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Differentiation to me is the focus on how students have presented knowledge and the various ways they are allowed to represent that knowledge or skill. One thing I'm doing right now at my student placement is having students create podcasts to talk about their findings in the unit of American Identity. Rather than asking students to "write an essay", they are creating something that will represent their knowledge. I think one of the best ways to allow space for gifted and talented students to exceed in the classroom is by giving them self-paced assignments. When it comes to students who are gifted or talented I believe there needs to be an emphasis on assessing knowledge. That way you know exactly in what ways to challenge those students based on their needs.

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While I teach preschool, I feel that Siji hit it right on the head. Differentiating your instruction is so important because this will meet all the students you have in your classroom. One thing I believe in is pushing  literacy it's so important to get those basic steps of reading and make learning how to read enjoyable. I may have some students who can read one or two words and form a sentence putting it all together for everyone in the class is so important. I feel this would also help classroom communities of everyone helping each other and working together.

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Building off of what Siji suggested, I would be sure to differentiate my instruction but also help the student to devise an independent study plan based on their own content related interests. Zachary Pietryla suggested this for his OP, and I think it really is a great way to build upon and push gifted and talented students in your content area, especially in the secondary grades. I have not had experience implementing this strategy, but think it is a great and very easy to implement idea.

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Hi Siji. I like your straightforward approach of thinking about differentiation to support gifted and talented students. I think these students are another important reminder of why differentiation is so important. I also think that on the surface differentiation might not seem like the best option, but it is arguably the easiest and most consistent way to meet the needs of gifted and talented students in the classroom everyday.

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Kristina, I like your approach in focusing outside the classroom. I think your idea in challenging them is a great one. I think it would really facilitate a classroom discussion the following day and would provide the opportunity for students to share their ideas! For G&T students, I would modify the curriculum by providing various ways to complete an assignment. I like the idea of flexibility and self-pacing. I feel like these three aspects would allow G&T students to use their strengths to accomplish their work.

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Chelsea made a good point, making any explicit and obvious modifications could make gifted or talented students feel as if they are being singled out. I've even seen some students feel jealous over that when seeing a student getting different work from the rest of the class. Therefore, I would also teach "up" as Chelsea mentioned, I think that's a great way to put it. Giving high expectations for all students instead of just one is a good idea. Also, I would challenge them by giving them different/more assignments to do at home and when they come back to class it would give us time to chat about the work they did outside of class.

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See all the wonderful things Chelsea Martinez has made

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I agree with Madison, some gifted students may find it difficult to fit in with their peers. Therefore I wouldn't t make any explicit modifications, meaning I wouldn't single anyone out and provide separate material for my G&T students. Instead, I would teach "up". I would set a high standard and provide a chance for everyone to meet that standard int he best way they can. Everyone learned differently and at different paces. So instead of making accommodations for one set of students, I will insure that accommodations are available to all; this way students are made to feel singled out.

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I agree that Social emotional support would be important for this population, especially because some gifted students may feel like outcasts or have trouble fitting in with their peers. I like the pen pal system, and to add to that maybe they could establish pen pals with college students who are studying something they are interested in and ask questions about future career opportunities within their area of interest or giftedness. For modifications of the curriculum, it would depend on what their talents were and what they struggle with. Some might need modifications to make the curriculum more challenging so they can be intellectually stimulated, while others may need scaffolds and modifications in areas that they are weaker in, especially students who are twice exceptional.

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I really like Claire's emphasis on social-emotional support in order to help students who are gifted continue to feel connected. I also love the idea of a goal love to give students' some ownership over their own learning! This can give students' input on their own goals and also hold teachers and students accountable to checking in on these goals! In a physical space, I would also add in physical spaces to allow students who are gifted to have a special area to do work in. For example, I would have reading nooks and work spaces. Lastly, I would build upon Claire's check-in/check-out buddy to also maybe include a pen pal system with gifted students in other classes to ensure these students know they are not alone.

