Meeting the Needs of Gifted Learners: Differentiating the Learning Environment 6/6

Welcome to the final post in my series on differentiation! It's been quite a journey, so thank you if you've stuck around long enough to see it through! You can catch up on other posts like my overview of differentiation, found here. To read about pre-assessment, click here. You can also read ideas about differentiating content, process or product, and take a peek into how it worked in my classroom here. Today's post is about differentiating the learning environment for gifted students.

Differentiating the Learning Environment

Ok, so it seems a little funny to be sitting here writing about how teachers and parents can differentiate the learning environment for gifted children because, in all reality, most of the things I'll be writing about are truly practices and ideas that all students would benefit from encountering. If you have a gifted child in your classroom, I would consider the following ideas to be great pretty much imperative. If you don't have a gifted child in your classroom, I still believe you would agree with me that integrating the suggestions below would still be a best practice for any of the "typical" learners in your classroom. 

Differentiating the learning environment for gifted students encompasses not only the physical space in the classroom, but also how students are allowed to move about during their time in the classroom, and the social and emotional learning conditions in which children are learning. 

Setting up the Physical Space for your Gifted Learners 

Meeting the needs of the gifted and talented children in your classroom typically requires some space set aside for the student(s) to work independently, in pairs, or in small groups. Providing some sort of space for you and students to meet either individually or in small groups should also be part of the plan. In my classrooms, I had several areas that would work in these capacities.

First, I always had student desks in some sort of groups. This worked well for me because of the way I structured my daily math and language arts routines, but it also allowed for me to join students at their desks so that I could easily help problem solve as needed. Please note: my classroom's physical environment was nothing compared to the rooms I saw when I visited places like The Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, which is a private school serving gifted children in the suburbs of Detroit. However, I do think it worked well for what I needed it to do! (Read: It was never Pinterest-worthy, but I liked it well enough!)

In my lower grade classrooms when I taught guided reading, I also always had a kidney bean-shaped table. It was perfect for small group instruction but also doubled as a place on which students could complete projects or work independently. In my upper elementary classroom, I didn't have a kidney table available, but I did have a couple of areas in which I met with students in small groups or independently. Most often we conferred near my teacher desk where I set up a little area for with supplies for reading conferences and meetings for "Genius Hour" projects or independent learning contracts. We also met on the floor in my classroom library. The library was definitely the most frequently used space in the classroom, and it filled many purposes each day.

Speaking of classroom libraries...You should definitely have one--especially if you're teaching gifted children. It should contain a selection of interesting reference materials, high-quality literature, books from as many genres as possible, written on a wide range of reading levels. This picture was taken before school started after I was almost finished labeling and loading in all of my books into my new upper elementary classroom when I first started teaching at this particular school. You can't see everything, but I did my best to stock the library with hundreds and hundreds of books. I had everything from picture books to classic novels. I had books written in languages other than English, reference books, pop-up books, comic books and graphic novels, and so many others.

In addition to these spaces, having an area designated for technology use is important so students are able to conduct research, complete assessments, work on technology-based or tech-enhanced projects.

The classroom should also have enough space so that students can easily transition from one area and work-style to another. Students should be able to move freely in and out of whole-group, small group, and independent work.

 I also found it important to make sure that students had easy access to a variety of supplies and materials needed for the various projects they were working on. In my lower elementary classroom, I had an art center with many supplies readily available. I was able to control which supplies students had access to during their independent work time by only putting out what they were allowed to access and keeping the rest of it in the cabinet. In the upper elementary classroom, I allowed students full access to the shelves in a large supply cabinet of mine so that they could access anything they needed when they needed it. It almost goes without saying that I spent a significant amount of time at the beginning of each school year teaching students how to access, use, and properly clean up after themselves. Our mantra was a favorite quote of mine from Eleanor Roosevelt, "With freedom comes responsibility."

I also had some spaces dedicated to learning stations/centers (like a listening center, a writing center, and an art center for lower elementary) but for the most part, I stored center materials in bins which children could take wherever they wanted in the classroom to work.

So I had all of these spaces in my classroom and I pretty much let students work wherever they wanted to most of the time. I differentiated the seating arrangements by allowing student choice. Allowing students to work at the location where they were most comfortable in the classroom was the way I preferred it, and I think students appreciated it as well. "Flexible seating" is the buzzword for varied seating options in the classroom, so if you're looking to learn more about this, a simple google search will yield many results of how other teachers implement versions of this idea in their classrooms.

