Gifted Characteristics

Don't miss these gifted characteristics in your students! Traits of gifted students create unique differentiated instruction opportunities.

For every teacher who has students with high levels of intelligence, some characteristics are obvious, while others are more subtle.

These unique kids tend to drive many teachers and parents crazy. They can be highly emotional, have very strong feelings without the maturity to appropriately display them. As well, they are also highly critical of themselves and others.

I'll be honest here: as a parent of a gifted child it can be very draining. The behaviors one of my children shows is enough to send me through the roof at the end of a long day in the classroom.

But he is not unusual in the realm of certain behaviors and gifted characteristics. Indeed, I see in him the same issues my students who are highly gifted experience:

• early progression through certain milestones
• is often considered immature (by myself and others)
• a visual/spatial learner (relies on patterns and feelings
• highly sensitive to feelings
• very vivid imagination
• extensive vocabulary
• asynchronous development (physical, emotional and intellectual development are not in sync with each other)
• psychomotor overexcitability (often misdiagnosed as ADHD)
• intense fear of failure when trying something new, but at the same time...
• refusal to work for the sake of good grades - there must be more attached to it to be worth the effort

These are just a few of the complexities that make these children both a joy and a challenge to raise and teach.

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

One of my other sons is actually a high achiever. Like a truly gifted student, he needs differentiated instruction to ensure he continues to grow. However, children who are high achievers are often the ones who are mistakenly thought of as being gifted when they really aren't.

These high achieving children (not actually gifted) tend to be the teacher pleasers, and statistically show better grades, maturity and emotional wellness.

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 traits. 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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Other Pages You Will Enjoy:

• Differentiation in the Classroom - Make real learning happen for all your students - it's not that hard!
  
• Differentiated Instruction - 4 strategies that are guaranteed to work with any age level.
  

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