This year I have been struggling with ways to make Math more engaging and relevant for my gifted learners. Each year, I am assigned an enrichment group of advanced learners and the goal is to provide practice. I have noticed that my learners struggle with several concepts in spite of being at the top of their grade level. The drill and skill approach is not sufficient and worksheets are not going to cut it either. That's when I came to the conclusion that they needed to explore concepts and apply what they have learned to real life settings. The more I looked at the situation, the more sense projects made. Thankfully, with the help of my PLN I have come across several resources to help me transition to projects and better manage them in my class. Now instead of feeding information to my students, they are solving problems through trial and error, communicating with each other on the best strategies to reach a conclusion or solution, and most importantly, making sense of and even justifying what they are learning. Below are some projects we have completed throughout this year. I encourage you to share your best projects- I'm always open to more ideas and appreciate your feedback!
Decimal Designs When we looked at decimals and the relationship between fractions and decimals being part of a whole, my students created these decimal designs. While some students created a pattern, others created illustrations. I think it's important to incorporate a creative component to projects and took it a step further by having students create a title for their designs. This lesson was adapted from the Georgia Common Core Performance Standards Decimals Unit.
Math Movies To demonstrate their understanding of place value, my students created these videos. They were responsible for organizing their movie using a storyboard and create their own props to convey their message. I especially like the use of videos in the classroom because students are able to apply writing and other communication skills to teach a concept. They also need to know the concept well enough to create an example to include in their explanations. From place value fortune tellers to a place value rap, my students got very creative with their videos!
It's a Math Party! To apply estimation and computation skills, students planned a themed party. After selecting a theme (not associated with a particular holiday), students created an itemized list to cover food/snacks, plates, cups,
other utensils as well as items for goody bags. Students were given a budget of
$100 and carefully selected items that would be appropriate for their themed
party. Some examples of themes that groups selected included: A Disco Party, a
picnic, and a Paris Sweet Shoppe. Students found items for their goody bags
from Oriental Trading Company, while food items were purchased at a local grocery store. The group that collaborated as a team (i.e.
distributed tasks evenly and were actively engaged throughout the planning) and
that created the most detailed itemized list (with the closest estimations) was
selected. Thanks to our school's PTA, our project was funded and students were able to see their party come to life!
Day Out
Sample Plan
Another project that involves estimations and computation skills, is the Day Out Project. This project began with a sample problem from the Georgia Common Core Performance Standards Decimals Unit. After students figured out how to solve a word problem that involved a field trip, I had them plan their own field trips in groups. My criteria involved having them plan three types of trips: 1) a local, in-state option, 2) a moderately priced, out-of-state option, and 3) a dream trip abroad. This allowed them to explore the money and planning required for each type of trip (i.e. district bus mileage vs. charter bus prices). It was interesting to see the options they chose and figure out what information applied to each situation or trip that they were planning. As a culminating activity, students displayed their plan on posters and will record their presentations. As a class we will vote for the top three choices (we are realistic that our dream trip is not feasible for this school year) and send our videos to our principal in hopes that she will approve our trip. Wish us luck!
This past month, I have had the privilege of teaching an enrichment course for middle and high school gifted learners. This course was offered on Saturdays and focused on all things related to getting ready for college. We covered topics from career exploration, academic preparation, choosing the right school, to tips for writing successful college essays. As we explored topics through discussions, role play, and creative production, I also found ways to integrate artistic expression. The samples below illustrate our Text Self Portraits and Career Trees.
Text Self Portraits
Students were challenged to draw a portrait of themselves using words that describe their personal qualities, aspirations, interests, talents, and career goals. The idea for these was inspired by Ian Byrdseed, who originally used poetry as the basis for the text. However, these can be adapted to illustrate multiple intelligences and social/emotional topics, which are also suitable topics for gifted learners.
Career Trees
The concept for career trees is very similar to text self portraits, with the only difference being that students decide to use a tree or other image to display their message. If students chose a career tree, I encouraged them to list their personal qualities along with traits, qualifications, and skills/background needed for a specific career path or track.
Talking about College with Podcast Interviews
To recap key points, I decided to utilize podcasts. It was surprised yet excited that my creative tech savvy students were not as familiar with podcasts. I had them create a fictional talk show to review and inform listeners on a topic that stuck out most to them or that they found to be most important. So with just a few clicks and guidelines, here is what they came up with.
Just recently I attended MECA, our state educational technology conference. I always enjoy attending, but more so presenting. This year I presented: Getting Organized with Diigo. I find this social bookmarking tool to be helpful in organizing my life, so I figured it would be fitting to share its many features with fellow educators. To access my list of bookmarks for Diigo resources, click here.
Eric, my husband (@peoplegogy), and me at MECA 2013.
This year's keynote for the conference was led by my social media hero, Eric Sheninger. Eric not only delivered on his message, but also in his passion. His love for his school, community, and students was evident in his work. He is the example of how school leaders can utilize social media to tell our stories and implement effective change within schools. Instead of preaching about integrating technology, Eric is leaps ahead by embracing it and living it. As I sat and listened to his message, I reflected on ways we use social media in my own school and classroom. My goal as an educator of the gifted is to not only showcase and capture those moments of learning and achievement for my students, but also to show what we do in gifted education. On a school level, social media is our window for parents and the community to see what our children are learning and capable of. I have always been a advocate of showcasing and telling our stories, which many times can be the greatest stories ever told. Thank you, Eric for sharing your story.
