{"id":205076,"date":"2013-09-24T10:01:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T14:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=205076"},"modified":"2023-09-25T10:07:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T14:07:22","slug":"book-provides-strategies-for-inspiring-underachieving-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/09\/book-provides-strategies-for-inspiring-underachieving-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Provides Strategies for Inspiring Underachieving Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

It takes extra time and effort for teachers to learn what subjects their students are passionate about and then create lessons that tie in to those interests. But the link between student interest and performance is undeniable, said\u00a0Neag School of Education<\/a>\u00a0professor and teaching fellow\u00a0Del Siegle, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNumerous studies show the one element that\u2019s always linked to classroom success is interest,\u201d said Siegle, who at UConn teaches graduate courses in gifted education, creativity and research design. \u201cStudents pay better attention and work harder when they care about the topic that\u2019s being presented and are shown how it relates to their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most educators are aware of this fact, Siegle said, yet too few consistently put it into practice. The result is many talented students not giving their all, or achieving their potential, in school.<\/p>\n

Siegle\u2019s book\u00a0The Underachieving Gifted Child: Recognizing, Understanding, and Reversing Underachievement<\/em><\/a>\u00a0provides educators and parents with a comprehensive overview of why bright students may underachieve, as well as how teachers can make lessons more engaging. Written in straightforward, easy-to-understand language, the book is available in paperback and electronic form.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to note that in the past, IQ scores were used to determine whether a child was \u2018gifted,\u2019 but now we know that \u2018giftedness\u2019 comes in many forms and involves more things than just intelligence,\u201d said Siegle, past president of the National Association of Gifted Children and coeditor of the\u00a0Journal of Advanced Academics<\/em>. \u201cSome people are gifted leaders, some people are gifted in music, some people are gifted in math or language. Everyone has talent of some kind, and I believe one of our responsibilities as educators is to help identify and bring out each child\u2019s individual talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The importance of good work habits, an explanation of the various ways children underachieve, and suggestions of how parents and teachers can help students develop their abilities are among the many topics Siegle tackles in the\u00a0The Underachieving Gifted Child.\u00a0<\/em>Woven into recent research findings are also effective, proactive strategies that can be used at school and home, said Siegle. Advice includes:<\/p>\n

* Find out what kids are interested in, and then link their interests to lessons at school. \u201cThis is probably the single most important step. Every piece of evidence proves that kids pay attention, work hard and do better when lessons are meaningful and tie into their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

* Help kids set short- and long-term goals. Establish benchmarks, give direction, document progress and celebrate success. \u201cSuccess builds confidence and makes students want to achieve more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

* Avoid -est words like greatest, quickest, smartest or fastest. \u201cIf they\u2019re the best, there\u2019s no room for improvement,\u201d Siegle said. Students should always feel that they can grow and achieve even more, and that they aren\u2019t already as good as they\u2019ll ever be.<\/p>\n

* Model the reality that success requires effort. Rather than complain about struggles at work, parents should share their successes.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids need to understand that success isn\u2019t something that just happens\u2014it\u2019s something they have to make happen,\u201d Siegle added. \u201cFor some, learning comes easy. But most people have to work at it. And everyone loses when talented isn\u2019t nurtured. One of the kids sitting in a classroom today may have inside them the ability to cure cancer or find a world-changing alternate energy source. Not nurturing talent doesn\u2019t just lead to personal loss, but societal loss.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Del Siegle\u2019s book \u201cThe Underachieving Gifted Child: Recognizing, Understanding, and Reversing Underachievement\u201d provides educators and parents with a comprehensive overview of why bright students may
\nunderachieve, as well as how teachers can make lessons more engaging. Written in straightforward, easy-to understand language, the book is available in paperback and electronic form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":205077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2428,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2455],"class_list":["post-205076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-educational-psychology","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 16:33:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205076"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205081,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205076\/revisions\/205081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/205077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205076"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=205076"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=205076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}