Opportunities to Challenge Gifted Kids Are Everywhere

Recess-it is a precious commodity to elementary students.

Having it taken away can be a most painful experience. So when a group of gifted students faced losing it because their classmates were being noisy and uncooperative, they began to stress. I felt their pain, but I also saw something else-an opportunity to challenge them.

After they groaned simultaneously when the teacher announced no recess for the day, I said to them, “why don’t you do something about it?”

“Like what?” one student quipped. “We are just students.”

“Yes, your students. But you are extremely bright, creative students, who can do something about this situation,” I said. “Why don’t you work with the teacher to create some sort of incentive system, which gets the other students onboard, and then, you can all enjoy recess?”

From there, a challenge was born and, together, we came up with some perimeters. First, they have to run their ideas by the classroom teacher and have them approved. Second, the incentives could not cost money or take away from instructional time. Other than that, the students could use their creativity and brain-power to come up with a system that could save recess.

Opportunities to challenge the gifted and talented lie everywhere—the trick is to learn to recognize them. I could have easily joined the students in their recess-losing wallowing, but instead, I spotted a vehicle to develop leadership, problem-solving skills, and teamwork. I simply turned the negative experience into a project. That is what we have to do as teachers of the gifted—learn to recognize these opportunities when they appear.  And they might not always come neatly wrapped in the curriculum or within a lesson unit. These opportunities might come from the most unexpected places.

          Let us consider some:

The Lunch Room

As a teacher, I know that the cafeteria can be a place of chaos, of social digression, a place teachers fear when they pick up their class and hear about all the bad things that have happened. Instead, you can use the cafeteria as a training ground for your gifted students. Why not have them develop a solution to whatever negativity is occurring? Could they develop a system that teaches students manners, a lunchtime book club, or other positive social venue?

Vandalism/Campus Improvements

I had a student who focused on solving the problem of students writing graffiti on bathroom stalls. She couldn’t understand why they would deface school property. She interviewed students to find out why they practiced graffiti and after learning that many wanted attention or to express themselves, worked on creating a “positive message” board.

Troubled students

Other students can become a great “project” for your gifted kids. The same student who battled vandalism also worked individually with a student to help him become more motivated in school by surveying his interests and working with the teacher to develop projects. Gifted children can learn compassion as they take on the challenge of helping a child who has difficulty making grades or cultivating friends.

School Events

Another great opportunity lies in having students help organize school events, such as an upcoming graduation or party.  My fifth-grade students assist by creating the end-of-the-year slideshow and have also created presentations, including honoring their teachers, which they performed in front of an audience.

The key is to develop an eye for opportunities to pose to your gifted children. What seem like problems turn out to be opportunities in disguise when you package them in a way that challenge your students to assume leadership and exhibit creative problem-solving. 

Thank you for reading,

Steve