What specifically have you written so that parents, teachers and counselors can learn more about helping with the social emotional needs?

What specifically have you written so that parents, teachers and counselors can learn more about helping with the social emotional needs?

My research focus has dealt with metacognition and the gifted, so most of my writing has been in that area. However, the overlap is that metcognition, or thinking about one’s own thinking, can be the bridge between the intellectual realm and the social /emotional realm. By teaching gifted students how to use their natural analytical thinking capacities and how to apply them to a social situation or a problem that is bothering them, they have a means to assist in their own growth.

In my university teaching and presentation of school district GT workshops, I try to emphasize that teachers need to recognize that the intellectually gifted need their support and help in their social and emotional growth. I urge teachers, counselors, and parents to read everything they can find on this topic and to watch the gifted individuals in their lives to gain insight into their world. Asking students their thoughts on a situation can be very revealing.

As a language arts teacher, I was able to use writing assignments as a source of release for the gifted. Their poetry and prose revealed their emotional states, often expressing a search for “normal.” Through introducing books that focused on complex issues or people, I could assist them to define a life that must be lived with difference.