Helping Your Gifted Student Survive (and Thrive) During the Season of High-Stakes Testing: Fourteen Tips for Before, During, and After the Test

Feeling the Pressure

Children of all ages are starting to feel the pressure that surrounds this season of high-stakes testing.

Gifted children, in particular, may feel a great deal of pressure to achieve at the highest levels on these tests. Sometimes the pressure is self-imposed, stemming from an internal desire to live up to their "gifts." Other times, it comes from a longing to please their teachers and parents.

And, unfortunately, some school cultures, even while trying to put a positive spin on the mandatory testing, have caused our children to worry that they will somehow underperform or let their peers down if they make mistakes on the tests. I've recently even heard of schools creating test-based competitions--children with the highest scores are rewarded with parties and prizes!

While no doubt, these efforts to increase test engagement are coming from a positive place of trying to motivate the students body as a whole to try to perform well on the tests, they end up increasing the pressure exponentially for gifted students, who are looked to as the people who are "supposed" to get the best scores. After all, they're so smart, right?  And, even if you're lucky enough to be teaching in a place that doesn't place much importance on the tests, even if you give your best efforts to minimize testing pressure, your gifted students will STILL sense the weight of the tests, because of the nature of their giftedness and heightened sensitivity to external stimuli.

Teachers and parents can try to say that the test scores don't matter, but if there is even a hint of inauthenticity to those statements, you can bet your gifted child or student is going to pick up on it. 

I know that my gifted students, particularly my fourth and fifth graders, consistently expressed their worry about upcoming state tests, despite the daily reminders that these high-stakes tests were largely worthless, only measuring accurately the average income levels of students' parents, not a big deal. They had gotten the notion in their heads that if they were to underperform on the exams, they wouldn't be gifted anymore, and then they wouldn't be able to come to my classes any longer.

Can you imagine if that were true? Sorry, kids. You can't come to the place where your academic (and social-emotional) needs are truly being met. It's not illogical thinking, though, is it? After all, didn't a test get them into "the program"? So, we had many, many talks about how the results of the tests would be used, and how none of those uses included being used to disqualify them from being labeled as gifted.*

Telling the children these facts helped to ease some of their fears a little, but there are some important things we need to know about our gifted children as they face any testing scenario.  I also have some suggestions for ways to help your anxiety-ridden child cope with their worries. 

Tried and True Tips for Facing Testing Fears and Moving Forward

There are some important and helpful things you can do to help ease your gifted child's fears. Many of these are things I did in my gifted classroom with my students, so I've learned from experience that they really do help!

Before the Test

1. First, no matter whether it is a high-stakes testing scenario or a pop quiz in your math class, it is important to acknowledge that the anxiety that your gifted student is experiencing is real. When a person experiences this type of anxiety, it can cause the body's fight or flight response to be triggered, which in essence renders the brain's critical thinking areas far less effective than normal. It's important that we recognize these real fears and real physiological responses instead of trying to minimize them or brush them off. 

2.  Help your gifted student become familiar with the test. It's easy to assume that your students already know the answers to many of these questions, but remember, when they're stressed, their critical thinking skills aren't functioning like they normally do! Allow your children to ask every. single. question. they have, and please don't make them feel silly for asking (see number one above). Here are some examples of things you may want to discuss about the test itself.

• What is the format of the test? What types of questions will they encounter?
• How long will the test take? How many questions will there be?
• Is it timed or do they have as long as they need to finish?
• Can they skip questions and come back? 
• If the test is on a computer, what will happen if the computer has a problem? 
• If the test is a pencil/paper test, what will happen if they forget a pencil? What if the pencil breaks? 

3. See if you can help the child identify their own internal dialogue--what are they fearful of exactly? What is that pesky little voice inside saying to them? Once you get to the bottom of what they're telling themselves, work toward changing the dialogue to something more positive.** Below are some examples of common things I heard my gifted students say:

• "If I don't pass the test, I might get kicked out of the gifted program at school." 
• "What if Johnny Gifted-Peer gets a higher score than me?" Or worse, "What if Suzy Not-Gifted-Peer gets a better score than me?" 
• "I'm afraid that my mom (teacher, dad, etc.) will be disappointed in me if I mess up."
• "I'm not good at taking tests."

