Providing support for your gifted students.

High-achieving year 6 students have identified their relationships with teachers and peers and participation in extra-curricular activities as three of the most important factors in their schooling.

In a recent article it was found that Gifted students who felt supported by their community are more likely to develop their gift into a talent. This lines up perfectly with Gagne’s Model of Differentiation and is something that all schools, parents and wider community need to take on board.

So what do you need to provide for your Gifted students?

 – A sense of belonging. Allow them to work with like minded peers on topics they share interests in and at a level that challenges them.

– Pre-assess for every new subject area so you know how to cater for each student, their knowledge and learning style.

– Pursue interests. Learning shouldn’t be confined to the classroom. Encourage extra curriculum activities that spark joy rather than focussing on what they can’t or don’t want to do.

– Get to know them. The better a teacher understands his or her students, the more the student feels at ease in the classroom. Find out about their interests, their strengths and their weaknesses. Find out who they socialise with and what makes them happy. Lannie Kanevsky’s possibilities for learning is a great tool to use in the classroom for teachers to get to know their students.