Work That Matters
Is their work going home at the bottom of a backpack, under yesterday’s yogurt? Or are they telling people about their work? Interacting with the world because people around the world are commenting on it? We are lucky to live in a time where our classrooms can be connected. Blogs. Twitter. Wikis. Email. Edmodo. Skype. Google Plus. The list goes on. You know that writing process… brainstorm, pre-write, rough draft, revise, publish? Publish used to mean hang it in the hallways. Put a sticker on it. Now? Publish can mean ‘share it with the world.’ Getting a comment on your work from another state, city, or even a whole different country? That’s when a kid realizes just how much their work matters to the world. And that? It’s way better than a sticker.
Want to show kids just how much they really matter? Check out Angela Maier’s Choose2Matter. Get your kids involved. Because it’s our world. All of us. They can be a part of something big.
Why Gifted Education Is Relevant
This isn’t really one of those posts I thought I’d have to write. I mean, gifted education has always been relevant to me. Not just as a teacher, but as a kid who sat in a classroom in elementary school, and wanted to break out of my little desk, run past the pile of worksheets, and learn something. So, my journey in education landed me in a teaching spot… teaching a gifted education program. There I was, end of the hall, with people just thinking my classroom was “easy” because my kids were “smart.” When it’s really not even about that. Throughout my professional development, certification, and experience, I was studying differentiation. I was learning about learning. I was understanding just how teaching gifted kids really isn’t about giving kids more work. It’s about adjusting the work so it is right. Flow. Depth. It was about making learning work for kids that were truly starving to learn something new. It’s about the way STEM incorporates ALL of that. It’s about kids who out-think me in a beautiful way on a continual basis, and embracing that. An area of education that few will address, try to understand, and are so quick to argue about, they are missing the point… the kids.
Yesterday, I got to share something I love… Project Based Learning & STEM. I talked about projects my kids have loved over the past few years. It wasn’t a talk specifically about gifted. But, it’s roots? It was all about deeper learning, differentiation, turning control of the learning over to the kids. These are all things that the education world is just waking up to as Common Core comes our way. But, these are things that gifted education has been all about all along. The theories are all there, some older than I am. At the end of the hall, there might be a teacher who can help you challenge, inspire, and enhance the differentiation in your classroom. A teacher that knows how to remove the ceiling that many of our schools place on learning. Or, maybe you ARE that teacher who knows all about planning the right kind of learning that will allow every kid in the classroom to grow. This will only happen when we get past labels, pre-conceived notions, and just collaborate. Collaborate to make things better for our kids, for learning, for our world. Every area of education… gifted, special education, STEM specialists, ELL specialists… the list goes on. A team to focus on real learning and making it right. What’s more relevant than that?
No Boundaries To Learning
Do you ever stop and think about the possibilities? Today we had a special guest read us a book LIVE all the way from Massachusetts while we were here, listening and watching, in our little classroom in Missouri.
Julie Petrini, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft, read Pepito’s Story to us, sharing the pictures, and telling the story as if we shared the room together today.
But, the cool thing is, we DID share the room together. Technology breaks down the walls. Subtracts the miles. Multiplies the learning. Adds to our potential to reach out and understand each other.
As Ms. Petrini shared a photo of her horse with our class, one student was quite excited to share that she too has horses. Those little moments? Those are what Skype in the Classroom is really about. Connections. Learning that other people, near and far, have things in common with us. A lesson that can be so hard to teach without traveling the world.
But, now? We can all teach that lesson. It’s always just a Skype call away.
Interested in signing up for a Skype Read Aloud? Read more about it here or check out this read aloud opportunity with Elissa Steel.
Blending It All Together
I don’t remember what my classroom was like before I went off the deep end for Project Based Learning, infusing inquiry, and STEM. I’ll bet my students don’t remember much about it either. I used to teach what was in chapters. But, over time, I came to realize that the best stuff we can teach is in the world around us. I became a learner with my kids. I mean, I already WAS a learner, but there was a time when I didn’t think I could let my kids know that. Not anymore. That little fact is what changed everything.
I’ve heard some say “The Common Core will change everything.” People are realizing that with the emphasis on non-fiction text, science and social studies will be the ultimate fuel for the classroom learning fire. Science will no longer have to be squeezed in. It will become a focus. The world of separate folders for separate subjects in elementary school will slowly start to blend in the way it maybe should have been blended all along. Writing, Math, and Reading will fall naturally into investigations about our world. It’s really not about standards, about Common Core, or about more things to do. It’s about using our time in the classroom for meaningful learning. Authentic experiences. STEM infused learning that gets kids thinking, collaborating, and being creative.
Today I was lucky enough to get to share about Project Based Learning and STEM at NSTA STEM Expo in St. Louis. It was great to meet so many other educators passionate about STEM. Here are the presentation links and handouts. 🙂
The Launch Pad Virtual Tour
Currently an Innovation Coordinator at The Kinkaid School. I get to play, innovate, and support teachers and kids in learning. Know that saying, "Do what you love"? Yep.
