Gifted Children: Ideas for Developing Resiliency and Strengths in Your Child

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Gifted Children Ideas for Developing Resiliency
and Strengths in Your Child

• Sandra W. Page
• Educational Consultant and Faculty Member for
  Association for Supervision and Curriculum
  Development (ASCD)
• bookpage_at_nc.rr.com
• 350 Warren Court
• Chapel Hill, NC 27516
• 919/929-0681

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Vulnerabilities

• Perfectionism
• Pressure from adult expectations
• Intense sensitivity to the messages of others.
• Self-definition
• Alienation from the peer group because of
  disparate abilities
• Frequent placement in inappropriate environments
• Societal, age, gender conflict because of
  disparate development

Roedell, 1984
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Challenge

• Challenge
• establishing high expectations and setting high
  standards
• allowing the child a lot of independence
• exposing children to new opportunities whenever
  possible

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Support

• Child feels that the family as a whole is
  interested in every members welfare.

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Effects of Support and Challenge

• If support and challenge is provided, children
  are more likely to choose harder subjects in high
  school, get better grades, end up in better
  colleges, and have higher self-esteem in college
  or after college.
• If they receive support only, kids tend to be
  happy and feel better about themselves, but
  theyre not necessarily ambitious. They dont
  try to advance in school. They dont take harder
  classes.
• If the family offers a lot of challenges, but
  does not provide the support, then the kids tend
  to do well in school, but they are not very
  happy.
• If they have neither support nor challenge, this
  is bad all around.

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Challenge and Support

• Challenge gives children vision and direction,
  focus and perseverance.
• Support gives the serenity that allows them
  freedom from worry and fear.

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Resiliency

• Resiliency is the ability to spring back from and
  successfully adapt to adversity. Researchers are
  concluding that each person has an innate
  capacity for resiliency a self-righting
  tendency that operates best when people has
  resiliency-building conditions in their lives.

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Resiliency

• Caring and Support
• I have several people in my life who give me
  unconditional love, nonjudgmental listening, and
  who I know are there for me.
• I am involved in a school, work, faith, or other
  group where I feel cared for and valued.
• I treat myself with kindness and compassion, and
  take time to nurture myself (including eating
  right and getting enough sleep and exercise).

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Resiliency

• High Expectations for Success
• I have several people in my life who let me know
  they believe in my ability to succeed.
• I get the message You can succeed, at my work
  or school.
• I believe in myself most of the time, and
  generally give myself positive messages about my
  ability to accomplish my goals-even when I
  encounter difficulties.

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Resiliency

• Opportunities for Meaningful Participation
• My voice (opinion) and choice (what I want) is
  heard and valued in my close personal
  relationships.
• My opinions and ideas are listened to and
  respected at my work or school.
• I provide service through volunteering to help
  others or a cause in my community, faith
  organization, or school.

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Resiliency

• Positive Bonds
• I am involved in one or more positive after-work
  or after-school hobbies or activities.
• I participate in one or more groups (club,
  sports, scouts, robotics group).
• I feel close to most people at school.

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How Differentiated Instruction at School Helps

• Differentiation acknowledges that we all are
  different in the ways we learn, in our interests,
  and in what we need to learn next
• Differentiation emphasizes students using their
  strengths to learn and grow

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Differentiated Instruction Defined

• Differentiated instruction is a teaching
  philosophy based on the premise that teachers
  should adapt instruction to student differences.
  Rather than marching students through the
  curriculum lockstep, teachers should modify their
  instruction to meet students varying readiness
  levels, learning preferences, and interests.
  Therefore, the teacher proactively plans a
  variety of ways to get at and express
  learning.
• Carol Ann Tomlinson

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Student Traits

• There are four student traits that teachers must
  often address to ensure effective and efficient
  learning. Those are readiness, interest,
  learning profile, and affect.

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Student Traits

• Learning profile refers to how students learn
  best. Those include learning style, intelligence
  preference, culture and gender. If classrooms
  can offer and support different modes of
  learning, it is likely that more students will
  learn effectively and efficiently.

