About Giftedness
According to the Colorado Department of Education, the Exceptional Children's Education Act (ECEA) defines "gifted" children as those with high performance, exceptional production, or exceptional learning behavior by virtue of any or a combination of these areas of giftedness: general or specific intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking, leadership abilities, or visual arts, performing arts, musical or psychomotor abilities. A student who is determined to be "gifted" is one who excels in one or more of the areas of identification to a degree that it changes them as a person, not just as a student.
"Giftedness has a much bigger range than I thought!" one Pine Creek student said after the seminar, referring to the different categories in which students can be identified. This student has the ability to learn math more quickly than others, but after the seminar understood that other people, for example, might be able to master concepts related to a different subject such as music at a faster rate than he would.
Learn more about Giftedness in District 20 here: Talented and Gifted Students.
The Components and Challenges of Giftedness
As part of the seminar, students had the opportunity to build community by engaging in creative thinking exercises, discussing different facets of giftedness, and naming challenges. Such challenges include experiencing feelings of loneliness and/or boredom, the struggle to engage in an activity if the outcome might be imperfect, having a fixed mindset, and impostor syndrome: feeling like accomplishments or achievements are chalked up to something other than ability. "I really related to the yes/no worksheet," another Pine Creek student shared, referring to the Imposter Syndrome Quiz students had taken individually, but then discussed in small groups. "That hit hard!"
In her TED Talk, "Thinking Your Way Out of Impostor Syndrome," Dr. Valerie Young shared that feeling like an impostor often begins with entertaining thoughts that you are an impostor. The key to adjusting your feelings is to be cognizant of your thoughts and practice re-framing them.
To that end, Simonds provided students with the following questions to use as a reflection tool after a project, test, or other challenge on order to keep one's thoughts in-check:
What part of that am I most proud of?
What challenges did I have to overcome to get there?
Who am I most excited to tell about this?
In addition to using these questions, Simonds also suggested that students find a mentor they trust and possibly even a support group to help them focus on the process and values associated with an activity rather than just the outcomes.
Questions about D20’s Gifted and Talented Program?
Contact Pine Creek Advanced Academics Coordinator, Heather Scott