CSAP week 1 down

The kids did a great job of working diligently on their csap testing this week. Many of them were excited to tell me about a poem they had to analyze that we actually read in language arts last year. We're using the latest writing goals for our language arts classes to predict how the kids will do on csap writing this year. It will be interesting to see how close our predictions are...but we have to wait until AUGUST to see the results!

How much technology is too much?

Is there too much of "the department of redundancy department" in technology tools? If I use Wikis, do I need Groups and Blogs? If I'm on Facebook, do I also need MySpace? With a plethora of choices for many different applications, we have to be judicial with our time and use of tech tools. In this era of adolescent obesity, how much do we want to invite our students to spend even more time sitting on their hind ends in front of a computer? While I value the tools I use for my students' access and communication, I also want to focus on providing them with choices that will encourage movement, activity and creativity. How will this look? I'm not sure yet, but will surely be considering it.

And into the CSAP season we go...

Just as teachers and students alike begin to feel the burn-out and heaviness of the school year, the most important state test we conduct is upon us. The Colorado Student Assessment Program, CSAP assesses students for reading, writing and math achievement; in middle school 8th graders also take a science test. This criterion-based test is supposed to be a measure of a student's learning, as well as a school's instructional proficiency. The idea of getting a read on student learning is valid. We need to know what kids know in order to plan for better and more effective instruction. However, the test results of this current group of Colorado students won't be available until August, well after students have moved on to a new grade level and often and new school. What if CSAP testing occurred in September, with results returned by December? Or better yet, what if CSAP provided immediate results? With this powerful information in hand, teachers, with students they know, could work toward more specific goal achievement throughout the school year. The Colorado Department of Education is working on a new version of CSAP. It will be interesting to see what the changes are.

Beginner cycling essentials

Passion, motivation and planning...these are the attributes that made this picture possible. In 1998 my husband, Scott decided to go to France to see some of the Tour de France. We raced bikes before we started a family, so cycling has been in our blood for a long time. We've always thought of the Tour as the pinnacle of bike racing. After seeing 10 days of the Tour in '98, Scott began following the entire Tour in 2001, and continued in 2003 and 2004. Along the way he had the idea of leading bicycle tour groups to follow the Tour. In 2006 we launched our summer business and began taking customers to see the Tour. So, what does this have to do with Gifted Education? So often I see students who have, for one reason or another, lost interest in school. As educators, I believe we often forget that we all, students, teachers, regular folk, need to feel passion in order to spark motivation and planning. That's not to say that we should only do the things we like. Sometimes we need to create motivation to plan and achieve intermediate goals that may not be so interesting or connected to our passion. My husband's passion for bike racing and the Tour de France has led him to first dreaming (creating the motivation), then implementing (planning) for a way to continue seeing the Tour year after year. What are you passionate about? What motivates you? How do you create motivation when a task is uninteresting or unpleasant? How do you make plans? These are all questions I hope you ponder as we walk through this school year.

Welcome EMS students! We'll be using this blog to share ideas, questions, resources, etc. this year. As we move through the school year we'll work together to develop and understand the technology that is available to us. We'll begin by discussing ethics and expectations for communicating via technology. What ideas do you have about ethics (values, beliefs, "right" behavior) in technology?