Episode 100: What Gifted Learners Need This Year

Welcome to A Meaningful Mess, the podcast where we embrace the beauty in the chaos of learning and life. I'm Andy McNair, educator, author, and advocate for passion-based learning and gifted learning. Here I share real stories, practical strategies, and honest conversations that remind us meaning is often found in the mess.

Whether you're a teacher looking for fresh ideas or someone passionate about empowering gifted learners to own their learning, this is your space to grow, reflect, and be inspired. Let's get started. Well hey there. Welcome back friends and welcome to episode one hundred. Like what? I can't believe that it's already episode one hundred. You probably can. It took us a while to get here because I don't record as consistently as I want to.

But I can't believe that we've made it to this milestone together. And after a little break, I'm back and I'll be sharing episodes with you much more often throughout this. You know, as we step into a brand new school year, I think it's easy to be excited and then fall into maybe not being excited. Excited. I remember myself and during the school year when I was in the classroom, I would be so excited about the new school year.

But then it would start and we'd go to PDs and they'd talk to us about all the boxes we had to check, all of the things we had to do. And it was easy to become overwhelmed. And so in order for that excitement and that anticipation to stay or for it to continue to be a thing, I think we have to be intentional about that. So my hope is that this school year, you're looking forward to fresh opportunities.

Fresh conversations, fresh perspective. And I can tell you in listening to this podcast that you're gonna get all of that and a whole lot of fresh ideas. coming your way. So if you've been listening for a while, I just want to say thank you so much for being a part of this journey. And if you're new here, you pick the perfect time to jump in. Welcome. Big things are ahead. That's for sure.

So hey, let's jump right in with today's episode. You know, as I thought about episode 100, I had a few people who were asking like, what are you gonna do for episode 100? And I started to get a little nervous, like What should I do? Like I felt like it needed to be a big deal. And then I started thinking, like, you know what, I think I'm gonna keep this super low-key, but talk about something that's really near and dear to my own heart, something, a message that I would want to give educators.

At the beginning of the school year. So this is perfect timing, right, for episode 100 to be at the beginning of the school year because I think it's such a good opportunity. to just ground ourselves in the work that we do. And for me, that's advocating for, serving, supporting, and making sure that gifted learners feel all of those things, seen, supported, and served. And so for today's episode, episode 100, we're going to be talking about what every gifted learner needs this.

Um, so let's just start with what gifted learners don't need this year. What they don't need is more. I think it's so easy for us to feel like giving gifted learners more content. uh more assignments, more problems to do. Like it seems like, and we could even maybe justify it by saying, well, that's challenging them. Well, not necessarily. So stay with me on this episode because I'm going to give you some things you can do instead.

But it's not about more. They don't need that. They need different. And I would even take that another step and say, I'm not sure. They always need different. They need deeper, right? They need us to be willing and able to take them beyond where maybe everybody else is capable of going. They need us to give them opportunities to go beyond where everybody else is capable of going.

And so as we step into this school year, I want to share five things that every gifted learner needs. You know, I oftentimes say that it's really hard to do the job of an educator. If school isn't a place that kids want to be, you know, that that is a hurdle that you almost have to get over before we can take care of all of the other things we're expected to take care of. And when school becomes a place that they wanna be. I feel like some of those other pieces fall into place so much easier.

I know it almost sounds cliche like duh Andy. I mean it would be really nice if school could be a place the kids want to be, but look, I'm telling you, I've seen it. I know that can be the reality, not because I'm living in a dream world, but because I've seen that be the case. And I've seen the return on that investment. So I think that school is not just something that kids or you know, gifted learners in particular, because that's who we're talking about, but really any of our learners.

I don't think it should just be something that they have to survive or something that they have to get through. I think instead it should be a place that they're able to thrive and they're able to grow. And that's the problem I oftentimes see with gifted learners is sure they're there, they're doing things, right? But but they're not being given the opportunity to grow in who they are as a gifted learner. And I just think

That is so important and it's something we have to consider and be intentional about making happen. So here we go. We're gonna jump right in. We're gonna talk about five things that every gifted learner needs this year. Number one.

