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!)

The Last of the Commercials

These students are SO excited about their arcade! We have had some technical difficulties, but they keep working through everything that gets thrown their way. It makes me so proud of their determination!

Arcade Date: December 22, 2015
Time: 7:45am-8:10am and 11:45am-12:40pm
Price: 1 cent! (We use pennies as weights in other projects throughout the year.)

RJ's Grinch vs. Santa

Garrett's Money Truck vs. Cops

Molly's Race to the Top

Riley's Game

Khalil's Tiger Feed

Arcade Commercials Continued

Come to the TAG arcade: Friday, December 18! 

Hours: 7:45 am-8:15 am and 11:45 am-12:40 pm. 

Spencer's John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Zach's Reverse Pacman

Nate's Cookie Dough Tapper Da Bomb

Aiden's Tap Cake

Jenna's Save Me Octo!

Calhoun's Destructo

TAG Arcade

Over the last few weeks, the fifth grade has been learning more and more about computer and game code, and they are getting ready to show it off! Each student has coded an original game that will be displayed during the TAG arcade in the upcoming weeks. Students are building booths for their games and using iMovie to create advertisements for their games. Throughout the next week, I will post these commercials as they are completed.

Here is the first ad for Dumb Unicorns by Cooper R.

More information on time and date of arcade to come!

ABC Authors

At the start of each year, each class brainstorms a massive list of "Things We Want To Learn!" This list is very different in second grade compared to fifth. After we have made the list, it is then my personal challenge to cover as many of those interests as possible throughout the year. While I can't guarantee each item will be covered, the use of topic choice seems to help reach some of the more unique interests.

The creative second grade students had a list ranging from volcanoes, ice cream, and water to inventors, Minecraft, and family. Where were we to go with all of these interests? Book writing, of course! Each student was able to use topic choice and write an ABC book about their interest. After rough copies and editing, students used Storyjumper to create a unique final copy.

If you are unfamiliar with Storyjumper, it is worth a look. It is a completely free, online book making program. During conferences one parent compared it to how she make photo books online! Students may use pre-made scenes and props, or they can illustrate and upload their personal touches.

The final product is a published book the student can take and add to their library! We print the free version at school, but if parents are interested, they can purchase a soft or hard cover version.

These students worked, created, and are now "published" authors! How neat is that?

A page from Aryanna's book.

A page from Paige's book.

A page from Xandria's book. 

Superkids Test Super Air

Is air powerful or weak? Other than breathing, how does it affect us and our daily lives? These are the questions that the third grade group will be exploring over the next few weeks. 

While it may seem like air "isn't really there", the third grade Superkids (we named ourselves) have been investigating and finding this is not the case! Today's challenge: keep your Superkid emblem on your chest without tape, glue, string, hanging it, or bending backwards. In order to accomplish this task, we took a little trip down to the old gym so that the students would have plenty of space to experiment. 

Superkid Emblems 

Things started off slow. The Superkids were cautious of their surroundings. But then, one student took off...literally! Running across the gym, he realized that the emblem would stay on his chest. As with most things, once the rest of the Superkids realized it was OK to run, it was a flurry of activity. They tried straight line running, circle running, and zig-zags. They found when they changed direction, the emblem flew off. This lead to a great discussion about the force of air, tornadoes, and what would happen if there wasn't any air in the gym. 

The Superkids' brains were thinking and processing, and they were starting to build a great knowledge base on the power of air. 

Up next? Air vs. water! Stay tuned! 

We're Back in Action!

Welcome back to the Clarke Elementary Talented and Gifted blog! I'm excited to be starting up this form of sharing again. The first few weeks of the school year have been hectic but exciting. Many of the student faces are familiar, but I've loved getting to know a few new additions to our class.

We started the year by brainstorming all the things students in each class would like to learn about this year. I did not put any restrictions on their list, but instead told them to think big...and they sure did! The lists range from learning about guinea pigs and rockets to wanting to invent indestructible phone screens and coding video games.

While we may not have time to get to everything on the list, it gives me a great jumping off point for my year planning. I want your student's TAG class to be a place where they can expand on their many talents and push themselves to learn more.

The 2015-2016 school year is going to be amazing. I am blown away by my students everyday and love working with them! Remember, our room is a constant circle of experiment, fail, learn, and repeat!

Below are a few pictures of our classroom activities so far!

Third grade students using the invention box after a design thinking session!

Sixth grade student using Play-Doh to represent what he did this summer.

The Marshmallow Challenge: a team building and creativity activity.

ZoomBalls allow students to have hands on experiences! This is the beginning stages of a bike helmet!

The paper challenge: using only one yard of tape and paper, what is the tallest, self standing, structure that can be built? The only catch...it has to support a book!

TAG Camp Reminder

Don't forget to RSVP for 2014-2015 TAG Camp! Please let us know if you plan on attending by sending an email to Mrs. Fitzpatrick (mfitzpatrick@clarke.k12.ia.us) or by sending a note to school. Letting us know if your child will attend will allow the teachers to gather enough supplies for everyone. We would love to see every 3-6 TAG student involved! It will be a fun filled week! 

2015 Summer TAG Camp

If you are a current Clarke Elementary TAG student, you are invited to the 2015 Clarke Elementary Summer TAG Camp! You will have a blast learning about robotics, engaging in amazing science experiments, and language exploration!

Who: 2014-2015  3^rd- 6^th grade TAG students

Where: Clarke Middle School - Teachers will meet you at Door #27 each morning. 

When: June 1-5 from 8:30 am -11:30 am

Teachers: Mr. Kedley, Mrs. Ehrhardt, and Mrs. Woods ßThese guys are amazing and full of new ideas!

