How to Challenge Gifted Students in the Classroom: Strategies That Go Beyond Busywork

The need for gifted education was recognized as early as 1868 when St. Louis superintendent William Torrey Harris introduced gifted options within his school system. Today, many colleges and universities offer degrees specializing in teaching strategies for gifted students. And ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), a global membership organization, keeps the momentum going by “empowering educators to advance and elevate learning to meet the needs of all students.” 

Though some elementary and secondary schools simply give more work to gifted students, ASCD and others—including Brightmont Academy—advocate for being more thoughtful around how gifted students are taught and what makes the most of their time. Here are five ways to challenge gifted learners, drawn from strategies ASCD provides.

1. Start with the Highest Difficulty

Teaching gifted students sometimes involves throwing the most venerated educational practices out the window. Take scaffolding, for example. Most students need practice grasping basic concepts before applying their combined knowledge and skills to more challenging work. However, when it comes to educational strategies for gifted learners, an opposite approach is sometimes recommended. 

Instead of scaffolding, teachers who are committed to effective gifted education strategies introduce the highest level of mastery on a given topic first. This allows them to assess their students’ existing understanding and any gaps that need to be filled. If the point is to avoid busywork, this method ensures that little to no time is wasted on elementary concepts that gifted students have already mastered. 

2. Conduct Pre-Tests

Taking the strategy above a step further, teachers might allow gifted students to test out of unnecessary study and practice.

For example, after a short introduction to or review of the material at hand, a pre-test may be administered with the caveat that those who earn an “A” are not required to do homework for that unit. Once again, the key to teaching gifted students is to honor where they’re at and save them from tedium. 

But simply sparing them from busywork is obviously not enough to meet the needs of gifted students. Read on for ways to legitimately and meaningfully further their learning. 

3. Offer Opportunities to Level Up

Gifted learners in the classroom thrive when offered options and choice. Giving them some freedom on what to do and how to do it often proves to be very enriching.

First, what to do. It’s all too possible that the standard assignment(s) of the day will be easy for gifted students. Teachers can prepare to have more advanced work available on the same subject matter and give their gifted learners—and other students—the option to extend their knowledge and skills a tier or two beyond the prescribed coursework. 

Second, how to do it. Many gifted students are problem solvers by nature. They not only can quickly master common methods used in math, science, etc., but also tend to think beyond basic operations and formulas. If gifted learners would like to try their hand at getting to correct answers another way, teachers may give them that leeway. 

4. Consider Student Passions

At the top of the list of effective classroom strategies for gifted students? Capitalizing on their interests and “overexcitabilities.” 

The term “overexcitabilities” was coined by Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski, who identified the various “intensities” demonstrated by many gifted students. Certain topics may elicit intense psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and/or emotional reactions—and teachers are wise to tune in to these signals. 

“Knowing a student's overexcitabilities can help teachers shape engaging—and personalized—learning experiences,” says ASCD. “An imaginational student will benefit from an assignment that he's free to complete in a unique way. An intellectual student will prefer to investigate why certain areas of the world struggle with starvation rather than simply listing those areas. Although we tend to see overexcitabilities negatively, they are often accompanied by great creativity, imagination, and drive.”

Popular kids’ interests such as Legos and Minecraft can be used in teaching engineering concepts, history, and landmarks, etc. And if time is of the essence in moving students through the curriculum, teachers can still honor students’ curiosities by having them develop and present “Ignite Talks,” the formula being 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide, and just five minutes at the podium. Through Ignite Talks, students have the opportunity to share ideas and research beyond the standard coursework, while honing their communication skills. 

5. Foster Collaboration

Though gifted students might feel alone and quite different from their peers, good teachers will counter this dynamic with group assignments involving all skill levels. 

Collaboration proves two key benefits among gifted students. First, they often find out just how much they don’t know; there’s always something new to learn, and this is a healthy revelation for anybody, no matter their academic prowess. Second, if gifted students are separated from their peers, they miss out on important socialization. Gifted students will inevitably have to work with others into adulthood; there’s no time like the present to practice basic courtesy, listening skills, negotiation, and compromise, etc. 

It’s been said that “children who are not challenged are cheated.” This sentiment holds especially profound meaning in gifted education. When considering how to teach gifted students, growth must remain the goal since no one is ever done learning. May teachers everywhere don this mindset, no matter the unique—and possibly extraordinary—capabilities they encounter in their classrooms.