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for high potential

Back to School 2007

PULL-OUT SECTION

November 7-11, 2007 Minneapolis, MN

Most authors in this issue are presenters at the NAGC Annual Convention. Look for

them on site.

For more detailed information about the Convention and to register,

go to www.nagc.org.

I am often asked, as I am sure many of those reading this publication are, “How

did you become an educator?”

My response is never quite the same, and depending on how much time I have to discuss my long and winding road to the classroom, the story revolves around a simple phrase uttered over and over by a past mentor, a geology professor who still resides in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The phrase was a simple one, and I have it scribbled on a sheet of paper on the wall in my classroom. “Education is not about information.”

To be honest, I never intended to be a part of education. I never intended to be a teacher. I never thought I would be so passionate about something I rebelled against for the first half of my life. I pursued communication and film stud-ies during the start of my undergraduate schooling but also found myself drawn to the field of science, due in large part to the professor mentioned above. He not only taught me about rocks, but also about education; its history, its evolution, and the mistakes that were being made con-cerning its implementation on a national scale. I had never honestly thought about the term “education” until I found myself

From the Editor's Desk

In This Issue

Motivating Adolescent Gifted Learners

Books, Books, and More Books

Professional School Counselors and Gifted Educators

Happily Ever After

Turbulent Minds: Gifted, ADD, or Both

Smart Cookies

Infusing Thinking Skills into the Classroom

iMATHination

The Arts: Minds in Motion

The Curriculum Connection

Technology Untangled

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hiking in the Nepal Himalaya, studying fault lines as part of a research team.

As I traveled from village to village, I was met by curious children. With each new day came a different “lesson” to teach. I did my best to have the patience and understanding needed when one is unfa-miliar with the native tongue. I always managed to find time at the end of a long and exhausting day to sit down with the children who made their way to my crowded campsite. The experiences and understanding that came during those moments were enough to fill many pages, but in summation, as my journey came to a close, I realized the importance of teaching. I understood the power of education. Most of all, the experiences I have had since rounding those mountain-ous corners ten thousand miles away still echo the words “Education is not about information.”

Education is about understanding. I am not merely speaking about knowledge related to a specific discipline, but an understand-ing of the immense variation of our stu-dents’ social, emotional, educational, and economic backgrounds, which demand individualized consideration and accep-tance. We must understand the strategies, practices, tools, and resources available to us, and possess an understanding that we, as educators, are not simply providers of information, rather we are providers of experience. It is our responsibility to continuously learn and be educated our-selves. We must seek out new and innova-tive ideas found in the pages of texts and journals. We should seek out professional

development opportunities and connect with others in the profes-sion. We must advocate for our students and their best interests. We must come to know who we are as educators. The trip we have taken to arrive at a similar place is quite different, but the purpose for our arrival is the same.

I invite you to explore the vari-ety of articles and columns in this issue of Teaching for High Potential. Consider each of them as a journey into the understand-ing of what it means to educate

the students we see before us every day. Nadia Webb offers a look at the overlapping nature of gifted behaviors and those associated with ADD. Richard Cash presents motivation as a way to battle underachievement in gifted learn-ers. Jillian Gates relates the importance of infusing thinking skills throughout the curriculum, and Susannah Wood outlines the partnership between gifted educa-tors and school counselors. As usual, our columnists are as relevant as ever in their respective fields.

I hope that you enjoy this issue. As always, I welcome your comments, sug-gestions, opinions, and ideas.

Jeff [email protected]

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National Association for Gifted Children • Pull-Out Supplement to Compass Points • Back to School 2007

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Motivating Adolescent Gifted Learners

By Richard M. Cash, Bloomington (MN) Public Schools

Adolescent gifted learners are some of the most complex students a

teacher will encounter in his or her career. Not only are they experiencing adolescent development, which has its own issues, but they are gifted on top of it. Trying to keep adolescent gifted learners motivated, engaged, and pro-ductive is a never-ending battle. This article shares some of the reasons ado-lescent gifted learners underachieve, as well as practical ideas teachers can employ to keep their students on track.

Why do Adolescents Underachieve?

Successful students have learned to adapt to the educational setting through the many challenges they encounter. Gifted students often don’t encounter sufficient academic challenges for them to build the skills they need to adapt to a rigorous setting. This lack of chal-lenge can be a reason they have too little or too much of what is required to thrive in school. Additionally, there are many reasons students can run into the “can’ts.” (See table below.)

Unlocking Underachievement

This article focuses on the one chal-lenge most prominent in the battle of underachievement: Motivation. Overwhelmingly, the underachieving adolescent gifted learners I’ve worked with tell me they don’t feel the need to achieve. They don’t find the work valuable or interesting. To help teach-ers develop students’ intrinsic drive to learn, I propose five principles of cur-riculum and instruction.

TOO LITTLE: TOO MUCH/MANY: CAN’TS:

Motivation Challenge Interest

Self-efficacy Impulse control Perseverance

Ability to control perseverationBalance in life

Product orientation

Self-confidenceOther activitiesProcrastination

Self-pityDependency on others

DistractionsIdeas

Can’t determine the individual tasks from the greater project

Can’t put thought into action

Can’t follow throughCan’t fail

Can’t get organized

(Adapted from Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2000)

Reasons for Underachievement

Principle 1: Make it RelevantAdolescence is a time for personal growth and development. During the middle school and early high school years, youth are struggling to devel-op a sense of identity, are growing into their bodies, and are working out mood and emotional reactions. The adolescent brain is also undergoing enormous amounts of change through circuit refinement, pruning, and connec-tion-making. These cognitive changes signal a shift in how adolescent youth approach learning. The connections made during the teen years will most likely hard-wire the brain for the future. For instance, youth exposed to theater, dance, music, and the arts during ado-lescence will stay attuned to them in later years. Conversely, students who are disengaged academically, socially, or physically during the adolescent years most likely will stay this way for years to come.

It is essential that middle school and high school teachers help students find themselves in the curriculum. For instance, in social studies students can identify a social issue that is important to them. With assistance, they can map out ways they can impact the situation either directly or indirectly. Another way to help students connect with the curriculum is through interest-based surveys or discussions. This will help you as the teacher focus your topic dis-cussions or project work toward what interests students.

Suggestions for making curriculum and instruction relevant:

Allow students to share themselves or their passions with the class. Provide time in your day for stu-dents to meet in interest-based small groups to find commonalities and develop bonds. Have students start thinking about career pathways—built on their personal interests—then contact experts in those fields and bring them into the classroom to share their schooling careers.

Principle 2: Make it MeaningfulWhen students find curriculum and instruction meaningful and relevant they are more likely to engage in the learning. Meaningfulness in curriculum occurs when learners are able to see themselves in the learning or find the information they are learning immedi-ately useful. Lessons that incorporate personal experiences, authentic pro-ductions, and self-reflection can bring the curriculum alive for the adolescent gifted learner. For instance, a child may connect with a situation experienced by a character in a novel, or feel open to express his or her feelings during a role playing activity.

Suggestions for making curriculum and instruction meaningful:

Use metaphors, similes, and anal-ogies to make unfamiliar topics familiar.Use mnemonic devices, acronyms, or acrostics to help learners with lists and orders of items so that they can map or visualize the deci-sion making process.Use mind maps to connect seem-ingly unconnected topics.Use elaborative rehearsals such as mock trials, role-playing, and simu-lations.Integrate personal stories (both the students’ and yours) into the content.Connect the content to what is current (use the media and/or Internet).

Principle 3: Make it RigorousRigor involves the advancement of intel-lectual engagement that requires learn-ers to stretch beyond their comfort zone to reach what Vygotsky termed their “zone of proximal development.” A stu-dent’s zone of proximal development is defined as the difference between what a child can do with help and what he or she can do without help (Morris, nd).

Rigor also involves the use of complex thinking, which is the cognitive process that requires sophisticated forms of and

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interactions between creative thinking, critical reasoning, and advanced lev-els of inquiry, problem-solving strate-gies, and metacognition skills. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides an excellent scaffold for building a framework of increasing rigor. Curriculum that is created for gifted learners must extend to the high-er levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (analy-sis, synthesis, and evaluation).

Suggestions for making curriculum and instruction rigorous:

Teach critical, creative, and effec-tive thinking strategies throughout your content areas—and encourage students to use them. (See Edward deBono’s CoRT Thinking Program: http://www.edwdebono.com.)Teach the metacognitive skills of self-reflection, summarization, and effective memorization strategies (see mnemonic devices, acronyms, or acrostics above). Use brainstorming and SCAMPER techniques to help students create new and original products.Help students apply content knowl-edge to applications across disci-plines using authentic products.Use more complex/abstract concept development to encourage deep-er investigation and understand-ing. Example: For the concept of “cycles,” students can examine the simple/concrete examples of water, air, and the seasons in order to examine what characteristics define the concept. Following this would be a discussion of the complex/abstract examples of the concept found in politics, economics, and philosophy.

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SIMPLE/CONCRETE COMPLEX/ABSTRACT

WaterAir

Seasons

PoliticalEconomic

Philosophical

Principle 4: Make it Safe for Intellectual Risk TakingMany gifted adolescent learners were not exposed to learning experiences that required sustained intellectual effort during their elementary years. The lack of true challenge early did not provide them the opportunity to learn how to struggle, make mistakes or per-severe at tasks that require complex thinking. Teachers working with ado-lescent gifted learners must create safe and supportive learning environments that allow learners to take intellectual risks. Students should be exposed to

strategies and techniques for dealing with failure, keeping organized, and maintaining persistence.

