07-10-2016, 05:11 PM
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Welcome to Gifted Ed! Teaching gifted children is different from teaching regular ed and requires a different mindset. Like kitty said, without knowing how your program is structured, it is hard to give you specific pointers, but in general, my advice would be:
Raise your expectations. Many gifted kids develop lazy habits because an average effort on their part is still as good or better than the "typical" students' work; so they get used to doing less than their best and it being acceptable. Expect more from them--challenge them to revise, edit, and go above and beyond what is normally accepted from them.
In my program, my job is not to teach skills and standards; it is more of a passive role in the classroom. I present them with texts, materials, tasks, parameters, etc, and then step back and allow them to drive their own learning through research and creativity. I walk around and observe, and offer pointers and feedback, but do not "teach" in the traditional sense. My objectives are more like "students will conduct research about a topic of interest" or "students will work in small groups to solve a problem." I don't teach them how to do these things, I let them figure a lot out on their own and offer guidance along the way. In the process of these activities, I might give a little mini-lesson on effective note-taking or accountable talk, but the majority of my day is spent just watching my students work, either independently or with a group, and taking advantage of "teachable moments."
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