Teaching is such a complicated profession. It is like a combination of several professions in one. We have to be educators, nurses, psychologists, parents, professors, etc. The media expects us to be experts in each of these fields, but needless to say we are not. When we are in the classroom we have to observe and identify characteristics of each child and identify what they need based on their personalities, learning styles, and where they are academically. This goes for all students not just those identified GATE. As for GATE students there are many important characteristics that are important to identify especially in the classroom. First, I would want to know how they were as a young child. As stated in (Characteristics of Young Gifted Children, by Carol Bainbridge) many children exhibit giftedness at a very young age, even in infancy. Whether they speak very early, or they function on very little sleep, or they begin to get frustrated at having to learn the same thing day after day (Characteristics of Young Gifted Children, by Carol Bainbridge). This is information that I would like to gather from their parents. This would tell me how to proceed with each child. I would know to be sure to make sure my instruction was different each day, I would not be able to spend too much time on “relearning” or I would lose these students (Characteristics of Young Gifted Children, by Carol Bainbridge). Another important characteristic I feel that is important to identify are sensitivities that present in gifted children. These are important to identify because if they aren’t identified the child could be thought of as a difficult or dramatic child who has “problems” (Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page). One very important sensitivity to identify is emotional excitability (Dabrowski’s Emotional Overexcitability of Gifted Children by Carol Bainbridge). The children that exhibit emotional excitability display very intense and extreme responses to events and certain experiences that they encounter. This is something that every educator and parent needs to be aware of. They are very emotional and often develop strong attachments to things and people. Children with this excitability are often accused of being dramatic and intense; they are accused of making mountains out of molehills, when in fact these things are very real to them (Dabrowski’s Emotional Overexcitability of Gifted Children by Carol Bainbridge). They are also very sympathetic to others, but are unable to feel sympathetic to themselves. This is very important to be aware of in the classroom. We need empathize with these children and help them to adjust to classroom and try to maintain as much structure as possible because that is what they crave ( Dabrowski's Emotional Overexcitability of Gifted Children by Carol Bainbridge). In conclusion, it is important to be aware of all the characteristics of a gifted child. These are just a few that I found very interesting while doing the readings.