Suggestions for making curriculum and instruction safe for intellectual risk tak-ing:

Show learners how making mistakes leads to incredible inventions (share the book: Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Jones and John Obrien).Play up problem-solving tech-niques—give them many types and help them identify when to use them.Encourage students to work outside of their preferred learning style.Offer learners appropriate strate-gies for dealing with stress: medi-tation, exercises, the arts, taking deep breaths, or listening to sooth-ing music.

By offering instances of “failure” and allowing for the re-working of solutions through positive criticism, the teacher can strengthen the overall comfort abil-ity of being incorrect.

Principle 5: Make ChoicesStudents are motivated to learn when meaningful choices are offered. Student ownership and responsibility for the learning increases, and creative produc-tion is strengthened. Choices can be accomplished in a variety of ways:

Allow for students to choose differ-ent ways to demonstrate what they knowAllow students to develop and inves-tigate topics of interestAllow students to use a variety of materials and resources to com-plete projects and assignments.Provide for various seating arrange-ments or grouping arrangements in the classroom.Allow students to create their own evaluation rubrics and types of assessments.

Choice MenusAn excellent way for teachers to provide for choices in the classroom is to create choice menus, which are a formatting strategy for differentiating curriculum and instruction. Choice menus should allow students to:

Use their preferred learning style,Incorporate their personal interests into their learning, and/orStudy a topic in depth.

The first step in constructing choice menus is to decide what the “essen-tial learning” is in the unit or project students are to complete. Essential learnings are the big ideas, concepts, themes, or generalizations that make

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the topic/unit of study important to future learning.

Second, decide how the menu will be arranged. Teachers can arrange the menu so that it focuses on learning pro-files/styles, interests, or students’ need to go into greater depth. Choice menus for gifted students can be created to either replace or supplement the regu-lar curriculum. Remember that choice menus are not intended to be MORE work, but to be more engaging work.

Third, build your choice menu by inte-grating Bloom’s Taxonomy and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory (or other learning styles you prefer). Ensure the learning experiences scaffold to higher, more complex activities that move to authenticity. For an excellent template for constructing choice menus, see the Matrix Plan or Integration Matrix in Diane Heacox’s book Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom (2002, pp. 80-83).

Finally, keeping gifted students motivat-ed to learn can be accomplished through engaging, interesting and rigorous chal-lenges.

Key to getting and keeping gifted ado-lescent students motivated is by build-ing the drive to achieve from extrin-sic to intrinsic. Teachers can begin with external rewards (such as prizes, passes, and so forth), but they must move toward developing the learner’s internal drive to succeed. As Sternberg and Grigorenko state in Teaching for Successful Intelligence, “Internally moti-vated individuals are able to maintain their motivation over the rising and fall-ing of external rewards” (2000, p. 85). Developing internal forces comes from the learner’s passions and engagement with content. Hooking the gifted ado-lescent through their interests will build the skills necessary to do well in future challenging courses.

Resources

Erwin, J. C. (2004). The classroom of choice: Giving students what they need and getting what you want. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Feinstein, S. (2004). Secrets of the teen-age brain: Research-based strategies for reaching & teaching today’s ado-lescents. San Diego, CA: The Brain Store.

Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating

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instruction in the regular classroom: How to reach and teach learners, grades 3-12. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Morris, C. (nd). Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Retrieved December 12, 2006, from http://www.igs.net/~cmorris/zpd.html.

Reis, S.M., Burns, D.E. & Renzulli, J.S. (1992). Curriculum compacting: The complete guide to modifying the regular curriculum for high ability students. Mansfield, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Sternberg, R.J. & Grigorenko, E.L. (2000). Teaching for successful intelligence to increase student learn-ing and achievement. Arlington Heights, IL: SkyLight Professional Development.

Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How to differ-entiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

VanTassel-Baska, J. & Little, C.A. (2003). Content-based curriculum for high-ability learners. Waco TX: Prufrock Press.

Wolfe, P. (2001). Brain matters: Translating research into classroom practice. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Richard M. Cash, Ed.D., is the District Coordinator of Gifted and Talented Programs, K-12, for the Bloomington, Minnesota, Public Schools. Dr. Cash is also a private con-sultant to many school districts around the U.S. His areas of expertise are gifted pro-gramming, differentiated instruction, cur-riculum development, and brain compatible classrooms. He may be reached at www.nrichconsulting.com

The information contained in this arti-cle aligns with the following NAGC Pre-K—Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards: Curriculum Instruction (1.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0) and Program Administration and Management (2.0).For a complete copy of the Standards, visit www.nagc.org.

The basic premise of this column is to investigate the use of children’s literature, spe-cifically, “picture books,” in the high school classroom. This genre can be a very rich resource for the creative teacher. First, students (and often teachers as well!) are sur-prised at the quality of both text and illustration. The syntax, the use of sophisticated vocabulary, and quite often the complexity of plot surprise and amaze students thus making this genre an excellent vehicle for literary analysis. The literary elements of plot, characters, setting, theme, and style can easily become the tools for investigating picture books. In addition, we add the elements of color, line, shape, and form to our study of picture books. One of our readers has responded that she often uses Jane Yolen’s 1988 Caldecott Award Book, Owl Moon (1987, Philomel Books.) in her Advanced English Class. [Note: A new 20th Anniversary Edition will be available September 20, 2007.] I, too, found this an excellent resource in illustrating (whoops, no pun intended) the use of colorful, descriptive language and the use of metaphor and simile. Just a couple of examples here: “We reached the line of pine trees, black and pointy against the sky, and Pa held up his hand…The moon made his face into a silver mask.” (p. 7) “We walked on. I could feel the cold, as if someone’s icy hand was palm-down on my back.” (p. 11) We could go on with more examples since on nearly every page there is a beautiful image or effect created by words. Yolen’s work has become a favorite in the classroom. You will find several instructional suggestions for using Owl Moon on her web site, www.janeyo-len.com. There is also an interesting writing lesson using Owl Moon on http://Writersfix.com. It is well worth looking at.

In this column, we focus on two books, both of which I list in my “most favorite” cat-egory of my collection. These two books are highly unusual and creative. They are Josse Goffin’s Oh! (1991, Reissue Edition 2000) and Ah! (1992) published by Harry B, Abrams, New York. There is a third book in this series, Yes! (1993) but I don’t have it. I understand that it follows the same format, but adds a story line. Goffin, by the way, is a graphic artist from Belgium.

Both Oh! and Ah! follow the same textless format, which is in itself unusual. The book opens to a two-page spread with a somewhat simple illustration. The right hand side has a “fold-out” page that discloses a continuation of the illustration and adds additional details. Then a single item is taken from the uncovered illustration and it becomes the subject of the next two page spread. One my favorites in Oh! is the smoking pipe found on pages 17 and 18. These pages open up to disclose a cat with a tooth brush (the brush becomes the transition for the next set of illustrations). The pipe stem is the tail of the cat.

Of the two books, perhaps I favor Ah! since it provides an additional dimension. In addition to the everyday idea items that form the basis of the double page spreads, the fold-out page features a famous piece of art. For example on pages 3-4 and 7-8, daVinci’s Mona Lisa is contrasted to Picasso’s Portrait of Maire-Therese. In another set, the winged Nike of Samothrace, Greece becomes the hood ornament for a cleverly drawn roadster driven by a rabbit. Fun!

The format (style!) can easily become the focus of study of both of these highly unusual books, but I use them as visual interpretations of just what “transition” is all about in writing, both in terms of sentence cohesion and transition to subsequent paragraphs. Often after a brilliant (sic!) description of the concept of transition was met only with the blank stares of my students, light bulbs of understanding suddenly went off when I pulled out Oh! and Ah!

Other uses can certainly be made of these books as well. For example, since a well-known characteristic of gifted individuals is their ability to make unusual connections, these books certainly could not only stimulate connecting ideas (creative and productive thinking) but they are also wonderful and unusual models in which to present these connections.

I commend Oh! and Ah! to you as very rich and unusual resources. I can certainly see how they would lend themselves to interdisciplinary curriculum. Let me know how you are using children’s literature in your classroom and if you are not using this rich resource, I would encourage you to investigate how you can enhance your instruction and your gifted students’ learning by bringing this highly creative literature into your classroom.

Happy Reading and see you at NAGC Convention in St. Paul/Minneapolis!

Books, Books, and More Books

By Bob Seney, Mississippi University for [email protected]


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Professional School Counselors and Gifted Educators:Working Towards SolutionsBy Susannah Wood, University of Iowa

Samantha is a gifted eighth grader who is highly driven in her academ-ic and extracurricular pursuits. She carries a full honors load including French, advanced language arts, math and history. Samantha is an active participant in debate and speech clubs and is a competitive cello player. Samantha has been described as having perfectionist tendencies, a label that triggered even higher levels of studying and performance in Samantha. Recently, however, Samantha’s honors English/ Integrated Language Arts (ILA) teacher has noticed a decline in Samantha’s participation in class, a reduction in the quality of submit-ted assignments and a general sense of confusion and fatigue.