RSVP: Please let us know if you plan on attending by sending an email to Mrs. Fitzpatrick by May 22^nd. 

mfitzpatrick@clarke.k12.ia.us

4th Grade Toothbrush Design Thinking

A couple weeks ago, I gave a brief review on what design thinking is, and why it is so important to our Talented and Gifted students (or any student for that matter). This process gives people a way to think beyond themselves, get creative, make mistakes, and learn from them. Via prototyping, the fourth grade students have realized many mistakes, but have also pushed forward to find new solutions.

If you remember, these students were tasked with redesigning something we use every single day of our lives: the toothbrush! When we started this project, picked by the students, to say I was weary of the redesign would be an understatement. However, it has been my goal since starting this position to be a facilitator of learning for my students...no matter what their interests.

Per usual, these kids went above and beyond. I truly believe that when we give kids a safe environment to be creative, and teach them that failure is OK as long as we learn from it, amazing things will happen. Do we have a design Colgate will pick up? Who knows! What I do know is that these students learned more about emotionally letting go of their ideas. This allowed them to be open to other suggestions and find new paths when things didn't pan out the way they had planned.

Below, you will find a few pictures from the interview, planning, and prototyping process of these brand new toothbrushes.

7 New Fables

Over the last weeks, the first grade group has been learning more about fables. These tales, that are meant to teach a lesson, provide a wonderful opportunity for digging deeper into a story. We had several surface discussions before the students came to the conclusion that perhaps The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing might be about a little more than a mean wolf and a yummy sheep.

"Mrs. Fitz, it is like stranger danger!" an excited seven year old yelled out in one of those light bulb moments. "The wolf looked like a sheep! But he wasn't! He was bad like strangers!" We then talked about how important it is to be aware of people.

But then, I had one of those moments where your head swells and heart thumps for this amazing job I get to enjoy each day. One of the students said, "You know, I saw this thing on TV, and it looked really cool, and I finally got it, and then it wasn't near as cool. It was a bummer. Is that kinda like this moral too?" Why yes, appearances can be deceiving, both on people and on products!

We concluded this project by writing our own fables. You may recognize a bit of a theme in the first few as the first grade is going through their nutrition class right now. They are learning how important healthy foods are to our lives, and that seeped into their morals.

So, sit back, grab some popcorn (not much - this is only a short film), and enjoy What is the Moral: 7 New Fables by Clarke Elementary First Grade TAG!

Design Thinking - Digging Deeper

After students (and teachers) took a week to Sharpen the Saw on spring break, I decided we would all benefit from going back to the beginning basics of design thinking. As you may remember, students started the school year learning more about human centered design. Human centered design takes a step away from the old thinking of, "If I want this, other people must too!"

While this may be true to an extent, it is important to have the consumer in mind as well. Learning how to interview others, ask the right questions, and synthesize this information is an important step that will help the students, not only in design, but also in learning to make inferences and amalgamate information in other aspects of their lives.

To set up this session of design thinking, we started by brainstorming objects we use in our everyday lives that could use an improvement. Pencils, backpacks, whiteboards, steering wheels, and a variety of others were brought up. In the end, third grade choose to redesign the ideal backpack, fourth choose a toothbrush (pretty interesting ideas are happening!), and fifth grade choose to design tabletop games.

Students have interviewed others in the class, interviewed again, come up with five radical ideas, shared and captured feedback, and are now coming up with their final designs. I can't wait to see what new and improved object these amazing students come up with!

Studios: Part 2

The remaining real estate trailers have been uploaded! Enjoy this creative 5th grade work!

The Studio: Part 1

Over the last month, the 5th grade has been working on a STEM unit entitled The Studio. The unit is a combination of applied math, engineering, design, 3D art, language and creativity. We started by imagining...If I had my own personal space (a studio!) and could make it into anything I wanted...what would that be?

Beginning with blue prints and scale models, the students built and designed their own space from the ground up. It took quite a bit of logic, visual-spatial ability, and creativity to complete these spaces! After the basic frame was built, the creativity came into play. We soon had spaces ranging from barns and sheds, to gold plated solar panel homes and art studios!

Each student also filled out their own "Studio Cost Summary", in which they determined the cost of supplies and labor, then decided on a reasonable price for their space. Did they think their small studios would fetch that price in a fair market? Would it be worth mass production, or did the labor costs outweigh a reasonable price?

Finally, they converted their findings to a large scale; life sized real estate listings! Student flyers and studios will be on display in TAG room hallway during conferences, so please stop by and see what we've been up to.

Below are three iMovie real estate listings. The remaining four will be uploaded in the next couple of days, so check back!

Sail Car

Here is a little iMovie trailer on the fun we have been having in third grade! 

Doodle Game

Our second grade group has spent this week immersing themselves in the Doodle Game. This game was reintroduced to me by another TAG teacher, Mark Steven Hess. While it was an activity I did earlier in my teaching career, it had slipped away until recently.

The Doodle Game is great for visual-spacial learners, but it also ties in literacy standards that include dialogue, description, and development of character experiences and events. We started off by introducing the rules. First, the doodle may not take up the whole space; second, the doodle may not be too intricate; and third, the doodle lines may not cross. Then we brainstormed what the doodle could be turned into, and it was AMAZING to hear all of the ideas! The creativity was oozing out of these kids!

The Rules

The next few pictures started with the same doodle but took on lives of their own! 

Tadpole...

Seashell and Baymax

The first day of the game was spent building that creativity, but beyond that, was all about story building. Each student had the same starter doodle and five minutes to complete the picture. Then, it was story time! We all took turns telling the story behind our doodle character, developing the events, using transitional words, and creating narrative experiences.

We now have sixteen story ideas that are ready to dive into. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Just a few story starter ideas!