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I appreciate Larry's plan for those who complete classwork early, and his distinction between students who finish early and those who are G+T. I especially like the open-ended problem-solving tasks, which can give students an opportunity to develop their unique talents using the resources at hand, and towards a specific goal. One modification I would add in the classroom for a G+T student is (1) social-emotional support, such as a check-in/check-out buddy. If a student who is gifted feels disconnected socially in class, which leads to disruptive behaviors, a buddy could help the student to feel seen as a whole person, so they can improve self-concept. (2) a goal log, in which students ask questions they have about science (that may expand beyond the curriculum) and set a goal for how they want to find and communicate the answer to the teacher or another chosen audience.

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Responding to Suvekcha: I like the idea of asking open-ended questions to boost students’ academic inquiry and curiosity. Open-ended questions are less stressful and more meaningful than rhetoric questions since students are free to connect with their personal experiences or emotions. Similarly, I like granting students the agency to create their projects, which is a pedagogical strategy that would motivate them to explore and present a topic of their interest.

As for my modification in the curriculum, I would plan for early finishers and gifted & talented students. For early finishers, I would have a folder filled with crosswords, search words, sudoku, or mandalas sheets to keep them busy after completing assignments with multiple options they get to choose from. Moreover, I would ask the early finisher to serve as a peer tutor, given specific goal-driven directions for what would be expected from the tutee to accomplish. For the gifted & talented student, I would assign riddles or tasks of similar nature in which s/he would need to use all of the resources available in the classroom to find the solution. I would also have the student experience virtual simulations, such as walking on the moon or in ancient civilization, using VR headsets or computers. I would divide my plan between early finishers and gifted & talented students because both groups share similar characteristics even though they might have different needs. I believe that both students’ population must be considered in the curriculum to keep up their academic interests. The early finisher would benefit from activities that exercise his/her brain muscles and be considered calming. The gifted & talented student would benefit from activities outside his/her reach, such as creating a virtual space or producing 3D figures.

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Suvekcha Bhattachan - In order to accommodate gifted and talented students, some modifications in the curriculum and physical classroom that I would provide are as follows: I would seek to enrich learning for the students by including more open ended questions in my teaching that would encourage students to delve deeper into exploring concepts and have the opportunity to gain knowledge beyond factual information. Some ways to encourage this could involve providing students the flexibility to create their own projects and pick their own topics of interest within the course content that they can research further and present to the class. I would try to offer challenging prompts during discussions and assignments that would encourage the students to utilize their skills and strengthen their knowledge in various topics.

Sophia - I like how you mentioned giving students a choice. It is something I was thinking about too. The flexibility to initiate their own learning will be encouraging for gifted and talented students as they are able to take on more self driven projects that are related to their interests.

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The modification that I would make in my classroom would be to provide extension activities that require students to apply their thinking and/or the skill that is taught with some room for choice. This would allow for students to think critically about how to apply their thinking or skill set to daily life. I would try to relate these extension activities to the community to make them more community-based and apply to real life scenarios. To respond to Christie, I agree that scaffolding for students at any level would be beneficial and could certainly apply to my suggested extension activity.

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The modification I would make in my classroom for gifted and talented students in scaffolded lesson. It is important to challenge every student of any level, and have them reach their full potential. To answer Samatha - I beleive flexible seating is a good idea for any classroom, but also could definitely benefit gifted and talented students, especially if you want them working on something different than the rest of the group.

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The modification in my classroom would be to provide flexible seating to my students because they might get bored of having only one type of seating available to them. This can encourage them to move around the room if they are feeling frustrated. To answer to Yuxi I really like the bin idea and specially not giving the answer that sounds like a good idea because the students will be working more independently which that is the type of student we want to motivate. (Independent learners)

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Response to Emma.P: Yes my challenge bin was open for all students. I did have a few students who are not in G&T program but wanted to try the problems. I would not publically announce who got the right answer or not. All interactions were in private. I would just smile and say "it is alright, that indeed is an annoying question. I could explain it to you later if you'd like." for studens who got it wrong or wanted to give up, and then let it go. I won't say the bin is designed for the G&T students. Besides, there are tiers in the challenge bin problems. Some of the questions are easier than others and it is possible for some of the regular track students to figure it out occasionally (to build up their confidence).