Educating a gifted student of any age can be exciting and rewarding for gifted educators. Gifted educators may find themselves wearing multiple hats and occupying multiple roles as they strive to provide the best academic environment in which gifted students can receive a rigorous education while also working to meet the social, emotional, and career needs these students have throughout their school-age years. Identifying, pro-gramming, teaching, and working with gifted students can also be challenging and stressful, requiring great amounts of time, energy, commitment and moti-vation. Over time, feelings of lack of support, time for planning and effective teaching, and multiple student issues can begin to accumulate in stressful and problematic nature for gifted edu-cators (Pelsma, Richard, Harrington & Burry, 1989). Gifted educators have a useful ally in the professional school counselor who can help with student concerns, act as a support, and can find resources that alleviate stress and enhance teaching. Through their roles as counselors, consultants, collectors of information, coordinators of services, and collaborators in multiple partner-ships, professional school counselors play a vital part in the talent develop-ment of their gifted students and in the support of their gifted educators. Together, gifted educators and school counselors can provide the necessary supports and structures needed for the whole gifted child to learn and thrive in the classroom.

School Counseling and Gifted Education

While the National Association for Gifted Children is the primary professional organization with which gifted educators affiliate, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is the parent orga-nization for professional school coun-selors. Gifted educators may be more familiar with the traditional three “C’s” of the school counselor’s role: coun-seling, consulting, and coordinating. However, ASCA’s new National Model has strengthened and expanded the school counselor’s role with the equi-table promotion of achievement and access to education for all students as a central focus (ASCA, 2003b; Stone & Dahir, 2006). Professional school counselors are leaders, advocates, and specialists in delivering comprehensive developmental guidance and counseling curricula that provides an array of ser-vices and collaborative partnerships and whose effectiveness and impact on both student achievement and school culture can be measured (ASCA, 2003a). The professional school counselor is also a key person in the advocacy of special populations in schools and an integral part in the talent development of gifted students (ASCA, 2003b).

Originally developed in 1988 and sub-sequently revised, the ASCA position statement on the school counselor’s involvement with gifted students asserts that, in general, the professional school counselor assists in “providing technical assistance and an organized support system within the developmental com-prehensive school counseling program for gifted and talented students to meet their extensive and diverse needs as well as the needs of all students” (ASCA, 2003a).

Specifically, the position statement articulates the roles and responsibili-ties school counselors can assume when serving gifted students including iden-tification of gifted students, advocacy for counseling activities that address the academic, career and personal/social needs of the gifted through indi-vidual and group guidance, provision of resources and materials, raising aware-ness of gifted issues, and engaging in professional development activities in

order to facilitate the continuing educa-tion of the psychology and development of gifted students (ASCA, 2003a).

School counselors who utilize the model to shape their identity and roles, can also refer to the socio-emotional guid-ance and counseling standards in NAGC’s Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards for the development of ser-vices for gifted students. The program guidelines, which outline standards for services, interventions, scope and sequence, and provisions for at-risk and underachievement in gifted youth, work in tandem with the ASCA model, which stresses equity and access of education-al provisions for all children, advocacy for students without voice, partnerships and collaboration with multiple stake-holders to support services, as well as the demonstration of effectiveness in services and interventions rendered.

The three “C’s” have not left the pro-fessional school counselor’s repertoire; they have been re-envisioned in a more comprehensive manner including other “C’s that gifted educators can call upon when working with their gifted students. These roles include, but are not limited to, the following:

Counseling ConsultationCollecting InformationCoordinating Services and ResourcesCollaboration and Partnerships’Countability

School counselors actively occupy each of these roles in order to provide the necessary services to meet gifted students' academic, career, and personal/social needs. Gifted students can present a wide array of gifts, talents, and challenges. Concerns that gifted educators often have on behalf of their students are typically related to the challenges tied to the traditional developmental milestones, as well as challenges resulting from the students’ asynchronous development, their ability to regulate their emotional and psychological responses based on typical characteristics, and/or as a result of belonging to a special population (Robinson, 2002). A few common concerns include multipotentiality, perfectionism, heightened intensity and sensitivity, and existential depression. By assisting in one or many of the roles described above, the school counselor may be able to help alleviate the stress gifted educators experience when working to meet the needs of the whole

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gifted child. These roles are described more thoroughly through the case of Samantha given below.

CounselingProbably the most recognizable role for professional school counselors is that of counseling. Counseling in schools can be done in different venues including indi-vidual sessions, small-group counsel-ing, and classroom guidance activities. Every professional school counselor is trained in student development, child and adolescent-specific issues, critical cases, and multicultural competency. In addition, each counselor brings a unique perspective on student needs, development, and counseling theories and techniques. Counseling sessions in any venue are typically a result of a student self-referral, a parental referral, or a referral by an educator. In this case Samantha’s father has contacted Ms. Richardson, the eighth-grade counselor, to discuss his concerns about his daugh-ter’s recent behavior. He describes Sam as a “fun loving” young woman who is conscientious about her work. However, in the past week, Samantha burst into tears while practicing both her speech for her team and again while practicing her cello. When her father voiced his concern, he was greeted by an outburst of “I just don’t know, okay?!” which he described as uncharacteristic of his daughter.

It is probable that when Samantha meets with Ms. Richardson, she will already know that she has been referred. Teenagers can be challenging clients and resist counseling for many reasons including their perception that their counselor cannot “relate,” coming to counseling under duress, resentment of “interfering” parents or teachers, and the desire to cope with their own problems individually or with peer help as a signifier of the normal develop-mental desire for autonomy. However, with an explication of what counseling is and that Samantha can choose or not choose to participate, and with time, patience, and humor, Ms. Richardson can develop a rapport with Samantha and a solid, working alliance that can facilitate positive changes. A solution-focused counseling session in which Sam will be “blamed” for her past suc-cess in ILA, and asked to “scale” her problem in ILA, might include the fol-lowing scene:

Ms. Richardson: So Sam, you’ve told me that in general, you typically turn in all your assignments on time, and that you’re generally proud of them. I’m really impressed by your dedication to your homework and classes!

Sam: Thanks, I guess I never thought of it like that. It wasn’t until recently that they got a lot harder.

Ms. Richardson: You’re saying that the problems in English are recent? Can you tell me more?

Sam: Yeah. I feel bad for disappoint-ing Mrs. Bonney for not turning in good stuff the past few weeks. But the assignments are harder than she knows. Especially right now.

Ms. Richardson: Sam, if I were going to follow you around with a video camera and I could see what you do when you get ready to do an assignment for Mrs. Bonney, and then actually doing the assignment what would I see?

Sam: Hum…well, getting started is pret-ty easy. I usually do work in the library or at home. I look at the assignment and I start, using the writing mode. I get through the first paragraph or so and then I just…I just get confused.

Ms. Richardson: So about half-way through the assignment you get stuck.

Sam: Yeah. I mean, I know what I have to do. I just look at the main paragraph and elaborate. But it just seems like I could go any different direction. Like right now we’re reading and talking about heroes and heroines and all these people who…did something significant. And in speech we’re talking about role models and how they can influence our thinking. So when Mrs. Bonney asked us to write about the heroes, I thought about Yo-Yo Ma and the speech I wrote about him. I thought maybe he could be my hero. And I got half-way through the assignment last week, but then I got to thinking…I don’t know if I want to do cello for the rest of my life. I don’t even know what I want to do. Jonathan’s writing on Nelson Mandela, and Traci on Mother Teresa and I got to think-ing, these are really great people who made a difference and I haven’t done anything! I’m not even sure if Yo-Yo Ma is my role model you know? I think my heroes are more fantastical, but they do more than play the cello. They make a difference.

Ms. Richardson: So when you’re writ-ing these assignments, you’re thinking about some really tough topics, some really important ideas and questions about who you are.

Sam: Exactly. And then I just lose track of what I’ve written. I could write about anything, but when I try to, nothing makes a lot of sense.

Ms. Richardson: Sam, can you tell me, with your English assignments, on a scale of one to ten, one being not a big problem, to ten being a very, very big problem, where are you?

Sam: Oh…oh maybe a seven? It’s not all bad. It’d be better if my cello tutor would stop pressuring me to study more and to do all these competitions this year…

Ms. Richardson: Okay, a seven, so it’s a pretty big problem. And your cello tutor is stressing you out. So, let’s talk about where you would like to be on that scale…

Ms. Richardson has discovered several things. Samantha is generally a hard worker, for which she was positively “blamed” but the assignments concern-ing heroes and role models have created frustration and anxiety. Using videotalk, Ms. Richardson began to understand that Sam’s struggle to create a coherent paper about her role model was due in part to confusion of who she wanted to be, what she could do with her talent, and the overwhelming need to have to choose “the” career path. This, coupled with her cello tutor’s urging Samantha to increase practice and make decisions about future competition, has exacer-bated Samantha’s existential crisis. By nature of her giftedness, Samantha is wrestling with questions of “who am I?” and “what do I do with my life?” at an earlier age and can conceptualize and “see” various paths and pursuits that look equally valid and attractive. At this point, Ms. Richardson can inquire if Samantha feels comfortable shar-ing some of these concerns with Mrs. Bonney, her ILA teacher, which will alle-viate anxiety and frustration concerning Samantha’s work.

