Discusses why gifted girls are at risk for emotional instability due to the mixed social messages they receive, the lack of mental-health services for gifted girls, and their need for specialized counseling. Urges mental-health professionals to consult with professionals in gifted education to provide appropriate services. (CR)

Describes a dynamic, innovative leadership conference that meets the needs of leadership training for gifted secondary students. The conference provides an opportunity for underachieving gifted students to excel, and for gifted students to design, develop, and implement the entire conference while having fun and experiencing success. (Author/CR)

Offers strategies for teachers of the gifted to increase their budgets through fund development, including annual giving, capital campaigns, endowments, and planned giving, such as irrevocable and revocable charitable gifts. Teachers are urged to do research, follow procedures, get organized, keep accurate records, appoint strong leadership, and…

Urges teachers of gifted students to allow students unstructured recreational computer time in the classroom to encourage student exploration and discovery, to promote creativity, to develop problem-solving skills, and to allow time to revisit programs and complete their own tasks. Different types of educational computer programs are referenced.…

Discusses how educators can provide parents of gifted students with the skills, knowledge, and assistance necessary to nurture their children's social, emotional, and intellectual development. Strategies include developing parent workshops, encouraging parent participation, and providing preservice teachers with coursework that focuses on…

Using an excerpt from one of Plato's early dialogs, this article examines the distinction between knowledge and opinion. It urges teachers to invite gifted students to reflect on this distinction to make the students more receptive to all levels and types of experiences and to maximize their knowledge in as many subjects as possible. (CR)

Explains the Ford-Harris Matrix model of multicultural education in teaching literature to gifted students. This matrix combines levels of infusing multicultural content (contributions, additive, transformation, and social action) with the thinking processes of Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis,…

Describes a unit of study for gifted fifth graders that connects architecture to the content areas of history, mathematics, and science. Emphasis was on problem solving of real-world problems as recommended in major reports on mathematics instruction. The unit also used technology in innovative ways, including computer-drawn images and digital…

Suggests that gifted students often face mixed messages based on others' beliefs about giftedness. Identifies patterns of coping behaviors against the backdrop of such messages along a continuum which ranges from not identifying with other gifted students, blending in with the general student population, or embracing the stereotypical gifted…

Describes application of Renzulli's School Enrichment Model in one Connecticut elementary school. The program uses enrichment clusters in which nongraded groups of students come together to pursue common interests during designated time blocks. Program development and implementation, cluster sharing, teacher reactions, and parent/student reactions…

Uses the analogy of dance to discuss development of positive relationships between teachers and parents of gifted children. Emphasis is on providing parents with necessary information, overcoming barriers to true partnerships, and rules of thumb for implementing the partnership on an ongoing basis, such as following the golden rule in…

Offers guidance for parents, teachers, and other advocates for gifted education on the use of public relations to increase local, state, and national support. Topics covered include the importance of using the media, state-level strategies, targeting the audience, planning a public-relations campaign, and some possible print and non-print media…

Describes "Reaching for the Stars," a program which develops teaming and mentoring skills in senior physics students. Phase 1 requires student pairs to design a rocket; Phase 2 pairs seniors with gifted second graders who build the rocket from written instructions; and in Phase 3, pairs of seniors create a children's storybook explaining one of…

Describes a two-week instructional unit for ninth-grade gifted students which emphasizes development of ethical thinking and decision-making skills using a structured group-discussion methodology. Students formulate discussion questions through a multi-step process. Unit guide sheets, brainstorming examples, and activity schedules are included.…

Describes an instructional unit for gifted students (ages 9 to 13) intended to help students understand and better balance efforts to meet the five basic human needs (physiological, belonging, power, freedom, and fun) postulated by William Glasser's control theory. Activities for each of the five units are outlined. (DB)