APPLEBY

2010

What has changed at Appleby School since we have been

working together?

What does Appleby School already do well for their more able students?

http://www.harrychapin.com/music/flowers.shtml

The little boy went first day of schoolHe got some crayons and started to drawHe put colours all over the paperFor colours was what he sawAnd the teacher said.. What you doin' young manI'm paintin' flowers he saidShe said... It's not the time for art young manAnd anyway flowers are green and redThere's a time for everything young manAnd a way it should be doneYou've got to show concern for everyone elseFor you're not the only one

And she said...Flowers are red young manGreen leaves are greenThere's no need to see flowers any other wayThan they way they always have been seen

  But the little boy said...

There are so many colours in the rainbowSo many colours in the morning sunSo many colours in the flower and I see every one

Well the teacher said.. You're sassyThere's ways that things should beAnd you'll paint flowers the way they areSo repeat after me.....

The teacher put him in a cornerShe said.. It's for your own good..And you won't come out 'til you get it rightAnd are responding like you shouldWell finally he got lonelyFrightened thoughts filled his headAnd he went up to the teacherAnd this is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are greenThere's no need to see flowers any other wayThan the way they always have been seen

  Time went by like it always does

And they moved to another townAnd the little boy went to another schoolAnd this is what he foundThe teacher there was smilin'She said...Painting should be funAnd there are so many colours in a flowerSo let's use every one

But that little boy painted flowersIn neat rows of green and redAnd when the teacher asked him whyThis is what he said.. and he said

Key Concpets1. Generating a high level of interest in

learning.

2. Developing the tools of thought.

3. Developing the child’s intellectual and creative potential as far as possible.

4. Fostering emotional and ethical growth

1.Generating a high level of interest in learning

Six ways to generate interest in learning.

1. Existing interests2. Involving the children in active learning3. Offering different and new experiences4. Providing choice5. Making children responsible for their own

learning6. Presenting the familiar in an unexpected

way

2. Developing the tools of thoughtOr learning tools

Study and research skills

Observation skills

Communication skills

Thinking skills

Organisational skills

Summary of study and research skills

Children need to: Know how learning works To be able to frame relevant and

significant questions To have skills required to access

information through both reference and original research, and to evaluate what they find.

Feel confident that their own thinking and ideas have value too, and to be able to self evaluate.

To be prepared to make mistakes.

Summary of observation skills

Observation is a fundamental intrinsic survival skill, present from birth.

It is one of the most powerful learning natural learning tools that humans have.

It needs to be nurtured and kept alive. We can help to do through the physical environment we create and through helping children maintain their sensory awareness.

We can also build observation skills into the activities we provide for children, capitalising on this natural response to engage children more intensely and in a more focused way.

Gifted children need support in developing appropriate and effective communication skills, including listening skills and skills interpreting the face and body language of others.

Summary of Thinking skillsTo nurture these skills in gifted children we must first

create the right kind of environment, one in which intellectual and imaginative exploration is supported and encouraged.

Practical strategies include the use of: Multi solution puzzles Strategic board games Mazes Logic puzzles Unconventional comprehension Future problem solving Philosophy

Summary of organisational skills

Organisational skills are essential for effective learning and achievement.

Beginning the teaching of these skills as early as possible is vital.

Problems with organisation sometimes indicate more serious underlying difficulties that need to be resolved.

3. Developing the child’s intellectual and creative

potential as far as possibleGifted children thrive on having their thinking

challenged.Such challenge provokes problem solving and

stimulates thinking and exploration. It is a catalyst in moving children on to genuine depth of understanding and, potentially going beyond the known.

To use this strategy:Remember the learning potential of the ordinary

world.Do not be afraid to use material that challenges

you too.Remember the impact of the unexpected.

Drawing on the artsWhy?

It is a uniquely human activity.Art is an empowering activity.Art is a constructive activity.Art is a non-judgemental activity.

Encouraging originial workFor example: A child able in maths invents a board game

involving multiplying dice. A child interested in social studies decides to

write a history of her own house. A child who enjoys cooking begins

experimenting with different ingredients, eventually devising his own recipes.