Tomlinson, 2003
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Student Traits

• Interest refers to those topics or pursuits that
  evoke curiosity and passion in a learner. Thus,
  highly effective teachers attend both to
  developing interests and as yet undiscovered
  interests in their students.

Tomlinson, 2003
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Student Traits

• Affect has to do with how students feel about
  themselves, their work, and the classroom as a
  whole. Student affect is the gateway to helping
  each student become more fully engaged and
  successful in learning.

Tomlinson, 2003
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Student Traits

• Readiness refers to a students knowledge,
  understanding, and skill related to a particular
  sequence of learning. Only when a student works
  at a level of difficulty that is both challenging
  and attainable for that student does learning
  take place.

Tomlinson, 2003
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Differentiated Instruction is a teachers
response to learners needs
guided by general principles of
differentiation, such as
appropriate degree of challenge
ongoing assessment and adjustment
clear learning goals
respectful tasks
flexible grouping
Teachers can differentiate
Content
Process
Product
Affect
Readiness
Interest
Learning Profile
Carol A Tomlinson
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GROWTH If tasks are a close match for their
skills MOTIVATION If tasks ignite curiosity or
passion EFFICIENCY If the assignment encourages
students to work in a preferred manner
Readiness
Interest
Learning Profile
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The Value of Knowing Your Strengths and Learning
Styles

• In what ways are you smart?
• How do you like to learn?
• What environment helps you concentrate and do
  your best?
• What group size fits your learning style?
• What intelligence area is dominant for you?
• What learning modality suits you best?
• Do you like to collaborate or to compete?

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Intelligence Preference
Human brains are wired differently in different
individuals. Although all normally functioning
people use all parts of their brains, each of us
is wired to be better in some areas than in
others (Gardner, Sternberg). Differentiation
based on a students intelligence preference
generally suggests allowing the student to work
in a preferred mode and helping the student to
develop that capacity further. Sometimes
teachers also ask students to extend their
preferred modes of working, or they opt to use a
students preferred areas to support growth in
less comfortable areas.
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EIGHT STYLES OF LEARNING
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EIGHT STYLES OF LEARNING, Contd
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Sternbergs Three Intelligences
Creative
Analytical
Practical

• We all have some of each of these intelligences,
  but are usually stronger in one or two areas
  than in others.
• We should strive to develop as fully each of
  these intelligences in students
• but also recognize where students strengths
  lie and teach through those intelligences as
  often as possible, particularly when introducing
  new ideas.

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Creative Thinker
Attracted to novelty, likes to produce knowledge
or ideas instead of consuming them, sees the
world from a unique perspective, often prefers
working alone, does not like to be rushed toward
completion of tasks, often works in bursts,
with long periods of incubation (which can look
like unproductiveness) followed by quick, highly
productive working periods, often has unique
sense of humor. Needs support with setting
deadlines and timelines, open-ended assignments
with structure, assignments that allow for
creative thinking and novel products, support
working with other students, frequent outlets for
creative thought, support with turning ideas
into reality.
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Analytical Thinkers
Likes to break things into its parts, likes to
know how things work, enjoys facts as well as
ideas, likes to argue, attracted to logical
thinking and logical ideas, likes to think as
opposed to doing, typically does well at school
tasks, enjoys solving problems, can focus for
long periods of time on a single task, may balk
at creative assignments, likes to find one,
right answer, may see things as black and white
Needs assignments that require thought as
opposed to rote memorization, extended
assignments that allow for focused, long-term
study, problems to figure out, time to discuss
ideas with others, support with how to present
ideas in a non-argumentative way, support with
listening to and accepting others ideas,
opportunities to struggle with open-ended
questions that have no right/wrong answer
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Practical Thinkers
Likes to see the real-world application of
things, excellent at implementing plans, a
doer, highly effective in making things
happen, organized, less interested in ideas
than in action, likes to move and do when
learning, can be an excellent leader, may
struggle with creativity-for-creativitys-sake
assignments, may resist completing assignments
for which they see no real-world purpose, can
work very well in group situations, may not be
traditionally book smart Needs Hands-on
activities, assignments that are connected to the
real world, opportunities to share ideas with
practitioners and experts, experiences with more
creative, open-ended activities, support with
being patient with activities for which they see
no immediate application, opportunities to lead
(even when they are not the highest achievers,
these students can be highly effective at leading
groups and delegating responsibilities)
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The Food Pyramid