Creating a Safe Social and Emotional Space for Gifted Learners 

Although I took pride in the physical environment and day to day workflow in my classroom, this part of setting up the classroom environment for social and emotional student safety and success was truly a top priority for me. One of my biggest goals as an educator was to create an atmosphere in which gifted children felt safe, felt loved, felt appreciated, and felt like they could truly let loose and be true to themselves. I knew that these children came to me with their special package of gifted traits, and I knew that sometimes those traits had the potential to drive teachers (and other adults with whom they interacted) up. a. wall. Moment of full transparency: sometimes those same traits they threatened to drive me straight into the looney bin too, but because I knew that these kids needed a space where they could be themselves, I was usually able to get off the road to crazy one or two exits before total insanity. All kidding aside, we worked hard as a classroom community to develop a set of standards for behavior, attitude, work ethic, and community spirit that made our time together truly special. And I do think that together we achieved a place for students to be safe, to be heard, and a place just to be.

Here are some of the things I implemented to help create this environment:

• Set expectations early, set them clearly, and set them high. We spent lots of time at the beginning of the year discussing, modeling, crafting guidelines together, and acting out scenarios for how to deal with daily interactions and conflicts in the classroom. And then we did it again. And again. Aaaaand again. And then sometimes we let some time go by and things were perfect we kept practicing.
• Because gifted students have a tendency toward a heightened sense of justice and equality, I included frequent dialogue about the fact that fair was not a synonym for equal. This was important especially for my upper elementary students who came to me only for part of each day. They reported hearing other students expressing jealousy that they got to leave the classroom and go to "the fun teacher" (btw, of course, this was completely TRUE-I was a fun teacher 😜 ). Seriously, though, hearing others say this to them sometimes hurt their feelings or made them feel more isolated because they already knew they were a little different from those other kids--they didn't need a reminder that they had accommodations in their day that made them stand out even more. So, when they got to me, I reminded them that it wasn't about coming to "the fun teacher," it was about getting more of what they needed to help them learn and grow as students. 
• My classroom was established as an absolutely, positively, bully free zone. Gifted children are already prone to being victims of bullying because of some of those same gifted traits that make them special (one recent study I read mentioned that between 60 and 90 percent of gifted children had been bullied at one or more points in their school careers). Being bullied puts children at risk for underachievement, decreased confidence and view of self-worth, anxiety, and depression, which can lead eventually to eating disorders, chemical abuse, higher dropout rates, and other potentially devastating results. 
• Created an atmosphere of acceptance and appreciation for some of the quirky things that come tied up in the gifted "package." Whenever possible, we laughed at our own weird sense of humor, we celebrated each other's curiosity (I had a "Wonder Wall" and we worked weekly on self-selected inquiry projects), and we navigated our way through the intensities children had by using a variety of strategies and tools. 
• Developed a sense of perpetual learning and growth. I tried really hard to be sure to create an environment where students were praised for the effort they put into their work, while simultaneously trying to kind of devalue the focus on grades/achievement. Of course, I wanted them to get good grades, but it was more important for me to convey to them that it was important to keep working hard, no matter what grades they got. I wanted them to understand that it didn't matter whether they got and C or an A on that assignment because the learning wasn't DONE! If they got a C or lower, I allowed them to make a plan for fixing up mistakes or misunderstandings, or for learning the things that they hadn't learned yet. If they got an A or a B, it was important to look at the goals we'd set and decide whether to reevaluate and set some higher (or different) goals for next time. I highly recommend reading the work of psychologist Carol Dweck and her Growth Mindset approach if you want to learn more. She has a really great TED talk that you can listen to here. 
• Established a strong sense of community. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Responsive Classroom when I taught in my self-contained gifted kindergarten classroom. I read and received some training and then once I started, I never looked back. I'm not an affiliate in any way, but I am a big proponent of the methods developed by the authors of this approach. The basic tenets of their program are these (taken directly from their website):


• Engaging Academics-Teachers create learning tasks that are active, interactive, appropriately challenging, purposeful, and connected to students' interests.
• Positive Community-Teachers nurture a sense of belonging, significance, and emotional safety so that students feel comfortable taking risks and working with a variety of peers.
• Effective Management-Teachers create a calm, orderly environment that promotes autonomy and allows students to focus on learning.
• Developmental Awareness-Teachers use knowledge of child development, along with observations of students, to create a developmentally appropriate learning environment. 

The books pictured below became some of my most referred-to books (as you can probably see by the 5,621 sticky notes sprouting out from the tops and sides). A big part of the program was having class meetings in which students really had time to get to know one another, cheer for successes, empathize with problems, and develop genuine relationships with one another. We ALL looked forward to those meetings. 

I hope you find these ideas and strategies helpful! I'd love to hear about the ways you encourage a positive learning community in your classroom-- I'm always looking for new ideas. And since you made it to the verrrrry bottom of the post, I'm going to leave you with two handy freebies that I hope you can use in your journey. 