ConsultationWhen working with a fellow educator on behalf of a student, most likely the professional school counselor will be acting as a consultant. School counsel-ors who employ the solution-focused method of consultation will underscore the fact that when working with teach-ers, administrators, or other person-nel, the nature of the consultation relationship is one of equals. A primary characteristic of this model is the col-laborative nature of the consultation relationship -- Mrs. Bonney, Samantha’s ILA/English teacher, and Ms. Richardson form a strong working alliance on behalf of Samantha (Kahn, 2000). Solution-focused consultation, an application of brief, solution-focused counseling (De Shazer, 1985; Murphy, 1997) orients consultation in term of solutions, future


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instead of past, inherent strengths and past successes, and emphasizes the fact that language plays an important role in the construction of meaning and reality. In addition, a solution-focused orientation empowers the gifted educa-tor as an agent of change by collabora-tively identifying strengths, reframing problems, brainstorming solutions, and evaluating changes made. In a solu-tion-focused consultation framework, Mrs. Bonney is the expert on her class-room and her students, while the school counselor acts as the facilitator of the consultation process.

The stages of consultation are fluid; how-ever, they generally progress through presession and initial structuring, estab-lishing consultation goals, examining attempted solutions and exceptions, deciding on a solution, enacting the solution, evaluation, summarization, and complimenting. In essence, Ms. Richardson will first discuss the nature of consultation with Mrs. Bonney. Then, together they will explore the strengths and resources each brings to the pro-cess of consultation. They will then identify goals, examine attempted solu-tions and exceptions to the “problem.” Next they will decide on a solution or course of change, and, over time, evaluate the progress of that solution. Finally they will summarize their jour-ney together and any needed plans to continue the changes made.

Ms. Richardson: So it sounds like this is really new behavior for Samantha. Can you tell me a little more about how and when this change occurred?

Mrs. Bonney: I wouldn’t say it was overnight, but I’d say it’s been downhill for about two weeks now. Samantha was always punctual about finishing her assignments and even if she didn’t like them she always completed them well, and followed the instructions. Recently, they lack focus if they’re turned in at all and Samantha seems…confused. I’m concerned.

Ms. Richardson: You care very much about Samantha and your concern says a great deal about how you work with your students. If a miracle happened over night and tomorrow Samantha was doing everything she needed to do in your class to make her successful, what would she be doing?

Mrs. Bonney: She would at least turn the assignments in, just to get the credit. That would be a great place to start. We can always work on the con-tent later.

Ms. Richardson: Okay, so Samantha would at least turn in the assignments. How do we start working toward that goal?

Collecting InformationSeveral options present themselves to Ms. Richardson as the result of talking to Mrs. Bonney. One option is to meet with Samantha’s teachers individually to gain a better understanding of Samantha’s progress in her other classes. This infor-mation will help Mrs. Bonney determine whether or not the sudden decline in Samantha’s work is unique to her class is occurring elsewhere. A second option, should Mrs. Bonney decide that a “two heads are better than one” approach is warranted, is that Ms. Richardson can also be called upon to coordinate a group meeting with Samantha’s teach-ers.

The counseling sessions with Sam have also given Ms. Richardson food for thought about other aspects of Samantha’s concerns. With Samantha’s permission and beginning with Mrs. Bonney, Ms. Richardson can pursue a few different options to gather informa-tion. First, is Sam the only one evidenc-ing these identity and career concerns via their assignments in Mrs. Bonney’s class? Second, are there other members of the speech team that also are strug-gling with theses issues? Mrs. Bonney and Mr. Banks reported that no, they had not seen any evidence of career or identity concerns with their other stu-dents. However, Mr. Banks also told Ms. Richardson that there were some very bright students in the speech class that were agonizing over their writing and seemed to be struggling with finding the “right” words. Samantha had not, up until recently, demonstrated that con-cern; however, she was very exacting and could be highly critical of herself if her speeches did not come out quite the way she wanted. Could Ms. Richardson consider working with students whose perfectionism was beginning to interfere with positive performance? Third, Mr. Williams, the high school gifted edu-cation coordinator, had recommenda-tions of other gifted students who were underachieving or who were embarking on the college and career decision-mak-ing journey and having a difficult time.

Coordinating Services and ResourcesThe information Ms. Richardson has gathered has caused her to consider how she would meet several different types of needs that the gifted students in her building are experiencing. Ms. Richardson’s planning and programming for these students are limited only by

her imagination. However, they will require the help and creativity of mul-tiple stakeholders. Her first decision is to coordinate a series of small groups for gifted students focusing on healthy and unhealthy perfectionism, interests, values, and the decision-making pro-cess for the future. To do this she will have to elicit the volunteer participation from the students themselves, the will-ingness of the teachers to allow them out of class if an after-school group cannot be arranged, parent permission, and the career and values inventories suggested by Mr. Williams that meet the cognitive needs of these students. Her second decision is to hold parent meetings to help parents communicate with their gifted students, assist gifted students in understanding the struggles they may face with competing expecta-tions about the use of their talents, and aid teachers in interpreting inventories and assessments that can be used to provide differentiated instruction for these students. Third, Ms. Richardson thinks that all students would benefit from classroom guidance topics includ-ing stress-reduction.

Collaboration and PartnershipsTo help run the groups, Ms. Richardson has enlisted the help of school coun-seling interns from a nearby univer-sity. She will train them on the use and interpretation of career and values inventories, and in return they will help students process the results and talk about their thoughts and feelings pertaining to career choices. The same university hosts a center for gifted edu-cation. Ms. Richardson has investigated possibilities with Mr. Williams, the gifted education coordinator of her building, and Dr. Phillips, the director of guid-ance regarding workshops and in-ser-vice possibilities concerning social and emotional needs of gifted students. Ms. Richardson’s colleagues, fellow coun-selors and assistant specialists in the building, have also suggested the use of online software that can compare colleges for their career and college fair at the end of the school year. Last, Ms. Richardson has decided to utilize the power of the hero and heroine as explored by the English and ILA instruc-tors in eighth grade. Part of being a hero is the ability to cope with struggle positively, and the teachers have prom-ised to brainstorm possible activities, modeling, and writing assignments as extensions of their curriculum with this idea in mind.

’CountabilityThe time, energy, and programming that Ms. Richardson has been putting into helping the gifted students in her


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building is admirable. However, it will mean little without documentation of effect. Accountability is an integral part of the school counselor’s profession. The effects of interventions, counseling, partnerships, and consultation can be demonstrated through a variety of mea-sures. The use of pre and post assess-ments of student learning and progress in counseling groups and monitoring grade point averages and attendance are all viable ways of measuring effec-tiveness. In the case of Samantha, Mrs. Bonney will be evaluating Sam’s progress on assignments and her fel-low group members will report on what they have learned, what was helpful and what was not. Mrs. Bonney can also provide her unique assessments and report on changes made as a result of consultation. Classrooms in which Ms. Richardson conducted classroom guidance sessions on stress-reduction and/or in which positive methods for coping with struggle and internal con-flict were modeled and discussed will be given post-assessments to determine if positive change has occurred since the administration of the preassessment. Ms. Richardson has given thought to piloting a schoolwide assessment of gifted needs at the end of the year, and interviewing her teachers, other school counselors, and the district coordinator in order to plan for the next year.

As seen in the illustration above, profes-sional school counselors can play sever-al vital roles in the talent development of their students. Through counsel-ing, consultation, collecting information, coordinating services, and establish-ing collaborative partnerships, school counselors can aid gifted educators in their remarkable teaching and service to their gifted students so that they do not suffer from unnecessary stress. Demonstrating accountability through evaluations and assessments provides both gifted educators and school coun-selors with proof of positive change and the information needed to move forward with additional programming and services. Working together to find solutions, gifted educators and school counselors can make the difference to gifted students.

References

American School Counselor Association. (2003a). Position Statement: Gifted Programs. Retrieved February 10, 2004, from http://www.schoolcoun-selor.org/content.asp?contentid=209

American School Counselor Association. (2003b). The ASCA National Model:

continued on page THP-16

In my home state, we’ve just blitzed through the statewide accountability examinations and all the hype associated with high-stakes testing. Let me share a little story.

Once upon a time (the night before fourth grade state exams—Day 1), Brendon tossed and turned, getting little rest. In the morning he reminded us he needed a good break-fast. Nervously, while munching on oatmeal, he said, “Dad, if I don’t do well, will I have to stay in 4th grade next year?”

Fast forward to the end of the day. “I think I did good, but I missed one problem,” he said with a worried look on his face. “Do you remember the problem?” I said. “No, Dad, but I know I missed it.”

No pressure here, now is there?

[Morning, Day 2 of exams]. “Dad, what are all these spots?” Mom and Dad look at our son, who has a blossoming case of hives all over his upper torso. Mind you, we all are a bit tired since we were up during the night, looking in on Brendon who was talking in his sleep and rustling all night.

Fast forward to the end of the day. “The math part was easy. I was worried in the morn-ing when my teacher said me and the other gifted kids would need to do our best to help out the class grade, but it was okay once I got started.”

UGH!

[Morning, Day 3 of exams]. “I don’t care if I have to be held back. I got accelerated already, so I’ll be back with my friends from first grade. Fourth grade will be really easy since I already did it once.”

Fast forward to the 11 o’clock news on a local channel that evening (I quote here), “…it is testing time, where the effectiveness of teachers and schools is determined by student performance…”

Really?

I thought the intent of the tests was to provide information about student learning. I thought the tests were meant as diagnostic instruments aimed at helping teachers iden-tify strengths and weaknesses in students that could be addressed. I thought the tests were meant to help parents understand where they could provide assistance and a little encouragement for their children’s academic growth.

