Gifted Characteristics

Gifted characteristics and high achievers - what's the difference? Characteristics of gifted children create unique differentiated learning opportunities.

For every teacher who has students with high levels of intelligence, some of the answers are obvious, while other differences are more subtle.

Characteristics of gifted children tend to drive many teachers and parents crazy. These types of children can be highly emotional, have very strong feelings without the maturity to appropriately display them and are very critical of themselves and others.

There are also a variety of levels of intellectual giftedness that must be considered.

Children who are high achievers are often the ones who are mistakenly thought of as being gifted when they really aren't.

They tend to be the teacher pleasers, and statistically show better grades, maturity and emotional wellness.

The Differences Between Gifted Children and High Achievers

Below is a table that details some of the differences you may see between students with gifted characteristics and high achievers (or "bright kids").

Just as no two kids are the same, not all gifted children or high achievers will show all of these characteristics.

But when you do see characteristics of gifted students, you must differentiate their learning.

Gifted Children	High Achievers
Highly curious	Knows the answers
Has wild, crazy ideas	Has good ideas
Plays around, yet can test well	Works hard to achieve high scores
Detail oriented	Answers the questions
1-2 repetitions for mastery	6-8 repetitions for mastery
Prefers older children or adults	Enjoys peers
Makes inferences	Grasps the meaning
Extremely intense	Receptive and willing
Creates new designs	Copies information accurately
Manipulates information	Absorbs information
Excellent guesser	Excellent memorizing skills
Likes complexity	Enjoys sequential information
Is keenly observant	Alert and on-task
Highly self-critical	Pleased with own efforts
Asks the hard questions	Knows all the answers
Works beyond the group	Works in the top group
Enjoys learning new things	Enjoys school
Rebels against routine	Enjoys routine
Becomes the class clown	Conforms to accepted behavior

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