Weaving in the Social/Emotional Content for Gifted

Common Core standards. District initiatives. Testing and more testing. Challenging curriculum and enrichment.

In our daily hustle and bustle, when is there time to address the social-emotional aspect of gifted education?

That’s been a question I have struggled with ever since I began teaching gifted children about six years ago.

I’ve read dozens of articles and books on the topic and tried all kinds of clever ways to expose my students to perfectionism, sensitivity, peer relations, loneliness, and other issues. I’ve used conversation, technology, literature—you name it. 

Considering the existing time limits on teachers’ schedules, however, it really comes down this: the simplest, most straight-forward method might be the best one (notice, I said “might” since I am a believer that each teacher must find what works for them in their particular situation).

Just talking to your students about the issues brings awareness. Self-knowledge goes a long way. It’s about helping students define what they are feeling or experiencing, then share some simply strategies for dealing with those challenges.

My newest initiative for teaching social-emotional development derived from a book I read called 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids by Christine Fonseca.  The book, as its title implies, provides 101 tips and presents the issues in a direct, easy-to-understand format. When I came across the book and its contents, I immediately thought of ways I could use it in the classroom.

Here’s one: I plan to have my students create small booklets. Each week, I will share one of these tips or a similar concept with them. They will attach the tip (which will come in the form of a page) to their book. We will then hold a short, maybe 10 minute discussion on the tip, including how they can apply it to their school and home lives, and move on.  By the end of the school year, students will have compiled an entire booklet of tips and information.

I also plan to share the weekly tips with parents and encourage them to extend the discussions at home.

Simple. Not time consuming. Effective? Time and experience will tell.  If you believe in teaching the whole child, not just what will be tested, and if you believe, as I do, that gifted children have unique needs, then you must constantly search for ways and methods to develop and provide an affective curriculum.

Please feel free to share what strategies and methods have worked for you in addressing the social-emotional needs of the gifted.

Thanks for reading,

Steve