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In response to Zachary: thank you so much for bringing up ENL students who might be gifted/talented and the challenges that these identities might bring upon this population. An individualized academic plan will address the needs of the student and help differentiate instruction based upon these, whether it is providing more challenging content or being mindful of the language barriers that might be preventing the ENL gifted/talented students to display the full scope of their capacities.

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In thinking about modifications to the curriculum in my preschool classroom, it's been a challenge for me to come up with ideas that could best serve these students. Reading everyone's posts has given me a lot of wonderful ideas that I will definitely keep in mind to support gifted students. Instead of breaking down steps to achieve a goal, I would consider what are the ways these students can go deeper in the understanding of a goal. Like some of my peers suggested, I would offer alternative ways to answer or present, maybe having them explore different media through which they can do so. I would also set up small-group investigations, and challenge them to come up with the questions and resources that the group can investigate, while also working on negotiating with peers. I would be very attentive as well to their interests, to understand where they are going with their wonderings and make sure to support their progress.

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I wonder what an appropriate application of gifted/talented modifications to an ENL classroom might look like.  This is a difficult issue because of the potential imbalance a student's current language capacity and her academic capabilities.  For example, I have seen students with lower English abilities moved to more difficult content classes (i.e. a student is moved to a more challenging math class), but now the student is challenged with the content and the increasingly specific language demands.  And obviously, just because a student may perform well with specific content does not necessarily mean she will be as capable accessing the language that accompanies it.  On the other hand, it doesn't seem fair to have a student wait to engage more challenging content until she has mastered some of the requisite, accompanying language.  I think for the gifted/talented ENL student a very individualized academic plan might need to be developed.  Maybe this includes more difficult content courses in English but perhaps these needs could be met too in the student's home language.  I really don't know.

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In response to Jessica's post, I like her idea of allowing students choice in completing assignments.  This goes along with the idea that students who are gifted/talented have specific strengths; they may not be "gifted" in all domains.  Allowing choice might allow a student to address a topic from their position of strength; it might allow them to tap into this wellspring of enthusiasm and skill they have in their domain and apply it to whatever task is necessary.

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The biggest thing I would do in my own classroom to modify material for gifted students would be to give students opportunities to complete assignments and assessments in multiple ways. For example, giving students the opportunity to write a paper, do a presentation or project, make a video etc. Allowing these various ways to complete assignments gives students a chance to use their own talents and strengths to their advantage while completing assignments within the curriculum.

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Response to Michelle: I really like the idea of giving gifted students opportunities to interact with peers and learn to appreciate each other's unique ways of thinking. Learning to solve problems in different ways is challenging and something all students could benefit from, especially those who learn in ways that their peers might not.

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As I wrote in my reply, I think modifications that offer gifted and talented students opportunities to think metacognitively are important to bring into the classroom. This might include having these students explain their thought processes to students who do not think the same as them, or having them slow down to attempt to solve one problem in different ways. I also think it's important for these students to be able to connect with all of their classmates by fostering reciprocal dialogues about the work that is being completed so gifted and talented students can continue developing an appreciation for different ways of thinking and an understanding about how they can also support their classmates.

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Response to Emma: You raise a good point about how extension activities could be applied to gifted and talented students in extracurricular areas. I think that having those students become a "teacher" in some situations can also be a good extension activity to solidify their own understanding by having to explain it to someone else, as well as to think about their classmates' understanding of the same material as being different from their own. I think placing an emphasis on perspective taking and communication skills as ways to further develop their understanding about any material is a good way to engage these students in feeling challenged beyond just "what is expected."