Challenge that excites. You know, many gifted learners are used to being gif given more work instead of the So they're not necessarily used to being challenged. They're not used to that. deeper learning. And so the first time you put it in front of them or the first time they experience that, they're not super comfortable, right? They're not really excited about it. So I want to be clear when I say challenge that excites.

That excitement might come down the road. I was actually talking with some teachers today and I was explaining the whole gym analogy of, you know, when when I go to the gym to work out, it's not often, but when I happen to show up there every once in a while, if I was to go in the back and try to lift a 150 pound weight, I don't even know. I think that's heavy. If I was gonna lift a weight that heavy

It would be difficult for me because I haven't done that before. I don't have the muscles to make that happen. But one of my sons, uh, he loves to lift weights, like it's his thing, and he gets so excited about it because he's trained himself to do it. So now that that training is there, his body is is conditioned to do that.

He really, we feel very differently about working out, right? He gets super excited about it. I don't. And so it's like it's building those muscles because as we build those challenge muscles in our learners. The excitement will come. It's okay for it not to be there right away, but that's not gonna happen if we just continue to give them fluff. And what I mean by fluff is like, oh, you finished your work early. Read about

You finished your work early, run an errand, get on the computer, help appear. Like those are not I always say there are respectful tasks. If there are respectful tasks, there are disrespectful tasks. Those are disrespectful tasks. We want to make sure that real challenge. Stretches their thinking, it invites creativity, and it even makes them a little bit uncomfortable, like we just talked about.

You know, I think about so many learners. I always think about math. I don't know why, because I frankly am not great at math. I know you're not supposed to say that, but um maybe there's a better way to say it, but it's just not my jam. I'd say it. Um, but you think about so many, so many learners who can breeze through math. Um, but they they may breeze through that and never light up. But when they're given the opportunity to design their own property.

or to connect that that math content or that math Um to something beyond the walls of the classroom, to their video game or or I don't know, whatever they connect it to, all of a sudden there's this like thing that lights up inside of them. That's what I'm talking about. And again, Doesn't happen right away because a lot of them don't have that muscles that those muscles to think that way just.

So when you ask them to do something beyond just the set of problems, they're like, what are you talking about? I don't know how to do that. They do, they will. You just have to kind of let them sit in that struggle a little. So again, this is about giving our learners the opportunity to think deeper.

And when we're asking educators to challenge gifted learners, it's not about more. And frankly, I don't even think it's about faster. That's not to say I don't support acceleration. I think oftentimes acceleration is a good plan. But I also think think That was very Texan of me. I also think that oftentimes we accelerate before we provide depth, and I think that can be a

So I'm saying you don't always have to move on to the next grade level. You don't always have to move on to the next lesson. Sometimes it's about: do they have the depth? And there is never there is never a situation in which a kid knows everything there is to know about a topic, a concept, a standard. There is always the opportunity to go deeper. And I think that's important to remember.

Don't hear me saying nobody email me and talk to me about acceleration and how beneficial it is. I know that. And I'm not saying I don't support it. I think oftentimes it is a good idea, but I'm saying sometimes. depth has to be explored before we skip a kid forward without that depth. I hope that made sense. So challenge that excites is the first thing that we want to make sure our gifted learners are getting this year. Number two.

Time to explore their passions and their purpose. You guys had to know this was coming. You're listening to an Andy McNair podcast. I'm of course going to talk about this idea of giving our learners the opportunity to pursue their own ideas. You know, I I think it's so easy to say things like, Well, we don't really have time for that during the school.

I just don't buy into that idea. I think that we do have time during the school year when it's done intentionally and when we use those passion projects to make connections to what they're learning. I think there's this misconception that passion projects or genius hour has to be just this completely disconnected opportunity that has nothing to do with what they're learning in their other content areas. And that's not true. Those connections can be made.

