Analysis

Describe three curricular activities that would utilize a blog, wiki or Google Docs and be suitable for gifted student extension. Kathy Melnyk 1. This year, for the first time, the elementary gifted support teacher will be working on a unit with the secondary gifted support teacher. We plan to bring gifted kids in grades 4-6 at the elementary level together with gifted kids in grades 7-9 at the secondary level to study East Asia and its growing importance and influence in the world. The students will meet in person once a marking period as we collaborate, study and prepare to present acquired knowledge with others. The students will create an action plan in person and then communicate their progress and reflections on a wiki. The use of technolgy and management of the wikispace will be coordinated by the select 9th graders who have technolgy as one of their independent learning goals in gifted support.

2. One way to use googledocs in gifted support would be to provide access to all teachers who deal with my gifted kid caseload so that they can view and add information relative to the students we share. This information can be such things as interest inventories, learning style preferences, present levels of performance and curriculum based assessments that would correlate with assessments from prior years and/or teachers. I have not used googledocs for this purpose in the past, but I am always looking for more efficient ways to share information and keep relevant updated information available.

3. I have students in three buildings reading a novel. The essential questions are definitely the kind that generate discussion. The diverse opinions represented by one group of students are often rich enough to spark a day's worth of conversation. I all too often need to carefully curb the length of these discussions based upon time limitations. Using a blog to post reflections would allow students to continue their conversation based upon personal interest and available free time at home. Being able to ask questions of blog authors will provide unlimited opportunities for extended learning outside the classroom. I am looking forward to the possibilities a blog might provide in facilitating discussions between buildings in my district. An even greater opportunity would present itself if I could find other students reading the same novel in other districts.

Melissa Havekotte 1. Students in a regular education classroom could do a group writing. One student begins the story, and other students come on and add parts to the story. This is a good exercise to increase creative thinking. The assignment could be accomplished using a wiki. As an extension for a gifted student, this student could act as a monitor and the group "editor." It gives them a role of leadership and also allows them to use their talents with a subtle extention of the assignment. As the editor and group leader, the gifted student could write the first paragraph/section (establish a foundation) and be responsible for writing the conclusion and pulling it all together. Other students would write sections in the middle. The gifted student would have the opportunity to contribute to the middle as well.

2. We have a greenhouse at my school, and a lot of children actively use it. Students study plants in various grades and could do a horticulture project growing their own plants. An extension project could be blogging observations as the plants grow. This would increase technology, critical thinking, and writing skills.

3. Students could create a "newspaper" with Google Docs. The "editor" (perhaps a gifted student's extention project in the regular ed. classroom) can then continue with an updated working document. The editor could be responsible for assembling the articles into a newspaper format as well.

Carolyn Hoy- 1. Students in an extra curricular book club could be members of a "virtual" wiki book club. The books would be chosen ahead of time, and read over the course of a month. At the end of the month, everyone could write their reactions, either to a set of questions or "free-style." Incoporating authors or librarians, language arts teachers, and parents would make it intergenerational and provide lots of insights to adults and students, especially if the book is of special interest groups, such as young women, underachievers, history buffs, non-fiction. It makes the necessity of all at the same place, same time unnecessary, therefore solving logistical issues. This could also be adapted for a higher reading group in any grade. The students could be assigned different levels of understanding, or different pieces of literature. The wiki could be used for group collaboration on the book, the extension, or the questions the students pose. This ideas would differentiate, appeal to students from a technology standpoint, or provide an opportunity to do authentic assessment if the students are asked to do book reviews.

2.Students could start metacognitive blogs on long term project work. By having to get on daily or weekly to make entries, they could reflect on their progress in a fairly public manner. By posting links to research or web sites of value, they could also help each other with issues and problems. An opportunity for community mentors or other teachers to get involved exists, as students can send links to their blogs with opportunities for the experts to assist. Because it would be monitored by the gifted support teacher, the student would have to adhere to all the acceptable use policies of the school district, therefore keeping the blog educational in nature. The strength in this idea for gifted students is in accountability for their independent project work (have to blog and mention progress, so progress must be made), interactivity for others, peers and adults, and opportunity to be creative in keeping the blog, not to mention the huge necessity for metacognitive thought on the project.