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Emma Basel - Response to Zainab: I do something similar with having extension activities and rigorous tasks for the gifted students. This creates an extra challenge and building on concepts we are learning in class too. It will relate to the other question(s) on the "worksheet," but with higher numbers, more critical questions, or requiring more steps. I was in 1st grade, so this is how we built upon this. When I was in the 1st grade classroom, we also started creating "extra" work for those who were gifted and talented, since it seemed they would finish their work quicker. This may be a good strategy to use, and not too time consuming since it is similar work, just extra (sometimes we would legit use the same problem for math, and change the numbers and units). However, these strategies are only applying to those gifted and talented in math and reading, I am unsure strategies for those gifted and talented in other areas like music, sports, etc. I am also curious, since I am in preschool, what things to do for those who are gifted and talented. Though it is a little "premature" to say a student is gifted and talented that young, but some of my students are applying to gifted and talented schools around 4 years old, so how to encourage their skills at such a young age and when a lot of the work is free choice.

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Currently in my own virtual classroom, I provide my gifted students with extension activities and rigorous tasks. For example, my students have the option to practice the skill we're learning in class once they are done with the work for that specific lesson. The activities are rather challenging and push them to think critically while focusing on what it is we learned in the classroom setting. As for the rigorous tasks, I might modify the way the question is asked or the material is presented to them. In regards to the physical classroom space, I used to actually have a extension activity corner packed with tasks aligned to the common core standards. However, with COVID, I had to eliminate paper in the classroom. I haven't set up something like that virtually because I haven't had the time, but it would be something on my list if things continue to stay like this.

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Response to Emma: I agree that sending home extra work is not the best approach to challenge gifted students. This seems unnecessary as it may appear as busy work rather then be something meaningful. I actually like the idea of using different levels of texts to engage them instead. I currently use that in my own classroom! CommonLit is a great platform that actually modifies the text for readers depending on the level you choose to assign them.

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Response to Yuxi: It sounds like the students really enjoy your challenge problems! Like you said, it is so important that the additional work presented is not busy work, as gifted and talented children will not be challenged or see value in it. Is your challenge bin open for all students? Do you ever have students who you think are not ready for such a challenge attempt some of the problems? If so, how do you handle this (striking a balance between encouraging students to push themselves and not having them get too discouraged or frustrated)?

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In thinking about my current classroom, there are some things done to support gifted and talented students. Ability grouping is often used. For example, during a Fundations lesson, another teacher  works with a small group of students to deliver a more challenging lesson and provide practice opportunities. In math, students meet with the math specialist who does more problem-based projects and other challenges with the group. While this is not a formal gifted/talented program, it functions similarly, with those in need of a challenge being pulled out of the classroom or separated from the rest of the class. I have also seen teachers send home additional challenge packets or assign extra work. I am not sure that layering on extra work and constantly having students be pulled out is the best approach. Incorporating problem-based learning into the classroom or presenting a challenge to the whole class is a possible approach. Gifted and talented students can also be given a reading passage that is more challenging, but provides the same content. I also think providing a lot of options can be helpful when working with gifted and talented students. For example, if children are presenting on a book they have read, you could allow students to write a report, act out a scene from the book, make a video, etc. These more open-ended projects can provide the extension and challenge that gifted/talented students need, while still being appropriate for the entire class. In terms of the physical classroom space, I once thought that it is best to keep children of the same ability level together in groups or at a table. However, I think it is important to provide opportunities for these children to work with peers of all levels, seated at tables with students of all ability levels and not constantly isolated from their classmates.

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I think modifications would be easier for secondary schools. Most middle schools and high schools have honors-track which make the differentiate teaching more convenient. For my math class, I have a "Challenge Bin" for my G&T students. In the bin there are lots of mini fun and challenging math problems for students. Problems are printed on a sticky-note size paper. When they complete the work, they could grab a problem from the bin and try to solve it. Different problems worth different points, and students have the choice to work with peers using library voice and share the points. Students may collect the points and exchange rewards from me (pencil, notebook, sticky note, etc.) Those challenging problems are not busy work, but problems that could help students build critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

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Darian Radzikowski: I would primarily make modifications in my curriculum to help gifted and talented students. One of the best methods is giving them the most challenging problems or ideas first. For example, I might give a more complicated or in depth social studies essay question to gifted children. This differentiation method allows kids to enrich their learning in a more complex way while still working on the same time period as their peers.