Hmm. I also thought the mission of school was to provide for the needs and abilities of all students, including the need for gifted kids to move deeper or more quickly in areas in which they are interested and skilled. I also thought schooling was meant to instill a love of learning, in a non-competitive setting where interests and experiences were nurtured and supported.

In school systems where the top kids are pressured to hold up the school’s test rank-ings each year, much like Sisyphus’ task of constantly rolling the stone to the top of the mountain only to watch it roll back down, gifted children are being abused by account-ability every year. The practice of pressuring the gifted students to perform as high as possible to offset some children’s scores is unjust and unethical.

Here’s some novel thoughts: Why not focus on the intellectual and social/emotional needs of the gifted students during the whole school year, instead of just recognizing their worth at test time? (Oh, sorry, I forgot, we do have those once-a-week pull-out programs!) Why not reward the gifted kids by dismissing them for summer vacation early (right after the high-stakes tests) as a reward for saving the teachers’ and administra-tors’ jobs (after all, isn’t this what you expect them to do for you)?

What am I thinking! Sorry for all the grief, dear readers. I’ll climb back under my rock and get on with the task of assisting our son to be successful and well rounded. After all, he won’t have to endure this sort of pressure again for two years (in sixth grade)…that is, as long as he isn’t held back for test performance issues…in which case he’ll be back for another round next year.

Happily Ever After…

By Bob Schultz, University of [email protected]


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Turbulent Minds: Gifted, ADD, or Both

By Nadia Webb, Harrisonburg, Virginia

When a little boy comes through my door for an assessment, it is a

given that someone thinks he has ADD. ADD has become a shorthand term for the child who underperforms, disrupts, chatters, drifts, or simply seems “off.” Even if it is accurate, the ADD label still doesn’t tell me why there are attention problems, what sort of attention is dis-rupted, or even whether the problem is with the child or with the environmental setting.

Attention is the “canary in the coal mine” for a wide range of neurological and mental health issues. The DSM-IV-TR notes that ADD is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning a diagnosis of last resort to be made after ruling out other potential disorders or problems such as depression, anxiety, learning disabili-ties, unrealistic expectations, academic mismatch, substance abuse, traumatic brain injury or post-concussion symp-toms, sleep disruption, poor nutritional habits, chronic pain, hypothyroidism, auditory processing deficits, preoccupa-tion with personal problems, or cogni-tive dulling caused by other medica-tions (ranging from over-the-counter medications, such as Benadryl, to more powerful neuropsychiatric drugs such as Risperdal, anti-anxiety and anti-seizure medications). Attention problems are associated with such a broad range of problems. Only a thoughtful, careful inquiry can sort them out.

Giftedness

Gifted children perch at the far right end of the IQ bell curve. They are in the top 2.5 percent of the population and are as far from “normal” as chil-dren with mild mental retardation. Yet they are presumed to be normal kids with good academic skills who will hap-pily churn through extra math problems while waiting for the rest of the class to finish the assignment. There is little awareness within most school systems that there are qualitative differences in how gifted children respond to the world. Particularly for a highly gifted child, the fit within a normal academic setting can be awkward to the point of becoming pathological. Gifted children show many of the same behavior prob-lems in the classroom as children with ADD while performing well on formal measures of attention.

For very bright children, the speed and ease with which they learn can make them appear symptomatic. Gifted children typically enter the classroom knowing up to half of the material that they are supposed to “learn” in the coming year (Gallagher & Harradine, 1997; Webb & Latimer, 1993). Being children, they tend to cope badly with being underchallenged. They entertain themselves by peeling the laminate off the edge of the desk, fidgeting, socializ-ing, retreating into their imagination, or arguing with adults about the apparent pointlessness of the academic process. Behaviorally, they appear inattentive because they have become inattentive. The idea that, “bright minds will find their own way” or that “cream always rises” doesn’t hold true. The bored child can become a lost child.

Ironically, the behavior problems abate as children are sufficiently challenged. For some children, curriculum compac-tion, enrichment, single-subject acceler-ation, or dual enrollment in high school and college classes may be enough. For others, whole grade or double grade promotion makes the difference (Gross, 2003). These children become intel-lectually engaged, find peers who share their intellectual interests and hob-bies, and their inattention disappears. Unfortunately, many of these children sabotage their chance of academic acceleration. Because of their tendency towards misbehavior, power struggles and inattention, they are considered too socially and emotionally immature. Some administrators object to grade acceleration on principle, although the

research doesn’t support this opinion.

Differentiating Giftedness and ADD

There is some debate about whether a child can be intellectually gifted and also have an attention deficit, although most of the clinical and research literature suggests that they can and do. These “twice exceptional” children are often harder to identify. Imagine you are the teacher and Leah is your student. Is she ADD, gifted, or both?

Leah always blurts out the answer, but she is usually right. Her teacher accuses her of lying when she says she is reading the Harry Potter books. Leah is in second grade and has to take class work home with her to finish because she never gets it done in class. She asks lots of questions and seems to get caught up in daydreams and unrelated proj-ects. She forgets her homework but writes a passable book report during lunch. She was looking out the window but figures out the math problem on the board when called on.

Differentiating giftedness and ADD often requires objective testing of attention and observation of behavior across dif-ferent settings. Unfortunately, behav-ioral rating scales don’t make distinc-tions between behaviors problems asso-ciated with giftedness and ADD. A well documented medical and educational history, however can be helpful in sort-ing out the cause of various behaviors. For example, ADD symptoms should be present before the age of seven. A teenager who “acquires” ADD symp-toms usually has another problem that can look like ADD. The following table may be one starting point if you are trying to sort out whether your child’s issues stem from ADD or giftedness.

Behaviors Associated with ADD/ADHD(Barkley, 1990)

Behaviors Associated with Gifted(Webb, 1993)

• Poorly sustained attention in almost all situations

• Diminished persistence on tasks not having immediate consequences

• Impulsivity, poor ability to delay gratification

• Impaired adherence to commands to regulate or inhibit behavior in social contexts

• More active, restless than normal children

• Difficulty adhering to rules and regulations

• Poor attention, boredom, daydreaming in specific situations

• Low tolerance for persistence on tasks that seem irrelevant

• Judgment lags behind intellect• Intensity may lead to power struggles

with authorities• High activity level, may need less sleep• Questions rules, customs, and traditions

Source: Webb, J.T., Amend, E.R., Webb, N.E., Goerss, J., Beljan, P., & Olenchak, R.F. (2005). Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press


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Features Usually Incompatible with or

Contradictory to a Diagnosis of ADD

Shows excellent attention on tasks that hold his or her interest (excluding television and video-games)Has prolonged intense concentra-tion on challenging tasks with no extrinsic rewardIntentionally fails to finish tasks (especially rote work)Blurted answers are generally correctInterrupts conversations to cor-rect mistakes of othersCan be redirected from one activ-ity of interest to another activity of equal interestPasses attention testsReturns to a task readily, and can shift between tasks, if intrinsi-cally interestedHigh activity level is not associ-ated with inattentionCan work alone for long periods of timeShows ADD symptoms consis-tently in some settings but not others

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Smart Cookiesby Bess Wilson

To make the differentiation of gifted and ADD even more complex, there is pre-liminary research that suggests some gifted children may have slower devel-opment of the frontal cortex, which is the area of the brain responsible for attention, impulse control, planning, and judgment.

Conclusion

ADD is the most common reason for a mental health referral, yet for a sig-nificant proportion of gifted children the diagnosis is misapplied. Many of the traits of gifted children can mirror ADD symptoms on the symptom checklists used by most pediatricians. The DSM-IV-TR requires ruling out a broad range of “ADD impersonators” prior to mak-ing an ADD diagnosis, stating specifi-cally that “inattention in the classroom may also occur when children with high intelligence are placed in academi-cally understimulating environments” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 91). The medical reality is that pediatricians are bound to 15-minute patient appointments and the diagnosis is usually made on the fly with a Ritalin trial for “confirmation.” The diagnosis of exclusion has become the first diagno-sis, and the reasons behind the inatten-tion are simply missed. Gifted children leave with a psychiatric label instead of a modified educational plan.

At its best, a concern about ADD or ADHD leads to a collaborative meetings between parents, the school, and some-times outside professionals. A thorough evaluation with useful, practical recom-mendations can start a child on a new path. Often there are new explanations for how and why a child has struggled, as well as new tools and new allies to help turn things around. For a gifted child, it may be the first time that oth-ers have seen his or her potential.

References

Gallagher, J., & Harradine, C.C. (1997). Gifted students in the classroom. Roeper Review 19(3), 132-136.

Gross, M. (2003). Exceptionally Gifted Children (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge Falmer.

Webb, J.T., & Lattimer D. (1993). ADD/ADHD and children who are gifted. Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children (ERIC Digest, July ED)-ED-93-5).

Webb, J.T., Amend, E.R., Webb, N.E., Goerss, J., Beljan, P., & Olenchak, R.F. (2005). Misdiagnosis and

Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press

Nadia Webb, Psy.D., ABPdN, ABPN, is board certified in pediatric and adult neuropsychol-ogy. Dr. Webb has a private practice in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with a subspecialty in assessment of gifted children with neurologi-cal or psychological issues.

The information contained in this arti-cle aligns with the following NAGC Pre-K—Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards: Curriculum Instruction (1.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0) and Program Administration and Management (2.0).For a complete copy of the Standards, visit www.nagc.org.


