Understanding higher IQ and genius students
Kids designated as gifted have long been thought to be more at risk of emotional issues, and to carry some of them into adult life, because of various factors: the National Association for Gifted Children, for instance, identifies “heightened awareness, anxiety, perfectionism, stress, issues with peer relationships.
Many gifted children also have a strong sense of right and wrong and believe that being treated as less than an adult is grossly unfair. Their frustration can lead to a number of behavior problems. They can get angry or rude, and even become bossy and demanding.
“Gifted and genius children show an intense curiosity about nearly everything or immerse themselves in an area that interests them. Smart children have a high vocabulary but typically speak words on their age level. Gifted children use advanced vocabulary.
Gifted children often have unique ways of being social. Their strange comments and jokes may be thought to be signs of Asperger syndrome. People with this problem may be gifted, but they do not respond to ordinary social or emotional cues. They may not make friends right away and often want to be by themselves.
Signs of Giftedness
perceptive, inquiring minds.
unusual insight and intellectual curiosity.
superior judgment and reasoning ability.
abstract and critical thinking.
originality.
ability to see connections between ideas.
long concentration spans in areas of interest.
advanced reading ability.
Those who are profoundly gifted score in the 99.9th percentile on IQ tests and have an exceptionally high level of intellectual prowess. These students score at least three standard deviations above the norm on the bell curve, so they are at the extreme end of the intelligence, or IQ, continuum.
In most countries the prevailing definition is an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 130 or above. Increasingly, however, schools use multiple measures of giftedness and assess a wide variety of talents, including verbal, mathematical, spatial-visual, musical, and interpersonal abilities.
Gifted people make up around the top 5% of a population; the highly gifted make up the top 1-3% of the population.
Self-Esteem Issues. Being gifted academically can make a child feel different from her peers and may even lead to the child being bullied and becoming
depressed.
Guilt.
Perfectionism.
Control Issues.
Unrealistic Expectations.
Impatience.
Friendship Issues.
Attention and Organization Issues.
Psychoanalysis and evaluation of Gifted
Testing provides an objective and systematic way for identifying gifted children. Ability and achievement tests provide numbers or scores to describe a student’s performance in relation to others. … However, formal assessments are only one tool in determining giftedness.
Grades, state and standardized tests are sometimes used as data points during the gifted identification process. Teacher Observations & Ratings: Learning & Motivation Scales. Teachers may make observations and use rating scales or checklists for students who exhibit a certain trait or characteristic during instruction.
“Among the most commonly used tests for assessing the gifted are the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III), the Stanford-Binet: Fourth Edition.
Positive signs of high intelligence
Good memory and thinking ability.
Good attitude and hard-working nature.
General and Tacit Knowledge.
Good language proficiency and reasoning skills.
Reliable decision-making.
Trusted by others. …
High Creativity.
High Achievements.
The first step in evaluating a gifted education program is determining how well the program meets the academic needs of its students. This means measuring student mastery, or proficiency with knowledge, and achievement as well as their thinking skills and growth.
Although gifted children generally do well, they may show behaviors that mimic ADHD. For example, they may appear hyperactive because they ask many questions and are so excited about learning. Or, they may fail to participate in age-expected activities because of their over-focus on an area of interest.
How to manage talented in classrooms
Here are a few instructional strategies and activities to use with gifted students:
Design your lessons with Bloom’s Taxonomy in mind. …
Assign independent projects. …
Ask intellectually stimulating questions. …
Find mentors. …
Organize cluster groups.
Gifted means having exceptional talent or natural ability. Talented means having a natural aptitude or skill for something.
Talented” in English. As for the meaning of “gift” and “talent”, they both contain the meaning of endowments and talents. … But “talent” refers to an extraordinary ability that can be engaged in the work or activities, which is a kind of natural ability.
With the following strategies, teachers can tend to the complex needs of their high-ability, genius and gifted students in the heterogeneous classroom.
Offer the Most Difficult First.
Pre-Test for Volunteers.
Prepare to Take It Up.
Speak to Student Interests.
Enable Gifted Students to Work Together.
Plan for Tiered Learning.
In middle and high school, gifted students’ goals may be met through higher-level courses or Advanced Placement (AP) or honors courses. Some gifted students can meet their individualized education goals by advancing multiple grade levels in specific subject areas.
Tips for Teaching Gifted Students
How can you meet the needs of gifted learners
Tune in to their individual needs, do frequent assessments, and differentiate instruction, experts say.
Assess often.
Let students take charge of their learning.
Honor interests and allow for exploration.
Involve parents.