I have to admit that the topic this week came to me after being on a mammoth private school campus for a speech competition this weekend. We could have fit our whole school in its cafeteria! There were halls and student lounges that could have served as classrooms for us. I found my stomach turning at the thought that a church could lavish so much money on a university-size campus. I resolved right then and there that any building we do at our school will utilize every space wisely and will be built as conservatively as possible. I’d rather teach humbly and be philanthropic than spend like Solomon.
I know this sounds judgmental. I tried really hard to be happy that Scripture appeared everywhere and that teachers could teach with their faith. But the verse that kept going through my mind was the one that commands us to be in the world but not of it.
Excess has caused us so many problems as Americans. Our waistlines grow from the excess of food available to us. We buy storage sheds to hold the excess from our shopping trips. None of this is news to you.
How does excess relate to our gifted kids? Our kids have an excess of talents and gifts. My students act and sing and make music equally as well as they do academics. By definition, gifted kids learn well in all modalities. This gives them an advantage over regular students because they can learn under any teacher, no matter the style. It is very easy with all this excess to become braggadocious. That’s why I don’t let my students cheer about great they are. We’re all ignorant to someone; there will always be somebody more talented. I want my students to recognize their great capacity for intelligence and talent, but to understand that they don’t need to pick one and become the absolute best at that. They will be highly sought-after for their multiple talents over those who only do one thing well.
Equally dangerous are those parents of gifted who try to cultivate every talent and gift. When parents provide lessons and learning opportunities in excess, I get stressed-out students who wish they could just be normal. The phrase “Everything in moderation” must have been written for gifted and talented kids!
-Michelle