Episode 43: G/T Awareness Week: 5 Myths about Gifted Learners

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GT Awareness Week, Gifted and Talented Awareness Week. And there's just so many things to this part of education that need to be said out loud. And we talking about what these kids deserve from the learning experience. I feel like is important for so many reasons. For myself, one of those reasons is that I am a mom of gifted learners. I also a lot of the work that I do within a meaningful mess and at ESC Region 12.

Revolves around, you know, how do we serve these students well as educators and what can we do to make learning meaningful for them? Well, since I've talked to you last, a lot of things have happened, y'all. Uh it snowed here in Texas and not like sort of snowed, but snowed snowed. And we were even able to build a snowman in our front yard. Lots of fun stuff.

And last night, the Baylor Bears won their first national title. And so that was super exciting as well. I graduated from Baylor. So sick on Bears. I just want to get that out of the way. Okay, so let's jump right in. Let's talk about some of the myths that we oftentimes believe to be true about gifted learners. There are some things that I think we not intentionally, but we just kind of start to believe about these guys. And

I a lot of this is just gonna come from my own experience. I was a general education teacher for a long time. I taught math and science elementary uh before I had the opportunity to teach in a classroom that was exclusively Gifted learners. And I have to say, that is when I really began to realize that a lot of the assumptions, a lot of the things that I believe to be true about gifted education, it just simply wasn't the case. And so I want to share these five myths.

If you want to kind of see these talk through in more detail, I'll mention this again at the end, but you can go over to my Facebook page. If you just go to Facebook, and find a meaningful mess. I am sharing a video each day this week around these myths. So feel free to check that out. Facebook and then find a meaningful mess. You can connect with me there. Um You can also visit my website, andymacnair.com, and there will be a blog post up soon about this same thing.

All right, here we go. Let's just jump right in. The first myth is gifted learners shouldn't struggle. Um, I just want to say that nothing, nothing is further from the truth, right? Every learner should be given the opportunity to struggle and sometimes to even fail. And w I I really believe that to be true simply because when I think about

Um, just something as simple as a detour and a dead end, right? So often we see failure and struggle as a dead end. And when we see it that way, so do our learners. And the reality is uh uh Struggle and failure is a detour. It is not a dead end. And let me explain what I mean by that. When you are thinking about a dead end, right, you get there and you have to stop. There's nothing else that you can do.

However, when you are taking a detour, I don't know about you guys, but oftentimes when I'm driving and have to take a detour, I get really frustrated because I'm just trying to get from point A to point B. I think I shared this on a podcast recently. And it's frustrating, right? It's like, gosh, I didn't really want to come this way.

That's how our learners feel sometimes. But I think we also have to acknowledge that sometimes on a detour, we see things that we would not have seen on our original route. And the same is true for our kids when they struggle or they experience failure. There are things that they see within that experience that they would not have seen. had they not been given that opportunity. So I as a gifted parent, I can say it is hard.

uh to watch our kids struggle because so often they do make straight A's or they do things well or you know. But the reality is not every gifted kid makes straight A's, not every gifted kid is going to be compliant, and not every gifted kid is going to play the school game well.

And that's okay. It does that doesn't make them any less gifted. It just means that we have to find a different way to do things or we have to offer them choices. Um, I think about my own daughter who is labeled gifted and she does not learn through worksheets well, right? She's never gonna ace a worksheet, or she's probably not, I shouldn't say never, but she's probably not gonna ever ace a worksheet or a test. However, she learns through application.

So if she can get her hands in there and do it, she understands by doing. And so um oftentimes she does struggle within the current school system because uh school doesn't match the way that she learns, but that doesn't mean that she's any less gifted. And so I just want to say that out loud. Gifted kids not only should struggle, but it's good for them to struggle. Um, it's just us helping them shift their perspective.

and see it as a detour rather than a dead end. So myth number one, we're no longer gonna believe that gifted kids shouldn't struggle. The reality is Uh, there are going to be things that are hard for them. And if there's nothing at school that is challenging for them or nothing that is hard for them, that's a problem in and of itself that we have to address and think about.

Okay, moving right along. Myth number two: gifted learners are always independent learners. I I kind of thought about this because I was thinking about how often we give gifted learners like, okay, you guys go work on this project while I work with this small group, or you guys go do this over here while I work with these guys. We focus so much on our struggling learners. And look, I get it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.

