Sunday, July 8, 2012

Session 4 - Question 3

What did you gain from this book study?

11 comments:

  1. I always knew there were a lot of competitions out there – I just had no idea how many! I am in the process of planning my AP class next year and I have decided I need a theme. I am leaning toward using one of the contest topics (space habitat or solar design) I have always loved the idea of contests – being naturally very competitive myself, I always enjoyed them. These days, we are (I think) discouraged from having the kids compete. Everyone wins, everyone gets a medal. The kids don’t like it, they are naturally competitive, too. Kids are different – each and every one. What interests and motivates one, bores another. I think contests are a way to excite each child in different ways. In Robotics, my mechanical kids love fixing the drive train, while my creative kids love painting the robot! I am encouraged that I am doing the right thing with these kids and they will benefit from it. Some are a little too competitive, but we work on social skills, as well.

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    1. I think your idea of a contest theme is great! Your students are going to really enjoy learning in your class. You are definitely doing the right thing!

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  2. I feel that since entering into this book study I am walking away with a resource book that can help me plan my lessons and take them a step further for my students. Having this resource book gives me another view on how I can enhance my teaching. I also, see that there are many more competitions that I had no idea about. I have never done the robotics and that is something that seems interesting. We can work as teams and decide what Academic Competitions we would like to experience.

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    1. I like the way Stacey wrote it. Resources to enhance teh opprtunites for GT students and work with the grade level to give them the chance to participate in different competitions.

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    2. Working as a grade level is key to making all the GT students benefit from it and not just one class. There are so many resources to choose from for certain competitions.

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  3. Mrs. Cruz and Stacey:
    I agree! It has been a pleasure being in class with you.

    T

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  4. I learned that there are so many contest out there, and it is nice to have a guide for finding them. I can't wait to start trying some the them out next year! Again the writing will be my priority!

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  5. This book study has helped me realize that competitions can be a realistic way to help students develop essential life skills. Of course, I've also gained many ideas for competitions to include in my gifted program. I had no idea there were so many out there!

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  6. I have enjoyed this book in several ways. Wheni first started reading it, it gave me things to think about that I had not really explored in my mind. I have enjoyed these book studies because I have taken so many GT course in the 22 years i have been teaching and so many of the classes have been repetitive. Reading and answering questions has been so much more beneficial for me because it has given me the opportunity to think about things that I have read and think about ways to import them into my teaching, while sitting here in my kitchen. I have a huge calendar with tons of notes from this book geared to the Olympics (how I am starting off the year, election prep and much more.) I enroll the students in THE STOCK MARKET GAME which is also a competition that is great fun, using lots of math, so this book supplied me with competitions for writing to enrich my curriculum.

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  7. I really enjoyed reading other participant's perspectives and which competitions they liked for certain things. So often we get trapped into our own way of thinking, so this opened my eyes to other competitions that I had previously overlooked. I also liked the freedom to communicate without being judged.

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  8. In response to Stacey L: I also liked the way you phrased your answer. I feel like I have this huge resource at my fingertips for my future lesson plans.

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