4. If the child is being tested on something he or she finds challenging, it's a great time to teach proper study skills like making flash cards, recopying notes, devising mnemonic devices, etc.  If they feel really well prepared for the tests, the anxiety can be lessened. 

5. Help your student practice asking for help if they need it. I know that this can be particularly difficult (I know this from my own experience! I didn't (and still don't) like asking for help). I found it helpful to develop a quiet signal that a student and I could use if they needed help. Sometimes it was as simple as placing a sticky note in a particular area on their desk or computer, maybe it was a baseball-coach-style ear tug or nose wiggle. Whatever it was, if the student was willing to ask for help after we minimized the risk of drawing attention to themselves for needing help, I was a happy camper. 

6. Prepare physically for the test. This includes getting proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise in the days leading up to the test. 

During the Test

1. Have your student or child use breathing strategies to help ease the body's physical response.

2. Allow (and encourage) them to take breaks as needed. 

3. Make them hydrate! There is scientific evidence that water acts like a mental lubricant--increasing brain efficiency and function. 

4. Allow your gifted student to keep a small stress ball or other small comfort object nearby or in a pocket.

5. Help your child decide on a short phrase, an affirmation of sorts, to visualize or whisper as needed.  

After the Test

1. Debrief, but focus on the positive. What do they feel went well? (Teachers, be careful. Unfortunately, you will need to be sure you stick to generalities here. If you've ever proctored a high-stakes test, you know that the testing protocols are usually QUITE strict about not allowing any discussion of the tests' content whatsoever.) 

2. Rest. Test-taking is difficult for everyone, but it can really take a physical toll on children with high levels of anxiety. Allow time for your students to rest and relax. They need it (and you probably do, to!)

3. Move on. It's over now. There's nothing left to do. Remind your gifted child that they've done their absolute best and no matter what, your opinion of them won't change. Remind them that you're proud of them for facing their fears and getting through a tough time in their life!

Phew! You made it to the bottom of the post! And good thing you did, because I have a FREEBIE just for you! Click on the image on the right to sign up for access a handout that contains the tips above written in student-friendly language. It's ready for you to print and use, then send home for parents to read with their kids! *Just to be clear, by clicking to get the freebie (and instant access to the growing collection of free resources in my library of subscriber exclusives), you're also agreeing to be added to my email list, where I'll send occasional messages with fresh ideas, tips, and other resources straight to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time.*


Thank you so VERY much for reading. I do appreciate it! If you like what you're reading, don't miss a post! Click the subscribe button on the right to get emails with my blog posts delivered right to your inbox!

*Thankfully, in Ohio the law protects children from the removal of the gifted label. The law is written so that once they are identified as gifted, they will always carry the gifted label.*

**It's important to recognize that while you can help a child practice changing the dialogue, they may really benefit from a visit to the school counselor or therapist who is better equipped to handle these things. Don't be afraid to refer the child for more help!

References:

Tips for taming test anxiety (because even gifted kids get anxious), by Gail Post, Ph.D.
Keeping a Healthy Perspective on Stress and Test Anxiety, by Vidisha Patel
Gifted Students...Scared of Tests? Part 2, by Christopher Taibbi, M.A.T.
Why Your Brain Needs Water, by Joshua Gowin Ph.D

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Ten Things I Wish People Would Stop Saying About Gifted Students: Common Misconceptions about Gifted Learners Illustrated by Harry Potter and Friends

Having spent 10 years in the classroom, and six of those ten years in gifted education, I've heard many people--both parents and teachers--say things (whether they were 100% serious or not) about the gifted population that are just so untrue! My goal today is most certainly not to offend anyone in the education field, or any parents. I know for sure that for the vast majority of teachers and parents, we all want to do what is best for all children. Our intentions are innately positive. I also know that there is a huge lack of training in teacher education programs on how to meet the needs of gifted learners. And for parents, unless you seek out information from reputable institutions or gifted advocacy groups, you don't always hear this information, either. I hope that by writing this post today, with the help of some tongue-in-cheek memes of the archetypal gifted characters from one of my favorite book series, I can in some small way, help educate people about some of the most common myths that seem to come up over and over again. 

