By: Jessica Pierce Kristen Hartley. Until every gifted child can attend a school where the brightest...
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Transcript of By: Jessica Pierce Kristen Hartley. Until every gifted child can attend a school where the brightest...
Gifted UnderachieversBy: Jessica Pierce
Kristen Hartley
Until every gifted child can attend a school where the brightest are appropriately challenged in an environment with their intellectual peers, America can't claim that it's leaving no child behind. – Jan and Bob Davidson with Laura Vanderkam, in Genius Denied
What is a gifted underachiever?•Difficult to define•Many variables•Extremely subjective•Every child and teacher is different•Perceptions vary from teacher to teacher and parent to parent•Content and situation specific
Differences At-a-GlanceUnderachievers… Selective Consumers… …do not understand causes and
cures …are dependent and reactive …tend to withdraw …respect or fear authority
figures …need structure …exhibit uniformly weak
performance …generally require family
intervention …may change over long term …are often perfectionist …have poor academic self-image
…can explain the problem and possible solutions
…are independent and proactive
…tend to rebel …see teachers as adversaries …require little structure …exhibits varying
performance based on teacher/content
…can usually be dealt with within school resources
…may change “overnight” …are frequently satisfied with
their accomplishments …see themselves as
academically able
Strategies to Help Reverse Behaviors and Attitudes of Selective Consumers
and Underachievers1. Supportive Strategies- these help affirm
the worth of the child in the classroom and help promote greater potential and success
2. Intrinsic Strategies-these help the child become motivates based on his or her efforts to learn, achieve, and contribute within a group
3. Remedial Strategies-these are to help students in areas of weakness where he or she has experienced failure and has become unmotivated to engage in learning tasks
Supportive StrategiesSelective Consumer UnderachieverEliminate work already
masteredAllow independent study
on topics of personal interest
Nonauthoritarian atmosphere
Prove competence via multiple methods
Teach through problem solving techniques over rote drill
Hold daily class meetings to discuss student concerns and progress
Directive atmosphereDaily/weekly/monthly
written contracts of work to be completed
Free time scheduled each day to show importance of relaxation and free choice
Concrete and predictable instructional methods
Intrinsic StrategiesSelective Consumer UnderachieverStudents help to
determine class rulesAssignee specific
responsibilities for classroom maintenance and management
Teacher practices reflective listening
Students set daily/weekly/monthly goals with approval from teacher
Students are aware of specific rewards for attempting and or doing their work
Allow students to evaluate work prior to the teacher assigning a grade
Frequent and positive contact with family regarding child’s progress
Verbal praise
Remedial StrategiesSelective Consumer UnderachieversSelf selected, weekly goals
for improvement determined between students and teachers
Private instruction in areas of weakness
Use of humor and personal example to approach areas of academic weakness
Familiarize students with learning-styles research
Programmed instruction materials, where students grade their own papers immediately on completion
Peer tutoring of younger students in areas of strength
Small-group instruction in common areas of weakness
Encouraging students to work on projects which don’t involve a grade
Teachers told me I was rude,Bumptious, overbearing, shrewd. Some of the things they said were
crudeI couldn’t understand.
And so I built myself a wall,Strong, solid, ten feet tall.
With bricks you couldn’t see at all.So I couldn’t understand.
-11 year old boy
If we were TV sets, some of us would only get five channels. Others are wired for cable (the general population) and some of us (the gifted) are hooked up to a satellite dish. That makes these gifted children capable of making connections that others don't even know exist! Teaching those types of voracious minds in a regular classroom without enhancement is like feeding an elephant one
blade of grass at time. You'll starve them. – Elizabeth Meckstroth
CreditsDelisle, Jim and Judy, Galbraith. When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers. Free Spirit Publishing. Minneapolis, 2002.
Shaine, Josh. Underachievement from the Inside Out. http://www.geocities.com/josh_shaine/insideout.html?200826