But what I am saying is there are going to be those gifted kids who are going to get frustrated with that. they're going to be a disruption because they don't always learn independently. Sometimes they do need that explicit instruction. They do need that guidance of, hey, here's what I need you to do. Here's step by step by step.

And and we do that through scaffolding, right? Thinking through we want them to be independent learners. We want them to get there, but that's not gonna happen overnight. So if we do have a kid who needs those explicit instructions or those step by step, um kind of here's what I want you to do, kind of starting out with that and then weaning them off of it. You know, I'm going to give you fewer and fewer instructions and I want you to think through how you can do this independently.

But I think more often than not, we assume that if a kid is labeled gifted, they're A, going to be very compliant and B, they're going to do what we ask them to do in class independently. And that's just not always the reality. And I think sometimes that ends in frustration. So gifted learners aren't always independent. Sometimes they still need that guidance and they need us to be able to say, hey, here's what I want you to do and here's how you're going to do it.

And we we should be working toward that independence rather than expecting it to be the case simply because they are labeled gifted. All right, myth number three. Gifted learners love learning. Um, I so often I can think of when I was in my classroom and I would I always thought of my gifted kids as oh they're so smart or they think so far ahead of everyone else. And that was the case for some of them. But I honestly think that I missed some gifted kids. I I miss

you know, their identification didn't happen when it should have because I had these assumptions about giftedness, right? And so if they didn't enjoy being at school or they didn't love learning, it sounds silly, but I think that I think that sometimes I assumed that they may not be gifted because of that. When I began to work exclusively with gifted learners, I can think about one of my students in particular.

And on the outside looking in, it really looked like he absolutely hated learning. Like he just was not a fan of being at school, of interacting with other kids, of interacting with me, just not a fan of the whole experience. But you guys, when we got down to it, when really we started working on passion projects and he found what he was interested in.

He began to find that love for learning and he began to realize that learning doesn't always have to be me listening to a teacher talk about something that I already understand. And so his frustration wasn't necessarily with learning. It was more with his school experience and how that experience was impacting him because he just didn't want to play the game anymore. And so I wanna say that most kids

enjoy learning. We know that from just watching them on YouTube, right? They'll go watch a YouTube video and then do something with it, or they'll go listen to a podcast and do something with it. That's learning. maybe not on our terms, but it's learning on their terms. So most kids do enjoy learning, but I think we sometimes expect our gifted kids to come in and be super stoked about learning, kind of lead the way, be a leader.

That may be the case sometimes. It's not always going to be the case. And so I think it's just about being willing to understand the differences in our learners and and how they uh kind of put themselves forward and what they're willing to let us see and not let us see. But but being willing to see that giftedness. In a way that we may not have imagined, right? I think we have these preconceived notions, these assumptions that we make, or at least idea.

So gifted learners may not always love learning, but sometimes if you can get them to that place to where they see the school experience as an opportunity to learn on their terms, that can change everything.

All right, myth number four. This is a big one. Gifted learners do not require differentiation. So often when we use the word differentiation, I think if we're honest, we are talking about differentiating for our struggling learners, right? How do we break this down? How do we do it in a way so that they can understand it?

But gifted learners are often an afterthought. You guys know I like to say the hard things. It's a hard thing to hear. It's a hard thing to say. But let's be honest, gift differentiating for gifted learners is often, not always, an afterthought. In other words, We don't think about doing something different for them until they come up and say, hey, I finished this assignment in two minutes.

Or I already understand this. I've already mastered this. What do you want me to do next? And then it's like that frustrating moment of, oh my gosh, now this is more work for me. And so we begin to get that feeling towards them of they're creating more work. And this is becoming more difficult.

And so I think it's important that when we think about differentiation, first of all, I've said this on the podcast before, but I believe that differentiation does not mean that every kid gets a different experience, but just that they experience it differently. So that means when you're designing an experience, being intentional about thinking through what might this look like for my gifted learners? How could I give them an opportunity to go deeper?

into this concept topic or standard, right? I'm not trying to design something different. I'm not trying to give them something different. I'm simply providing an opportunity for them to go deeper. Uh I'll I'll oftentimes talk about differentiation in the form of scuba divers and snorkelers. And a lot of times our gifted learners are our scuba divers.