3. Students in different schools could collaborate on a project that explains giftedness to their peers. The project could be a newsletter, series of journals, or a movie. By opening a dialogue on what is giftedness, they could get ideas from each other on how to best explain to others, thereby examining their own traits. Making it between schools gives a wider audience and makes it more connective. This would be especially helpful to have rural/city school connections, or middle school/high school. Eventually the results could be posted on the Internet as a reference point for the students to refer their teachers, classmates, or others. This could be done on a wiki or a Goggle Docs page. Collaboration between two teachers in the schools would be necessary.

MJ Davies 1. My 8th grade communication arts students complete a group research project on WWII/ Holocaust topics. The end product is a group presentation that teaches their classmates about the topic using visual aids, handouts, and media. They spend a week researching and gathering notes to create an outline. They always fuss with each other about the outline and whether it is good enough, bickering over who's going to type it and bring it to school. Doing the outline on Wiki would give them all a chance to edit and monitor the final product, spreading the responsibility throughout the group. The same is true for the hand-outs. For the gifted students in my enriched classes, using the Wiki lets them go right to the top of Bloom's taxonomy as they synthesize and evaluate their products online from their homes until they are all satisfied with the quality.

2. I want my enriched (many gifted) comm. arts students to create short stories with partners. We revise these over and over throughout the year until we eventually publish them. Students often confuse each other by trying to edit and print different drafts from different computers. Also, when they are in a hurry, they print out a copy **without** incorporating my revisions or the new writing techniques they've practiced in class. This drives me nuts! With Wiki, they can keep improving the one document and print it from any of the computers. Even better, I can look at the Wiki and see that they are actually using newly acquired writing techniques to make the story better. The Wiki enables my wonderful right-brained kids to be creative and responsive to instruction without the burden of keeping track of multiple drafts.

3. The third way I am considering using Wikispaces is with our study of certain novels. Students can log onto the page for that novel and then use the discussion tab to post their comments. They can read and respond to their classmates' observations also. This moves my students to the higher levels of the taxonomy as they analyze and evaluate others' comments and then synthesize their own. For my gifted students, this speeds up our study of the novels without sacrificing depth. Knowing that their peers will be reading and responding to their posts will spur gifted students to create thorough, thought-provoking commentary instead of the trite answers often jotted down on worksheets. For instance, my enriched students read two novels over the summer before they come to me. Letting them discuss the novels on a Wiki discussion page would broaden their understanding, challenge them to deeper thinking, and prepare them for higher-level discussions when we meet in the fall.

Lori Bergey 1. My first idea is to use a wiki page for my gifted students to extend a historical fiction book. My students will read the book //The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker//. The story ends when the main character Lucas is only about 12 years old. I will have my students continue this story imagining what Lucas did with his future based on his experiences so far in life. The students will then post the story on our class wiki page. After posting their story, each student will be required to read two of their classmate’s stories and give 3 comments. Two of the comments will be positive and one will be “some thing to work on”. I believe that this is a gifted extension because this assignment goes beyond just finishing the story. It requires the students to read other classmates stories and then make comments. The Wiki page allows the comment part of the assignment to happen quite easily. . It also puts the assignment at the synthesis level with is much higher level on Bloom’s taxonomy. I also believe that publishing the work on the page for their classmates will encourage students to be more thoughtful with their response

2. I would use Goggle Docs in the following way. First I would have my fifth grade gifted students complete a Multiple Intelligence survey to determine their strengths. I then would give the students hands outs which give lists of famous people who have/had similar strengths. I would ask the students to choose 2-3 people who they are curious about and do some quick research about them on the internet or in the library. After finding out some information about those 2-3 people I would ask the students to choose one person that still peaks their interest. This person will then become the focus of their research. After the students complete the research we will use the researched information to create a slide presentation in Google Docs. I think Google Docs will be an effective tool because my students will be able to work on this where ever they have internet access and a computer. That means they will possibly be able to work on this at home and as well as in their classroom. I believe this activity is suitable as a gifted student’s extension activity for several reasons. First I believe it is important for gifted students to know and understand themselves. Doing this activity will help each child learn about him/her self as well as learn about others who may have similar traits or characteristics. I also think that creating the slide presentation helps a child to be creative and use technology all in one task. This project also gives the students an opportunity to share their strengths with others which can be hard to do for my students. The slide presentation puts more of the focus on the famous person which makes it an easier task for the student. I think all of these ideas make this an excellent extension for gifted students.

