2018 Gifted Thinking Success File: Student Choices that Make the Grade

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When it comes to being a masterful and gifted-thinking student, there are many factors that contribute to your success file–learning styles, choices you make, memory building, listening well, staying motivated, goal-setting and effective reading. We will spend the next few blog posts targeting these skills, so you have a reference guide for the year. These are successful, student choices that make the grade!

Let’s start with this table.

Where do you see yourself more, successful or struggling?

CHOICES OF SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS

SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS…	STRUGGLING STUDENTS…
1. …ACCEPT SELF-RESPONSIBILITY, seeing themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes and experiences.	1. …see themselves as Victims, believing that what happens to them is determined primarily by external forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others.
2. ……DISCOVER SELF-MOTIVATION, finding purpose in their lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams.	2. …have difficulty sustaining motivation, often feeling depressed, frustrated, and/or resentful about a lack of direction in their lives.
3. …MASTER SELF-MANAGEMENT, consistently planning and taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and dreams.	3. …seldom identify specific actions needed to accomplish a desired outcome. And when they do, they tend to procrastinate.
4. …EMPLOY INTERDEPENDENCE, building mutually supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others to do the same).	4. …are solitary, seldom requesting, even rejecting offers of assistance from those who could help.
5. …GAIN SELF-AWARENESS, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep them on course.	5. …make important choices unconsciously, being directed by self-sabotaging habits and outdated life scripts.
6. …ADOPT LIFE-LONG LEARNING, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have.	6.,…resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or,boring rather than as mental play.
7. …DEVELOP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals and dreams.	7. …live at the mercy of strong emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety, or a need for instant gratification.
8. …BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES, seeing themselves capable, lovable, and unconditionally worthy as human beings.	8. …doubt their competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create their desired outcomes and experiences

Here are some great skills to add to your toolkit for success!

Characteristics of a Successful Student

Many students in high school do not know what it takes to be successful in the school environment. They understand good and bad grades in a general way, and they sense that they should attend classes, but that is where their knowledge begins and ends.

Most teachers know what a good student is – and is not. For one thing, a good student is not necessarily the most intelligent individual in the class.

The following is a list of some characteristics of good students. This list is a description of what a hard-working student does and what a teacher likes to see. By learning these characteristics, you may better understand the day-to-day and class-to-class behavior of successful students. The idea is to provide you with guidelines you can follow which will help you get down to the business of becoming a serious, successful student.

1. Successful students attend classes regularly. They are on time. They listen and train themselves to pay attention. If they miss a class, they feel obligated to let the teacher know why before class begins, if possible, and their excuses are legitimate and reasonable. They make sure they get all missed assignments (by contacting the teacher or another student), and understand specifically what was covered in class. Successful students take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

2. Successful students take advantage of extra credit opportunities when offered. They demonstrate that they care about their grades and are willing to work to improve them. They often do the optional (and frequently challenging) assignments that many students avoid.

3. Successful students are attentive in class. They don’t talk, read, use their cell phone, or stare out windows. In other words, they are polite and respectful, even if they get a little bored. They also participate in class even if their attempts are a bit clumsy and difficult. They ask questions that the teacher knows many other students may also have.

4. Successful students see their teachers before or after class or during their prep about grades, comments on their papers, and upcoming tests. Successful students end up talking to their teacher outside of class at least once during the semester. They’ll go out of their way to find the teacher and engage in meaningful conversation. These students demonstrate to the teacher that they are active participants in the learning process and that they take the job of being a student seriously.

5. Successful students turn in assignments that look neat and sharp. They take the time to produce a final product that looks good, and reflects of a care and pride in their work. Successful students seem driven to complete their assignments. All work and assignments are turned in, even if some of their responses are not brilliant.

2018 Gifted Thinking Success File Series:

2018 Gifted Thinking Success File: Memory and Learning Styles

2018 Gifted Thinking Success File: Motivation and Goal Setting

Next up for our success file, we’ll be talking about Memory and Goal Setting. Stay tuned!