Sunday, October 3, 2010

Gifted Article for the Week

How to Know When A Student is Gifted
Article by Saoirse O'Mara
Edited & published by Lenzi Hart on Jul 18, 2010

Do you have a child / a student who might be gifted but you are not sure? Learn about signs for giftedness to help you with identifying gifted students the earliest possible!

You are a teacher or a parent wondering whether this or that particular child might be gifted and thus in need of special encouragement to develop its full potential? This article wants to help you with identifying gifted students by explaining certain behavior that might be a sign for giftedness.


At Home
Gifted children are often very curious. They ask lots of questions and show an interest for books or TV programs which are normally made for older children.

Many gifted children are early readers. That means they develop an interest in letters and books at a very young age and, with the right encouragement from their parents or their kindergarten teachers, learn reading and often writing too before entering school.

Reading books on more difficult topics for the sheer thirst for knowledge, being interested in foreign languages before they are taught at school, or wanting to experiment with chemicals all can be signs for a gifted child.


At School
Most times, teachers have a simple job with identifying gifted students. They are far ahead of the rest of the class, have a seemingly insatiable thirst for knowledge and show no problems at all in dealing with subject matters.

There are some gifted students, however, who show quite different signs. They are easily bored during lessons and start to interrupt the teacher and class mates. Some gifted students become the classroom clown, thus annoying their teachers a lot. Others just stop participating in lessons. In both cases, the gifted students often get bad grades. When their teachers are not aware of this being a possible sign for gifted students, these students are mostly looked upon as lazy or stupid although they are the opposite.

Consequences
Gifted students need special care. They need to be challenged at school so that they are able to show their full potential. The most difficult part about this is often the task of identifying gifted students as early as possible.

Whenever children show an interest in things which do not seem age appropriate, you have to question the reason for this sudden interest. Encourage the child to pursue his or her interest and offer help but do not push the child beyond its limits. As soon as voluntary studies change to duty, you have lost the child’s interest for sure.

As a teacher, you should give your students tasks which challenge each student to show his or her full potential. When you compare their work , you can easily spot students who show extraordinary results. Keep them in mind and try to challenge them as often as possible without asking too much of your other students.

If a student has received really bad grades, do not immediately label him or her as stupid. Instead, talk to him or her to find out the reason for the bad grades. Maybe you will hear that lessons are boring. In that case, a test should clarify the matter. Sometimes, it is best for gifted students to let them advance into a higher grade where they are more challenged.

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