3. I often do book studies with my advanced and gifted 5th grade students but sometimes I can only meet with them once a week. Many times my students have questions about the chapters they are reading. I think an excellent way to create more discussion would be to create a blog or a wiki page for the book. I think that a wiki page might be easier for my fifth graders but a blog could work as well. I would post the assigned chapters to read as well as a discussion question of the week for student response. This could also be a place for students to ask each other questions or ask for clarification about something that is happening in the book. I love this part of it. I think that the students would enjoy this type of discussion. I also see this as a way for my students to interact with other students across the district who may be reading the same book. I can imagine all types of discussion about themes and ideas that are emerging in the book. I believe this is a great extension for gifted students because it creates a community of like minded people who are discussing the book. It also forces them to write down their thoughts and questions and then publish them. It seems that students who do this can be more thoughtful than if you are just discussing something in a group. It also will make the discussion more student-centered like a real discussion rather than always answering just the teachers questions.

Adam Hess

As a classroom science teacher, one of my main goals in attending this institute was to gain insight into how I might adapt some of my current lessons to provide appropriate extension opportunities for my gifted students enrolled in an honors section of ninth grade science. The following three ideas are examples of such extensions that would utilize technology available in my classroom.


 * 1) In the past I have done collaborative projects that have students in small groups create power point presentations that are then shown to their peers in the class. In the past, groups struggled with how to best combine their work into one finished project without duplicating the work others were doing – especially when one group member missed a day of class. As a result, I was getting sub-standard work turned in and groups complaining that the time that I gave them was insufficient to complete the work. This year I will definitely have students in my honors class utilize google docs so that they can more productively produce a high level product. Hopefully, this will improve upon the quality of work that they are able to complete in the time frame that I give them for such products.
 * 1) An extension that I have already attempted in the past with my honors students is to have them design a survey around knowledge of environmental issues, collect data, and then share that data with the class. This had always been a pen/paper assignment that the students would be successful in completing, but I have never felt that they see it as an enjoyable experience. I feel that having students utilize a wiki to complete the survey would be more enjoyable for them and also give them more data in a shorter amount of time. This will allow me to go deeper into discussion with them as we examine the data in class – and the data itself will be more accurate if they are able to get more responses.
 * 1) A new site I was introduced to during this institute was xtranormal.com, where one can create short animated movies. Immediately, I thought of a way to use this as an extension for my gifted students. In my heterogeneously grouped classes, there are always one or two students working ahead of pace and a larger number that need extended time and alternative ways of learning material. I will offer my advanced students the opportunity to create short animated clips that explain difficult to understand scientific concepts and then share them with some of their slower peers one-on-one in the classroom. Advanced students will undoubtedly have fun with the project and the slower paced students will be exposed to the class content in a new and different manner.

Brendan Rogers

While thinking about how to use wikis, blogs, goggle docs and the other technology resources for gifted student extension, I also began contemplating how to meet the challenges of professional development towards differentiation especially with our gifted students within our district. Differentiation is a an on-going district initiative and the gifted department is beginning to look at ways in which we can be a resource to regular education teachers who are working on meeting the needs of our students within the regular classroom. So, I thought of creating an active learning community utilizing a ning. Within the ning, teachers will be placed within groups based on responses to a Google Docs survey relating to comfortability and understanding of gifted student needs and differentation. Articles and discussion groups will be montiored by our staff to help facilitate learning and growth within each group. Participants will be encouraged to jounral experiences in their attempts to differentiate for students using Blogs. One of my new roles next year will be to push-in to regular education classrooms within the high school and help teachers differentiate honors and AP level courses. Talk about a challenge. I will of course Blog my experiences in the ning as well. Extension beyond the ning will also be made with teachers going into to classrooms for demonstration lessons, and collabortively plan extension activites for gifted students. I will post videos of successful and not so successful lessons on the web site as well. My idea is only growing so I am looking for any and all suggestions. Here is a picture of the site. Currently I have it private for HSD staff members. My thought is that I will use it as a means of differentiated supervision. In our district teachers are allowed to select from several options for supervision beyond the typical observation. One option is coaching which I hope teachers who have advanced experiences in differentation can be allowed to participate in our ning and we also have interactive bok discussion groups which I am hoping techers will be allowed to use this ning as a substitute. Please let me know what you think.