I used to create extension menus, thinking they were an essential tool for differentiation. Overtime, I’ve changed my thinking. Here’s why.
Year: 2019
Matilda – Book Study Ideas
Roald Dahl’s Matilda, a childhood favorite of mine, opens up some fantastic discussions about adults, being brave, and how power can be used and abused.
Recommendations for a Book Study
Looking for some recommendations for a book study or reading group? Here are some of my favorites (although not necessarily directly about education!).
A Guide To Attending Gifted Education Conferences
What’s the best way to attend a conference? After going to hundreds of them, I offer a few stray thoughts on how I approach an education event.
Too Much Grading
If you ask a teacher to list their top three complaints about teaching, “grading” will be on just about everyone’s list. I know that I absolutely despised all of the weekends lost to grading essays, tests, quizzes, projects, and so on. But, the thing is, I never stopped to ask myself: do I actually need to do all of this grading?
Moving Between the Specific and Abstract
When differentiating, it’s helpful to note where on the “spectrum of abstraction” your content lies. Then, see what happens when you move that content to be more abstract or more specific. It often unlocks lots of new opportunities for thinking.
Fluency: Asking For (Way) More Than One Answer
Being able to generate many possible answers is key to high-level thinking. So why don’t we ask students to do it more often?
Experiment-Based Curiosity Project
How I’d build a curiosity project around an experiment rather than just research.
Book Recommendation: Living Gifted
Lisa Van Gemert gave me a copy of her new book: Living Gifted. Here’s what’s inside…
“Engagement” isn’t BAD, but…
“Engagement” is a nice by-product of a well-designed lesson, but it sure isn’t our actual goal as educators.