Summer book study: The Underachieving Gifted Child Chapters 4 and 5

Chapter 4:  Dweck's Mindsets-Recognizing Effort and Ability
"Everyone has the potential to become smarter than they are now."-Carol Dweck

This quote begins chapter 4.  Thank goodness we do have the potential to become smarter than we are now.  As an adult this is true with every new life experience.  I dare say as a teenager when I was smarter than my parents, doesn't compare to the smarts I have now as a parent!!
This is also shown in the mainstream classroom.  Too many times we just leave the "gifted" kids alone-they are already "smart" when in reality this is a disservice to them as learners as well.  Throughout the chapter the idea of Carol Dweck's growth mindset is spoken of.  In professional development this past year this has been a buzz word.  While we all know that pushing kids and stretching their thinking is of utmost importance, the problem lies in how we do this.  The idea of a growth mindset, challenges the notion that gifted kids are smart and you can't teach an old dog new tricks-the fixed mindset idea.  Instead, using a growth mindset abilities are malleable and "practice makes perfect".  Moving away from the fixed mindset thinking allows children, especially gifted students the chance to attempt challenging tasks and persevere through difficulties.  This helps to improve upon existing and new skills for the child.  Growth mindset is a scary idea even for adults because along the way you will have to encounter failure in order to reach your potential.  Failure is a word that teachers don't readily use and encourage.  This becomes more about the experience than the outcome!
In the section about increasing self efficacy and promoting effort, it addresses the idea of feedback.  We have had many training's on providing feedback and the amount of feedback that should be given and where it should be, but a factor I feel is missing in giving feedback is how it should be given.  We are people pleasers by nature as educators and we want all children to succeed.  In society we believe that any effort at all deserves praise (feedback), hence the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality.  In the piece of the chapter I love how it structures feedback as 1)recognition of the skill and 2)attribution of its development to the student.  For instance instead of saying "Good Work" (guilty ALL the time) you should re frame with something like "You did very well on your math addition fluency!  You've showed growth in knowing your addition facts quickly."
I need to as an educator remind myself that giftedness isn't just something that happens; it requires students have something to do with developing their giftedness.

Chapter 5:  Addressing Issues of Perfectionism
Ouch this chapter!!!! I must admit that I am a perfectionist in the classroom.  I don't feel like I can start a new day unless everything is perfect.  Time and time again I am reminded that this doesn't work with 6 and 7 year olds.  As the book states, perfectionism provides the gifted child (or teacher) with an excuse for not performing. 
In class this comes into play many times with my gifted students during group or partner activities.  If the activity cannot be put together to their standards they would just assume quit than to work it out and complete the assignment.  I think this type of perfectionism is most prevalent in my first grade classroom-the my way or no way thinking.  I also see attributes of perfectionism when focusing on mistakes-work will be turned in with holes from erasers or hidden inside their desk for fear of it not being good enough work.
Even at age 6, perfectionism in some students is already a concern and has to be addressed.  In the chapter Greenspon proposes a four step process for creating an environment of acceptance for students in hopes to address perfectionism.
The first step involves empathy.  The counselor and student work to understand the motivational forces behind the perfectionism. The second phase is encouragement and giving compliments that are meaningful and authentic and involve personal instead of performance qualities.  The third step is self reflection and helping students develop and deeper understanding of what mistakes mean to them and how they perceive that others view them.  The final step involves dialogue and talking together about what mistakes mean, what people's expectations are, and why being less than perfect can be frightening.
Cool ideas:  1.  teachers modeling and debugging mistakes-going back to the growth mindset thinking-that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes.  2.  Swiss cheese-starting small and having small successes-not basing everything on a giant project.  3.  Creative visualizing-making a picture of it before it happens-talking through what might and might not happen to prepare more for bigger events and changes that are out of the ordinary.  4.  Finding a non competitive, creative outlet to enjoy and relax, free of worry or stress.