Just what are the characteristics of these talented and gifted kids in our schools? They fall broadly into two categories:
1. Formally identified by a school district 2. Informally identified by Class Teacher The students in category two will usually far outnumber those who are formally identified. But it doesn’t really matter; my interest lies in helping you provide for all kids who need some accelerated individualizing. Classroom teacher responsibilities No matter how the student has been identified, or what gifted services are provided, the primary responsibility to challenge gifted kids lies with the classroom teacher. All children are exceptional This mindset is very important. You see, teachers walk a bit of a fine line with teaching gifted and talented students. We absolutely must provide these kids with the individualized curriculum they need to work to their full potential – they are owed that. But we must also help them fit in socially at the same time. Identifying gifted children We can’t wait for kids to be designated as gifted before we individualize for them. Aside from the fact that many high-performing kids will simply not be identified by an imperfect assessment process, such a designation normally won’t even come until late second or early third grade. We don’t want to leave those high-performing kinders and firsties behind! There will also be a time delay in assessment and designation when kids move between districts and states. The manifestation of the identifiers I outline below will vary by grade level, but your “teacher sense” will pick out even subtle hints of them. New teachers, don’t fret – you’ll quickly get experience with the baseline ability level of your classroom and the accelerated students will stand out. First, remember our definition: A gifted child has abilities in one or more subjects that exceed grade-level by a year or more. Just one year of advanced ability may not seem like enough to qualify, but it signals that for the child to do more than tread water for a year, the teacher will need to provide individualized challenges. A more informal definition? They consistently finish their assignments early and get the problems right! Along with this, gifted kids: Learn new concepts faster Easily recall those concepts later without review May not need to pay close attention to the teacher in order to learn
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