Emotional Well Being

Today's post has been sparked by the Iowa Talented and Gifted Conference. I was given the opportunity to attend on October 17th and 18th, and I came back to the classroom with many new ideas for our students. Clarke has been amazing in letting me engage in these opportunities, in hopes that we can do more and more for our TAG students.

The one overreaching idea, that blanketed the conference, was that of the emotional well being of our identified students. Giftedness is not an always an arrow that pinpoints one portion of a student's life. Instead, it can have affect on the whole self - all parts of their world. While the intellectual realm is often the focus, the excitablilities are also very important to keep in mind. This is an article that talks more in depth about the 5 excitablities in gifted children.

While a majority of my job is dealing the the intellectual portion of these gifted kids, I hope that I can also be a source for them to reach out to when the TAG label may be confusing to them. It is important to help the emotionally gifted know their true self; not what they do, who they talk to, where they came from, but who they truly are in their core.

Here are some websites that may help guide you if you want more information on the subject of emotional well being:

https://www.verywell.com/dabrowskis-overexcitabilities-in-gifted-children-1449118

https://belinblank.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/recognizing-stress-and-helping-students-manage/

http://sengifted.org/archives/articles/the-impact-of-giftedness-on-psychological-well-being

Nonverbal Learners

Students who are identified for our TAG program at Clarke often have a strong score in nonverbal learning. What is nonverbal, you ask? It boils down to the way that my students see the world. What connections do they make regarding the events around them? Do they see patterns that others may miss? How can they express themselves with hands on projects verses traditional work?  Due to this strength, I try to provide opportunities for the students to build and creatively problem solve often. 

Introducing the egg tower challenge; immediately my students thought they were building a way to drop an egg from a height and have it stay whole (admit it, you sort of thought this too). However, it was actually the opposite.

Challenge Rules:

1. You may use as much newspaper as you can get your hands on and an arms length of tape. Nothing else. 

2. You must work with at least one other person (communication is a key skill!).

3. You must build the tallest tower that will hold an egg at the top for at least 15 seconds. 

4. If we have a tie for height, the tower that stands the longest will win. 

Students were given a class period to construct their towers and plastic eggs to test. They also had to take into account that a plastic egg would weigh less than a real egg. Many students were creative in how they would test the weight (rocks, pennies, etc).

 

In the end, our towers ranged from 9 inches to 50 inches! Most of the students were not successful on their first shot, but they learned from their errors and tried again! 

As they walked out of the classroom on the testing day, I heard, student A say, "I wonder what challenge she will come up with next?"

Student B replied with a smile, "You know it is going to be something that makes our brains hurt!"

I love my job. 

2016-2017 is Going to Be a Great Year!

I am so excited to get back to seeing students each day, exploring their passions, and tackling new projects. The first few weeks of school were spent on identification testing, but we are now back in the swing of regular classes!

We being each year with a brainstorming session: What do YOU want to learn this year? Each grade level throws out ideas on what projects they have enjoyed, what they are curious about, and what they want to learn more about. During this session, there are no bad ideas. We write everything down!

After the list is completed, we use it to write our individual W.I.Gs (Wildly Important Goals). These kids have some big goals, and I couldn't be more excited to provide support in their efforts to achieve them.

Which brings me to our classroom motto. For the last three years, Clarke TAG has been living by this motto - Experiment, Fail, Learn, Repeat. I know I've written about it before, but it is integral to the success of our program. "Failure" can be scary, especially to students who are used to having all the answers. However, failure is how we learn! We don't give up in this class, but instead figure out where we went wrong and push forward. I love seeing my students tackle problem after problem and not letting the "fails" get them down.

So, will be learn about ALL of the things on our list this year? Probably not. But will we try, and try again? Absolutely!

Welcome to the 2016-2017 TAG year!

Mini-Mini Golf Reminder

Mini-Mini Golf Course

Where: Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s TAG room

When: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:55a.m.-12:40p.m. 

and 3:10-3:45 p.m.

Who: You!

What: Mini-Mini Golf Course made by 5^th grade    

                       TAG students

Cost 1 penny

For more information ask a 5^th grade TAG student.

        

Fancy Words: Using the Kingore Observation Inventory

What is a fancy word? Does it refer to something that has sparkles and lace? Or maybe it talks about something elaborate and decorative?

In an effort to get a better idea of the strengths of the current second grade, students will be engaging in several activities geared toward the Kingore Observation Inventory (KOI). According to the KOI 2nd edition by Bertie Kingore, the KOI is "and instrument to assist educators in identifying and serving students with gifted potentials." There are seven areas that are focused on: advanced language, analytical thinking, meaning motivation, perspective, sense of humor, sensitivity, and accelerated learning. 

Throughout the semester, we will be doing several activities that hit upon these seven areas, and this week we have been looking at advanced language...and "fancy words!" 

Using the book, Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words, students engaged in a discussion about what fancy meant. Answers ranged from a pretty bride to a disco ball. At first, the boys were a little concerned that we were talking about "girly stuff", but soon realized sparkles and lace weren't the focus at all! We were talking about special words that are not used as often as their plain counterparts. 

Excursion = trip

Understated = plain

Wardrobe = your collection of clothes

After much discussion, students went to work on their own trying to come up with fancy vs. plain words. This activity not only challenges the students to think hard about their vocabulary, it also give me a way to better assess their strengths and plan future lessons. 

Kia ora! (That is my fancy way of saying goodbye in Maori!)