But before that... I'm excited to finish this series and I have lots and lots of ideas for new posts, but I would LOVE to hear about ideas or questions you have that you'd like me to explore in a future post! If you have any thoughts, you can scrollllll on down to the bottom and leave a comment, you can email me at jen@soaringwithsnyder.com, or you can reach out to me on any of my social media platforms by using the links on the top of my website or by searching Soaring with Snyder on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. I hope to hear from you!

Click the picture below to get access to a free cheat sheet  that I created about gifted overexcitabilities. These OEs are common among gifted people, and knowing about them can help you create an even safer environment for gifted students.  *Just to be clear, by clicking to get these freebies (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.*

And here is a list of characteristics common to gifted children that you may find helpful in your planning as well. 

Finally, here are some of the sources I used or referenced in the creation of this post if you're interested in digging a little deeper...

http://www.purdue.edu/uns/html4ever/2006/060406.Peterson.bullies.html
http://sengifted.org/trauma-a-call-for-collaboration/
http://sengifted.org/gifted-kids-at-risk-whos-listening/
https://st-clair.net/Data/Sites/1/media/public/SpecialEd/gifted-program/differentiation-and-enrichment-strategies-for-gifted-students.pdf
https://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Learning+Environment_+Meeting+the+Needs+of+Gifted+Students.pdf
http://summitcenter.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/GiftedandBullied_GEC_Spr2012.pdf


Thanks, friends.

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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

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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

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Gifted Overexcitabilities: Imaginational Intensity

"Hey Lexi, can we talk for a minute?"
<stares in puzzlement>
"Lexi?"
"Huh? Did you need me, Mrs. Snyder?"
"Yep, I sure did, little one. Can we talk a minute?"
"Sure."
"Lexi, I noticed that sometimes when it's time to do independent work in the classroom, or when it's time to listen to our read aloud, or even sometimes when other students or I are trying to talk to you, sometimes it can be hard to get your attention. Can you talk to me me about that? Are you having a hard time concentrating? What do you think is going on?"
"Well..." <long pause>
"Well...what?"
"It's just that sometimes I watch cartoons in the morning before school."
"Okay, sounds pretty normal, kiddo. Do you think that's having an impact on your listening and focus skills at school?'
"Well, it's just that, sometimes when I'm here, I can see the cartoons playing in my head, and I can hear the music. It's like I'm watching the show again, and it's fun!"

Okay. Yep. That's a completely true story. I changed the name of the student, of course, but everything else about that conversation is completely and utterly true. It's a conversation that happened in my classroom probably five year ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

This is a prime example of another gifted overexcitability-- Imaginational OE. According to an article at SENG, this OE,  "...reflects a heightened play of the imagination with rich association of images and impressions, frequent use of image and metaphor, facility for invention and fantasy, detailed visualization, and elaborate dreams (Dabrowski & Piechowski, 1977; Piechowski, 1979, 1991)."
Students with Imaginational intensity can often be found daydreaming, doodling, and engaging in dramatic play, sometimes creating entire imaginary worlds and living in them for long periods of time. As you can imagine, people with a strong Imaginational OE can grow to become some of the most prolific creative minds of humanity. 

There is a downside, though. It can be difficult for children to distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy, no matter how illogical it may seem to others. A strong Imaginational OE can lead a child to believe strongly in their nightmares or other scary situations they've imagined up. Sometimes the imagination can be so strong that the child can begin to combine reality and their fantasies into one "memory," and they can end up mixing the two so much that they can no longer distinguish between which parts of the story are real and which are embellished. And of course, in the classroom, teachers need their students to be engaged listeners! It's important to help a child with this intensity gain focus, and learn when and how to channel this creative energy. 

Here are some ways you can help the child in your life to deal with Imaginational OE

• Help the child to see that the Imaginational intensity is not a negative thing! It's amazing that they have such a dynamic and vivid imagination! They can go on to create incredible stories, movies, songs, you name it. 
• Provide opportunities in your home or classroom for which the child to USE their Imaginational OE in a meaningful and productive way.
• Help children understand when it's okay to daydream and imagine, and when there are times they need to focus on educational and other tasks. With the approval of her parents, "Lexi" and I came up with a signal that I would use when I noticed her tuning out during a time when I needed her to tune in. 
• Use the strength of their imagination to help them help themselves. 
• Additionally, an article found on the Davidson Gifted website suggests, "Sometimes imaginational people confuse reality and fiction because their memories and new ideas become blended in their mind. Help individuals to differentiate between their imagination and the real world by having them place a stop sign in their mental videotape, or write down or draw the factual account before they embellish it. 
• And, "Help people use their imagination to function in the real world. Often those who do not want to follow the paths of others are expected to just fit in. Instead, encourage them to use their path to promote learning and productivity-instead of the conventional school organized notebook, have children create their own organizational system."

