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Making Great Kids Greater

Easing the Burden of Being Gifted

By: Dorothy A. Sisk

Foreword by Linda Silverman

Empower gifted students by helping them understand and value their gifts!

This practical book offers techniques, strategies, and lessons to expand the skills of gifted and talented students and help them bridge the gap between their cognitive and social-emotional development. Showing how to support learners who may experience difficulties associated with excitabilities identified by psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski, this resource:

Presents authentic stories of gifted students
Includes teacher voices and vignettes
Integrates research to build a foundation for the suggested activities and strategies
Provides recommended reading lists and Web sites for further exploration

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412958721
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2008
Page Count: 176
Publication date: August 15, 2008

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Description

"Dorothy Sisk is a venerable giant in the field of gifted education. Teachers will find this volume a gold mine of effective classroom strategies to develop the affective domain. Anyone interested in the emotional development of the gifted will be delighted by this book."
—From the Foreword by Linda Silverman

"Seamlessly weaves together research studies with personal narrative to illuminate the complex inner world of gifted students. The book explores not only the unique sensitivities and social-emotional challenges of the gifted, but also their deep empathy, intuitiveness, and keen awareness of the moral and spiritual realm."
—Joan Franklin Smutny, Director
The Center for Gifted, National-Louis University

Empower gifted students by helping them understand and value their gifts!

Gifted students often develop faster intellectually than socially and emotionally, resulting in feelings of isolation or inadequacy. This book provides educators with a window into the world of the gifted child, discusses how to develop the talents of gifted children with consideration for their unique needs, and suggests ways to help great kids become greater.

Written by gifted education expert Dorothy A. Sisk, this practical resource offers techniques, strategies, and lessons to help gifted students bridge the gap between their cognitive and social-emotional development. Showing how to support learners who may experience difficulties associated with excitabilities identified by psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski, this resource:

Presents real stories of gifted students
Includes teacher voices and vignettes
Integrates research into each chapter to build a foundation for the suggested activities and strategies
Provides recommended reading lists and Web sites for further exploration

Making Great Kids Greater helps parents, teachers, and counselors of gifted children ensure students' emotional well-being and enable them to reach their full potential.

Key features

Real stories of gifted individuals who have one of the five excitabilities
High-profile author who presents internationally
Provides teachers with practical strategies, lessons, and resources for working with perfectionist students who are emotional, creative, energetic, and have higher intellectual capabilities

Author(s)

Dorothy A. Sisk

Dorothy Sisk holds an endowed chair in education of gifted students at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Throughout her career, she has been intensely involved with the education of gifted and talented children. Sisk is an international consultant focusing on leadership, communication, and creativity development. She was a professor at the University of South Florida, coordinating programs for training teachers of the gifted, and former director of the US Office of Gifted and Talented in Washington, DC. She currently directs the C.W. Conn and Doroth Ann Conn Gifted Child Center at Lamar University and teaches courses in gifted education. She received the Distinguished Leader Award from the Creative Education Foundation (CEF) in 1989, the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in 1983 and 1994, the Creative Lifetime Award from CEF in 1994, and was selected for the Hall of Fame Award of CEF in 2005.

Sisk served as one of the founders and the first president of the American Creativity Association, and president of The Association for the Gifted (TAG), the Florida Association for the Gifted, and the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, where she also was the executive administrator and the editor of Gifted International from 1980 to 1990. She has conducted training sessions throughout the U.S. and internationally. Sisk is the author of Creative Teaching of the Gifted; coauthor with Doris Shallcross of Leadership: Making Things Happen, The Growing Person, and Intuition: An Inner Way of Knowing; coauthor with E. Paul Torrance of Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom and Spiritual Intelligence: Higher Level Consciousness; and coauthor with Susan Israel and Cathy Block of Collaborative Literacy: Using Gifted Strategies to Enrich Learning for Every Student. In addition, she has contributed numerous articles and chapters in books on gifted education, creativity, and leadership development.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Linda Silverman

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

1. Gifted Kids Have a Unique Perception

2. One Size Does Not Fit All: Socialization vs. Social Development

3. Perfectionism: A Positive or Negative Characteristic of Giftedness?

4. Moral Courage

5. Individuality: Knowing Oneself

6. Sensitivity and Empathy for Others

7. Reflective Thinking: You Are in Charge

8. Developing Creativity in Gifted Students

9. Developing a Sense of Peace and Tranquility

10. Achieving Balance in Your Life and Finding Your Purpose

Index

Reviews

"Gifted children are often at risk of losing the essence of their giftedness in a sea of accountability. This book serves as a tool kit for the discovery and growth of giftedness. It provides specific strategies for educators and parents whose goal is to understand and nurture the giftedness of the children in their charge. Sisk's words go to the heart of what giftedness is all about and lead to true understanding by parents, educators, and the children themselves."

Lauri Kirsch, K-12 Gifted Education Supervisor
Hillsborough County Public Schools, FL

"This book is long overdue. Not only does it provide research that supports the author's work, it also includes descriptions and case studies of students that I felt akin to, along with ideas and activities that address all of these challenges. This book is a must for classroom teachers, university professors, and parents."

Starr Cline, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Hofstra University

“Dorothy Sisk is a venerable giant in the field of gifted education. Teachers will find this volume a gold mine of effective classroom strategies to develop the affective domain. Anyone interested in the emotional development of the gifted will be delighted by this book.”

From the Foreword by Linda Silverman

"Seamlessly weaves together research studies with personal narrative to illuminate the complex inner world of gifted students. The book explores not only the unique sensitivities and social-emotional challenges of the gifted, but also their deep empathy, intuitiveness, and keen awareness of the moral and spiritual realm."

Joan Franklin Smutny, Director
The Center for Gifted, National-Louis University

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