Profile Of A Gifted Learner Analysis

Profile of a Gifted Learner, “Sarah”

Timmery Rogers

High Point University Profile of a Gifted Learner, “Sarah” The most prevalent questions I found myself asking, throughout my work on this profile of a gifted learner, is: what exactly does a typical gifted/talented (GT) learner look like, and are there specific characteristics gifted learners must possess in order to have their potential recognized and later identified? The subject of my observations, and this analysis, is “Sarah”. Sarah is an 11 year-old female, who has previously been identified as academically and intellectually gifted (AIG). She is a seventh grader at Oak Grove Middle School, this year, and is the eldest child in an affluent, family. It is important to note,

My first observation was conducted in a class of 32 students, and left much to be desired. I did not feel it was the appropriate setting to provide me with enough information to complete a gifted learner profile. It seemed my first observation was a complete failure. As a result, I conducted some brainstorming myself, to come up with a plan to control the lesson in a way that I could get the evidence and information I needed for my work. After working with the AIG specialist at my school, I decided to have Sarah, along with four other students in her class, complete a Breakout Box. Our AIG department had recently acquired the Breakout Boxes, and I felt like it would be the perfect setting to conduct my observations. The Breakout Box activity provided me a wealth of empirical evidence of Sarah’s multi-faceted giftedness. Teacher input mostly occurs during the setup phase of a Breakout Box. There is minimal teacher input or involvement during the activity, but the students facilitate their own course of action based on their discoveries of the clues set up ahead of time. None of the students in my small group had ever participated in a Breakout Box activity before. Within seconds of beginning the first activity, Sarah’s leadership ability was evident. She immediately took the reins, and began organizing the

My first conclusion is that grade skipping, proved to be highly effective for Sarah. According to our text, the two major concerns presented by grade skipping are that students will be “missing critical basic skills” and they will have difficulty with “social adjustment to peers”. Neither difficulty applied to Sarah, and the acceleration proved to be beneficial, and Sarah continues to excel. These, and many other indicators point to intellectual giftedness. Another conclusion I arrived at, is that creative giftedness is not as easily identified as intellectual giftedness, particularly for core classroom teachers. The implication is that creative giftedness is often overlooked because it is not always observable in core instruction. Contrarily, I think it’s more of an issue that creative giftedness is not seen for what it is. Creativity can be linked to several characteristics we associate with intellectual giftedness. Take flexibility for example: “The ability to take different approaches to a problem, think of ideas in different categories, or view a situation from several perspectives”. Flexibility is a creative ability, but when it is observed, it is seen as problem solving skills, or digging deeper, intellectual characteristics. I am guilty of this at times too. I see intellectual characteristics first. We have to endeavor to be more cognizant of our students’ creative potential. One of