Formative Assessment

We know that one of the best ways to improve student outcomes is to provide quality feedback. It is also essential we give students the tools to clarify their understanding.

Love this link to a post on one of my favourite education sites, Edutopia.


This page provides a download to a list to keep in your planning folder as a reference to pop in reflection and revision ideas when planning your week.

Jan Rivera - Support for Educators and Parents of Gifted Children

Thanks to Judy McArthur for sharing this blog. It is a great place to visit for informed and easy to read posts about aspects of gifted education. I particularly enjoyed the summaries of the over-excitabilities and the articles on the six types of gifted learners. I have subscribed to her mailing list and look forward to new posts as they are shared.

Edutopia

This website is a fantastic source of inspiring readings and thought provoking articles. Well worth taking some time to browse or following their twitter feeds.

This is what took me there today.

What does it mean to be a great teacher? Of course credentials, knowledge, critical thinking and all other faculties of intelligence are important. However, a great teacher should be much more than credentials, experience and intelligence.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Reading and Quotes; Two of My Favourite Things

This page contains great quotes from the works of Roald Dahl.

Love them!

Education and Change

There is an interesting article floating around about what is becoming obsolete in teaching. I would have to say that these changes seem to becoming very slowly and I have been taking part in discussions about these things that are now obsolete for a long time.

What do you think?

Maths and Gifted Education - get children talking

These are two topics that I am very passionate about. What I love about this article is it confirms the approach being used by Australasian schools. I have had the benefit of many hours of maths learning this year and key to this learning is teaching children about mathematical concepts through inquiry and talk.

Children who 'get maths' need to be challenged to think mathematically and rich mathematical tasks that are open ended and lead to a discussion of pure mathematics do this. We need to get our bright children talking and discovering mathematical ideas rather than keeping them busy with pages of problems or websites and games.

Sources for these activities include:
nzmaths.co.nz/problem-solving
blackdouglas.com.au
Otago Maths Problem Solving Resources
Think Boards
Andrew Jeffrey Resources www.andrewjeffrey.co.uk
Number Sense
Open Ended Maths Activities, SullivanP., & Lilburn, P. (2004)
Figure it Out Resources

Dysgraphia

I love information presented in a clear concise way. This graphic appeals not only for the key information it gives parents and teachers about dysgraphia but also the solutions. This is a condition sometimes effecting gifted children that leads to being identified as'twice exceptional.' Of course it is a learning condition that can affect all learners and impact their progress.