1. They'll be FINE in the regular classroom. 

The truth is simple here. According to a national study conducted by The National Research Center on Gifted and Talented indicated that your highly gifted student comes to you knowing up to 80% of the material you plan to teach them this year. EIGHTY.PERCENT. There is a disturbing lack of urgency surrounding the need to provide gifted learners with NEW material! Think about this for a minute. You KNOW you've been to a professional development day or a staff meeting in which you already knew most of the material being presented. Lucky for you, the meeting or PD usually lasts for only a few hours, possibly up to maybe a few days. Were you bored? Did you benefit from sitting through those meetings? How did you feel? Bored. Frustrated. Despondent. You probably found other ways to entertain your self, right? Maybe you're reading my blog during one of those meetings. (If that's the case, don't stop--you'll probably learn something here today! Wink, Wink!) Now, multiply that feeling of boredom or frustration times 180 DAYS. The average school day for a child is somewhere between six and seven hours. Let's be realistic and say that you have only moderately gifted students in your classroom and they only know 50% of your curriculum. 180 days times 6.5 hours is 1,170 hours spent with you in a year. If they come in knowing 50% of the material, that means they're spending 585 HOURS just this year NOT LEARNING.  I don't know about you--but seeing these statistics in black and white makes them even more stark. That's nearly FIFTEEN 40-hour work weeks! Imagine! We've GOT to work hard meeting these students where they are in their knowledge and move them forward. There's a chance that little gifted Joe will seem fine, because he's learned to be complacent, well-behaved, and respectful. Please believe me when I say that he will most certainly be worlds better if he's actually given the opportunity to learn something new. 

2. They didn't get 100% on that test, so why should I give him special treatment? Or, geez, they bombed that assignment. I thought they were"gifted." Or, how can she be gifted? She's never had straight A's. 

                                     

First of all, using specific interventions to meet the needs of ANY learner isn't giving special treatment. It's best practice. Second, gifted students are human beings--prone to imperfection since the inception of our existence (even Wizards make mistakes). Third, gifted students can be underachievers. If they've been identified as gifted, it means that they have been identified as having a higher than average potential for learning. If they're not meeting their potential, that's a problem. There are many reasons why a gifted student may be underperforming in school, ranging from a loss of interest from being under-challenged for a period of time, to a child trying to fit in socially who masks his or her giftedness by making mistakes on purpose. Perhaps the child is finally being presented with complex information that he doesn't already know, and hasn't learned effective strategies for working toward understanding yet because it wasn't necessary.  It could also be that the child has a learning disability that is impairing their ability to meet their potential. It's important to investigate which of these issues is at the root of the underachievement so that steps can be taken to fix the issue(s). 

3. Their parents are SUCH a pain. Why won't they just leave me alone? Ugh. Helicopter parents. 

Ok, to be fair, if you've been teaching for a while more than five minutes, you know that there are a certain group of parents who can seem a little...more challenging. Sometimes, you truly do have a set of parents that seem to hover a little more closely to their child than what you'd prefer--you know them when you see them. They seem overprotective, perhaps sometimes preventing their child from feeling the sting of failure or cushioning their fall a little too much. They may even blame circumstances or other people for their child's missteps, and bail them out a little too quickly. (If you're one of these parents, STOP IT! You're not helping your child!) However, most of the time, the parent that wants to talk to you about their child is living out what's become their "normal." They know that they have an exceptional child, and they have learned early on that teachers sometimes have a lack of understanding of giftedness, and as a result, have a hard time meeting their child's needs. And because they don't want their child to sit through 585 hours of class this year not learning,  or because they need to communicate that their child has some intensities that you should know about, they've learned that they need to stay in close contact with the teachers responsible for spending 1,170 hours with their child this year. The best thing you can do is listen, be patient, be calm, and remind yourself that with great (proactive) communication, you can work together with parents to make this year a success!

