Wonders All Around

Learning Alongside My 5th Grade Wonders

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High Personal Standards

I agree that many gifted individuals tend to have this piece we often call “perfectionism.”  I can think of several students in my class this year who spend a long time making sure the conventions, presentation, word choice, etc. are perfect on anything before they share it with the world.  (I know a few gifted adults who still do this, too!). On the other hand, these same individuals can have the messiest desk you’ve ever seen.  It’s hard to use the phrase “high personal standards” to describe someone after finding an old banana peel in his/her desk.

(http://ocw.uci.edu/lectures/Lecture.aspx?id=279)

What I learned from this presentation is that the key words “high” and  “personal” are equally important.  The standards that gifted students set are their own, and it is hard for them to lower (or raise) these standards simply because of what someone else says.  The example that comes to mind (about attention to detail) is the student who rushes through math problems, not showing his work, but writes an amazing descriptive fictional story.  This student attendance a high standard for details, but only when HE feels they are necessary.

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