We're not talking gifted with a sixth sense or just getting a lot of presents. These are the kids who are quick, think outside the box, and seem to have already read everything you assigned—not to mention Heidegger, Judith Butler, and Freddie Mercury.

 

You know they're gifted when this is their taste.

How do you teach the kids who already seem like they know everything in the book? How do you do it without derailing the rest of the class? And in general, how do you differentiate for kids who are so…different?

1. Remember: they aren't that different.

Gifted students aren't aliens. They actually have many of the same challenges and motivations as every other student on the planet. If we're talking gifted youngsters, they've got the same energy that they don't always know how to control—they're still kids, for crying out loud. And as for teenagers, they have hormones coursing through their bodies and don't always think through consequences. They may be freakishly quick on your toughest math problem, but don't let that trip you up.

What's worth remembering is that these students tend to have a broader knowledge base. Even though they are gifted, they can still be very rigid in their thinking, even if their breadth of knowledge is a bit breadth-ier than that of a lot of their classmates. That's right: they need you there to help them thinking inside the box some of the time.

2. Gifted students need a challenge.

Regular ed isn't always a good fit for students who feel the need to go further and deeper with their learning. If you allot 20 minutes for a given activity and this student has finished it and finished it good in five, you may need to dream up some add-ons. Any side projects or extra tasks that you create to add to the challenge will help these students nurture their own learning and thinking flexibility.

3. Hit on multiple learning styles.

This one goes without saying and applies to every classroom on the planet, no matter what your students' intellectual appetites. A range of activities that get your students thinking with different brain muscles is the best way to keep them on their mental toes (or actual toes, if it's a kinesthetic sorta day). Refresh your memory on learning styles here.

4. Make 'em Bloom.

Hitting Benjamin Bloom's more complex levels of learning will help your gifted students get the most out of their education. These are targeted to getting them real deep into analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, and emphasizing those skills is key to deepening understanding.

5. Options are everything.

All students love choices. When you make it look like you're not going to dictate every part of what they're supposed to do, it boosts that sense of responsibility while keeping it safely within your own parameters.

So when you're differentiating, make sure you provide those extra options for each student. That could mean creating different assignments altogether or multiple options within a single assignment.

For example: you're assigning a research paper. You could have them choose the subject of their research, develop a more complicated version of one of the prompts you've given, or come up with an alternate version of how the final product will look. So, they're either choosing to research music during the Revolutionary War or incorporating some theory in their paper on battle tactics. Either writing a paper or building a catalogue. You get the idea.

6. Mix it up.

We've already talked about learning styles, and that's just a start. You've got independent learning, group learning, paired learning...and you can work that range all up in there. This could also be an opportunity for letting students choose with whom they want to work. But you know, you probably won't let them choose all the time. Gifted or no, you don't want anyone just picking their BFF day in and day out, ya know?

In general, differentiation is as much about creating different methods of delivery as it is about creating different lesson plans. Because if you're always creating different lesson plans, you're probably exhausted and on the verge of burning out. And then you'll be the one needing busted-teacher differentiation. And we can't have that.

In other words, take differentiation one step at a time. Maybe you just craft a couple differentiated projects in the year, but give students flexible options for how to work in general. Then the next year you use those two projects and create two more differentiated lessons. And soon enough you'll have lots of different (and good!) learning methods that harness your gifted students' amazing brain power.

And before you know it, they'll be dedicating their brilliant inventions to your teaching brilliance. And you can thank us then.