4. Well, if they'd stop acting up in class, I would give them their different/special/whatever work. 

Yes, you'd prefer that your students behave properly at all times. Who doesn't?! Here's the thing. If you consider the information above about how much time a child is potentially spending in your classroom NOT LEARNING, then it makes sense that you might have a problem with the student losing interest, and eventually finding ways to entertain themselves. I know I did this (and sometimes still do). I was a gifted high achiever. I wanted to please my parents and teachers and I definitely wanted to avoid getting into trouble. BUT, I also lost interest sometimes, because I already knew the answers to all of the teachers questions. So, I found quiet and creative ways to entertain myself during school. I organized my desk, and doodled on the borders of my papers, I even partnered with another gifted student in my class to make up our own alphabet so that we could write notes to each other in a "different language." You know when I wasn't doing these inventive  little  things? When the teacher gained my attention with new information in class, when they created projects for me to work on independently so I didn't have to read or listen to the content in the next chapter of the science textbook, when I got to choose a new topic to pursue on my own or with that gifted peer of mine. I know it may seem as thought you're "rewarding" their poor behavior choices. But you're not. You are, in fact, providing for them what they NEED. You are recognizing that behavioral problems they're exhibiting are likely CAUSED by the fact that you weren't giving them what they NEED. In the end, you, your class, and especially your gifted student will all be much happier once you start providing for the learning needs of your gifted student. 

5.  I wish they'd stop being so know-it-all and correcting me all the time!

                           

Well, this one is a little sticky. Of course your gifted student should learn to be respectful, try not to interrupt you, and definitely refrain from correcting you in front of the whole class, right? The thing that makes this a little trickier for gifted learners goes back to the nature of the gifted child in general. The traits that make them who they are, can sometimes interfere with the expectations for how you'd like to run things in your classroom. One of the traits of giftedness is that gifted children can be perfectionists. They have extremely high expectations for themselves and others when it comes to accuracy. Further, their little gifted brains have such a high capacity for learning and remembering things, and making rapid connections to previous knowledge, it may just be that they've had an epiphany of sorts and their excitement precludes their manners. Finally, it may be that your gifted student has psychomotor overexcitabilty, and they have a hard time controlling their energy/impulses. In my classroom, we had many conversations about productive and appropriate ways to communicate with teachers (or others in general) when they disagree with what's being said. We took time to model how to address disagreements without being rude. Quite honestly, it never bothered me when a student pointed out mistakes to me, as long as they weren't rude about it (which we also rehearsed frequently at first).  I am the first to admit that despite my own perfectionistic tendencies, I do sometimes make mistakes (I know--it's a shocker!),  and with each mistake comes an opportunity for learning. 

6. They just need to stop complaining about things not being fair! 

The ability to recognize social injustice or inequity is another gifted trait. It relates back to Dabrowski's Emotional Overexcitability. These children are exceptionally perceptive. They experience the world differently than a typically developing child. They are sensitive to injustice, and just as they called you out for making a mistake in your math equation five minutes ago, they will note any perceived injustice or imbalance in your classroom. Again, as teachers or parents, it's important that we step back and think for a minute--is this perception of what's happening something truly unfair? Is there an imbalance that needs adjusting? Or is it time to have a talk about what fairness truly means? One thing I really felt proud about as a teacher is that I felt like my students walked away with an honest-to-goodness sense of understanding that fair does not mean equal. It took lots of class meetings, modeling, and open discussions, but I do feel that students understood that fairness can take on different appearances, depending on the circumstances. 

7. That kid is gifted? Well, not in my class, he's not. 

Asynchronicity is one of the hallmark characteristics of gifted children. In a nutshell, being asynchronous in your development means that parts of you grow or develop unevenly, or out of "sync" with other parts of your development. The resulting issue is that you may have a gifted child who can hold his own in an AP calculus class, but has a hard time writing a coherent paragraph. The child may not be able to complete simple computations yet, but has the emotional maturity to be able to keep up with adult conversations (and he probably prefers those conversations to those of his peers). The point is, you may have gifted students who are developing evenly all the way around--they're rockstars in every sense of the word. But more likely than not, you're going to see discrepancies, sometimes significant, between different aspects of the child's development. It's okay. It's normal. It's time to meet them where they are, and push them forward, no matter where the starting point.

8.  You're a GENIUS! You just like, know stuff without even TRYING! 

Ugh. This. It happens all the time, and with the most positive intentions. You're trying to compliment a child you notice has a penchant for achieving. To the observer, the gifted brain can be like a sponge--rapidly soaking in all sorts of information. It looks like they don't even have to work hard at learning (and they don't always need to!). Even the term gifted, has connotations that this intelligence was a present from above, right?

