This document discusses the characteristics of effective teachers of gifted students. It notes that gifted teachers should have a high degree of intelligence, expertise in their subject area, a genuine interest in gifted learners, and strong teaching skills. The document also shares suggestions from students, which include being patient, treating each student as an individual, and providing accurate feedback. It examines whether gifted teachers need to be gifted themselves and concludes that gifted teachers primarily need an understanding of gifted students' characteristics and appropriate instructional strategies.

1. Characteristics Of
Gifted Teachers
Matthew Davidson
Nature/Needs of Gifted Students
December 2009

2. Original Project
• My elementary school
• Mrs. Baker
• 5th grade teacher
gifted teacher
• 18 students
• mostly girls

3. Back Up Plan
• Browse various
sources
• compile a list of facts
and characteristics
about Gifted Teachers
and their classrooms.

4. Gifted Teachers
high degree of intelligence, intellectual
honesty
• expertise in a specific intellectual or
talent area (mathematics, writing, etc.)
• self-directed in own learning, with a
love for new, advanced knowledge
• equanimity, level-headedness,
emotional stability
• a genuine interest in, liking of gifted
learners
• recognition of the importance of
intellectual development
• strong belief in individual differences
and individualization; and
• highly developed teaching skills and
knowledge.

5. Student’s Suggestions
be patient
• have a sense of humor
• move quickly through
material
• treat each student as an
individual
• avoid being a "sage on
the stage" all the time
• consistently give
"accurate" feedback.

6. Survey Says

7. Do Gifted Teachers Need
to Be Gifted?
• A good teacher is one that understands the
students...
• They need to consider their pupils'
emotions and feelings, and make the
mood of the classroom a pleasant one,
where everyone feels comfortable
• A good [teacher] is like a good coach of a
football team. A good coach knows the
players in his/her team and their
capabilities. The coach encourages his
team and supports the players. He is the
team's role model and that makes the team
get to know him
• I think understanding makes a good
teacher. A teacher that understands where
we're coming from and treats us all
individually. Also, a teacher that actually
has a background in the subject and
maybe even likes the subject. Not a boring
teacher that just reads from the textbook
and has no enthusiasm.

8. Gifted teachers need to be mindful not only of the characteristics of
gifted students but also of the complex mix of intellectual skills and
knowledge of appropriate teaching strategies that teachers of gifted
students require.

9. Prufrock Press Inc.

10. "Does the Teacher of the Gifted Need to be Gifted." AARE :: AARE. Web.
03 Dec. 2009. <http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/via02437.htm>.
"What Are the Characteristics of Effective Teachers of the Gifted?" Gifted
Children and Gifted Education Publisher - Prufrock Press Home. Web.
03 Dec. 2009. <http://resources.prufrock.com/
GiftedChildInformationBlog/tabid/57/articleType/ArticleView/
articleId/115/Default.aspx>.