As we come to the end of this year together, I've been thinking about students moving on to new classrooms and new schools. With about half the students in 305, we've grown together for two years now and I'll miss the glints in many of those eyes I've come to know so well.
We have a number of things still planned, as many of you know: last Friday's labour history walk was an interesting pilot test that I look forward to repeating and refining. Many students had positive feedback about learning the "hidden history" of Toronto, which I think will be fascinating to explore further. In some ways, it was a serendipitous extension of the "commoning" project they had where they planned a playscape for Dundas Square, by becoming more aware of the city around them.
Tomorrow (Monday), we'll revisit the COBWEB program at University of Toronto, where students will continue to explore this program. Tuesday and Thursday, we have Mika's father, Matt Price, in to work with us again to explore web based programming (especially html) through a program called Hackasaurus. Students seem overwhelmingly excited by the chance to "hack" and remix web elements. We've got a school spelling bee and Play Day planned for this week as well. Next week, we'll start off our final few days together with a bowling field trip on Monday (June 27th), followed by Grade 6 Graduation on Tuesday and a final day celebration on Wednesday, June 29th. All in all, there's a lot to look forward to these next few weeks.
A parent in my friend network with gifted kids of her own passed on this video link and the gentleman speaking does a good job of summarizing some of the key things behind my own practice as a teacher (chiefly that challenge, structure and a recognition of individual need are key to the success of these students), but he also addresses some of those key questions people often ask about gifted education with research and data to back it up. Normally, I'd post something like this at the beginning of a year, but with all the upcoming transitions, it seems as good a time as any to reflect a bit:
Accurate Assessment? Asperger's Disorder, and Other Common Misdiagnoses and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children - IME Video Library