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Infusing Thinking Skills into the ClassroomBy Jillian C. Gates, Purdue University

The advent of universal access to information has decreased our need

to rely on memory and print sources for information. Does that mean we no longer need to memorize information? Although the need for memorization has decreased, it has not gone by the way-side; it continues to be the foundation of much of what we do (Costa, 2004). Memory plays an important part in who we are as people. It is those things we take into our memories that dictate how we feel about certain issues and how we interact with people. Bruner (1989) contended that we are the sum of our thoughts and beliefs, which influence how we interact in society as a whole. However, memorization can no longer be our primary focus in the classroom. With the advent of technology in the twenty-first century, education must reflect the real world and provide stu-dents with the skills they need to be productive members of society. This means that children must be taught how to access the information available and how to evaluate its usefulness.

At this point many educators look at their daily lesson plans and curriculum guides and ask the question, “How am I supposed to add another dimension to my teaching with all the demands on instructional time?” The informa-tion provided here offers some practical ways to infuse thinking skills into cur-riculum already being taught. This is not designed to be an add-on approach, but rather an infusion into existing cur-riculum.

Learning to Think Although thinking skills must be taught directly, they should be taught in con-text. Berman (1991) suggested that although specific skills are useful, they are best learned and retained when taught in the context of problem solving. For example, students need to know the concept of multiplication, which can be learned by rote memorization. However, this concept is best understood when learned and practiced while involved in real-life activities such as shopping or baking This can occur in the classroom by involving students in making deci-sions about classroom management and other classroom and school-based issues. Children become more confident

thinkers when they feel that their think-ing is valued and taken seriously and when their actions and decisions impact their daily lives. Berman suggested some strategies that can empower stu-dent thinking and encourage students to be creative thinkers.

Strategies

Create a Safe Environment Children who are able to take risks, make mistakes, and share their thoughts and feelings without fear of ridicule become confident thinkers. Students’ self-effica-cy in thinking skills and decision making will increase exponentially when teach-ers allow this free exchange of ideas and the opportunity to follow through without fear. There are many ways to build this sense of safety. Community-building activities, clear expectations and goals, acknowledging and encour-aging risk taking and demonstrating that classroom conflicts can be resolved positively can all contribute to this feel-ing of safety.

Follow Students’ ThinkingTeachers should not teach a particu-lar way to think, but rather encourage students to reflect on their own ways of thinking and the exploration of meta-cognition. Our challenge as teachers is not to teach the right way, but to understand how each of our students thinks and respond to each in a positive manner. Students can keep a thinking journal that helps them reflect on how they thought through something and helps them distinguish faulty thinking from productive thinking. Encouraging reflective writing in class and open-ended discussion time encourages thinking and response. When educators ask students what they know, what they wonder about, and what they want to know about a topic before designing a unit, then teaching content becomes a process of teaching thinking skills as students reflect back on those questions and participate in extending their own knowledge.

Collaborative ThinkingTeachers who encourage students to think together create not only indi-vidual thinkers, but team thinkers as well. Still, just doing the brainstorming is not enough. Educators need to debrief

the process so children externalize how their ideas contributed to the thinking of the group as a whole.

Teach the Questions Rather than the AnswersIf educators want children to think critically, they need to ask the right questions to stimulate children to think through the information and come up with their own answers. This requires teachers to be flexible with the answers generated as there may be more than one right answer when children are allowed to investigate on their own. Children must be able to support their final answer in order for it to be accept-ed. This is a far more powerful way to learn than regurgitating the answer the textbook or teacher wants.

When educators question students at a deeper level, it’s possible for students to see the contradictions in their own thinking and to adjust their conclusions in light of new information. Adolescents especially begin to question things they take for granted such as societal morés, forms of government, and the like. They no longer take information at face value, but begin to see issues in terms of the bigger picture of their lives and community at large.

Teach About InterconnectednessCurriculum designers have been talking about a systems approach for a long time. When we teach students content while showing them how it fits into a larger system, students are able to see the inter-relatedness of information and skills. They can see their own role in the system and are better able to see the consequences of their actions and the actions of others.

Although this may seem like old infor-mation, it is important that teachers look critically at their practice in order to ensure that thinking is valued con-sistently in the classroom. Educators also need to look at the context of the whole school. There is a hidden struc-ture in each school that either enhances or diminishes the thinking of students. Does the administration value the think-ing of students and communicate that to them? Do students participate in the decision making of the school as a whole? Does the curriculum allow students to interact with the local com-munity and the world as a whole? Is the faculty encouraged to work together and model what they are teaching chil-dren? All of these things will influence how much children feel that their think-ing is valid and valuable.


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Thinking to Learn

Universal ConceptsTomlinson (1995) suggested that dif-ferentiated instruction is best delivered using a concept-based model. In this model, students look at the over-arch-ing principals and ideas on which their study of content is based. Students explore information and its relation to the concepts at a level appropriate to their cognitive ability. Instruction emphasizes making sense of, or under-standing key concepts rather than reten-tion of information. Students are active explorers with the teacher facilitating exploration. Students are encouraged to explore the information and how it relates to the universal concept. This way students can question if the infor-mation fits, and if so, how. This in turn allows students to see how content relates to them and their lives as well.

Some universal concepts that may be used as a framework for content are: patterns, relationships, order, systems, change, power, conflict, and interde-pendence (Kaplan, 1996). It is then the teacher’s job to relate the content to a universal concept and allow students to explore the information from this perspective. This model allows learning to become truly interdisciplinary. For example a class could take the uni-versal concept of systems. Within this framework students could learn about the solar system, the body system, and the system of U.S. government. These concepts are seemingly unrelated, but when placed under the concept of sys-tems many common threads can be found. The possibilities for students to expand their thinking by looking for the relationships between these systems and finding universal commonalities of systems provides a rich avenue for the development of thinking skills.

Universal concepts can be used in vari-ous ways. Some schools choose a uni-versal concept for each grade level. Some schools offer teachers the option of choosing several concepts to look at depending on the content that they are teaching. Either approach works as long as teachers build their instruction in a manner that allows students to not only learn the content, but also a chance to investigate the universal concept in depth. The goal of learning is to teach children how all of the puzzle pieces fit together. It is the process of taking what students learn (the standard) and using it to understand, clarify, prove, and/or define a universal concept.

Depth and ComplexityKaplan (1997) suggested that teaching

should activate higher levels of knowing. Students should be moved into greater depth and complexity and guided to become scholars. Kaplan suggested that teachers use the vocabulary of the discipline they are teaching no matter what the grade level. Details should be included in what is being learned, rather than just the overall view that many textbooks offer today. Students should also be encouraged to look at patterns in what they are learning and relate them to prior knowledge and to investigate these trends and look for connections outside the discipline cur-rently being studied. When students are allowed to investigate, in depth, they become aware of what they already know and begin to ponder questions about what they still need or want to know. Teachers using this model allow students to become the practitioner, to ponder the ethics of the discipline, hypothesize about the rules and struc-tures, and find the underlying theories and principles of each discipline. Kaplan developed a set of eleven icons that help students and teachers identify different aspects of their learning.

Six HatsAlthough De Bono (1985) originally designed this thinking model for use in the commercial world, it has been used in the classroom with great success. De Bono contended that thinking is stream-lined and becomes more efficient when all members of the group are looking at an issue from one perspective at a time, rather than coming at it from many dif-ferent perspectives. He chose six differ-ent perspectives to look at a particular issue. Group members are asked to look at the issue from a particular perspec-tive for a period of time. Only thoughts that fit with that perspective can be offered to the discussion. The students benefit as they begin to evaluate infor-mation from multiple perspectives. In the model, the white hat asks students to look at the facts, figures, and objec-tive information pertaining to the dis-cussion. Donning the red hat allows students to talk about their feelings and emotions in relation to the topic. The black hat requires students to look at all the pitfalls, negative, or logical thoughts regarding any plans suggested or information gathered. The yellow hat requires students to assess the positive and constructive parts of the topic. The green hat is the time for creative brain-storming , and finally, the blue hat keeps everyone on task and on time. Each hat should only be worn for a short period of time in order to move students through the different perspectives and prevent students from rambling while wearing their favorite hat. Some may be easy

for students to use, some more difficult. The hats can be used in any sequence and not all hats have to be used for any given problem or issue. This model works for all ages and can be accessed at many different levels of complexity. The benefit of De Bono’s Six Hats is that students begin to look at issues through lenses that may not be comfortable for them or in a way they had not thought of before. Exposure to different views enables students to think more critically and creatively when a problem is posed to them in the future.

Conclusion

Thinking-skills instruction is critical for success in the world children live in today. It is imperative that curriculum and instruction reflects this and meets these needs of children. When we give students the skills to think critically we give them the ability to be flexible and innovative thinkers. They begin to access their intellectual capacity in ways they had not thought of before. Students begin to be able to monitor their own thought processes and ana-lyze their progress towards a solution or goal in a much more considered man-ner. They begin to build those habits of mind necessary to be innovative.

Intelligence is the habit of persis-tently trying to understand things and make them function better. Intelligence is working to fig-ure things out, varying strategies until a workable solution is found. Intelligence is knowing what one does (and doesn’t) know, seek-ing information, and organizing that information so that it makes sense and can be remembered. In short, one’s intelligence is the sum of one’s habits of the mind. (Resnick, 1999, p.40)

It is the responsibility of the educator to ensure that children have the oppor-tunities to develop their intelligence and grow into deep thinking, productive members of society.

