How Do We Motivate gifted Children?

Hello

I am Todd Stanley

I have been in education for over 25 years and have been working with gifted children most of that time. I also have written 2 books on student motivation.

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You can find me at:

@the_gifted_guy

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Statistics concerning underachievement

• Speculation is that anywhere from 10 to 50% of gifted students suffer from underachievement
• 25% of females could be considered underachieving while 50% of males
• 18-25% of students who drop out of high school have been identified as gifted

College success

• In a study of gifted students, 100% percent of the high achieving students went on to a four-year college
• Only 87% percent of the underachievers moved on
• Out of those students who went on to a four-year college, 83% of the high achievers graduated
• Over half of the underachievers did not (47%)

Long-term effects

• A study of underachieving gifted students 13 years after high school showed that they tended not have the stability in their careers and even their marriages that high achievers did
• Still display the characteristics they did as students such as low self-concept, low perception of abilities, lack of persistence, and the inability to accept responsibility for their actions

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Gifted-Ed

Regular-Ed

Special-Ed

What are some extrinsic motivators that we use in school?

Offer of rewards

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Praise

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Good grades

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Premack Principle

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Extra recess

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Incentives

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Titles

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Classroom responsibilities

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Bad grades

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Making the wall of fame/student of the month

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Time out

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Homework pass

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Dress down or up days

Playing the game

Intrinsic better meets the needs of people

Goal Valuation

Student Type 1

Important

Interesting

Attainable

Student Type 2

Important

Interesting

Attainable

Student Type 3

Important

Interesting

Attainable

We have to engage their minds

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1.

Interests

What is the student interested in? Doesn’t have to be tied strictly to content. Could be the process or product as well.

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"Interest refers to student’s affinity, curiosity, or passion for a particular topic or skill." ~ Carol Ann Tomlinson

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Student interest

2.

Student Choice

How much say do students get in what they are doing? Are their opportunities for you to offer more choices?

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Student choice provides differentiation

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Content

Where are places you can give students opportunities to choose WHAT they are learning?

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“Making content choices is part of what’s involved in being an independent, self-directed learner. Mature learners decide what to learn when they discover there’s something they need to know or something about which they need to know more” (Weimer, 2017).

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What it might look like in a middle school classroom

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Theme of self identity

Causes of American Revolution�

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British

Colonists

Boston Massacre

Common Sense

Taxes

Protection

Hessians

King George

No taxation w/o representation

Quartering Act

Boston Tea Party

Process

Do students have a say-so in HOW they are learning the processes used in order to understand and master something?

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“Assignments should not be measured based on the number of problems, but instead on the impact the assignment has on the learner and the learning process.”

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Choice in Process

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Technology Choices

Rather than making students do it your way, might they be aware of another, more creative use of technology they have learned about?

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Product

Do students have a choice of WHERE they will end up or are you setting the finish line for them? If you do are you certain you are pushing them as far as they are willing to go?

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Choice Boards is an instructional strategy based on the concept of differentiation that permits students to progress at their own pace and have a choice over what they learn and how they interrelate with the content.

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3.

Intellectually Stimulating

We often make our classes academically challenging but how much are students having to think? Higher level questioning engages the mind and stimulates it.

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Difference Between Hard and Rigorous

• Hard: the answer is not common knowledge and would require a certain amount of study or exposure in order to know it. Relies on lower level thinking such as memorization and recall.
• Example: Who is the 22^th Vice-President of the United States?
• Rigor: commonly applied to questions that encourage students to question their assumptions and think at a higher level.
• Example: Who do you think has been a successful Vice-President?

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Scaffolding Bloom’s

• Remember – What are items used by Goldilocks while she was in the Bears’ house?
• Understand – Explain why Goldilocks liked Baby Bear’s chair the best.
• Apply –What would Goldilocks use if she came to your house.
• Analyze – Compare this story to reality. What events could not really happen?
• Evaluate – Judge whether Goldilocks was right for entering the Bears’ house. Defend your opinion.
• Create – Imagine how the story would change if Goldilocks found the door to the Bear’s house locked.

Using the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears

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Relevance

How authentic is the learning in your classroom? What does it have to do with them? Do you give them a reason to care about what they are learning?

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Types of Authentic Learning

We cannot forget their hearts either.�

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5.

Caring

Do your students think that you care about the subject you are teaching? Do they think that you care about them?

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The “CARING” factor

• “You’ve got to Maslow before you can Bloom.”

Strategies for showing your students you care about your teaching

1. Presume competence. 
2. Provide appropriate learning materials.
3. Be prepared.
4. Support struggles and enrichment.
5. Give responsibilities. 
6. Show your love for the subject.
7. Share your efforts.
8. Give choice.
9. Be dependable
10. Reflect upon your own experiences.�

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Strategies for showing students you care about them

1. Greet your students every morning.
2. Acknowledge their presence. 
3. Make reference to things that are relevant in their lives. 
4. Ask questions about their lives.
5. Share things about your life.
6. Make praise meaningful. 
7. Avoid sarcasm
8. Be present
9. Use kind words
10. Say good-bye at the end of the day. �

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Worktime

• Go to www.thegiftedguy.com/prof-development page.
• Scroll down to the section that says How Do We Motivate Students.
• Watch videos that go into further detail some of the strategies talked about today.
• You can explore other strategies on this page as well as watching Todd Talks for how to challenge gifted students at www.thegiftedguy.com/toddtalks or go to Teacher Resources.
• Can also preview some of the authentic learning strategies we will talk about in the afternoon.
• Will not want to use the Tools for Authentic Learning because we will be using those this afternoon.
• Identify something you can specifically do with your students and develop a plan for delivering that.

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Reflection

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• For question #1 turn to the person to your right.
• For question #2 turn to the person behind you.
• For question #3 turn to the person to your left.

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Turn and Talk 360°

Questions to Ponder

1. What motivates you as a person?
2. What is one of the most profound learning experiences you had in school? What did it look like? Does it look like what you do in the classroom?
3. How are you going to deliberately challenge your students?

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Motivation

If you build it, they will come.

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Simple Formula for Motivation

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Make their experiences authentic

Personalize the learning

Show them you care

Todd Talks

Short video tutorials on strategies for working with gifted students

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Thanks

Any questions?

You can find me at:

@the_gifted_guy

thegiftedguy@yahoo.com

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