There is truth to thought that gifted children are born with innate talents, but it's risky to focus so much on this inborn ability because it can undermine the child's motivation, and lead to Dweck's "Fixed Mindset," or the belief that their intelligence is set. So, if a child perceives herself as having this gift of intelligence, she thinks she won't ever have to work at learning. And if this same person fails at something, then she starts to question whether she truly is as smart as they she thought she was. Eventually, this could lead to the child taking fewer risks because he doesn't want to endure the experience of failing, they don't want to put in the work it takes to learn something they don't already know, and they may even start questioning their own self-worth. Not good, right?

Experts in the field, such as renown psychologist Carol Dweck, suggest that we praise students for their effort as opposed to their achievements. Others, like Alfie Kohn even suggest that we remove praise altogether, as it can be intrusive, manipulative, and ultimately take away from a child's intrinsic satisfaction.  I think a middle ground is probably best. When you see a gifted child doing well, watch them. Really watch. Watch closely enough that you can provide specific feedback about that you see them working hard at improving. Don't overpraise, and try not to use praise as a form of manipulation, or create a situation in which complacency is rewarded too frequently.

9. Kids need to learn to be bored. It's a life skill.

Bored feels like a swear word, doesn't it? The mention of the word can raise the hackles of even the most talented teacher. I don't encourage the use of the term, but if you hear it, despite how angry it makes you, you need to listen and reflect on what could be happening in your home or classroom.

There are many reasons for which a child may determine that they feel "bored," including feelings of sadness or anger, experiencing work that is too difficult, or perhaps they're overstimulated. What your gifted child could be expressing though, is their frustration at the lack of learning or progress toward learning. Which should lead you into a thought process that includes reflecting on why this child is frustrated at the lack of progress. Gifted children, pretty much by definition, learn faster than the average learner, needing only 1-3 repetitions of new material, instead of the typical 6-8. Not to mention (again) that this child came to you already knowing much of the content you were planning to present. It's important to consider all this when the dreaded B-word is uttered in your presence. Are you giving this child new material to master? Are you wasting their time by having them repeatedly "learn" material they've known for years? Perhaps they really are getting overstimulated, or maybe they're frustrated about something that's too difficult for them. Either way, we shouldn't be okay with kids being bored and we need to work understanding the cause, and working toward fixing the problem.

10. Acceleration? You mean like, grade-skipping? No way. He needs to be with his age-mates. Don't you think this will be bad for their social-emotional growth? 

Acceleration is the single most researched intervention for gifted students. It has been found time and again to be the BEST way to help  highly gifted children grow towards reaching their potential. There is virtually no evidence that acceleration has a negative impact on a child's social or emotional growth. It's cost effective, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. In fact, when comparing the achievement levels of an accelerated child to the same grade-peers, the accelerated child's scores are in the average range in their first year of acceleration, and among the highest in the grade in all the subsequent years of their education, including college. Further, acceleration doesn't always mean grade-skipping! There are actually 18 different forms of acceleration. To name a few, there is subject-area acceleration, whole grade acceleration (or grade skipping), early entrance to kindergarten, telescoping (in which more than one year's worth of curriculum is learned in a single year), and radical acceleration (skipping more than one grade, or advancing at a very rapid pace through the curriculum). 

Of course, acceleration is not a magic bullet. It needs to be carefully considered for each child. Using the IOWA acceleration scale is a good practice, as it quantifies factors in the child's life other than the child's academic achievement. 

To be sure, this list is NOT exhaustive. Leave me a comment below with something you've heard about gifted kids which you know (or suspect) to be untrue! I'm curious!

Thanks so much for reading!
~Jen

21

Gifted Overexcitabilities: Intellectual Intensity

Deeply curious, avid reader, loves problem solving, insatiable desire for knowledge, ability to concentrate for extended periods of time on one task, not satisfied with surface-level answers to questions, analytical, able to synthesize information readily, asks a seemingly infinite amount of questions.

Sound familiar? Then perhaps you've met a gifted child with Intellectual Intensity.

This is the fifth and final part of my overexcitabilities series. You can read an overview here, and you can find out more about the other four intensities (sensual, emotional, imaginational, and psychomotor) in earlier blog posts as well.

