Four Ghosts Haunting Your Gifted Program
Four "Ghosts" Haunting Your Gifted Program
(and how to fix them!) 👻👻👻
October is here! Bring on the pumpkin spice, spirit week chaos, and a whole lot of boo! in the air.
For many gifted teachers, the real hauntings aren’t in the hallways. They’re in your inbox, your spreadsheets, and that pile of half-finished documentation haunting your desk.
If your gifted program feels a little haunted this month, it might not be ghosts. It could be your systems (or lack of them) that are sneaking up behind you. Let’s shine a flashlight on what’s really going bump in the night… and how to banish those ghosts for good.
👻 Ghost #1: The Paranormal Paperwork
You sit down to plan an enrichment unit… and suddenly you’re trapped in a maze of checklists, data trackers, and referral forms. Every time you finish one task, another one materializes.
The Fix:
Use templates that do the heavy lifting for you. Having key templates like a Child Find Checklist or Digital Gifted Characteristics assessment or Teacher Input Forms can make processes much more streamlined and eliminate the need to recreate documents.
Keeping templates in one place helps keep track of your resources and saves time when searching for the template you need.
💡 GES Resource to Try: Gifted Tool & Resource Hub
⚰️ Ghost #2: The Collaboration Crypt
You’re the only gifted teacher in your district. Your coworkers are kind, but no one really gets it. You crave collaboration, but every time you reach out, you get ghosted.
The Fix:
Stop waiting for the perfect PD day to find your people. Build your own bridge off Gifted Island. Virtual spaces are the new teacher’s lounge, and connecting with educators who “get it” can reignite your motivation faster than a PSL refill.
💡 Try This: Join our collaborative community at the Gifted Ed Solutions Facebook group. Commit to sharing one idea or resource each week. Connection doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be consistent.
🕷️ Ghost #3: The Criteria Creeper
You’ve inherited unclear identification guidelines. Or worse, ten-year-old spreadsheets that don’t match the state’s standards. It’s confusing and inconsistent.
The Fix:
Update your locally normed checklist or your Initial Referral process. Establish three things:
What data you collect,
How you use it, and
When it’s revisited.
A clear, sustainable system builds advocacy and trust. No magic spells required. 🧙
🧛 Ghost #4: The Time Vampire
You’re constantly chasing minutes. Traveling between campuses, fielding parent emails, and trying to squeeze differentiation into an already packed schedule... The Time Vampire feeds on your energy and leaves you drained before lunch.
The Fix:
Batch your work into categories. My categories are planning, communication, paperwork, and advocacy. I assign each category on your calendar. Reclaim your time by protecting your planning hours and saying “no” to meetings that don’t align with your priorities.
💡 Schedule tip: You can color coordinate categories in Google Calendar. When creating block of time for different categories (work and home) make sure the event is color coded. It's as simple as clicking the color dot. If you take the few minutes to name each color by category, you'll save yourself a LOT of time!
🪞 The Final Reflection
Every program started with good intentions, but burnout and isolation can turn even the brightest teacher into a ghost of their former self. The good news? You don’t need a magic wand, just structure, support, and a community that reminds you you’re not alone on Gifted Island.
“You Don’t Have to Face These Ghosts Alone.”
Join the Gifted Ed Solutions Facebook community, where gifted educators swap stories, share systems, and finally stop haunting their own to-do lists. While you're there, post your greatest challenge, but also share your favorite resource or strategy.
Together, we’ll turn those ghosts of overwhelm into guides toward clarity, confidence, and connection.
Written by Michelle Robinson, founder of Gifted Ed Solutions. Helping gifted teachers get off “Gifted Island” and teach with joy again.
Drop a comment in theGES Facebook Group
Want Early Finisher Ideas for your Gen Ed Colleagues? You can find them HERE
Let’s share what’s working and help each other keep standing.
