Sometimes it's difficult to remember that giftedness is just that...a gift. Sometimes it seems like a burden. After all, for parents a child's giftedness may require additional time for advocacy, extra effort to make sure you've got just the right teacher fit, and always working to make sure you child is being challenged academically. Students may sometimes struggle to find friends who understand them, might feel like the odd person out, be bored, or overwhelmed emotionally by things they understand about the world but can't do anything about. It can be difficult.
But in this season of giving remember - it is a GIFT. Having enormous potential and a brain that absorbs so much is a chance to really see and understand not just math and English but the universe. You have the ability to affect great change, if that's your goal, but you can also just take it all in and observe and meditate, if that's your thing. But it's there, and it's part of you, and when you embrace your talents and gifts you can enjoy and appreciate them more every day.
So don't let your giftedness weigh you down. Unwrap it, try it on, keep it - and don't even think about returning it. One day you might realize it's the best present you ever received.
Happy Holidays!
As some of you may know, Dr. Kelly and Ms. Nan recently journeyed to Phoenix for the National Association for Gifted Children's annual conference. Kelly gave two presentations related to ATYP, one one how the program operates, and one on how we use the Talent Search to find eligible students.
Yes, Phoenix was warm and lovely, but that's not why we went. The NAGC conference gives us our best opportunity to meet and learn from the greatest experts in the field of gifted education. We attend sessions related to the social and emotional needs of gifted students, how to discover and help more under-represented minorities, how to make our program more impactful and efficient, how to advocate for the gifted in our communities and with our legislature, and much, much more.
This year, all of the key note speeches had something to do with STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) education - robotics, inventiveness, and Google Education apps. All of the speakers gave us ideas to think (and blog) about, so be on the lookout for posts that originated at NAGC and thoughts on how what we learned can be of benefit to you, our students and parents.
This conference and others like it give us a chance to demonstrate the importance of lifelong learning. Even when you're as old as we are (and you students can stop laughing now), curiosity, inquisitiveness, and a passion for learning are a vital part of not just furthering your mind and your career, but making life interesting and worth living. When you stop learning, all of the fun goes out. It's like someone has turned off the lights, and you're just stumbling around in the dark.
Keep your lights on! Make loving to learn a priority, not just in school, but every day in every way!
Sometimes it's difficult to remember that giftedness is just that...a gift. Sometimes it seems like a burden. After all, for parents a child's giftedness may require additional time for advocacy, extra effort to make sure you've got just the right teacher fit, and always working to make sure you child is being challenged academically. Students may sometimes struggle to find friends who understand them, might feel like the odd person out, be bored, or overwhelmed emotionally by things they understand about the world but can't do anything about. It can be difficult.
