25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake
14
Inappropriate Educational
Strategies
SCENARIO 14.1
Gifted: One Who Walks on Water
In second grade I was told to write a research paper with reference notes and bibliography.
One other girl and myself were in the GT [Gifted and Talented] program and we
had to do this while everyone else got to dress up and give a book report as his or her
favorite book character.
The stereotype of the outstanding,
highly motivated, gifted,
and talented student can be detrimental
to the social, emotional, and academic
development of gifted students.
One hazard is going overboard and
giving assignments that are not developmentally
appropriate (Elkind, 1989),
such as the research paper assignment
in this scenario. Develop mentally
app ropriate instruction is designed to
meet the social, emotional, cognitive,
and physical needs of students. Years
ago, teachers were accused of not providing
challenging assignments for
gifted students. Today it is important
to strike a balance and make sure that
their challenging assignments are
developmentally appropriate. Teachers
of gifted students should also consider
their students’ preferences in
assignments.
Renzulli and Reis (1991) define
giftedness as possessing a high level
of creativity, a high level of general
ability, and a high level of achievement
motivation. Having a high level
of creativity would explain why these
gifted students would prefer to dress
up and be their favorite character from
a book rather than do a research paper.
Gifted students enjoy “fun” assignments,
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