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Gifted Education / Organization & Time Management / Reflective Practice / Space Configurations Posted on: February 1, 2015February 1, 2015

“My” Classroom Space Configuration 2006-2010 (Part 1 of 2)

Recently, our team was discussing classroom space configurations. Mary and Jim asked about the configurations I used as a teacher. I drew them a diagram (recreated in Google drawings here). We had one type of student desk (yellow seat attached to wooden desk with metal basket underneath). Desks were arranged in two groups of rows. One grouping faced the “front” of the room and the other faced the “side” of the room where the double whiteboards were mounted on the wall. At least 3 factors limited the flexibility of this space…1) the type of desks, 2) the role students were […]

21st Century MV Mindsets / Gifted Education / Learning / Learning Outcomes / Philosophy / Professional Learning Posted on: April 11, 2014January 25, 2015

Mount Vernon Mindsets

Gifted Education / Leadership / Progress Monitoring Posted on: July 9, 2013January 25, 2015

#14 What Are Your Strengths?

What stands out when you look at this report card…? Math A+ Science A Composition A- Literature A History F Music A+ If you noticed five “As” then congratulations! Your default is to look for strengths. Why is it that we are drawn to the “F” despite all of the positive? It raises a larger question – is it better to focus on shoring up our weaknesses or exploiting […]

Gifted Education Posted on: July 4, 2013July 4, 2013

#9 How to Challenge Gifted Students: An Interview with Dr. Arianna Shirk

A key challenge at Mount Vernon (and every school I have worked in) is how to challenge those students who score 100 on everything. Often, the teacher’s energy and focus goes to the “lower performing” students. The high achievers often do not receive the challenge they deserve because teachers think, “Oh, they’re fine. They’ve already got it. They get everything. They can help tutor the others.” This is a myth in need of busting. All students deserve and need to be challenge beyond their current ability, including and especially the ‘gifted’ students. A key approach to solving challenges at Mount […]