Today, I am thinking of the wall of toothpaste. You know the one - everything from extra whitening to enamel building. All different brands and different prices.
Yes, you have all of the choices, but ultimately you really only have 1 choice. Buy the toothpaste.
Perhaps you prefer mint flavor or gel or paste. There are reasons, I am sure. Yes, there is choice in these aspects. But the ultimate choice is to purchase and use toothpaste in some form or another.
So let’s think about the choices we provide our gifted students in our classrooms. I wonder if it is similar to the wall of toothpaste. In many gifted classes across the US, teachers may use choice boards, also known as Tic-Tac-Toe Boards, to offer gifted students choices in learning activities. These learning activities may be based off the classroom’s interests (collected from individual interest inventories), be directly aligned to the lesson standards and objectives, or be entirely disconnected and - maybe - used as a time filler for early finishers. Don’t get me wrong. Choice boards are a great starting point to bring in a more personalized and individualized approach in the gifted classroom. They are usually the basis for differentiated instruction in a gifted classroom.
Let’s dig deeper into the concept of choice in a gifted classroom and why it is a necessity for our gifted learners.
Research has shown that gifted students valued when teachers had content expertise but were flexible enough to acknowledge and validate student perspectives and experiences, allowing opportunities for choice, control, and self-challenge for all students (Graefe, 2017).
Simply put, our gifted learners understand that they need expert teachers and to have choice in their own learning. It motivates them to move to more complexity and challenge - pushed by their own inner curiosity. Often, they will find a new way of problem solving, making connections and implementing concepts. Gifted teachers do not have to have all of the answers - we cannot possibly. By tapping into the intellectual and creative curiosity of our students through the avenue of choice, we can guide them to develop a stronger connection with the material they are learning and foster independence along the way.
So, just how can we routinely offer choice to our gifted students without getting overwhelmed ourselves? Here’s a few strategies I have successfully used in my gifted classroom:
When working on a specific standard (or set of standards) in Language Arts, provide multiple options of text from which to choose. The entire class does not have to read the exact same novel. Sometimes, you may need to have a whole class novel study; but whenever possible, offer several different curated titles to your students. Theming your titles is often useful. The standards addressed will be the same. Allow students to select which book they are interested in and form your groups accordingly. The instruction doesn’t have to change just because the book changed. Research the work of Joseph Renzuli for much more information on reading instruction for gifted and advanced readers,
Offer a variety of ways in which gifted learners can present their newly gained knowledge. This can be a clever way to showcase or develop artistic, vocal, creative writing talent…..all the parts of our students that are not typically measured on assessments. This offers an opportunity to help shape their voice.
Guide gifted students to assess their own outcomes. If our students have a role in creating their own levels of mastery, they will be more motivated to participate in the learning process. (You can’t really complain about what you helped create!) This will help our students with accountability and ownership. Designing their own rubrics for assessment will also provide practice in critical thinking analysis of important and interesting components of a lesson.
Provide multiple resources from which the students can gain the information. This can be in the form of podcasts, videos, voice recordings of the text, games, news articles, interviews, etc. Giving gifted learners multiple streams from which to gather knowledge will help them navigate a world of reliable and unreliable resources, detect bias, and develop their own personal preferences. Once again, these resources must be curated to ensure that they are appropriate and connected to the learning.
Offer the option to work independently.
As you can see, there are many ways in which to incorporate choice into a gifted classroom. These are just a few. Some require more teacher management while others do not. I would suggest starting with building your gifted classroom norms and expectations regarding choice activities. Offer a few options, navigate slowly. See what works and where you may need assistance in planning.
Word of Caution: Too much choice can create a brick wall for some gifted students.
Whether it stems from perfectionism or a fear of failure, you may have gifted students who become overwhelmed when presented with too many choices far too often. They may shut down, underperform and become unmotivated. Especially if choice has not really been offered in previous settings. Let your students be the guide on how much choice is too much.
As teachers of gifted students, we have a vast wall of choices in front of us. Just like the wall of toothpaste - it will come down to preferences - but offering no choice is not a choice when it comes to our gifted students.