References

Berman S. (1991). Thinking in con-text: Teaching for open-mindedness and critical understanding. In A.L. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking (3rd ed.) (pp. 11-17). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Bruner, J. (1989). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press.


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Costa, A.L. (2004). Introduction: The vision. In A.L. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking (3rd ed., pp. xv-xviii). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

De Bono, E. (1985). Six thinking hats. Lebanon, IN: Little Brown and Company.

Kaplan, S. (1996). Definitions of dimen-sions of depth and complexity. Differentiating the core curriculum and instruction to provide advanced learning opportunities. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education and California Association for the Gifted.

Kaplan. S. (1997). Facilitating the understanding of depth and com-plexity. Unpublished table.

Resnick, L.B. (1999). Making America Smarter: The real goal of school reform. In A.L. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking (3rd ed., pp. 3-6). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Tomlinson, C.A. (1995). Differentiating instruction for advanced learners in the mixed-ability middle school classroom. ERIC Digest E536.

Jillian Gates is a Frederick N. Andrews Fellow at Purdue University where she is pursu-ing a Ph.D. in Gifted Education. She earned a M.Ed. in Special Education, with a focus in gifted education, from the University of Alaska, Anchorage before moving to Purdue.

The information contained in this article aligns with the follow-ing NAGC Pre-K—Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards: Curriculum Instruction (1.0, 2.1, 3.0, and 5.0). For a complete copy of the Standards, visit www.nagc.org.

As teachers, the classroom environment we create and the tasks we choose for our students have a significant impact on our students' learning. We want all our students to do mathematics with a deep conceptual understanding and the ability to use their mathematical knowledge in new ways to solve “messy” problems – the kinds of prob-lems encountered in real life but not often found in textbooks or worksheets. Students need to move beyond memorization of facts, algorithms and formulas and to engage in higher-level mathematical tasks.

Our perception of what it means to do mathematics is shaped by our experiences and opportunities. Most, if not all, of us have been in mathematics classes where the teacher demonstrates a procedure and then students replicate and practice while the teacher hopes the students master the procedure. Yet outside the classroom we seldom encoun-ter a set of 30 similar problems that need to be solved with only 30 to 45 minutes of effort. Real problems can take days, weeks, or even years to solve. This disconnect between classroom math and math in the real life may be one of the reasons we so often hear the question, “why do we need to learn this?” In the May, 2007 edition of Phi Delta Kappan, Nick Fiori has a short article entitled, Four Practices Math Classrooms Could do Without. If you can find a copy I highly recommend you take a moment to read it. In the article he writes,

Most of my mathematician friends and I are only able to solve about two problems a year – if we’re lucky! Tell a mathematician you’ve solved even five problems in a single day, and the first thing she will think is, “They must not have been very interesting problems” (p. 695).

While it took many years of hard work and practice to get to Nick’s level, the message here is that the kinds of problems we offer our students are more important than the number of problems. For high-ability students a worksheet of 30 similar problems are either quickly finished with little cognitive engagement or avoided at all cost while one intriguing problem may hold a child’s interest for days.

Choosing good problems is not easy. A student’s prior knowledge, interests, age, and experiences, both in and out of the classroom, should all be considered. But even the best problems can fail to engage students in a classroom environment that doesn’t reward risk taking and creativity. Henningsen and Stein (1997) found that the lack of adequate time, the pressure to cover all the material, or student appeals to be “taught” the way to solve the problem may cause the teacher to reduce the complexity of the task. This shifts the cognitive demands from the student to the teacher and the student thought processes to application of procedures rather than conceptual understanding. If the classroom focus is on coverage and accuracy, students are denied the time needed to think and explore mathematical ideas. High level mathematical abilities become equated with speed and accuracy while opportunities to develop understanding and mathematical habits of the mind are lost.

Knowing your students is essential in selection of mathematical tasks. Without such an understanding, the tasks you choose may not appeal to the students, be too hard or too easy. George Polya’s (1965) three principles of teaching stress active learning, motiva-tion, and consecutive phases. The best motivation comes from tasks students find inter-esting. Active learning involves “letting the students discover by themselves as much as feasible” (p.104) when dealing with the mathematical concepts. He advocates a Socratic approach to instruction over the didactic approach more often used in mathematics instruction. With this approach we seek to avoid the mistake of dues ex machine, the introduction of a “device … which leads to the result all right, but the students cannot see for their life how it was humanly possible to discover such a trick which appeared right out of the blue” (p 120). So let your students ask questions or ask questions they might ask by themselves and let your students give the answers or pose answers found.

Consecutive phases bring to our students a broader range of experiences than rou-tine problems can offer. Just as spelling and grammar exercises are useful tools in the instruction of language, routine problems are useful too. However just as limiting instruction to spelling and grammar denies our students opportunities to use and appre-ciate the richness and beauty of language, offering only routine problems does the same in mathematics. Polya believed that the foremost goal of teaching is to teach our stu-

iMATHination

By Eric L. Mann, Purdue [email protected]

continued on page THP-14


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Kids Capture Kinetic Energy in the Visual Arts

Many enriched and differentiated programs are caught in the discursive mode, neglecting other creative, nonverbal, sensory experiences that cross disciplines and unlock imagi-nation and creativity. This issue’s ARTS column addresses one way to experience and deepen appreciation of visual art through non-discursive kinetic energy using sounds and movement. Use kinetic energy in the classroom or as an Enrichment Cluster.

The fifth-grade classes I worked with visited a large city museum. A group of three boys stood in front of a bold, black and white Franz Kline painting while the docent watched in amazement as they moved their arms diagonally in vigorous arcs while describing the “firmness, strength, slashing, and thrust” of the artist’s brush strokes. The docent had never seen students so actively engaged in viewing paintings. She asked their teacher, “What have you been doing with these children? They look like they’re dancing the paint-ing!” The classroom teacher explained, “We’ve been finding kinetic energy in art.” How can painting reveal kinetic energy? We speak of electrical, solar, and breakfast cereal energy. We learn about potential and kinetic energy. In addition, we feel energy; we feel sluggish, dispirited or vigorous and vital. Dancer, author and aesthetician Rudolf Laban (1975) referred to this energy in people as “effort.” He studied the qualitative aspects of human movement, voice, and intentional effort in dance, theatre, and busi-ness transactions. He then categorized the effort of human energy into four elements: time, space, force, and flow. I utilized these categories to develop what Langfeld (1920) called “motor attitudes” and “muscular responses” in aesthetic viewing. Our fifth graders viewed visual art through their kinesthetic sense; they learned to sense energy in art!

Here’s what we did. Once a month each K-5 class received a large print of a famous artwork. I challenged the students to notice as much as they could about the contents and creation of the painting during the month it was left in their classroom. When I returned, armed with a collection of world percussion instruments, I asked, “What did you notice about the energy in this painting?” Students answered with words like calm, busy, strong, happy, sad, jagged, restful, angry, jumpy, or nervous. Then I asked them to listen to the energy in the instruments. In the beginning they listened and found pat-terns and brush strokes in the paintings that they thought corresponded to the sounds from the instruments. By the second month, the students were using the instruments themselves to make their own visual-sound connections.

In the third through fifth sessions, we explored Laban’s effort words (time, space, force and flow) with our bodies to describe kinesthetic aspects of human energy in art. For the element of time we moved quickly and then slowly. Then we found quick marks that dabbed, flicked, slashed, or thrusted. Students used their bodies to show lines, planes (diagonal, vertical, horizontal), and shapes in space: some movements were direct and straight (glide, press) while others were curvy and indirect (float, wring). Next students identified paintings they felt had areas of lightness or firmness and strength – flow or controlled, clearly defined shapes.

By the sixth session students performed art/movement/sound creations. For example, when studying Mexico, one group interpreted Orozco’s painting Zapatistas (Museum of Modern Art) using instrumental sounds, body shapes, levels, streamers and then by moving their arms in strong patterned slashes. They were making transformations from the painting to kinetic energy.

In the eighth session, before their field trip to the museum, students were able to observe and feel the energy in artworks as well as provide qualitative and thematic rea-sons to justify their movement and sound choices related to concepts of line, pattern, color, texture, shape, intensity and subject content. Creating kinetic energy pieces by transforming art into sound and movement deepened their aesthetic and imaginative experience.

Please see references in column to the right

The Arts: Minds in Motion

By Gail N. Herman, Garrett [email protected]

iMATHination, continued from page THP-13

dents to think. Through Socratic dialogue students are involved in the formulation of the problem as well as the application of procedures to solve it. Polya writes, “the formulation of the problem may be the better part of discovery, the solution needs less insight and originality than the formu-lation” (p.105). The phases of instruction begin with an exploratory phase where students work through concrete experi-ences and moves to a more conceptual level where terminology and definitions are presented and procedures are “dis-covered.” The final phase is assimilation where students integrate the new con-cepts into their personal understanding of mathematics.

As the school year begins, I encourage you to choose carefully the mathemati-cal problems and experiences you offer. I also invite you to explore your own ideas about mathematics because without some experience in the creative math-ematical activities, it is difficult to help or even recognize the creative activities of your students. Several of my favorite sources of mathematical problems are available at http://www.edci.purdue.edu/elmann/MathResourceText.html and Nick Fiori offers several problems I’m looking forward to exploring at http://www.stan-ford.edu/~nfiori/

References

Fiori, N. (2007). Four practices that math classrooms could do without. Phi Delta Kappan, 88, 695-696.

