Thursday, April 27, 2023
Twelve years ago, I started my gifted advocacy journey. After years of misunderstanding—on my part, the school’s part, and society’s part—I found myself frustrated, confused, fearful, and also angry. How can a school ignore a student who is clearly ahead of his classmates and shows mastery of all content at his current grade level? How can a teacher give busywork to a student who consistently completes his classwork long before every other student? How can a principal tell a parent, “He’s making straight A’s! What more do you want? Let him slide instead of moving him up a grade level.”
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Wednesday, October 6, 2021
From their precocious first words, they were branded. At a very early age, the gifted are branded with the expectation of achievement. At a very early age, the gifted are branded with the expectation of achievement.
“Oh my gosh, he’s so smart! He’s going to go far in life!”
“Wow, her vocabulary is so advanced. She’s going to breeze through school!”
“I predict she will be a doctor, a scientist, a CEO, or our future president!”
Far too many gifted people feel the pain of that branding. It burns, and it scars, sometimes for life.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2019
When giftedness is not recognized as a human trait, but is regarded as a prodigious intellectual benefit, it can become a burden. When giftedness is tied to and measured by academic achievement, then giftedness is misunderstood. When the expectation of a gifted person is academic and professional success, then giftedness can cause anxiety and distress. Giftedness is a life experience, not an educational experience. Giftedness is not what one can achieve, but who one is.
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Friday, November 1, 2019
Shaming any child damages their self-esteem, delivers a significant blow to their self-confidence, and impacts their motivation to succeed in school. Once shut down and shamed, avoiding any display of their exhilaration for learning becomes the only path forward for many gifted students.
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Monday, March 11, 2019
“Shame is a real and potentially devastating emotion, impacting each of us at one time or another. A sense of worthlessness and an urge to hide or cover…
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Monday, October 22, 2018
You’re the parent of a gifted child, or maybe all of your children are gifted. If you are just starting out on this journey, you may not as…
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Wednesday, October 3, 2018
“Looking at Sam’s recent test scores that we just received, it puts your son in the highly gifted range. Your son is gifted, Mrs. Welch.” Well hey, swell—that’s…
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Monday, January 22, 2018
When most of us think of gifted children, we automatically think of high-achieving students—the smart ones. I think this misperception began in our schools. Well, I am not…
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Monday, June 6, 2016
Three years have passed since I wrote the popular post, 8 Things the World Must Understand About Gifted Children. Sadly, not much has changed for gifted children—they are…
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Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Too smart for your own good. What does this familiar saying really mean? How can being smart undermine what should be good? And how does this relate to…
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Crushing Tall Poppies
