gift·ed

“If you work hard enough, assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.”

[agiftedteen]

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose

Bill Gates

[agiftedteen]

Ruth & Andrew

I was just reading about a girl named Ruth Lawrence, a mathematical prodigy who graduated from the University of Oxford at 13. Her father identified her mathematical gift very early and he devoted years to homeschooling Ruth so she can fulfill her potential. She currently lives in Israel and teaches math at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Because of her early life experiences that she didn’t enjoy, Ruth insisted that her children "develop in a natural way" rather than under the pressure of becoming successful at all costs. Although Ruth is quite successful now in adulthood, she doesn't want to force success upon her children the same way it was forced upon her. 

Andrew Halliburton, another mathematical genius who was at secondary school level by the age of 8, is only returning to university now, aged 23, after a number of years working at Macdonald’s. Andrew may never be recognized for his intelligence, or live up to the success expected of him at such a young age

Can somebody tell me if that was a flop? 

(If you want to read more about these two check out this article!)

[agiftedteen]

Hi I'm a grade 7 student in the regular program at school. I was recently tested for gifted and I am considering switching into a gifted class. I know you have expressed some concerns about the gifted program, but what would you say are some of the benefits of being in a gifted class?

Hi anon,

I’d be happy to list off a few reasons I could think of that could convince you to continue with your gifted education 

You are surrounded by like-minded peers

This is probably the most effective part of a gifted education. Whether you know it or not, the people who surround you are a play a huge part in your success. Being in a gifted class is hard to begin with. Most gifted students have intellectual interests that rarely coincide with students in academic classes and they may find themselves as social outliers among the majority of typical students. Gifted education programs provide a social environment where gifted children can socialize with each other and be a part of a group where they feel they belong and fit in.

      2. Different styles of learning 

The gifted program is developed to accommodate all different types of learners, and teachers tend to have a lot of leeway when it comes to how you choose to complete projects and other work. If you are more of a hands-on learner, you can create models or diagrams. If you like more audio or visual you can have the option of making movies or podcasts. Gifted classes are full of brilliant minds, but who tend to be rather stubborn.This is why the gifted curriculum is so flexible. To attend to any type of leaner.

[agiftedteen]

Growing Up In The "Gifted" Education Program Like

Teacher: your class is gifted! You should be able to be quiet!

Teacher: your class is gifted! you shouldn't be getting these grades!

Teacher: your class is gifted! I don't care if I'm not trained to teach you, you should figure it out!

Teacher: your class is gifted! You should get perfect grades on relentless bookwork!

Teacher: you can't be stressed out, you're gifted!

Gifted Students: what

[agiftedteen]

Gifted Education?

"All teachers did for the first few years in the gifted program was tell us how gifted we were.” 

This is what one of my friends said when she left the gifted program. 

I had a similar experience. The gifted education I got didn’t prepare me for much. I was barely evaluated in my gifted classes and never did any lessons. I don’t even know where half of my report card marks came from. It definitely set me up for an unpleasant surprise in high school. When teachers were teaching sine and cosine law in math and students were snickering about how they already learned that I was frantically trying to remember Pythagorean theorem. 

Gifted programs dumb down students. In the current gifted education system exceptional ability is the entry point. They pick you to be tested based on some teacher’s observations, they take you to a psychologist to do 3-hour test, and if you pass they walk out and talk to your delighted parents. You’re kind of done, already flagged as predestined to make it big. Lawyer, surgeon, rocket scientist, you can (apparently) be anything you want. Sure, a gifted kid can be a doctor or a lawyer, but the teachers need to get them there. It can’t just be assumed that gifted kids can make it on their own because they’re so incredibly smart. 

[agiftedteen]

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard

Tim Notke

[agiftedteen]

Giftedness or Hard Work?

Giftedness is a well-respected in our culture and it is perceived as a guarantee for child’s success in the future. However, giftedness is no guarantee of success; the world is full of gifted failures. Sure, it’s cool to be labeled as gifted or some kind of “Genius”, but the relationship between success and IQ only works up to one point. People with an IQ of about 115 are generally able to finish high school and attend a professional or graduate school. Beyond that, IQ becomes relatively unimportant in terms of ordinary occupational aspirations and criteria for success. 

So we’ve pretty much determined that being gifted doesn’t make you any more likely to become as successful as Bill Gates than one of your academic school friends. What really separates those who are successful and those who aren’t is hard work. Hard work means children putting in the necessary time, sticking with it when it's not always fun, persevering in the face of setbacks and failures, and developing all of the skills necessary to become successful. Bill Gates was incredibly gifted, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t put in the work to get where he is today. 10,000 hours. That’s how long it takes for one person to truly be an expert at something. That's how long he and other successful people got themselves in the position they are today. 

If you really want to make it to the top, don’t rely on the fact that you scored in the top 2 percentile in your school board on the gifted test. Just combine your natural talents with about 10,000 hours of work. It should do the trick.

[agiftedteen]

My Journey Through the Gifted Program

I’m Mia Petrovic, a grade 11 student at North Toronto CI. Before going to high school I attended elementary and middle school classes for gifted students. Both I and my parents struggled to understand my “Giftedness” and how it would relate to who I would become in adulthood. Would my gifted label make me any more successful? 

In my diagnosis, a psychologist determined that in order for me to succeed I needed to be in the company of like-minded students (a.k.a students who scored in the top 2 percentile on the gifted test). Sure enough, for the next 4 years of my life, I met some smart and gifted kids in my classes, but most of my friends who I consider smart, creative, and compassionate did not end up in my class. After not seeing clear benefits of being gifted between grades 4 – 8, at the break to high school I applied for optional attendance in good Toronto public schools and got accepted in NTCI. That way I exited the coveted gifted education program in TDSB.

Now, I seem to be doing just fine in my regular high school classes even though I’m not constantly surrounded by kids with 130+ IQs. 

I personally didn’t benefit from the gifted program, but there are others out there who have different experiences.

I will use this blog to share some more opinions that relate to life success, and satisfaction of those who are perceived gifted.  Please be free to comment on my posts, any time you feel that you have something related to share.