During my time as an elementary teacher, I’ve seen gifted kids stress out.

I remember the time a student began crying and screaming, saying his “parents were going to kill him” because he didn’t get all As on his report card. One child would crawl under the desk and shake whenever he got less than a 90 percent on a test. Others would just break down, telling me they were tired of everyone expecting too much from them, or complain how the students outside of the gifted program would...

When I started teaching, I knew I wanted more for my students than even I could imagine. I wanted to expose them to all types of learning, activities, centers, and curriculum. When I was getting my degree, I decided to take sign language because I had taken Spanish in high school. I am so glad I did because I used sign language daily with my students for the five years I taught in public schools. Sign language...

As an early childhood professional, I think we all ask ourselves: what do children really need at school? What do children want at school? Some would argue with need and want, saying they can’t be the same thing, but they are the same. As I was teaching and saw different teaching styles and the way classrooms were run, I learned a lot about what I wanted and needed to do because of what my students needed and...