It can actually be an opportunity for them to transfer knowledge, right, from one situation to another. And it can be that application. So whether this happens at school or you know, I'm a big fan of family passion projects as well. If you're a parent that's listening, I love the idea of doing passion projects at home as well. Because look, when we give them time to follow their passions.

We're fueling that lifelong learning. And we're giving them an opportunity to figure out, hey, what am I interested in? What is it that I want to learn about? And here's the difference between a passion project and a research. A research project, um, I I think they're I don't think there's anything wrong with them. I think they're just different. A research project, the outcome is gonna be information. They may put that information on a poster, they may put it on a trifold, they may

I don't know. However they demonstrate that information, that's what happens. A passion project, the outcome is action. They're not only going to do that research and learn whatever it is that they need to learn, but there's going to be action behind it. They're going to do something. And so that's the difference. And this this opportunity to explore their passions, I feel like should be a part of gifted service.

You know, I oftentimes say that when in their, you know, gifted learners are not just gifted at two o'clock. I know that if you're listening to this podcast and you support gifted learners, you're probably saying amen. But they're not just gifted at two o'clock when they are pulled out for gifted services. They are gifted all day, every day.

And so in the general education classroom, that's where I feel like we can offer that depth into the content area and the standards that are being taught. Because frankly, oftentimes those teachers don't. Have time or the resources to do something different. But when gifted learners are pulled out for gifted services, I think, gosh, what an opportunity. To build those skills that so many of them need through giving them the opportunity to work on a passion project.

I posted something recently on Instagram and it was just this around this idea that we don't give football players more playbooks, right? Instead we give them the opportunity to do, they practice the actual plays. And I think that's kind of what I'm saying here when it comes to what we do in gifted services.

Gifted learners don't necessarily need more content. Um, they need more opportunity to apply those skills, to do something with the skills that they're gonna need beyond the walls of the classroom. And that's exactly what Passion Project. Give us the opportunity to do that.

All right, so number two, um, time to explore their passions. Number three, true connection. You know, being a gifted learner I I think can be a pretty lonely place. And if you're listening to this and you serve gifted learners. The reality is that can be a little bit of a lonely place too. I have so many people who say to me that they feel very much like an island. Well When I felt like that, I remember reminding myself, when you feel like an island, it's time to build a bridge.

Right. I gotta get from my island over to somebody else's island so that I don't feel alone. And there is power in synergy in those connections. And so because being gifted can be love. Um, I think it's important that we remember their peers of their same age that they're typically at school with.

They may not share their same humor, they may not share their same intensity, they may not share their same interests. And so That's why I think it's so important that there is this opportunity for gifted learners to be together at some point in the day, for them to be with others who challenge their thinking, who think the same way that they do, or in a similar way, I should say. Um they need peers and mentors who get them.

um both inside and outside of the classroom. And what I'm talking about there is I think it's a really good idea that we give our learners the opportunity to have mentors and peers. uh maybe a few grades above them, maybe that opportunity to connect with others in their grade level. But bringing in things like outside experts, I'll never forget the first time I had two little girls who were working on a genius hour project and they wanted to learn more about volcanoes.

And they ended up Skyping. If you're super young and you're listening to this, that was Zoom a long time ago. They ended up uh connecting with this um college student. She was at Oregon State University. And she was super jazzed about volcanoes. And so my two little girls, who really nobody in our community was that excited about volcanoes, got to connect with someone who was just as excited about that as they were.

And it gave them that aha moment of like, you know what? It's not weird to be into this. It's not weird to be excited about this. Like this is actually something I could do. This is a direction I could go. And I just loved it so much. And so that's such a great example of a true connection. I think giving them the opportunity to be a part of, you know, clubs, uh community spaces, mentorship programs. Cross grade connections when that is done well.

