The Gifted Gabber Takes a Stand

My idea is to help kids who have felt the same way I have and still have not received the hard work they need in order to be successful. I asked some gifted students in my class their opinions.   I first asked, “How do feel without challenge?” He said, “We have been doing the things in fourth grade since second grade just with more numbers or more words. I feel like we are in the same grade over and over again.” - Zach   Then I asked, “How do you feel with challenge?” She said, “Amazing, I feel happy I might discover new areas of math, reading, or even science! Even if I don’t, the learning is an unforgettable feeling.” - Tanvi I need you to know just how important this is. We can’t let us sit in class and be bored.  Our parents send us to school to learn, we don’t come to school to sit and think about a game we were playing at home. Let us learn. Let us excel. If teachers won’t let us advance, then I guess we will all have to work together to make it happen...

Did you know you’re in school because of your birthday? You should be in school because of how smart you are. This is important because many kids are being held back in the classroom and aren’t getting the challenging work they need in order to be successful. Even if you are in the gifted program you aren’t at the same level as other students in the gifted program. Sometimes we will get bored in class if we’re not challenged. You might see us zone out if we are not challenged.  Other gifted students might act out, but no teacher should assume they are bad students. We are bored and not challenged, this is our way of showing it. Some other things we might do is think of a game at home or even another challenging math problem. With challenge and activities to keep us educationally motivated, we might be able to accomplish something we have never done before.  We most likely won’t sit there thinking about a game at home. If we are kept busy with resources to accelerate and ...

Don’t hold me back! Have you ever felt you're being held back? Well I have, and I bet we all have at some point. It can be hard when you have to stay at the pace of other kids who don’t learn the same way or as fast as you do. Don’t hold me back applies to just about everyone. Lots of kids are not being challenged in the classroom, and many kids could be learning all sorts of new subjects and units they haven’t learned yet. Kids like me need enrichment work. We need less grade level work and faster paced lessons. Teachers should consider grouping kids like us together, we will be much happier this way. Another strategy for teachers to use is to teach a concept and then kids like me can do the hardest problems first to have less grade level work and faster paced lessons. Then the next day the students who have learned it can move on to more advanced or challenging work, and the students who haven’t can work a little more to understand it better. This way we won't be sitting ...

There were a few times in school that I felt I was being held back and I felt I had learned everything in the grade before. Then I had the opportunity to be with people who needed the same work I did.  I began to receive harder work. The work helps me to understand some concepts better. Last year in third grade, my group and I took a survey. We asked other gifted students from other schools for their opinions. I discovered seventy percent of gifted students said they aren’t being challenged in their own classrooms.  Eighty percent of gifted students said other kids in their class could benefit from being challenged. You can checkout what my other peers had to say about this topic by checking out the Don’t Hold Me Back presentation on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySpeQwMOL7M