Michaela the Creative

Photo Jo Freitag

Meet Michaela the Creative!

Michaela is a persona doll representing the Creative type of gifted student on Neihart and Betts Revised Profiles of the Gifted and Talented.
http://www.ingeniosus.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/PROFILES-BEST-REVISED-MATRIX-2010.pdf

Michaela’s story

Michaela is a bright, creative, moody, nonconformist.
She loves arts and crafts, music, dance and drama.
At times she appears to be a confident, bubbling extrovert but at other times seems quite defensive.
She loves sparkles and frills.
She dances and cartwheels rather than walking sedately and some of the teachers wonder whether she has ADHD.
Michaela’s responses to assignments are usually very different from the expected responses. They reflect her creativity and unusual approach to the subject and often also express her strong opinions and her deep inner convictions. Some teachers consider her to be rebellious and have discipline problems. They can easily find themselves in a power struggle with her.
Michaela needs parents, teachers and mentors who will recognize and encourage her areas of talent and focus on her creative potential rather than achievement.
While there needs to be tolerance of her individualism she does need instruction in interpersonal skills and help with her organizational issues.

Michaela dances to the beat of a different drum
She needs teachers who understand that just because she looks at life differently or because she is challenging their way of thinking does not mean she is necessarily wrong.
She needs multi sensory learning experiences that allow her to learn and express herself creatively and opportunities to collaborate and create with other students.
She needs opportunities to to lead dramatic activities and be the drama queen in a legitimate context.
Most of all her feelings need to be respected and her original thinking needs to be encouraged.