And when it's done safely and when it's done with parent permission and and all of those steps are taken, it can be really, really powerful. I just think about like the relief on on some of my gifted learners' faces. When they finally met another kid who loved something as much as they did, right? To watch them geek out together or just be like, did you know this? Did you know this? Did you know this? All of a sudden there's this synergy.

Look, I'm gonna be real honest. I think about myself. I talk about gifted learners a lot. I talk about genius hour a lot. And so when I'm with people who don't think about those things as much as I do, I don't really fit in. It's it's not sad. I have other friends, I promise. But I I think about myself like at a gifted conference.

Or I think about myself when I'm with like-minded people who are just as passionate about this work as I am. And oh, it's just the place I feel most at home. It's the place that I feel really connected and really locked in. It's where I have the best conversations, right? That are connected to these ideas. It's just true connection is powerful and it's something we need to make a priority for our gifted learners. So number three, true connection.

Uh number four, permission to be imperfect. This is a big one. Gifted learners often, not always, but often carry the weight of perfection. Oh man, if I don't do this perfectly, if I don't understand this at a really deep level, then chances are they're gonna think I'm not as gifted as they thought that I was, right? Imposter syndrome starts to sneak in.

They need safe spaces to try to fail, or I should say to struggle. I'm really trying to stay away from that word fail because I don't think we want them to fail. I think we want them to struggle in order to be successful. So we want them to try, we want them to struggle, and then we want them to learn without feeling like their giftedness is tied to that achievement.

Like if I don't do this well, then I'm not smart or I'm not gifted. That's a really dangerous place to put kids in because it's just not it's not the reality. That giftedness has nothing to do with whether or not they struggle. It's just that ability to think differently. Um, I think one way we can do this as adults is to model struggle as part of growth, to share, like, hey, you know what? I'm not really good at this, or I really struggle.

I really struggled with this today and it turned out okay. Or or just letting them see you celebrate mistakes. as evidence of effort. You know, when you're when something is difficult, you have two options. Either you give up and you walk away, or you keep going until you get to a place where you feel like, you know, you can call it some level of success.

You know, one of the analogies I always give, and I'm sure I've talked about it here on this podcast, and and if you've heard me share, you've probably heard me talk about this. But I, for myself, always use the phrase yards, gate. Um, I always say I was watching football with my husband one day, and I realized that uh, you know, the crowd goes crazy every time there is forward movement on the field.

And I started thinking to myself, like, what would happen if nobody cheered until there was a touchdown made? Well, I would imagine those players would not be near as motivated as they are. But because everyone cheers, Every time they make forward movement on the field, they're more motivated to keep moving the ball down the field. Now, I'm not talking about, you know.

Everybody gets a trophy. I'm not talking about we celebrate everything. But what I am saying is that I don't think we have to just celebrate touchdowns. I think that our gifted learners need to learn how to celebrate growth. I think we as teachers need to learn to celebrate growth, right? I think we don't do that for ourselves enough. But like, how do we celebrate those yards gained? And I love the idea of just adopting that statement this year that when you see a kid make forward movement.

Just pat him on the back and say, dude, yards gained. Like I just want you to know I saw that. I see you. I do that for myself all the time. I always say like I you know, when I get up and I'm vertical in the morning, yards game. Right. Or I get on an elevator and I survive the small talk that happens on an elevator. Yards gained. Right. Like I I think that's such a really powerful thing to consider because look, perfection isn't the goal.

Progress is. And if we want our learners to wrap their minds around that, we have to be intentional about helping them, about giving them permission to be in purpose. And designing things in the classroom that provide that opportunity to struggle, that give them that chance to try something, to take a risk, and then struggle before they experience that.

Okay, finally, the last uh number five, the last piece we're gonna talk about is that gifted learners deserve to feel like they belong. I I think some of our gifted learners don't always feel like they belong at school. Um, they don't feel accepted for kind of who they are because they oftentimes learn so differently. And it can be frustrating to sit in a classroom and realize, oh my gosh, I think so differently than everyone in there.

