This presentation was provided to the student life staff at the Indiana Academy on July 26.

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH
ABILITY STUDENTS
INDIANA ACADEMY

2. WHO IS GIFTED?
WHO IS A BALL STATE
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT?

3. WHO IS GIFTED?
WHO IS A BALL STATE
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT?
Female, White, Member of the College of Sciences and Humanities with an SAT
score (3-part combined) of 1630, attending Ball State full time…

4. WHO IS GIFTED?
WHO IS A BALL STATE
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT?
Female (57%), White (83%), Member of the College of Sciences and Humanities
(n=5620), SAT (3-part combined) = 1630, Full Time (99%)…
Does this describe all students?
Is it important?

5. Characteristic Manifest Support

6. FROM NAGC’S WEBSITE
HTTP://WWW.NAGC.ORG/RESOURCES-PUBLICATIONS/RESOURCES/MY-CHILD-GIFTED/COMMON-CHARACTERISTICS-GIFTED-INDIVIDUALS/TRAITS

7. ADORA SVITAK

8. VIEWER COMMENTS
“Oh, if I only had a child who was half
intelligent, yet not so full of herself, I would
rejoice.”
“She is obnoxious, full of herself, and
disrespectful to adults...”
Adora Svitak

9. NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE
CHARACTERISTICS

10. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
ASYNCHRONOUS V. MULTIPOTENTIALITY

11. CHARACTERISTICS
PERFECTIONISM

12. WHICH ARE THE MOST
IMPORTANT FOR YOU?
REVISIT THE LIST. VOTE.

13. WHAT DO THESE LOOK LIKE IN
THE RESIDENCE HALLS?
MANIFEST

14. HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT?
SUPPORT

15. SUPPORT
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THESE STUDENTS?
▸ Recognize and validate their feelings and experiences.
▸ Help them to challenge any cognitive distortions.
▸ Provide techniques and information on stress.

16. VALIDATE.

18. If we all understood that everyone has their own battles to fight and
insecurities to face, the world would be a gentler place.

19. “It is okay to feel ______. You can
handle that feeling. Just let it be.

20. CHALLENGE.

21. Self-Talk Coaches

22. “Cognitive distortions are specific
examples of negative self-talk.
Cognitive distortions are inaccurate
thoughts used to reinforce negative
thinking or emotions.

23. #1: ALL OR NONE
THINKING

26. HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES
➤ Recognize the distortion.
➤ Compartmentalize 1. What is the middle ground?
➤ Compartmentalize 2. What are things to be good at? What are
things that it is okay not to be perfect in?
➤ Create a plan.

27. #2: MIND READER

28. Reality v. perception?

29. HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES
➤ Recognize the distortion.
➤ Reflect/journal on the following:
➤ Who says you have to be perfect?
➤ What will your parents think if you are not perfect?
➤ What will your teachers think if you are not perfect?
➤ Ask the person. Discuss.
➤ Feedback filter (selective listening/actively ignoring):
➤ What is helpful? What can I use to get better?
➤ Everything else: Let go.
Why might “Just do your
best.” be a dangerous
phrase for a perfectionist?

30. #3: SHOULDS/
SHOULDN’TS

31. I should be a doctor…

32. Do you have any examples of
students’ “shoulds” thinking?

33. “If one fails to meet the unrealistic
expectation, one has failed; but if one
does meet it, one feels no glow of
achievement for one has only done
what was expected.
(Weisinger & Lobsenz, 1981, p.281)

34. HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES
➤ Recognize the distortion.
➤ Consider: How much can you do? Think back to all-or-none
thinking. Some is better than nothing.
➤ Goal: Promote realistic thinking.
➤ Create a realistic plan. (Perhaps, still a little aspirational, but
not so much so that they feel like a failure.)
➤ Celebrate effort.

35. STRESS.

36. 30,000 Americans
A LOT OF STRESS
43% increased chance of dying
BUT….

37. 30,000 Americans
A LOT OF STRESS
43% increased chance of dying
Belief that stress
is harmful.
&

38. “People who experienced a lot of stress but did
not view stress as harmful were no more
likely to die. In fact, they had the lowest risk
of dying of anyone in the study, including
those who had relatively little stress.
-Kelly McGonigal (TED talk)

39. YOUR PERCEPTION OF
STRESS MATTERS.
WE CAN MODEL THIS.
WE CAN TEACH THIS.
&

40. YERKES DODSON DIAGRAM

41. The goal is not to eliminate stress, but
rather to create ways to leverage it to work
for us.

42. SHIFTING LANGUAGE
Research from Alison Wood Brooks from Harvard Business School
I am anxious!
ANXIETY EXCITEMENT
DEPRESSION CALM
Positivity
Arousal
I am excited!

43. SHIFTING LANGUAGE
Research from Alison Wood Brooks from Harvard Business School
I am anxious!
ANXIETY EXCITEMENT
DEPRESSION CALM
Positivity
Arousal
I am excited!
Predict how this switch affected people singing, doing math, or giving a speech.

44. Research from Alison Wood Brooks from Harvard Business School
I am anxious!
ANXIETY EXCITEMENT
DEPRESSION CALM
Positivity
Arousal
I am excited!
17% 22% 17%
Threat Opportunity
SHIFTING LANGUAGE

45. WHY WOULD I SHARE
THIS RESEARCH?

46. Show them a 13 minute TED talk…

47. TEACHING STUDENTS…
➤ How stressed are you?
➤ Remember, this stress can be helpful.
➤ How will you use this stress to rise to the challenge?
When?
Study guides for tests.
Journals.
Morning meetings and work.
The more you model, the more automatic it will become.
When would work for you?

48. STRESS V. ANXIETY?
➤ Stress is the body’s reaction to a circumstance or situation
that requires physical, mental, or emotional adjustment or
response. It could be caused by negative or positive changes.
➤ Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in
America, affecting 18% of US population, and almost 30% of
Americans across the lifespan.
➤ Anxiety is a feeling of fear, unease, worry when situations are
perceived as uncontrollable, unavoidable. Most common
symptoms of anxiety are insistent worrying, phobias, social
anxiety, and OCD. Others include: chest pain, dizziness,
shortness of breath, and panic attacks.

49. CALMING TECHNIQUES

50. BASIC STRATEGIES
➤ Movement: Exercise, yoga.
➤ Breathing.
➤ Purposeful prayer/meditation.
➤ Quiet time (without screens).
➤ Art/creation time.

51. BIG PICTURE
CHARACTERISTICS MATTER.
SUPPORT MATTERS.