Giftedstudents Recommendations
Giftedstudents Recommendations
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.
Resources:
Callahan, C. (1997). Giftedness. In G.G. Bear & K.M. Minke (Eds.), Childrens needs
II:Development, problems, and alternatives. Bethesda, MD: National Association
of School Psychologists.
Designing & developing programs for gifted students. (2003). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin Press.
Handbook of gifted education. (2003). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Henage, D. (1990). The Gifted Intervention Manual. Columbia, MO: Hawthorne.
Heward, W.L. (2009). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Educaation (9th
ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Taylor, S. (2003). Your top students: Classroom strategies that meet the needs of the
gifted. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishing.
Winner, E. (1996). Gifted children: myths and realities. New York: Basic Books.
www.canteach.ca/links/linkgifted.html: Challenging Gifted Students in Regular
Classrooms.
www.nagc.org: National Association for Gifted Students: Supporting the needs of high
potential learners.
www.nwrel.org/msec/just_good/9/ch4.html: Strategies for Teaching Gifted Students in
the Inclusion Classroom.
www.teachersfirst.com/gifted.shtml: Working with Gifted and Talented Students.
Contributors:
Stephanie Bauer
Polly Benkstein
Amy Pittel
Gabi Koury