If you consider the intellectual intensity, you may think that this OE is fairly obvious, right? If a child has been identified as cognitively gifted, it would make sense that they have intellectual needs beyond their typically developing peers. As with the other overexcitabilites, though, this intellectual intensity is a marked departure from a child who is bright or gifted without this particular OE taking the spotlight. 

A child with the intellectual OE has a mind that is constantly working. They not only enjoy thinking and learning, but they also love thinking about their thinking (metacognition). They also spend a lot of time thinking about moral and ethical issues, which is why it's not uncommon for children with this intensity to be the justice-seekers in your classroom. It can be truly amazing to observe these minds in action.

It can be difficult to keep with the intellectual needs of a child with this OE. They can absorb new information faster than you can get it in their hands. They can test your patience as a teacher with the sheer volume of questions they have. They will question choices you make in your classroom or home if they feel you've made a decision that doesn't align with their own moral compass. They can also be critical of people who can't keep up with their rapid thinking. (Ahem...sorry mom and dad!)

There are some important things you can (and should) do in your classroom or home to help these children thrive.

• Show them that you understand! Acknowledge their intensity--validate this very real thirst for knowledge, and help them focus on the positive aspects of this OE
• Help them answer their own questions when you can't. Teach intellectual OE kids how to research, and then provide time for them to do it. In the classroom, it can be as simple as setting aside 10 minutes of time (especially when you're introducing something new) to allow the child access to a computer or book on the topic. 
• Help them use their precepts to make a difference! In my classroom, we did a variation of the popular 20% time that Google had once offered it's employees. Children were provided time in class each week to work on a project of their choice. I looped with my students, so in the second year of doing this in my classroom, I changed it slightly--kids could still work on a passion project, sometimes referred to as "Genius Hour" (I didn't call it that because of my feelings on growth mindset and praise--to be covered in a future post!), but this time they had to learn something that could have a positive impact on someone. Maybe it was just one person, maybe it was our gifted classroom, perhaps it would be something to impact the entire school, community, or the world. The projects were wildly engaging, motivating, and awesome, if I don't say so myself! I used Kid President's videos as motivation to launch our projects. Here are a couple:

How to Change the World

Hello Internet! #Socktober Love, Kid President

• Help kids to monitor and filter their reactions towards other people when they find others' ideas frustrating or silly. 
• Help the child set up a system of setting and tracking progress toward learning goals. I did this in my classroom on a small scale, by graphing pre- and post- assessment data with students. They really loved seeing their progress in a visual representation. 

Here are some great resources for further viewing:

• Byrdseed TV -- Live video from a parent night put on by the Orange County Department of Education 
• "The Bright Side of Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children" --article from The Institute for Educational Advancement

Please check out my other posts, linked above, for more information and resources about the gifted child and Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities. 

Here is a handout I created to give to parents or other teachers--a cheatsheet with info from all my posts on Gifted OEs. Click on the image to download your free copy from my free resource library!

Thanks so much for reading! 

~Jen

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Gifted Overexcitabilities: Psychomotor Intensity

You've seen these kids before. Children with psychomotor intensity have a an overabundance of energy--constant movement, anxiety, difficulty with impulse control, high energy, rapid speech. They need action.

They can become workaholics. They can be competitive. They can have nervous tics, even trouble sleeping. It seems like they have an internal motor that is constantly running. On high. All. the. time. Chances are, if you have had a child like this in your classroom, you've also seen them labeled "ADHD." And while there are some children who most definitely have attention problems, there is this other group of people with the psychomotor OE who have been misdiagnosed. It's important to understand the differences and seek out which of these is most fitting for the child in your life with psychomotor intensity.

The ramifications of having a child with psychomotor intensity in the classroom can be quite challenging, as you can imagine. After all, a typical classroom with 20, 30, even 40 students in it relies on kids' ability to be quiet, sit still, and listen. Having a child with psychomotor OE can prove disruptive, distracting, and downright frustrating at times. Conversely, it important that we remember that having an intensity like the psychomotor overexcitability can also be a good thing! These people have drive. They have a competitive spirit. They have so much energy that can be channeled into GREAT things!

