Helping GATE Students Handle Stress

1
Helping GATE Students Handle Stress
2
What is Stress?

• Stress is the bodys response to any intense
  physical, emotional, or mental demand placed on
  it by oneself or by others
• Stress can come from dire consequences or from
  euphoric ones

3
Are GATE children more likely to feel stress than
others?

• Gifted children have a more heightened
  sensitivity to their surroundings, to events, to
  ideas, and to expectations.
• They tend to have extremely high expectations of
  themselves (perfectionism)
• Pressures of being different

4
Are GATE children more likely to feel stress than
others?

• Stress occurs even when everything is going well!
• These kids simply get tired from their constant
  efforts and ongoing fears that the next challenge
  will be more than they can handle.

5
What if We Ignore the Signs of Stress?

• Learn underachievement by third grade
• More likely to drop out
• More likely to be incarcerated
• More likely to abuse alcohol other substances
• More likely to abuse, be abused or divorce
  partners
• GATE students are at-risk if their needs are not
  met!

6
How Can a Youngster Experience Stress When
Nothing Bad is Happening?

• Anything can be a stressor if it
• Lasts long enough
• Happens often enough
• Is strong enough, or
• Is perceived as stress

7
What are the Stressors?

• Demanding course loads
• Leadership responsibilities
• Sports
• Part-time jobs
• Doing everything well all the time is physically
  and emotionally draining

8
What are the Stressors?

• Vacations make them feel nervous and lacking
  control. If theyre not achieving and
  succeeding, relaxing is out of the question!

9
Catch 22

• GATE students need intellectual challenge, but
  monotonous busy work is stressful because its
  not productive.
• GATE students value leadership and independence,
  but the separation from peer groups causes
  loneliness

10
Catch 22

• GATE children are complex thinkers, but seeing
  all sides of an issue creates no clear-cut
  decision or direction.
• Compromise and accommodation are not easy for
  GATE children

11
How does stress affect self-esteem?

• In the early years, school is easy so they
  conclude that learning is instantaneous, and
  achievement is natural
• As they grow older, learning gets tougher and
  they havent developed the necessary study skills
  to tackle it.

12
What does stress in GATE children look like?

• Reduced concentration
• Impaired decision-making
• Lack of focus
• Overly sensitive to criticism
• Get more upset with themselves as these
  conditions lead to lesser performance than they
  expect of themselves

13
But They Have So Much Potential..

• But it makes it hard to choose
• Dance lessons or softball?
• Chess club or science fair?
• Actor or engineer?
• Doctor or landscape architect?
• To a GATE student with great potential, the
  possibilities are endless!

14
How Can We Help GATE Students Cope with Stress?

• Change the source of the stressdo something else
  for a while
• Confront the source of the stresstalk to the
  person, get an extension
• Talk about the source of the stressfind a good
  listener and complain/problem solve

15
How Can We Help GATE Students Cope with Stress?

• Shift your perspectivelook for humor and
  learning experiences
• Learn skills and attitudes that make tasks easier
  and more successfulorganization and time
  management
• Take time to relaxLEARN how to relax!

16
How Can We Help GATE Students Cope with Stress?

• Ignore the source of the stresslearn to
  procrastinate
• Get regular exercise
• Practice sound nutrition How Can We Help GATE
  Students Cope with Stress?

17
These tactics are not productive

• Escape tacticsalcohol, drugs, frequent illness,
  sleep, overeating, starving
• Failure syndromeaiming too lowshort term relief
  but long term disappointment
• Superhuman syndromeperfectionismno one can
  achieve

18
Signals of Burnout

• Cynical rather than happy
• Approaches tasks with resignation or resentment
• Exhibits boredom with everything
• Sleeplessness
• Overreaction to normal concerns or events

19
Look for.

• Fatigue, extreme tiredness, low energy levels
• Unhappiness with self and accomplishments
• Nervous habitseye blinking, head shaking,
  stuttering
• Frequent physical ailments
• Needs constant support and reassurance

20
Look for

• Aggressive behavior to gain attention
• Feelings of being trapped or out of control
• Unable to make decisions
• Lost perspective sense of humor
• Exhaustion where pleasurable before

21
Giftedness is not an Excuse

• Not an excuse for rudeness, disrespect, or lack
  of cooperation
• Most rules are man-made guides to behavior and
  can be learned, understood and followed
• THEY CAN LEARN EMPATHY, TEAMWORK AND TOLERANCE

22
How Can Adults Help?

• Help them accept themselves
• How are they different/like others?
• Accept abilities/limitations
• Develop social skills
• Feel understood/accepted
• Pursuit of excellence vs. pursuit of perfection

23
How Can Adults Help?

• Help them develop realistic and accurate
  self-concept
• Set realistic expectations for effort and
  achievement
• Help them choose appropriate goals
• Recognize and appreciate efforts and improvement,
  not just final products

24
How Can Adults Help?

• Encourage them to learn and use information if
  novel ways
• Dont always focus on singular answers
• Show patience help them do so
• Show acceptance encouragement
• Do the best they can
• Develop priorities
• Best effort vs. good enough

25
How Can Adults Help?

• Let they be a whole person
• Child first, gifted second
• Emotions, likes dislikes
• Unique personalities
• Be available for guidance and advice
• Provide limits, values, behavior expectations

26
Good Advice

• Theyre smart, but they cant read your mind
• Let them live their own lives. Support, encourage
  and celebrate effort and success from the
  sidelines.
• Let the goals be theirs, not yours