The "Challenge" With Gifted

Gifted students can be deceptive. They can appear to be high-performing, moving toward their potential, functioning at a higher level.
Then again, there is a chance it only appears that way.

Recently, I have been soul-searching and asking myself if I am really challenging my students. I am gently pushing, prodding, and encouraging them to reach new levels or are they appearing to reach those levels while their growth really remains stagnate or non-existent.

These questions surfaced from dealings with a current student of mine as well as reading literature on underachievers, including an article by Dr. Sylvia Rimm. On the surface, this student appears to be excelling academically: he has straight As; he made the Math Bowl competition team, he has earned from Accelerated Reader points than anyone else in his class, his whole grade for that matter. His current research involves studying types of plasma.

But if you dig digger, you start to get a different picture. His general education classes involve little challenge since he is studying the same curriculum as his peers. He enjoys getting Accelerated Reader points since he is able to quickly take tests on the computer for books he has already read in the past. His research project, while it involves a complicated subject, always evolves into a PowerPoint program never developed using a new program, a speech, a modelalways the same program he knows well.

This student plays it safe.

At home, he shows the same behavior. In fact, sometimes he even refuses to shoot the basketball with friends because he is afraid he will miss. So instead, he watches the game from the sidelines.

What this student needs it what I believe all students need: to be challenged in a healthy, positive manner. Gifted students by definition possess advanced ability, and therefore, must be guided to develop and use that ability. When asked during an interview what he thought gifted students needed from school, Dr. James Webb, founder of Supporting Emotional Needs for Gifted, responded that they need to be challenged. Research shows that gifted children spend as much as half the school day repeating and relearning information they already know. It is our job as educatorsteachers of gifted or general classroom teachers; it doesnt matter-is to find ways to get these students out of their comfort zones and developing their untapped abilities.

Dont let them fool you.

Each lesson, each project, each question you ask-- use it to gently stretch students to do a little more, to accomplish something new. Teach students to identify their gifts and strengths and to find new and innovative ways to use them.

Recently, while working with a gifted fifth-grader, the student and I discussed the possibility of her writing a weekly column in the schools official newsletter. The project would tap her love of writing and lend a students perspective to the publication. Really? she asked. Would I have to put my name on it?

Well, I said. It is your writing, and you should get credit.

I could tell she was nervous because she never completed a project like this one. Thats when I realized it was the perfect project.

To provide some concrete steps you can take to challenge students, Id like to list some strategies presented by Dr. Rimm in her article, Underachievement Syndrome: A Psychological Defensive Pattern as well as from the work of University of Connecticut researchers Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis.

Healthy Competition
Competitions such as Odyssey of the Mind and district-run math contests, geographic bees, etc. provide a forum for students to test themselves under healthy conditions. They learn to deal with pressure, team dynamics and other factors while having fun. For instance, the student I mentioned at the start of this blog was recruited to the schools math competition; however, he had to make some adjustments when teammates complained he was being a team player. He was forced to reexamine his approach and expand beyond his comfort zone.

Role Models

Link students up with people who serve as positive models, folks who set goals, strive, remain calm and focused. Mentoring is a good vehicle for providing role-models as well as using books, such as biographies. Students interested in sports can read how top athletes continually push themselves by setting higher goals or how Thomas Edison failed repeatedly before succeeding with experiments because he was always challenging himself.

Learning Through Engagement

When engaged in a topic of interest, students can perform at higher levels and develop creativity, commitment and other qualities needed for long-term success. Renzullilearning.com requires students to complete a learning inventory, which helps identify areas of interest. If you dont have access to that program, you can develop your own questionnaire.

Compact Curriculum

Whenever possible, pre-test students on their skills and academic knowledge. Determine what they already know, this way you can provide new lessons, new curriculum, and new academic challenge. You will never challenge students by requiring them to repeat already mastered material. Renzulli has created a Compacter form to help document the process (www.pps.k12.or.us/files/curriculum/Compactor-Renzulli-Smith.doc)

Parental Input

This strategy comes from my own experience. You can learn a lot by asking parents about whether their child feels happy and challenged at school. During parent conferences and informal chats, Ive discovered that some of my students were bored to death in their classrooms, though they never expressed it to me. Parents can also give you some perspective on the quality of work that students produced the previous school year compared to this one, and whether they are being challenged.

I have an assignment for you this week (sorry, the teacher in me): take a close look at your gifted and advanced students and ask yourself this question: Is he or she really being challenged in my classroom?