• Students will UNDERSTAND
• that the food pyramid represents our current
  understanding of the balance needed to best
  sustain human beings
• that the levels of the pyramid exist in an
  interdependent relationship with each other
  change to one level will result in change to at
  least one of the other levels
• Students will KNOW
• the structures of both the old and the revised
  food pyramids
• examples of foods that are representative of
  each level of both pyramids
• Students will BE ABLE TO
• apply the theoretical pyramid to a practical
  diet plan
• explain how the recent changes in the pyramid
  manifest themselves in the ideal diet.

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Sternberg on a Diet Food Pyramid continued

• Analytical Analyze the two pyramids to discover
  which change is the most significant as measured
  by the changes in caloric consumption at that
  level. Provide a breakdown of how you arrived at
  your decision, and illustrate your findings with
  examples of representative food items that
  illustrate the shift in the balance.
• Creative Think of another way to proportionally
  illustrate the principles set forth by the food
  pyramid. Illustrate an old and new version
  of your metaphor, making sure to adhere to the
  proportions set forth by each version of the
  pyramid. For each metaphor version, include
  representative examples of food choices.
• Practical Using the old version of the pyramid,
  devise the ideal diet for a 17 year old girl of a
  certain height then, revise this diet to reflect
  the principles set forth by the new pyramid.
  Provide notes you would use as you explain to
  this client exactly how her recommended diet
  has changed and why.

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Partial List of Learning Modality Tasks/Skills
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Multiplication Facts 4s and 8s

• Visual
• Make two posters - one will diagram all of the 4
  multiplication facts and the other diagrams the 8
  multiplication facts.
• Auditory
• Put together a skit or newscast about multiplying
  by 4 and 8. Have lots of examples!
• Kinesthetic
• Play multiplication rummy or memory
• Use counters to model the 4 and 8 multiplication
  facts. List all of the resulting equations and
  answers.

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There are lots of ways to use learning styles to
tap into students strengths

• Learning Contracts
• RAFTs (writing across the curriculum)
• Product choices
• Menus for student choices
• Centers

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Novel Think-Tac-Toe basic versionDirections
Select and complete one activity from each
horizontal row to help you and others think about
your novel. Remember to make your work
thoughtful, original, accurate, and detailed.
Character
Setting
Theme
Create a pair of collages that mpares
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Weather Topics RAFT choicesThese RAFTs focus on
weather related vocabulary and instruments. No
student would receive all these choices. Some of
these choices may be made by teacher to tier
because the vocabulary is beyond the grade level
essentials.
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Other aspects to consider about school and the
gifted studentHow can we help the gifted
student live a richer, happier life and manage
the stresses common in gifted students lives?
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Friendships

• Reach out.
• Let people know that youre interested in them.
• Be a good listener.
• Risk telling people about yourself.
• Dont be a show-off.
• Be honest.
• When necessary, temper your honesty with
  diplomacy.
• Dont just use friends as sounding boards for
  your problems and complaints.
• Do your share of the work.
• Be accepting.
• Learn to recognize the so-called friends that you
  can do without.

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Feeling Good About Who You Are

• Recognize that you are unique. Dont compare
  yourself to anyone believe that you are good
  enough to stand on your own merits. You will be
  fine, especially if you are open to new ideas.
• Do good deeds. There is nothing more energizing
  and enlivening of the spirit than being helpful
  to others.
• Do keep in mind that failure is an event, not a
  person. Someone elses power cannot define who
  you are. Only you can do that , for yourself.

