Understanding, Identifying & Supporting Gifted Children in the Classroom

This short introductory course aims to help the classroom teacher understand giftedness as a package deal of strengths and challenges. It hopes to inspire the teacher to find differentiated opportunities to encourage the gift that can result in great academic success in the classroom, but also to understand and support the special emotional needs of gifted students. We start by asking what the difference between a gifted student and a smart student is, and why giftedness and twice exceptionality (giftedness with at least one learning difference) have special support needs.
We discuss asynchronous development in the gifted: the tendency to be intellectually mature but socially and emotionally very young. We consider why gifted and 2E children get misdiagnosed with learning difficulties and why diagnoses often get missed in these students. We consider intensity in gifted and 2E students and look at Movement Intensity, Sensory Intensity, Intellectual Intensity, Imaginational Intensity and Emotional intensity and ask what a teacher can do to empathise with and accommodate the discomfort each area of intensity brings. Finally, because anxiety is such a big challenge for gifted students, we discuss how to understand and support anxious gifted students better.

Define and distinguish between gifted students and smart students, recognising the unique characteristics of giftedness. Explain the concept of twice exceptionality (2E) and understand the special support needs of gifted students with learning differences. Analyse asynchronous development in gifted children, acknowledging their intellectual maturity alongside social and emotional immaturity. Recognise the common challenges in diagnosing gifted and 2E students with learning difficulties and identify strategies to avoid misdiagnosis. Identify and understand the various intensities in gifted and 2E students, including Movement Intensity, Sensory Intensity, Intellectual Intensity, Imaginational Intensity, and Emotional Intensity. Explore ways for teachers to empathise with and accommodate the discomfort associated with each area of intensity in gifted students. Develop a deeper understanding of anxiety as a prevalent challenge among gifted students and learn how to provide effective support for anxious gifted students in the classroom.