Classroom practice - Keep on Giving to the Gifted and Talented
By Mike Gershon
tes connect
JULY 25, 2014


Providing the differentiation which the article goes on to describe, without grading the tasks, could be quite engaging and provide interest for a number of gifted students for a time. However this differentiation is not the higher level instruction, curriculum, and pacing which most gifted students, and parents of gifted students, have advocated for over time.

Some may say the author is wise to "avoid overexertion or negative experiences that can destroy confidence", a trap some teachers may fall into when striving to "challenge" gifted students. Gifted extensions are working "above and beyond"; They ought not to be occasions for lowering a student's grade, putting a student on the spot (belittlement/embarrassment/shame) with unrealistic expectations, adding punitive volumes of time-consuming work which deprive students of time needed to pursue other interests outside of school, or otherwise leading to burn-out.

The suggestion that, "Making tasks or questions ambiguous is an easy way to raise the difficulty level" may seem odd as many gifted kiddos naturally see multiple alternative possible interpretations of task instructions and questions; These students may already experience a great amount of ambiguity. Unless all possible understandings will be accepted, adding ambiguity may not be a positive experience for some gifted students.

Citing research may add strength to this article and support the author's stated strategy, "A balanced argument or response means considering more than just your own ideological standpoint and accepting that what you think isn’t necessarily correct or complete."

A favorite tip from the article may be, "A useful approach is to imagine that the student you are speaking to is a couple of years older."

What types of differentiation have parents found that their gifted DCs enjoyed and benefitted from?

it is hard enough working out what the teacher wants as it is. Making the questions ambiguous without allowing for the fact the most things are ambiguous and/or without accepting a different outcome than you expected sounds like a recipe for more stress. And then of course there are the questions that actually say something quite different than the teacher intended.

Yes, adding ambiguity seems odd. Wonder where the author developed the tips and "tricks" he is sharing, and how effective and well-received they have been in practice with gifted children... how well-received by the gifted children and their parents. Several of the strategies seem more inclined to increase frustration rather than the type of challenge facilitating academic and intellectual growth.

How about this. "Explain 2+2=4 in as many ways as you can. When you can't think of any more, keep racking your brain for more explanations. The task of explaining 2+2=4 never ends. Next year we might let you explain 1+4=5."

That would be funny if it were not a realistic example of the overblown task demands and frustratingly slow pace of curriculum progression offered gifted students under the guise of the euphemistic buzzword "differentiation".

Not a fan of differentiation, I remain curious as to how individuals make a living promoting differentiation strategies when appropriate curriculum placement and pacing, not differentiation, is what gifted students and their parents typically advocate for.