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment or ask a question below. I'm happy to help!

~Jen

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Gifted Overexcitabilities: How Gifted Children Experience the World Differently

In my last post, I mentioned the fact that gifted children have traits that can be awesome and amazing, but they also sometimes have characteristics that can be frustrating and even a little scary at times.

There is a phenomenon seen frequently in the gifted population called Overexcitabililties (OEs). When I learned about OEs during my graduate coursework, I was truly fascinated by this information. Though you should be warned, I am a little nerdy and I DO buy what my husband refers to as "textbooks" (I prefer the term professional learning materials) for fun and read them in my free time. Nonetheless, I think you'll find this information interesting at least.

OE History

So, a while ago, there was a psychologist and psychiatrist from Poland named Kazimierz Dabrowski who came up with some theories about human development.

Part of his work revolved around what he called "overexcitabilities," which, in the most basic sense, means that some people tend to experience the world with a heightened sense of awareness and that their brains react more strongly to these stimuli than your typical brain.

The heightened awareness, sensitivity, and stronger reactions happen pretty regularly in people who have overexcitabilities, and OEs seem to occur more frequently among the gifted population (though not all gifted children have them) than your average folks.

Most researchers believe that people are born with OEs, so it's important to learn how to help children cope with them as they arise.

Quick things you should know about Overexcitabilities

• There are five overexcitabilities that Dabrowski identified: Psychomotor, Sensual, Emotional, Imaginational, and Intellectual 
• People can have all five intensities, but usually, some are more pronounced than others
• There is no 'cure' for these intensities, so not only is it important to help children understand what they're experiencing, it's important to be patient with them as they learn to cope
• Overexcitabilities are REAL. There are strategies and interventions that people have developed over time to help people deal with their experiences and feelings
• Living with these intensities isn't always a bad thing! They can lead to success, creativity, and a greater appreciation of the world.

Specifics about each OE

If you're interested, you can learn more about each of Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities in my subsequent posts:

• Psychomotor Intensity
• Sensual Overexcitability
• Emotional Intensity
• Imaginational Overexcitability 
• Intellectual Intensity

There are TONS of other places you can find more information about OEs. The links below are just a few.  

• Duke Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) has a great article here
• SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted) has a more detailed look here
• Blogger/Presenter/Gifted Person and Professional Ian Byrd (of Byrdseed.com) has a straightforward and succinct post you can find on his site here

Free OE Cheatsheet

I put together a handout that covers all five intensities, as well as some strategies for helping children cope. You can find it in my library of free resources by clicking on the image below. *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.* 

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So, you think you know gifted learners?

If you're a teacher, you've probably seen a chart that looks a lot like the one pictured below (link to a copy here) that lists traits of the gifted child compared with the traits of a non-gifted "bright" child. This was a chart (since updated) that was created in the 80's by someone named Janice Szabos for Challenge Magazine.  For some of you, this may have been one of the only things you learned in your teacher education studies about gifted children, period. (Insert frowny face for the widespread lack of proper training and preparation in teacher ed. programs about this population of learners. :( )

Yes, the list may be somewhat helpful for someone entering in to the field of education. When someone first put this neat little page in my hands as a preservice teacher, I felt enlightened! Phew! Good thing I could hang on to this little piece of paper and pull it out when it was time to recommend children for screening. I could definitely brush up on the traits again if I found out that I was going to have a gifted child in my class the next year! Perfect.

Welllllll....maybe not so perfect. Now that I've been to the rodeo a few times (is that how you say it? I know people say, 'It ain't my first rodeo', right??), I have found that this handy little list can actually be a bit misleading--especially if this is the one thing you rely on to tell you about all the behaviors little Johnny might-be-gifted should be displaying.

For example, there is a line that states that the bright child works hard, while the gifted child plays around but tests well. Yes, I believe that the bright child most certainly has to work harder at learning some things that a gifted learner. However, in my years of teaching gifted children, the truth is that they are NOT always good at taking tests! In fact, I would suggest that test taking could be somewhat more difficult for the gifted child, because in some instances, they are able to provide evidence or rationale for more than one correct answer, even though the creator of the test has decided that there is only one.correct.answer.

If you don't have much experience working with gifted learners, perhaps this thought never occurred to you. You're not alone! There are many surprising characteristics that the gifted population has to offer--some are amazingly, incredibly, mind-blowingly awesome, and some of the traits that are inherent to these children can be scary, surprising, and downright frustrating.

In the coming weeks, I plan to elaborate on more gifted traits in a series of posts. I'll write about the traits, perhaps give you an example or two of how these traits could manifest themselves in the classroom, and with any luck, I'll point you in the direction of some websites, books, or other resources that could be helpful to you in your journey.

Thanks for reading :)
~Jen

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