BPS HAL

Motivation Monday!

Happy Monday! A great reminder for the first official week of the school year!

Teachers...check out this informative podcast on effectively utilizing socratic seminars in your classroom! Goes along with part of the new ELA curriculum.

This episode was so fun to record and I learned so much from Julie Lee, AKA here on Instagram. If you are wanting to encourage your learners to ask better questions, become better listeners, and practice thoughtful dialogue, you have to listen to this episode.

At the end, we even discussed how the Socratic Seminar experience can be woven into Genius Hour…but you’ll have to listen to find out. 😉

Enjoy and please reach out to Julie or myself if you have questions at all!

It's back to school time! Get your students excited to dive into a good book! Check out these book lists for advanced readers!
https://bit.ly/4dqD5H8

Almost time to go back to school! Get a head start by diving into a great book! Here is a list of SciFi and Fantasy books for advanced elementary and middle school readers!
https://bit.ly/3Sw36Nj

Need a fun and engaging way to get kids interacting at the beginning the year? Looking for a unique way to build a classroom community? Try using Topi Cubes!

BLUE ORANGE GAMES Topicubes, Brown In this fun word game, players roll 10 dice, 5 with a Letter, and 5 with an illustrated topic, and race to find matching words. A winning matching word must start with one of the letters showing on a die, and must belong to one of the category showing on a dice of a different color. With topics l...

3rd-6th, Middle and High School teachers...here are some great learning games to add to your back to school wishlists! Games in the classroom promotes collaboration, communication, resiliency, and perseverance! Check out this list of fun and engaging games! https://pin.it/6tGW9NyST

Back to school time is here! Teachers...as you create your classroom wish lists, don't forget to add some brain games! Games can be a wonderful instructional tool! Here are some games for K-3 classrooms that build visual spatial, critical thinking, and problem solving skills! Check them out HERE: https://pin.it/1QL1WvdL1

At some point, as educators, I’m sure we’ve all made these mistakes. But, when we know better, we do better (thank you, Maya Angelou). So, let’s talk about some common mistakes that are often made in the classroom when it comes to gifted learners.

Giving Busywork: Gifted learners recognize and resent busywork. One of the keys to serving gifted learners well is to intentionally plan with them in mind. When designing a learning experience, don’t just consider what you will do if they don’t understand, it’s also important to consider what you will do if they DO understand.

Assuming Mastery: Gifted learners are very rarely good at everything that they do. There will likely be days that they will struggle. Be intentional about checking for understanding that gives gifted learners the opportunity to explain what they don’t understand and provide what they need based on their response instead of their label.

Nobody’s Perfect: Expecting perfection or even expecting their best every single day isn’t fair. Even as educators, I think it’s safe to say that we aren’t our BEST every day. There are bad days for everyone and the same is true for gifted learners. Support them on their hard days and help them understand that, while doing their best is important, it’s okay to just be okay and help them learn to focus on mastery rather than perfection.

Beyond Academics: Serving gifted learners well goes way beyond the academic side of education. Gifted learners have specific social-emotional needs that need to be understood. This is why it’s so important for educators that have gifted learners in the classroom to receive training regarding who gifted learners are and what they need most from the education experience. .

What are some mistakes that you’ve made or seen when it comes to serving gifted learners well? Let’s work together to understand giftedness and make our classrooms a place that they feel valued and challenged.