There are many children in my teaching experiences who most certainly fit these descriptions. They were my wiggle worms, my passionately outspoken, energetic worker bees! They expressed their emotions with their bodies--literally jumping for joy! Positive or negative--there wasn't much guessing needing to be done when they were experiencing their feelings! Having children with psychomotor intensities in the classroom can test even the most tolerant teacher's patience at times.  However, once some simple modifications are made in the classroom working space to accommodate childrens' needs for movement and expression, these children can be happy, productive members of any classroom community!

Here are some things to consider implementing:

• Let them fidget with something. Let's face it, they're probably going to be doing it anyways, so why not acknowledge their needs, and give them permission to do it? 
• Allow them to stand and work. In my classroom, I had a rule that anyone could stand, as long as they weren't blocking another student from seeing. This applied for our group instruction time, independent work time, you name it.  The benefit of allowing all of the students to do it meant removing any stigma that could be attached to these kiddos who need more movement. Plus, don't all of our students need a little more movement in their daily school lives?
• Provide opportunities for breaks and serious movement, if needed. Gonoodle.com was my go-to website for "Brain Breaks."*  I was also fortunate enough to work in a school that had a kind of par course set up at different intervals around the school. So if I had a child who needed more action than what a classroom brain break would provide, I would send him or her out to do a lap or two through the course. 
• Consider allowing students to chew gum. We had school rules against gum chewing, but there were some students with whom I made special arrangements (I got permission first, of course). There was a culture of fairness in my classroom (in the truest meaning of the word--my students understood deeply that different learners need different things in order to make them successful), so I never had issues with jealousy regarding using the gum chewing as a tool, or any other intervention for that matter.  
• Try to build in some time for spontaneity in your classroom. This is something that will not only benefit your psychomotor OE kid, but the rest of the students in your classroom as well.

*If you haven't checked that website out yet, I urge you--DO IT! It's great for energizing activities, but it also has activities meant to calm kids down as well. My students loved it. They loved it so much that we had to come up with a strategy for determining which students could be the "DJ" each day. I'll have to write about that on another day.

Thanks for reading~
Jen

1

Gifted Kids and Overexcitabilities: Sensual Intensity

Yes, this one sounds a little weird at first, right? But it's not, I promise. This OE has EVERYTHING to do with the five senses (you know, sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste) and how people who have overexcitabilities experience these things in ways that are much, much, more intense than the average person experiences them. Like the other intensities, the Sensual OE has both positive and negative aspects. 

This could be a GREAT thing! People with sensual intensity could express an deep and profound appreciation for gourmet food, the great beauty and wonders found in nature, and musical expression early on in their lives. Experiencing these things brings with it stimulation to the body's pleasure centers. It makes them feel happy, excited, and exhilarated even! You know how good it can feel to hear the perfect song, taste the perfect bite of food, see the most beautiful sight, right? Now multiply that feeling times 1304284. <---- That is NOT a scientific measure, FYI. But you get the point, right?

On the downside, having a Sensual Overexcitability may lead to the seeking out of things that cause the same sensations that provide those happy feelings, and they may do it to an extreme. Think: binge eating, binge shopping, overindulging. You might find that they get so absorbed in smells, sounds, or sights, that they are hyper-focused on those things, instead of the lesson, activity, or process in which they're supposed to be participating. Further, there's a chance that you might see someone with a Sensual OE cutting the tags out of their clothes, or aligning the seams on their socks just.right. They're wearing earplugs to school assemblies, or putting on earphones during thunderstorms. 

I have had several students who seemed to experience Sensual OE. Most of the time, they were most noticeable outwardly because they had a really hard time with boisterous environments, the glaringly bright overhead lights in some classrooms (not mine, because I.hate.overhead.lighting, especially of the fluorescent persuasion), and thunderstorms. Oh the thunderstorms. 

Like the other OEs, there are strategies and coping skills that children (and adults) can help. These are all taken directly from one of my favorite pages/organizations: SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted):

• Whenever possible, create an environment which limits offensive stimuli and provides comfort.
• Provide appropriate opportunities for being in the limelight by giving unexpected attention, or facilitating creative and dramatic productions that have an audience. These individuals literally feel the recognition that comes from being in the limelight.
• Provide time to dwell in the delight of the sensual

You can also read more here, and here. 

Thanks for reading HERE! 

~Jen

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