A new school year begins tomorrow! Because I work in a school district that is on a modified year-round calendar, students will be arriving in the height of the monsoon season, but hopefully without as much drama as these amazing desert storms create.
I feel passionate about working with this unique population of gifted students and derive so much personal satisfaction from witnessing their growth each year. As a teacher of gifted children, I'm convinced that I learn far more from them than they learn from me. I am very grateful and excited about the possibilities to create some truly meaningful opportunities for students to discover something wonderful about themselves, and to deepen their own desire to embrace each learning opportunity with a gut-level curiosity.
"Going Green" will be the theme to kick off the school year. This will not simply be an assortment of lessons on the environment. I intend to use this theme to integrate basic research skills and assist students in ferreting out the "truth" about controversial issues from many different perspectives through the implementation of debates. I strongly feel that content is important to build foundations. However, being able to analyze and apply one's knowledge of content is a critical skill that must be fostered and taught. If anyone has suggestions on these ideas, or resources to share, it would be greatly appreciated.
