BSMS Gifted Services

1. Unhealthy perfectionism - rather than striving for excellence, gifted learners tend to strive for perfection, often being unwilling/unable to accept a grade lower than 100%. Can increase intensity/frequency of Over-Excitability (OE) problems.

2. Lower level of Executive Functioning Skills (EFS) - gifted children’s frontal lobes develop differently from regular children. Most children’s prefrontal cortex experiences its second wave of growth between 8 and 9 years old. For gifted children, this second wave does not occur until age 12.

3. Need to exercise higher level thinking through more challenging work or when “pruning” occurs, those thinking skills may be lost.

4. Capable of learning skills taught at higher grade levels at an earlier age.

5. Dabrowski’s Over-Excitabilities: (these excitabilities are experienced by everyone, but gifted children experience them more intensely)

OE’s - can be manifested outwardly or inwardly

• Psychomotor - the need to move, rapid or unending speech

• Emotional - becoming overly upset over something others would see as trivial; intensity of emotions both positive and negative. Feeling many emotions at one time, bringing with them strong physical sensations. Becoming overwhelmed by emotion.

• Intellectual - extreme drive to learn and understand; becoming impatient when having to wait for others to catch up, asking in-depth questions

• Sensual - extremely sensitive to sounds, smells, light, touch, taste.

• Imaginational - vivid mental imagery, need for novelty and variety

After pre-testing, gifted learners need instruction on their level. If they pass the pre-test, they should be provided with enrichment/extension/enhancement activities that are tied to the course content, but at a much higher level. I.e. geometry in 7th grade would be enriched with 9th grade activities. These activities should provide the learners with opportunities for “productive struggle.”

• Enrichment = go deeper

• Extension = expand thinking to the larger discipline

• Enhancement = focus on big ideas of unit and expand upon them

• Learn about being gifted

• Begin to understand their “OEs” and how to handle them

• Develop higher level skills

• Career and College Exploration

• Strengthen 6C’s through various activities: BreakoutEDU, Critical Thinking Exercises, Strategic Game Play, Creative Problem Solving (Divergent and Convergent thinking)

• Exit class before becoming emotionally upset or getting into trouble (Psychomotor, Emotional, Sensual, & Intellectual OE)

• Quiet place to handle emotions (Emotional OE)

• Instruction in the moment for calming strategies (Emotional OE)

• Students referred from gifted to guidance when it becomes clear their needs warrant it

• Students abusing accommodations are sent back to class immediately, and given clear instructions on the appropriate use of the accommodation. Second violations result in assignment to quiet table or last to lunch.

• Students still have the right to self-advocate and may make a request to go to the room. They just do not have a pass that allows them to go at any time. Teachers must determine the student’s level of need.

• NAGC Programming Standards were used to develop the program

• Program conforms to District Strategic Plan and Gifted Department Goals

“Dabrowski's Theory.” Counseling the Gifted & Talented, by Linda Kreger. Silverman and Leland Baska, Love Pub., 1983, pp. 11–22.

Dawson, Peg, and Richard Guare. Smart but Scattered: the Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential. The Guilford Press, 2009.

Galbraith, Judy, and Jim Delisle. “How to Shape a Gifted Brain.” The Gifted Teen Survival Guide Smart, Sharp, and Ready for Almost Anything, Free Spirit Publishing, 2011, pp. 77–83.