And so they just need that freedom to explore, that freedom to uh maybe look at things a little bit closer, that type of thing. So I would just say when you're designing an experience, don't just think about, hey, what is this gonna look like for my struggling learners? but also ask yourself, what is this going to look like for my gifted learners? And if you want to learn more about that and kind of explore that topic, you can go over to my website at andymacnair.com.

And if you'll put in uh specifically andymacnair.com slash D M L E, you'll be able to find a template. um that I've shared that just kind of walks you through how to think through uh designing for both your uh scuba divers and your snorkelers. So you guys check that out. Andymacnair.com slash DML E. I'll also put that link in the show notes. Okay, last myth. Myth number five. I'm gonna try to just I'm just gonna say it out loud.

Gifted education is a privilege. That is what I think a lot of people believe. We would never say that out loud, but the reality is that is how gifted education is perceived sometimes. Um, and I know that because I've talked to teachers and I've experienced um That whole idea of, you know what, uh, my student didn't come to the pull out GT program today because they didn't finish their work in class, right? They didn't get what they needed to get done for me. So they're not coming to GT.

Or they're a behavior problem. And because they misbehaved in class today, they're going to miss GT class. That would be great i if GT was a privilege. However, it is not. It is a service. One of my friends, I actually heard say that out loud. Her name is Brenda Davis. We worked together for several years. And the first time she ever said that to me, gifted education is a privilege. Um, is not a privilege, it's a service.

I just had that aha moment of that's so true. Um, it is a service. And the reality is we don't hold our struggling, very rarely would we hold our struggling learners back. From the things that they need, the things that they deserve. And so the same has to be true for our gifted, our gifted students as well, right?

We're not going to hold them back from their GT programming or their GT class or whatever it is that I've designed for them. I'm not going to say something like, you're not going to work on this project until you do this. Because That is part of their educational learning experience, right? It's something that we want them to recognize we see your need and we're doing what we can to meet it. And so often of our so often our gifted kids who are non-compliant.

And they may be a behavior problem or they may be disengaged. It's simply because somewhere along the line they have probably been treated as if gifted education is a privilege. And it's that's just not the case. Um, it is a service and it's not only a service, but it's a service that they deserve, that they need, and that we as educators are required to provide.

So let's go through these one more time before I wrap it up and put a bow on it. Um and I would love to hear you share once I write the blog post. It's not happening today, but it'll be on my blog eventually. I'd love to hear some of the comments that you guys uh share around these myths or maybe some myths that I didn't think of, right? That you hear or you think kind of change our perception of our gifted learners. All right, myth number one. Gifted learners shouldn't struggle.

actually should struggle. It's okay. Myth number two, gifted learners are always independent learners. Not the case. Sometimes we have to scaffold that and help them become independent learners. Gifted learners love learning. Um, I think sometimes they do love learning, but sometimes we have to get them there, right? They've experienced school in a way that they don't love learning. And and sometimes our job as educators is to help them find that.

Myth number four, gifted learners do not require differentiation. They do, and it's important that we design experiences with that in mind from the beginning and so that our gifted learners are not an afterthought. And finally, gifted education is a privilege. That is definitely a myth. Gifted education is a service, not a privilege.

Okay, well that was Fast and Furious. Lots of myths. Again, if you want to see me kind of talk through these in more detail and want to have some conversation around this, I would love to see you over on my Facebook page. uh you can just go to Facebook and search for a meaningful mess. I will also put the link to that page in the show notes as well.

So thank you so much for joining me. As always, I appreciate the meaningful mess community so much. Um, just seeing the work that you guys are doing and really the work that we're all doing together to kind of create sustainable change. within education right now is so exciting, so motivating. There's still so much work to be done, but you guys we're doing it and exciting things are happening as a result. So

Um, thanks again for listening. I hope you have a good morning, good afternoon, good night. I don't know when you're listening to this, but I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Um, and I'll talk to you soon.

You can always find tons of resources, inspiration, and information over on my website, andymacnair.com. Be sure to check out my blog, genius hour resources, and so much more. Enjoy the rest of your day, and as always, I hope that today's episode has inspired you to find meaning in your mess.