Last year, around this time, I posted about the Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) graduation speech that I planned to share with my gifted 5th graders. I did share it with them, and I intend to share it with my current 5th graders this week. They will go on to middle school next year, and … Read more
In our district, most 5th grade GT students read the book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry. This amazing piece of dystopian literature spawns endless discussions about topics from the meaning of freedom to the potential consequences of genetic engineering. I have read this book with a group of students every year for 14 years, and … Read more
I ran across this video, which is a TED talk given by the author Brad Meltzer, on the Mindshift blog originally. It is an inspirational speech that every young person should watch. Meltzer outlines the three pieces of advice that he gives his own children: dream big, work hard, and stay humble. He gives various … Read more
Sometimes I start reading a blog post and my jaw drops. I am constantly amazed by the work of educators around the globe, and Sonya Terborg is one person I deeply admire. From her blog, I learned about The Passion Project, and I am absolutely convinced that I must somehow find a way to include … Read more
I am so jealous of New York City. They just acquired one more museum, and I’m pretty sure it would be a great destination for a field trip. The Museum of Mathematics opened in December of 2012. In this article by Bob Minzesheimer of USA TODAY, it is described as ‘”a kind of playground” and a … Read more
I first learned about the web game, “Refraction“, from Julie Greller’s post on “A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet”. Since my 5th grade daughter happens to be knee-deep in fractions right now, I was intrigued by Julie’s description of the game, which involves guiding lasers to power spaceships. I followed her link to the … Read more