Henningsen, M., & Stein, M.K, (1997). Mathematical tasks and student cog-nition: Classroom-based factors that support and inhibit high-level mathe-matical thinking and reasoning. Journal for Research in Mathematics, 28, 524-549.

Polya, G. (1965). Mathematical discovery: On understanding, learning, and teach-ing problem solving. Vol. II. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

References for The Arts: Minds in Motion (left)

Herman, G. N., & Hollingsworth, P. (2002). Kinetic kaleidoscope: Exploring movement and energy in visual arts. Tulsa, OK: University School, University of Tulsa.

Laban, R. (1975). Modern educa-tional dance (3rd ed.). London: Macdonald & Evans.

Langfeld, H. S. (1920). The aesthet-ic attitude. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press.


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The Curriculum Connection

By Jennifer Beasley, University of [email protected]

Online Curriculum: Just Point and Click?

It’s Friday afternoon and a student approaches you with a request to work on his independent project. He is fin-ished with the assignment and is eager to continue his research on bioengi-neering. You swiftly direct his atten-tion to the computer, where you have bookmarked some websites for him to explore on his own and he begins.

This scenario was not unlike several in my own classroom. I felt like I was a technology-savvy teacher and was proud of the way I could locate resources for my students on a moment’s notice. What had failed to occur to me was how my students were making sense of what they were finding and how the informa-tion fit into the complex, concentrated curriculum that had been outlined by my school district to meet state and national standards. Was I guiding my students to become lifelong learners, or were they just a point and click away from becoming passive consumers? Structure and Function as it Relates to Online Curriculum

As teachers, we want to provide curricu-lum that will challenge and motivate our students. In planning engaging learning experiences, we often weigh questions that relate to the structure and func-tion of curriculum. This holds true for planning online experiences as well.

Questions that relate to the structure of the online experience might be: How much time do we have to spend on this concept/learning activity?

How easy is it for the student to navigate the web resource?What prerequisite skills or special software/hardware does the experi-ence require?Do I have the resources and mate-rials to help my student?Will this involve homework on the part of the student or myself?What happens when the student is finished, or not finished?

Questions that relate to the function of the online experience might be:

What are the (or my) learning goals for this activity? Will this online

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experience help my student reach those goals? How does this online experience relate to the standards my district has in place?Does this address the student’s interests, learning profile, or readi-ness? Why is using this online resource more beneficial than a more tradi-tional resource?Is the information contained on the website reliable and accurate?

By answering the above questions, we can begin to guide our decisions informed by learning goals and student need.

There are many resources that can aid us as we evaluate the content and design of online curriculum. Two handy resources are WWW CyberGuide (www.cyberbee.com/guides.html), which pro-vides easy-to-use checklists to evaluate web content and ease of use, and Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators (http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html), which posts not only criti-cal evaluation surveys, but also many other resources for charting unfamiliar territories.

Quality Control

As educators, we often rely on the “word of mouth” of our colleagues to guide us to resources that demonstrate qual-ity. I am grateful for colleagues who have led me to the following resources:

Digital Edge Learning Interchange (http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/deli)

Sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the International Society for Technology in Education, this resource hous-es an online library of teacher-cre-ated lessons meeting the needs of K-12 students. All lessons outline the National Standards that guide the activ-ity as well as the necessary materials.

Institute for Educational Advancement: Gifted Resource Center(http://www.educationaladvancement.org/resources/search/learning.php)

The goal of the Gifted Resource Center is “to provide a customized starting point

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in your search for resources appropri-ate for gifted students.” The Distance Learning Search provides online cur-riculum resources based on your own search requirements. Resources range from courses in which students can enroll to curriculum available for down-load.

National Educational Technology Standards Project (http://cnets.iste.org)

The NETS Project is developing stan-dards to guide educational leaders in recognizing and addressing the essen-tial conditions for effective use of tech-nology to support Pre-K-12 education. The site is a resource for curriculum that meets National Technology Standards as well as National Standards in the con-tent areas. There are a limited number of lessons in each subject and grade level, but the lessons are extensive and include the author’s email address.

Thinkquest(http://www.thinkquest.org)

This site contains a library of unique student-designed, project-based learn-ing experiences. Each project has been evaluated using a clear criterion that is posted on the site. The search engine is an efficient tool for finding websites to supplement classroom activities, but you need to review the websites to determine ease of use and whether the information meets the purpose you have in mind.

Control-Alt-Delete

There are times I look back on my teaching experiences and wish I could hit the “control-alt-delete” button to reboot and start them again. Some of my early attempts with online cur-riculum were misguided at best, but not malevolent. We strive to provide cur-riculum that will challenge and motivate our students and online curriculum has the potential to be a valuable resource. Through collaboration with fellow edu-cators and spending time reflecting on goals we have determined for learn-ing experiences, we can become more knowledgeable of how to meet the needs of our students as we guide them to become lifelong learners.


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School Counselors, continued from page THP-8

A framework for school counseling pro-grams. Fairfax, VA: Author.

De Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to solutions in brief therapy. New York: Norton.

Kahn, B.B. (2000). A model of solu-tion-focused consultation for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 3, 248-255.

Murphy, J.J. (1997). Solution-focused counseling in middle and high schools. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

National Association for Gifted Children. (1998). Pre-K-grade 12 gifted pro-gram standards. Washington, DC: Author.

Pelsma, D., Richard, G., Harrington, R., & Burry, J. (1989). The quality of life survey: A measure of teacher stress and job satisfaction. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 21, 165-176.

Robinson, N. M. (2002). Introduction. In M. Neihart, S. Reis, N. Robinson, & S. Moon (Eds.), The social and emotional development of gifted chil-dren: What do we know? (pp. xi-xxiv). Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press.

Stone, C. & Dahir, C. (2006). The trans-formed school counselor. New York: Lahaska Press.

Susannah Wood, Ph.D., is an assistant pro-fessor at the University of Iowa where she teaches both doctoral and master’s students pursuing degrees in school counseling with an emphasis in gifted education. Prior to her academic appointment, Susannah worked as a middle school counselor and spent her summers as a residential counselor for pro-grams such as Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth, and the Virginia Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts and Humanities.

The information contained in this article aligns with the follow-ing NAGC Pre-K—Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards: Socio-Emotional Guidance and Counseling (1.0 - 5.0). For a complete copy of the Standards, visit www.nagc.org.

The Potential Power of Podcasting

Arguably one of the most influential technological innovations of the past decade, the iPod has sold over 100 million units. While most of these devices are loaded with digital music, an increasing number of them are being utilized to listen to some of the over 100,000 free podcasts. Although originally designed for iPods, podcasts now can be downloaded on any mp3 device or on your computer. So, What is a Podcast?

A podcast is a digital file that contains audio and often video images that are download-able from the Internet. Podcasts are not a singular event, but rather a series of broad-casts on a common theme or topic. While podcasts can be found on websites, the largest database exists within the store at iTunes.

For anyone, who does not have iTunes already loaded on their computer, this powerful, interactive media player is available for free from http://www.apple.com/itunes/down-load/. The database can be searched by keywords or browsed by topic. Once you find a podcast you are interested in, you can listen to individual episodes, or you can sub-scribe and when new episodes are available, they will automatically download onto your computer–for free.

Much of what is available has been created by small groups of devoted individuals who possess an overwhelming desire to share their knowledge and opinions. Often these podcasts lack what one might consider to be educational value, but don’t be discour-aged. In the vast sea of available podcasts there is a multitude of rich resources. Here are some of my favorite podcasts.

iTunesU (http://www.apple.com/itunesu) is a collection of recorded lectures from actual classes in various disciplines from universities such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, and Duke. This is a treasure trove for quality, high-level content for students whose curiosity may seem insatiable.

Ask a Biologist (http://askabiologist.asu.edu/podcasts) features scientists from Arizona State University answering questions submitted by K-12 students to their web-site. With topics ranging from whether or not animals see color to ants doing math, this is sure to entice the budding biologists in your classroom.

Museum of Science Boston (http://www.mos.org/educators/student_resources/pod-casts) conducts weekly interviews with their own staff of scientists and guest research-ers. This collection of podcasts offers an in-depth look at the most current developments in science and technology.

NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting) features 33 different podcast series to choose from. Many of which contain video and images from NASA projects. Be sure to subscribe to the weekly video updates on current research being conducted and monthly astronomy guides to the night sky.

The Writer’s Almanac featuring Garrison Keillor from American Public Media (http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/podcasts) and many of your other favorite National Public Radio (http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php) pro-grams are available to download and listen to at your leisure. Prepare for the upcoming NAGC Convention in Minneapolis by getting a daily dose of Garrison Keillor.

Finally, to experience the potential of podcasting within an educational setting, be sure to visit the Mabry Middle School website (http://mabryonline.org). This Marrietta, Georgia, school has effectively embraced and integrated technology into nearly every aspect of the school setting. Principal Tim Tyson regularly podcasts school announce-ments and many of the teachers have created their own. Even more impressive is the annual student film festival held at the school each year. This year’s films center on the topic of “Making Our World a Better Place” and are excellent examples of service learn-ing in action.

This is only a smattering of the ever-increasing number of podcasts available to you If you are using podcasts in your classroom, please let me know how you incorporate this resource and be sure to include your favorite podcast.

Technology UntangledBy Brian Housand, University of [email protected]

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