Last week I attended our state gifted conference. I am always excited this time of year because I get the opportunity to network and share with fellow gifted teachers. My favorite part is also hearing what is going on in gifted classrooms across the state. This year was different because I was able to present on my two passions: Skype and social media. Below you will find the recording to The 21st Century Gifted Educator, which I co-presented with my husband, Will. We outline how to utilize Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to collaborate and create a PLN. Feel free to leave us a comment and share how you use social media to collaborate and connect with others in gifted education.
It's been a while since I had updated this blog. This has been a busy and fast-paced semester, to say the least. I have experienced some changes take place in our district, school, and even classroom. I'm relieved that I have finally moved to my new and much improved classroom, gaining a new teaching partner, as well as embracing a few other changes. Just recently, I have accepted a new position as chair to the technology committee for our state gifted association. I'm thrilled at the opportunities for collaboration and showcasing all the efforts done in our state in gifted education. I also look forward to connecting with my fellow gifted educators on Twitter to bounce ideas of how to utilize social media to establish an online presence and promote collaboration for our gifted association.
I have come across several wonderful posts for the
International Week of the Gifted 2012 Blog Tour (#IWG12). This tour has
provided me with insights into what’s going on in gifted education around the
world from folks who are dedicated to advocating for this very unique learner
population. I almost feel like the guest who is a bit tardy to the party, but
nonetheless would love to jump in by sharing the importance of connecting our
children on a global scale. Over my short career as a gifted education teacher, I have
found that technology has opened our classroom and our minds. It has allowed my
students to see themselves beyond their homes, communities, and even country. It
has exposed them to life models, who much like themselves, have faced some
challenges but have succeeded. But more
importantly, technology has allowed my students to connect, learn, and share with
other children like them. This communication and collaboration is
crucial if we are to prepare today’s 21st Century learners into tomorrow’s
leaders. If you currently serve or work
with gifted learners, I strongly encourage you to start making these
connections! There is no right or wrong tool or even approach to make this
happen. To celebrate my gifted students, I am sharing our adventures
in connecting with the world through this video. I hope you enjoy it and
welcome you to join us and other gifted classrooms around the world!
This post was written as part of the International Week of the Gifted 2012 Blog Tour. Here is a short list of a few of my favorite posts from this blog tour. You can also follow conversations and check out more posts by using the Twitter hashtag #IWG12.
Summer is my time to relax, recharge, and reflect. Lately, though I've been doing a lot of learning informally and with the help of my PLN on Twitter. I have come across several of my Tweeps, who also happen to be fantastic Tweechers (teachers that tweet), mention Google+ Hangouts and their applications in the elementary classroom. Two posts that stood out to me and actually inspired this post were written by @ncarroll24. She begins by mentioning her first experiences with Hangouts and then offers 10 ways to use them in the elementary classroom. I recommend you check out these posts if you plan on using Google+ Hangouts. What followed after reading her posts was some experimenting of my own (with the help of @amusone & @mrbadura) and lots of ideas.
Here are some ways I plan to use Google Hangouts:
Writing
Nancy mentioned some collaborative writing activities in her post and I really like this approach. One app worth mentioning for the pre-writing stages is Scoot & Doodle. Students can use this tool to draw their own webs, characters, or illustrations for stories or poems. Another variation would be to have classes draw Rebus Puzzles and solve each other's puzzles.
Another excellent app for visual learners is Cacoo. This would work well for illustrating an array of concepts because it provides several templates for mind maps and flowcharts. These would work well for collaborative research projects.
Google Docs is also integrated into the Hangouts, which would make it easier for smaller groups of students to take notes or collect information during a Hangout. I am wondering though if it would be possible and perhaps easier to have a couple students take notes live on other computers on that shared Google Doc in real-time so those in front of the hot seat (or webcam) are talking instead of typing.
Reading
I plan to continue our Novel Study Units and hope to utilize Google+ Hangouts to talk with all our participating classes at the same time and play Vocabulary and Character Trait Games. We also plan on incorporating Readers' Theater using Google Effects. This should be fun!
I also stumbled on A Story Before Bed. Although I did not get a chance to fully explore book title options, it looks like great app to use with younger learners, especially those who are learning English or to read. Wouldn't it be great for my students to start a virtual Buddy Reading Program with a younger class? We'll see what the future holds for this app.
Geography
One awesome app that @amusone and I played with was Panoramio. With this app, the person who starts the game selects from a group of pictures. A timer then starts while other players pin point the exact location of the picture on a Google Map. Once the timer stops, each player gets an estimate of how far their guess was to the actual location in kilometers. This game is a great way to expose students to different landmarks and use conversion in measurement of distances. After each turn, there is a new game master (and this is indicated by a top hat or some kind of effect), and that game master gets a red pin that indicates the exact location, which means they can give real-time clues to the players if he/she chooses to. I think this game would be a great introduction and/or variation to Mystery Calls.
Extra Bonus
Finally, my favorite feature is the fact that I can record our Google+ Hangouts! This recording is very easy to do and automatically uploads and streams on your YouTube Channel. It is important to note that the person starting the hangout must enable live recording by going to the YouTube App once others join.
So here are my plans for this nifty tool. What ways have/would you integrate them in your gifted curriculum or class? Please feel free to leave a comment or let me know if you would like to join us in this journey!
When we looked at decimals and the relationship between fractions and decimals being part of a whole, my students created these decimal designs. While some students created a pattern, others created illustrations. I think it's important to incorporate a creative component to projects and took it a step further by having students create a title for their designs. This lesson was adapted from the Georgia Common Core Performance Standards Decimals Unit.