But belonging looks like being valued, being included, and being celebrated in their classroom and in their community, like just giving them the opportunity to think the way that they think. and and and giving them spaces where it doesn't look like they don't belong. I I think, you know, giving them the opportunities, this kind of ties with the other piece we talked about about connecting with others.

But gifted learners, they're not asking to be more special. They're not asking to be seen as you know somebody better than everybody else. They're just asking to be seen, right? Can we just acknowledge the fact that at school they deserve something different? Like so many of our learners. That's the thing. All of our learners are different.

And I think if we were honest, we would know that every kid that walks through those doors on day one is going to bring with them gifts and talents. They are all going to have strengths. They are all going to have weaknesses. But the reality is a lot of our gifted learners need something different at school. They need something because they think differently, they need to be served differently. And so this isn't about giving them a privilege or giving them an opportunity that nobody else gets.

This is about meeting these kids where they are and giving them what they need in order to experience learning in a meaningful way and to not feel like they are sitting on the outside watching everybody else learn something that they already know.

And I think that we have to be really, really intentional about that work. It's the reason, honestly, that I created the gifted onboarding framework. If you haven't heard of the gifted onboarding framework, I'll include it in the show notes. But but I think

That belonging is something we have to kind of cultivate. It's something we have to work on. And don't hear me saying that that shouldn't be the case for all of our kids. I think a hundred percent every kid who walks through those doors needs to feel like they belong. But I also know because of the work that I do that oftentimes one of the populations who is least considered, who we oftentimes think they're the least of our worries, right? Those kids are fine. Just the opposite is true.

They're not fine. They're not the least of our worries. They deserve to experience school from just as meaningful of a place as everyone else. And so in order for that to happen, I think these five things really have to be considered. So let's go over them one more time. Number one, challenge that excites. Number two, time to explore their passions. Number three, true connections. Number four, permission to be imperfect. And number five, belong.

So look, that's it. Challenge, passion, connection, permission, and belong. These five needs, I don't think they're extra. I think they're essential. And when we make these things happen and gifted learners, you know, I think when we make these things happen, gifted learners won't just succeed academically. And while that is exciting, I think it's something that can be a part of their journey. For that to be the only part of their journey is a mistake.

What we want is for all of our kids who come to school to thrive as whole humans, right? To thrive as just people and to watch them grow. That is what I believe education should be about. And so I think if we can kind of wrap our minds around what are some practical ways that we can make these happen in the classroom and make it a priority so that every kid feels like it is a space that they want to be a part of. I'll say this.

School is a place that kids want to be. It's like taking a hurdle, moving it out of the way so that teachers can do the work. To be done. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. As always, I love learning with you guys. I love the meaningful mess community so much. If you have not connected with my Meaningful Mess community, it is free. Over 900 educators are in that community.

an opportunity for us to connect, learn, and grow together. I would love for you to join in the show notes. I'll share the link so you can do that. And hopefully I'll see you there. Have a good day. I'll talk to you soon.

I want to take just a moment to tell you about the Big Talk community. It's a space created for educators in gifted education to collaborate and share ideas around the big and sometimes challenging topics that we face every day. Things like getting support from administration, addressing misconceptions, and navigating the loneliness that can sometimes come with. In the Big Talk community, we don't just talk about the problems. We focus on action oriented solutions together.

So if you're looking for a place to connect, feel understood, and move the work forward, I'd love for you to join us. You can learn more over at andymcnair.com slash big talk. Thanks so much for joining me today on a meaningful mess. I hope you found something to spark ideas, encourage reflection, or simply remind you that imperfection is where growth begins.

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if today's conversation resonated, I'd love for you to share it or leave a review. It really does make such a difference. And hey, let's stay connected. You can find more thoughts behind the scenes and resources over on my Instagram at a underscore meaningful underscore mess. Until next time, here's to finding meaning in the mess and joy in the journey.