Copy of Myths About Gifted Students
Published on Nov 23, 2015
The word "gifted" when referring to school children comes with many preconceived notions. Here is where we attempt to demystify gifted education.
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Myth #1
Photo by liquidnight
Gifted Students don't need help; they'll do fine on their own.
Photo by liquidnight
In Reality...
Photo by mackwalkerphoto
Gifted students need guidance from well-trained teachers who challenge and support them in order to fully develop their abilities.
Photo by Wonderlane
Many gifted students may be so far ahead of their same-age peers that they know more than half of the grade-level curriculum before the school year begins.
Photo by Jim, the Photographer
Their resulting boredom and frustration can lead to low achievement, despondency, or unhealthy work habits.
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The role of the teacher is crucial for spotting and nurturing talents in school.
Photo by peoplesworld
Myth #2
Photo by Leon Fishman
Teachers challenge all the students, so gifted kids will be fine in the regular classroom.
Photo by Leon Fishman
In Reality...
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Although teachers try to challenge all students they are frequently unfamiliar with the needs of gifted children and do not know how to best serve them in the classroom.
Photo by Nina Matthews Photography
“Too often, the brightest students are bored and under-challenged in school – we’re not giving them a sufficient chance to thrive." This report confirms what many families have known: not all teachers are able to recognize and support gifted learners.
Photo by Nina Matthews Photography
Myth #3
Photo by Matthew Wynn
Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by providing a role model or a challenge
Photo by Matthew Wynn
In Reality
Photo by Jaclyn Auletta
Average or below-average students do not look to the gifted students in the class as role models.
Photo by Ikhlasul Amal
Watching or relying on someone who is expected to succeed does little to increase a struggling student’s sense of self-confidence.
Photo by marsmet543
Similarly, gifted students benefit from classroom interactions with peers at similar performance levels and become bored,
Photo by John-Morgan
frustrated, and unmotivated when placed in classrooms with low or average-ability students.
Photo by porschelinn
The label “gifted” in a school setting means that when compared to others his or her age or grade, a child has an advanced capacity to learn and apply what is learned in one or more subject areas, or in the performing or fine arts.
Photo by >>> S@n
That student can't be "Gifted," (s)he is receiving poor grades
Photo by amboo who?
Underachievement describes a discrepancy between a student’s performance and his actual ability. The root of the problems differ, based on each child’s experiences.
Photo by alison.nihart
Gifted students may become bored or frustrated in an unchallenging classroom situation causing them to lose interest, learn bad study habits, or distrust the school environment.
Photo by james_gordon_losangeles
Other students may mask their abilities to try to fit in socially with their same-age peers...
Photo by Alyssa L. Miller
and still others may have a learning disability that masks their giftedness.
Photo by ecstaticist
Myth #5
Photo by hilighters
This child can't be "Gifted," (s)he has a disability
Photo by hilighters
Some gifted students also have learning or other disabilities. These “twice-exceptional” students often go undetected in regular classrooms because their disability and gifts mask each other, making them appear “average.”
Photo by Africa Renewal
Other twice-exceptional students are identified as having a learning disability and as a result, are not considered for gifted services.
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In both cases, it is important to focus on the students’ abilities and allow them to have challenging curricula in addition to receiving help for their learning disability.
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Myth #6
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Gifted students are happy, popular, and well adjusted in school
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Many gifted students flourish in their community and school environment.
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However, some gifted children differ in terms of their emotional and moral intensity, sensitivity to expectations and feelings, perfectionism, and deep concerns about societal problems.
Photo by CarbonNYC
Others do not share interests with their classmates, resulting in isolation or being labeled unfavorably as a “nerd.” Because of these difficulties, the school experience is one to be endured rather than celebrated.
Photo by Eduardo Siquier Cortés
Remember...
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To him/her...
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death
Photo by SGCampos
Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - - -
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so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him.
Photo by Asiful Haque
He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating."
-Pearl Buck-
Photo by epSos.de
#NerdIsABadgeOfHonor
Photo by quinn.anya
