ABSTRACT
Many of the gifted students felt that what they were learning in school had little relevance to the real world or their lives. There are so many things school can do to help kids think that learning was fun. The gifted students talked most negatively about their regular classrooms, where they felt that the teachers had to water down the curriculum and cater instruction to typical students. A common frustration expressed was that some of the teachers and other students in their classes lacked enthusiasm and did not care about learning. Many of the youth also talked about finding a more positive social environment in college than they had experienced in high school. Teachers play an important role in identifying students who appear bored or off task. Gifted students in particular, especially in classes with unchallenging curricula, are often at risk for becoming distant or mislabeled.
