Characteristics of Students with Gifts & Talent
CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS WITH GIFTS AND TALENT
General Intelligence
- Recalls facts easily
- Is very well informed about one or more topics
- Shows keen insight into cause-effect relationships
- Has exceptional ability to solve problems
- Has phenomenal memory
Intelligence in a Specific Academic Area
- Exhibits extended attention span in a particular content area
- Displays a passion for a topic of interest
- Makes independent contact with or carries on correspondence with experts in the field
- Puts extensive efforts into a project - time is of no consequence
- Manages to change a topic under discussion to the discipline of his/her interest (e.g., a discussion on today’s weather soon becomes focused on meteorology or global warming)
Creativity
- Possesses strong visual thinking or imaginative skills
- Transfers ideas and solutions to unique situations
- Prefers variety and novelty and an individual way of solving problems
- Asks many and unusual questions
- Often has several projects going at once
- Resists external controls, tests and challenges limits
Leadership
- Relates to and motivates other people
- Organizes others for activities
- Demonstrates high levels of self-assurance when making decisions or convincing peers
- Sees problems from many perspectives
- Listens to and respects the opinions of others (or listens to and debates the opinions of others)
Visual/Performing Arts
- Shows very high ability in the visual arts, i.e., painting, sculpting, and/or arranging media in a unique way
- Possesses unusual ability to create, perform, or describe music
- Possesses unusual talent in drama or dance
- Uses artistic ability to express or evoke feelings