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The Perfectionism Plight

• Perfectionism means thinking less of yourself
  because you earned a B instead of an A. The
  Pursuit of Excellence means thinking more of
  yourself for trying something new.
• Perfectionism means being hard on yourself
  because you arent equally talented in all
  sports. The Pursuit of Excellence means choosing
  some things you know youll be good at-and others
  you know will be good for you or just plain fun.
• Perfectionism means chastising yourself because
  you lost the student council election. The
  Pursuit of Excellence means congratulating
  yourself because you were nominated, and deciding
  to run again next year-if thats what you want to
  do.

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Great Expectations

• The voice that diminishes your goals and
  achievements is seldom the voice of experience.
  Its the voice of expectation. Sometimes it
  comes from other people often it comes from
  within your own mind.

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Seven Cardinal Mistakes of Self-Esteem

• Comparing yourself unfavorably to others.
• Feeling you wont amount to much unless.
• Thinking you must please everyone.
• Setting unreasonable goals for yourself.
• Being bored.
• Deciding that your fate is determined by forces
  outside yourself.

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Five Stages of Making a Mistake

• The Deed
• Embarrassment
• Denial or downplay
• Laughter
• Acceptance

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The Value of Mistakes

• Mistakes are universal. Everyone makes them,
  from preschoolers to presidents. They give you
  something in common with the rest of the people
  on our planet.
• Mistakes show that youre learning. A mistake is
  a point of information that inspires you to do
  better the next time youre in a similar
  situation.
• Mistakes allow you to see your own improvements.
• Mistakes allow you to learn from others.

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HumorFinding Whats Funny

• Humor is finding whats funny, even when youre
  sad or in pain.
• The opposite of humor is taking yourself and your
  situation too seriously.
• Humor is hard because pressures can blot out the
  lighter side of life.
• Humor helps you put pain in perspective. Humor
  helps you laugh and let others laugh with you.
• Humor helps to release tension and to relieve
  pain or embarrassment.

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Creativity Using Imagination

• Creativity is using your imagination to express
  yourself and to handle hurt feeling and difficult
  experience.
• The opposite of creativity is keeping your
  feelings bottled up inside.
• Creativity is hard because hurt feelings and
  painful experiences can weigh you down, dull your
  mind, and block your imagination.
• Creativity helps you turn something that feels
  ugly and bad into something beautiful.
  Creativity helps you express your feelings in a
  positive, satisfying way.
• Creativity helps you to channel overwhelming
  feelings and make them manageable.

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MoralityDoing the Right Thing

• Morality is thinking of others as well as
  yourself. Its learning what other people need
  and trying to give it to them.
• The opposite is thinking only of yourself, or
  doing whatever suits you or whatever you can get
  away with.
• It helps connect you to other people through
  being useful and caring. Helps you to feel
  youre a good person.
• It means acting with compassion, fairness, and
  decency.

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Initiative Taking Charge

• Initiative is taking action, meeting challenges,
  solving problems.
• The opposite of taking initiative is giving up or
  feeling helpless.
• Taking initiative is hard because some problems
  seem too overwhelming to solve.
• Initiative helps you see that you can make a
  difference to your own life.
• Taking initiative is always a risk-you could fail
  or look foolish. Sometimes inner voices tear you
  down. They tell you youre not capable, that
  its too risky to try. It seems easier to see
  yourself as a victim. But for every new
  challenge you face, you become more confident.

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Relationships

• Relationships are close and fulfilling ties to
  people who matter. Relationships dont just
  happen. They deepen slowly over time. To form a
  relationship, you have to balance giving and
  taking, helping and being helped. You have to
  have as much regard for someone elses well-being
  as for your own. You risk the possibility of
  being rejected. You let another person see your
  weaknesses and know your private feelings.
• In a strong relationship, your friends face is a
  mirror where you can see yourself as lovable,
  capable, and worthy, rather than alone and
  unnoticed.

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RelationshipsConnecting with People Who Matter

• Relationships are connections with other people
  based on sharing, mutual, respect, and openness.
• The opposite of building relationships is cutting
  yourself off from others, protecting yourself by
  hiding behind a false front, or valuing other
  people only for what they can do for you.
• Relationships are hard because you must give of
  yourself as well as take. Relationships require
  you to take risks and trust others.
• Relationships give you understanding, friendship,
  and unconditional love.

