Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

I got to present to the Jefferson staff this morning at their staff meeting about the emotional needs of gifted teens.  I was asked to focus on depression, anxiety and perfectionism.  Here is the slideshow I used which also has links to resources I think are helpful.  I appreciate Jaysen Anderson inviting me in to share with his staff. 

This is a great article for all the parents of DAHS students to read. Why Getting 100% on Everything is Setting Gifted Students Up to Fail MARCH 6, 2019  by Jennifer Greene There’s something we’re not teaching our most talented students. If you’re the parent of an advanced student, you’re probably well aware that your child actively searches out more and more things to learn. It’s probably a struggle to keep providing them with new material they find interesting  and  challenging. Or maybe your student is a perfectionist. They study diligently, learning everything by heart to make sure they score 100% on every test. Anything less may even bring tears. All through school, these students—both the ones who focus on perfect scores, and the rarer ones who seem to achieve those scores without effort—earn excellent grades. They look at their report cards, and see nothing but top marks. But then they land in college, and face their first truly challenging class. Co...

I read this article recently and it really connected with me as we are currently doing MCA/MAP testing and preparing for the AP exams in May.  https://www.edutopia.org/artic le/building-metacognition- test-prep

This week is Gifted and Talented Awareness week in the state of MN.  To bring awareness around the social emotional needs of GT kids I shared this article today with the JHS staff.   “Helping Gifted Students Move Beyond Perfectionism” is from the November issue of Teaching for  High Potential.   It is a short and helpful article that addresses an i ssue I frequently hear about from teachers - how to support gifted  perfectionists.  The article does a good job of explaining that merely  saying “Chill out” isn’t helpful (just like telling a depressed  student to “Just be happy” wouldn’t work).  Last week Lori Schultz and I were at the National Association for  Gifted Children Conference in Florida and we are excited to work with  you and our students with our new ideas.  Feel free to ask us about our  experience at the conference and the sessions we went to!