and
talk with me privately.
 Spend quality time just with me,
not with my brothers and sisters
around.
What Kids want you to know
 Give me nutritious food so I can
grow up healthy.
 At dinner talk about what we
could do together on the weekend.
 At night talk to me about
anything; love, school, family etc.
What Kids want you to know
 Let me play outside a lot.
 Cuddle under a blanket and watch our
favorite TV show together.
 Discipline me. It makes me feel like
you care.
 Leave special messages in my desk or
lunch bag.
What do the
needs of gifted
kids tell us about
schooling?
Why Should Gifted Students Be Supported?
 “Gifted and talented” is not always viewed very
positively
• Isn’t it elitist? Offends our egalitarian
sensibilities
• Democracy butts heads with intellectualism –
we want everything equal
• Does superior intellect make us
uncomfortable?
Why Should Gifted Students Be Supported?
 Doesn’t it stigmatize kids or label kids?
 Is it fair to other students?
 Isn’t it just kids who get more field trips and
special treatment like after-school programs?
Why Should Gifted Students Be Supported?
Numerous studies confirm a sad finding:
 Gifted students in the US have little good to say
about their schooling.
 Are usually bored and unengaged in school
 Tend to be highly critical of their teachers
 Are asked to learn independently
often.
Ellen Winner
too
Rationale for Providing Gifted Services
– 24% of drop outs are gifted
– 50% of the prisoners on death row in Oregon and
Washington have IQ's over 130
– Think of the havoc wrecked upon our society by
Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Ted Kaczynski.
Dr. Victoria Gardner Placker, B.A.Ed., M.S., R.Sc.P., Rs.D.
http://www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/futrgifted.html
Rationale for Providing Gifted Services
– Every child has a right to a free and appropriate
public education at his or her level
– All youngsters need appropriate
peers and friends
– If improperly nurtured and educated, gifted
youngsters can become a powerful negative force in
society
Dr. Victoria Gardner Placker, B.A.Ed., M.S., R.Sc.P., Rs.D.
http://www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/futrgifted.html
Rationale for Providing Gifted Services
•We need gifted people
to deal with our world's
problems, and they need
to be appropriately
educated and emotionally
healthy to do so!
•Our future depends on
them!
Dr. Victoria Gardner Placker, B.A.Ed., M.S., R.Sc.P., Rs.D.
http://www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/futrgifted.html
Rationale for Providing Gifted Services
– Gifted children have specific
behavioral characteristics in the
cognitive and affective realms that
present special learning needs that
must be addressed by curriculum
differentiation
How do we
deliver the
differentiated
instruction in
the best
possible way?
Grouping the Gifted
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Full- day
Cluster grouping
Flexible grouping
Multi-age grouping
Rationale for Grouping
 Placing high achievers together in one
classroom challenges those students,
enabling other students to become
academic leaders and allowing new talent
to emerge.
Marcia Gentry
2-Year Study
• Evaluate affective and academic changes in
students placed in advanced programs
• 14 districts, 10 states
• Gifted students in separate class, pull-out, and
special schools had higher levels of achievement
than their gifted peers inn general ed
Delcourt, M. B., Cornell, D.G., & Goldberg, M.D. (2007) Cognitive and Affective learning outcomes of gifted
elementary school students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51, 359-381.
Rationale for Grouping
 Grouping makes it easier for teachers to meet
the needs of students in their classrooms by
reducing the achievement range of students
within a classroom.
 Grouping used in conjunction with challenging
instruction and high teacher expectations may
improve how teachers view their students with
respect to ability and achievement.
Marcia Gentry http://home.wsd.wednet.edu/wsd/Instructional/enrichment/cluster%20classrooms.pdf
Rationale for Cluster Grouping
 Achievement scores improved over a
three-year period for students in a cluster
group environment and the number of
students identified as high achievers
increased.
Marcia Gentry http://home.wsd.wednet.edu/wsd/Instructional/enrichment/cluster%20classrooms.pdf
Rationale for Cluster Grouping
Flexible grouping within
and between classes
that reduces the
achievement range of
each class can provide
many benefits to all
students and teachers.
Marcia Gentry
http://home.wsd.wednet.edu/wsd/Instructional/enrichment/clust
er%20classrooms.pdf
Rationale for Cluster Grouping
 raising teacher
expectations;
 creating a sense of
ownership;
 reducing the range of
achievement levels in
classrooms
Marcia Gentry http://home.wsd.wednet.edu/wsd/Instructional/enrichment/cluster%20classrooms.pdf
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 2-3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
To get a challenge
To have a challenge and not have everything be easy
To play logic games and learn new things
Perseverance
Logic thinking
To not get stuff done right away
That not everything in life is going to be easy
To be challenged
So everything isn't so easy
It helped me learn new things like Latin and Greek base
words
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 4-5
1. Challenge my mind. It makes my thinking not scattered.
2. Inspired me to do things. Ex. = Take on challenges.
3. GT helps me to use my brain and strategy because we play
chess and you have to think.
4. If I could be anywhere in the world, it would be here in GT
because in [my regular] class I feel like we are learning 1st
grade activities and we are doing unnecessary things to drag
on activities in class
5. GT helps me to learn math, logic, creativity, and how to
handle frustration better, which I never knew before. In
class I hear the same things over and over again, but not
here in GT.
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 4-5
6. It makes thinking fun!
7. GT has helped me by challenging me and not having to listen
to things over and over or things I already know.
8. I know how to play chess better.
9. GT makes me feel better. It helps me cool off when I'm
mad. It helps me stay calm when I'm upset.
10. There are complicated problems that help me!
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 6-8
1. GT has given me the confidence to pursue my goals in life.
2. GT has given me the opportunities and discipline to do the
things I have always wanted to do.
3. GT has given me a place where I feel like I'm not different.
Here I feel accepted and able to be as smart as I want.
4. GT is a class where we can relate to one another, better
than in most classes.
5. GT has taught me that persistence is one of life's
necessities.
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 6-8
6. GT has shown me that it's OK and acceptable to have
different views or ideas that go against what is commonly
accepted.
7. GT has taught me to think of my goals as flexible.
8. GT has given me a lot of challenges I needed because I was
never really challenged before.
9. GT has challenged me, given me confidence, and is an
awesome place where I can be me.
10. GT has helped me with life's challenges such as dealing with
friendships.
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 9-12
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Discovery - Learning about myself and others.
Self-reliance, depending on myself.
Able to be creative (with little insult).
It has helped me figure out what I want to do with my life.
A safe place to pursue my ideas.
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
10 Ways GT Has Helped Me
Grades 9-12
6.
7.
8.
9.
Assist me with my life after high school.
Si, mucho gusto!
Freedom
The ability to communicate with people who think alike-ish
to us.
10. To relax at the end of the day. [Number 10 cracked me up a
bit because, to me, my high school class is the least
"relaxing" of all of my classes!
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/03/ten_ways_gifted_education_has_helped_me.html
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