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Independence

• Independence means being your own person.
  Sometimes that means stepping back from the
  pressures you feel from people and situations.
  You can then make conscience, thoughtful
  decisions about what you will and wont do.
  Independence requires that you look inward to see
  whats most important for you-and then look
  outward to see how you can get what you need.
  Independence is a resilience because it helps
  keep you focused on what you want out of life.

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Independence Being Your Own Person

• Independence is being your own person and keeping
  an emotional distance between you and the
  pressures of family, friends, and circumstances.
• The opposite of independence is doing things only
  to get the approval of others or to avoid feeling
  alone or rejected.
• Independence is hard because it sometimes means
  breaking or limiting connections with people who
  are important to you.
• Independence helps you feel safe and know you can
  rely on yourself.

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Insight Asking Tough Questions

• Insight is asking tough questions and giving
  honest answers about yourself and the difficult
  situations you find yourself in.
• The opposite of insight is avoiding a painful
  truth.
• Insight is hard because the urge to blame others
  for your troubles, instead of looking honestly at
  your own role is powerful.
• Insight helps you see things as they really are,
  not as you wish they would be.

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Creating Resiliency
Independence
Insight
Initiative
Relationships
Humor
Creativity
Morality
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Resiliency

• Life Skills
• I have (and use) good listening, honest
  communication, and healthy conflict resolution
  skills.
• I have the training and skills I need to do my
  job well, or all the skills I need to do well in
  school.
• I know how to set a goal and take the steps to
  achieve it.

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Resiliency

• Clear and Consistent Boundaries
• Most of my relationships with friends and family
  members have clear, healthy boundaries (which
  include mutual respect, personal autonomy, and
  each person in the relationship both giving and
  receiving).
• I experience clear, consistent expectations and
  rules at my work or in my school.
• I set and maintain healthy boundaries for myself
  by standing up for myself, not letting others
  take advantage of me, and saying no when I need
  to.

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Resiliency

• Positive Bonds
• I am involved in one or more positive after-work
  or after-school hobbies or activities.
• I participate in one or more groups (club,
  sports, scouts, robotics group).
• I feel close to most people at school.

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Resiliency

• Opportunities for Meaningful Participation
• My voice (opinion) and choice (what I want) is
  heard and valued in my close personal
  relationships.
• My opinions and ideas are listened to and
  respected at my work or school.
• I provide service through volunteering to help
  others or a cause in my community, faith
  organization, or school.

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Resiliency

• High Expectations for Success
• I have several people in my life who let me know
  they believe in my ability to succeed.
• I get the message You can succeed, at my work
  or school.
• I believe in myself most of the time, and
  generally give myself positive messages about my
  ability to accomplish my goals-even when I
  encounter difficulties.

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Seven Stress Reduction Tips

• Think back to other times when you have
  successfully coped with a difficult situation,
  person, or event. What did you say? What did
  you do? You may be able to recycle those winning
  strategies.
• Learn how to handle stress without alienating the
  people around you.
• Find a sounding board-someone who will listen
  and, if you want, offer honest, respectful, and
  trustworthy advice.
• Maintaining a part of your mental or physical
  health requires that you spend at least part of
  each day slowing down.
• Develop and maintain your sense of humor.
• Dont give up.
• Always remember that you dont have to go it
  alone.

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Taking Charge of Your Education Advice for
Students

• Make an appointment with your teacher to meet and
  talk.
• Think through what you want to say before you go
  into your meeting with the teacher.
• Choose your words carefully.
• Dont expect the teacher to do all of the work,
  or propose all of the solutions.
• Be diplomatic, tactful, and respectful.
• Focus on what you need, not on what you thinking
  the teacher is doing wrong.
• Dont forget to listen.
• Bring your sense of humor.
• If your meeting is unsuccessful, get help from
  another adult.