Every Student has a Gift

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Every Student has a Gift

  • November 4, 2026
  • Posted by: Emilie Flynn
  • Category: Uncategorized
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As an LSEM special education teacher, I spend a lot of time helping sixth graders discover their gifts. Some of those gifts are easy to spot. Kindness. Creativity. Humor. Leadership. Persistence. Others require a little more prayer and discernment. For example, I am fairly certain that turning a ten-minute spelling assignment into a 45-minute negotiation is not specifically listed among the spiritual gifts in Scripture. Yet several sixth graders seem to have mastered it at an unusually high level. Spelling class is always an adventure.

I may say, “Today we are going to work on ten spelling words.”
Ten.
Not 100. Not the entire dictionary. Ten.
Judging by the reaction, however, you would think I had announced that we were copying the
entire Bible by hand before lunch.
“Do we have to write them?”
Yes. “All of them?” There are ten. “Can I type them?” No. “Can I just tell you how to spell them?”

Based on yesterday’s performance, I think we should probably stick with writing them down. And then comes the classic sixth-grade question: “Why do we even need spelling? Spellcheck does it for us.” At that moment, somewhere deep inside me, the LSEM teacher, classroom teacher, and exhausted adult all gather together for a brief prayer meeting. But the truth is, this is exactly why I love the work. LSEM is not simply about helping a student complete an assignment, pass a spelling test, or finish a paragraph. It is about meeting a child where they are, recognizing the gifts God has already placed within them, and helping them move forward one step at a time. Writing class provides plenty of opportunities for that.

I might ask a student to write five sentences. Five. Not a research paper. Not a novel. Not Paul’s letter to the Romans. Five sentences. Immediately, a hand goes up. “How long does each sentence have to be?” Long enough to contain an actual thought.
“Does spelling count?” Unfortunately for both of us, yes. “Can my first sentence be, ‘I don’t know what to write’?” Technically, yes. But spiritually and academically, I believe God has bigger plans for us. Sometimes the hardest part of special education is helping students understand that needing help does not mean they are incapable. Some of my students struggle with reading, spelling, writing, comprehension, organization, or simply getting the pencil onto the paper before we have discussed seventeen completely unrelated topics.

And yet every one of them has gifts. Paul writes in Romans 12:6: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” That verse matters in a special education classroom. Different gifts. Not lesser gifts. Not better gifts. Different gifts. One student may struggle to spell the word because correctly but will immediately notice when another student is having a bad day.
Another may need twenty minutes to write a paragraph but can make the entire room laugh in ten seconds. Another may forget what page we are on, where the assignment is, what pencil they were using, and possibly why they came into the room in the first place — but that same student may show incredible perseverance when something finally clicks. Those are gifts too.

As an LSEM teacher, part of my job is helping students see that. Yes, I am going to push them. Yes, I am going to make them spell the words. Yes, I am probably going to return the sentence that begins with a lowercase letter and ends somewhere in another zip code. But I am also going to remind them that mistakes are part of learning. We try again. We correct it. We laugh when appropriate. We learn. We move forward. That is grace in the classroom.

Philippians 4:13 says: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” For a sixth grader, sometimes “all things” does not look dramatic.

Sometimes it looks like finally getting eight spelling words correct instead of four.
Sometimes it means writing an entire paragraph without saying, “I can’t do this.”
Sometimes it means asking for help instead of shutting down.
Sometimes it is reading something out loud even though reading is difficult.
Sometimes it is simply starting.

Those victories matter. I may joke with my students. I may tease them about their spelling. I may dramatically stare at a three-word sentence and ask whether the rest of it was lost somewhere between their brain and the pencil. But the sarcasm comes with care. The students know I am in their corner. They also know I am probably going to make them fix it. That is part of loving kids in education. We do not lower our belief in them because something is difficult. We give them the support, tools, time, encouragement, and sometimes the gentle push they need to discover what they can actually accomplish. I believe that is one of the greatest strengths of LSEM. We get to look beyond the grade level, test score, spelling percentage, or reading level and see the whole child. A child created by God. A child with strengths. A child with challenges. A child with gifts. A child still growing.

There are days when growth is easy to see. Other days, growth may simply be that the student remembered their Chromebook, pencil, assignment, and name all on the same day. We celebrate both. Because education is not always about giant  breakthroughs. Most of the time, it is small steps. A correctly spelled word. A better sentence. A paragraph completed. A book finished. A student saying, “Can you read what I wrote?”

Those are the moments that remind me why I do this work. God has placed gifts inside every student who walks into my classroom. My role through LSEM is to help uncover those gifts, strengthen the areas that are difficult, encourage students when they are frustrated, and remind them that their struggles do not define them. They are children of God first. Students second. Spellers somewhere further down the list. And if one day a sixth grader finally remembers the difference between there, their, and they’re without asking me? That may not technically qualify as a miracle. But I am certainly not ruling it out.

Praise be to God.

We will celebrate that too.