Gifted and Talented

Gifted or talented describes individuals with high levels of intelligence, creativity, outstanding abilities, and capacity for high performance.
General Characteristics: (pg. 468)

• Intellectual ability
• Specific academic apitude
• Creative or productive thinking
• Leadership ability
• Visual and performing arts

Strengths:

• Excels in certain areas of subject matter
• Talented in the arts 
• Excellent memory
• Large vocabulary

Abilities:

• Retains information quickly
• Intrinsic motivation
• High energy and alertness
• Creative
• Seeks to organize
• Seeks cause and effect

Needs:

• Accommodations through technology.
• Access to enriched curriculum in education.
• Accommodations on tests.
• Opportunities to interact with other peers.
• Curriculum that incorporates the theory of multiple intelligences. 
• Opportunities for students to talk about stress and emotional difficulties. 
• Role models and mentors who are also gifted and have learning disabilities.

Examples of Assistive Technology:

1. Massive open online courses ( MOOC’s ) such as edX can allow students to begin experimenting with and engaging in college level coursework while still in high school.
2.  Virtual thematic unit are great to integrate abstract complex ideas into the curriculum. (atozteacherstuff.com/themes)

Resources:

• http://www.trinitypride.org/webpages/gifted/strengths.cfm 
• http://classroomtechintegration.weebly.com/adaptiveassistive-technology.html
• http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ756553.pdf