Behavior or Boredom?
by
Jessica Arnold
We often hear about the reciprocal relationship between behavior and grades; we associate poor academic achievement with carelessness and poor behaved students are the ones teachers never want in their class. But…what if there was a reason for these undesired behaviors and lack of achievement? This blog focuses on gifted students who are bored in the classroom and result to acting out and avoiding all work for several reasons.
Not only are several students at risk in the schooling system, when a student is labeled as gifted they are automatically expected to reach high levels of learning, have no behavioral issues and be the perfect student; but what parents and educators may fail to realize is that setting such high expectations for school aged children could potentially be just as dangerous.
It is important to provide counseling to students who show the need for it; a few examples of this are misconduct, inconsistent work completion and lack of motivation. Individual counseling allows students to share feelings about their home lives, schooling experiences and give reason as to why they are not motivated to do well in school. Through counseling, solutions can be created to avoid the misconduct and boredom in class.
What To Do When Outbursts Occur:
- Start early by helping the child talk about his or her emotions.
- Held the child to discover their escalation style. Helping them to determine this pattern can give them a chance to redirect their feelings and manage them.
- Create a plan for waht to do when s/he is overwhelmed.
- If the the escalation and explosion happen anyway, remain calm and stay emotionally natural.
- Breathe. You and the student.
- Focus on the good behavior you want to see instead of focusing on the negative.
- Use the events (good or baad) as a teachable moment.
For additional ways to reduce behavior problems check out this article from ByrdSeed.
Being Proactive:
Ultimately, we’d like to see this never happen. One way to be proactive to avoid those behaviors and escalated situations, is to simply place a student in the courses that appropriately challenge them. It is important that gifted students are put into classes with other gifted students. When gifted students spend time with others who share their abilities, they are happier and enjoy academic and social adjustment. Gifted students cognitively function at a different level than peers, and when surrounded by students who act similarly to them, it is a much safer and comfortable environment for them. Click here to read more about four teachers who adjusted their teaching styles and relationship building to accommodate those learners. According to Tanner, Stoll and Anway in School Psychology Quarterly, “research suggests that twice-exceptional students, or those who are highly gifted yet demonstrate a learning or behavioral disability, often underachieve in school.” It’s imperative to stop this cycle and educate students in the environment that best suits them.
Meeting the Unique Needs of Gifted Students:
Just as educators and parents ensure that struggling students have an individualized education, gifted students deserve the same. Not only does this eliminate boredom turning into behavior issues, it pushes students to their full potential which is a major goal of educators.
The educators in the classroom can mainly focus on pushing high levels of rigor as opposed to differentiating several levels of instruction, where some could be extremely low. The National Association for Gifted Children gives a great article as to the true importance of individualizing gifted students education here.
- 15 Ways to Help Gifted Students Thrive in School
- Gifted Kids at Risk
- Ways to Challenge Gifted Learners
- 50 Tips Tricks and Ideas for Teaching Gifted Students
- Strategies of Teaching Gifted Students
- Social and Emotional Issues in Gifted Children
Resources for Parents:
- Overall Information About Being Gifted
- This article is a platform for many other educational websites and articles to educate you!
