Destroying Some Myths about Gifted KIDS

1. Destroying Some Myths about Gifted KIDS

2. MYTH #1: All kids are gifted. All kids are special and deserving, but not all have exceptional academic gifts that require additional support in school. Most people readily accept that many kids have exceptional athletic or artistic abilities so far beyond their peers that they require additional or different training.

3. This same thought needs to apply to academically gifted students so they can reach their full potential.

4. Your Subtopics Go Here MYTH #2: Gifted kids are high achievers. • Many gifted students are high achievers, but many underachieve. • Underachievement is the discrepancy between a student’s performance and his/her actual ability. Roots of this problem vary:

5. Because learning comes quickly and easily, usually one to two repetitions, they will not make an effort on things they have already mastered. • May be bored or frustrated in an unchallenging situation, causing them to lose interest, learn bad (or no) study habits, or distrust the school environment • May mask abilities to try to fit in socially with age-peers, which usually creates frustration and loneliness • May not be motivated by grades

6. MYTH #3: Gifted students don’t need help; they’ll do fine on their own. • Just like athletes training for the Olympics, gifted students need guidance from well trained, challenging teachers to develop their talents. • Gifted kids often think abstractly and with complexity and may need help developing concrete study and test-taking skills. • They may not be able to select one answer in a multiple choice question because they see how all the answers may be right.

7. MYTH #4: Gifted students are highly motivated and well behaved. Some are both; many are neither! When students can’t see the point of doing some tasks, such as repetitive drills, they often act out. Their enthusiasm to learn and respond sometimes causes them to dominate discussions and blurt out answers.

8. Some find it difficult to focus on one thing when they are interested in everything. Others may get so absorbed in one topic, they can’t stop and become obsessive. Some may expect perfection in everything they do, so they have difficulty managing time and taking risks.

9. MYTH #5: Gifted students are happy, popular, and well adjusted in school. Many gifted students flourish in the school environment, but for some, school is an experience to be endured, not celebrated. Some basic differences:

10. Emotional and moral intensity Sensitivity to expectations and feeling Perfectionism Deep concerns about societal problems It is estimated that 20-25% of gifted children have social and emotional difficulties, about twice as many as the general population of students.

11. MYTH #6: This child can’t be gifted—he’s special ed! • Some gifted students also have learning or other disabilities. • These “twice-exceptional” students are often at risk in the classrooms because • Disability overrides giftedness, never identified for gifted services • Giftedness overrides disability, never identified for special ed services

12. Disability and gifts cancel out each other, making student appear “average,” perhaps never identified for either giftedness or a disability Examples Learning Disabilities ADHD Asperger’s Syndrome (Autism spectrum)

13. MYTH #7:Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by serving as role models or by providing a challenge to others. Seeing a student at a similar performance level succeed motivates students because it adds to their own sense of ability. Watching or relying on someone who is expected to succeed does little to increase a struggling student’s sense of self-confidence.

14. Similarly, gifted students benefit from interactions with peers at similar performance levels. Most gifted students abhor cooperative learning groups for this reason!

15. MYTH #8: Gifted students are naturally creative and well rounded. • Not all academically gifted students are creative; many creative students are not academically gifted. • Gifted students are asynchronous: Their chronological age, social, physical, intellectual, and emotional development may all be at different levels. • Example: Kindergarten student who reads fluently at a fourth grade level, but may not be able to write legibly or tie his shoes.

16. MYTH #9:Acceleration options, such as early entrance, grade skipping or early exit, are socially harmful for gifted students. Academically gifted students often feel out of place with their age peers and naturally gravitate toward older students who are more similar as “intellectual peers.” Research shows that students who accelerate do extremely well after they skip. No or very small negative effects on self-acceptance and personal adjustment Any “gaps” in learning are quickly bridged.

17. MYTH #10: Gifted programs are elitist. Gifted education is not about status—it is about meeting student needs. We would never think of NOT offering special services to a child whose IQ is 30 points below the norm (100). Why would we think of not offering services to one whose IQ is 30 points BEYOND the norm?

18. SOURCES: Becker Schools Website. “Questions and Answers.” www.becker.k12.mn.us/educaiton/components/faq Cheltenham Association for Gifted Education (CAGE). “Ten Common Gifted Education Myths.” http://cheltenham.gifted.org ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. Adapted from College Planning for Gifted Students, 2nd edition, by Sandra Berger. www.tag-tenn.org/myths.html Gully, Diann. “Twice Exceptional Students: Who Are They? How Can We Help Them?” NVCTGE Parent Seminar, March 28, 2009. Kulik, James. "Effects of Accelerated Instruction on Students." Review of Educational Research 54, 3: 409-425. Missett, Tracy C. “A Compelling Case for Acceleration,” NVCTGE Parent Seminar, March 28, 2009. Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development. “Distinguishing Myths from Reality: NRC/GT Research. www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html Sousa, David A. How the Gifted Brain Works. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2002.