Our role is to not only provide opportunities but to also provide an encouraging environment.

Making independent study meaningful

An independent study:1. Requires a huge investment of a child’s time and energy2. Needs to be a highly effective learning experience

Our role is crucial. W e should ensure that:3. The topic is clearly defined.4. The study is soundly constructed, relevant skills are

known or taught.5. Appropriate guidance and support are given throughout.

Types of study:6. Investigative: setting a question or problems to which

children find the answers.7. Conceptual: developing understanding through providing

and reflecting on a range of experiences.8. Ways of knowing: developing understanding by

examining topics from different perspectives.

Guiding gifted readersGifted readers still have real and significant

reading needs. These include: Being acknowledged as gifted readers and given

appropriate reading materials. Being challenged to think about their reading. Having opportunities to interact with other

people reading at a similar level. Being set realistic reading goals. Being taught advanced reading skills. Having problems, such as language differences,

identified and being given appropriate support to cope with them.

4. Fostering emotional and ethical growth

The Fairy ChildThe very hour that I was born

I rode upon the unicornWhen boys put tadpoles in their jars

I overflowed my tin with starsBecause I sing to see that sun

The little children point and run.Because I set the caged birds free The people closed

their doors on me.Goodbye, good bye, you world of men

I shall not visit you again.Margaret Mahy

Self knowledge, self acceptance and self esteem

Healthy self-esteem is based on accurate self; knowledge and a secure acceptance of self.

It can be fostered:1. Through the provision of information and experiences

that enable the child to form a true and accurate opinion of her or his capabilities.

2. Indirectly, though the learning environment set.3. Directly through discussion4. Practically; through activities, e.g. biography, exploring

issues of identity5. Though the attitudes and responses of those around the

child.6. Through valuing the child’s special qualities.7. Though nurturing the child’s special qualities.

Growing towards emotional and social maturity

Understanding and being able to cope with one’s own feelings

Being aware of, understanding, and feeling concern for the feelings of others.

Translating this understanding into one’s relationship with others.

Perceiving the probable consequences of one’s own actions, both for oneself and for others, and using thi sto guide the choices of action.

Ethical growthOur task is not to impose values. This is the role of

the home. We have a secondary involvement in that the experiences at school may impact on the child’s ethical growth.

We can: Encourage the development of empathy Help children realise that they can make choices about

how they act, and that those choices have consequences Help children to recognise and consider the values

involved in such choices by exploring them through situations relevant to them

Build the ethical dimension into our classroom teaching

Presentation ideas Advertisement Banner Chart Collage Crossword Debate Diary/journal Diorama Display Flowchart Graph Taped or transcribed interview Student taught lessons Letter

Map Mini-book Mobile Model Newspaper Photograph Poetry Review Stimulated radio programme Timeline

Remember the children may need help in working out how to do any to do these.

I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or am instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.

Haim Ginott 1972

Working with parents

Parents are one of our best resources.

“Of course every parent thinks their child is gifted”“Oh no! Not another pushy parent”

So how is it for the parents of gifted children

1. Parenting a child with exceptional abilities can be stressful.

Alert and inquiring from a very early age Non stop talking Curious Explorative and experimental Tantrums and tears from frustrations – minds ahead of physical ability

2. Criticism from other parents in pre school years.

Precocity Depriving their child of a childhood

Reacting to finding out your child is gifted.

Uncomfortable

Ready acceptance

Apprehension

Inadequate

Siblings challenges

When things go wrong

Listen sympathetically but without comment.

Attempt to guide parents to look towards the future rather than towards the past that can not be changed.

How to fit REACH into our normal

classroom schedule.

Or how to teach gifted children without dying from exhaustion, brain drain or apoplexy

Choice  Classroom CultureHands on learningIndependenceOptionsChallengingEnjoyable

Working in an inviting environment

Providing choice

Using the planning framework

Encouraging independent learning

Capitalising on that practical advantage

Planning structureObjectives

Working together

Research /read/write choices

Make/create/do choices

Think/reason/ discuss together

Conceptual themes Adventure Aging Art Beauty Chance Change Colonisation Competition Communication Conflict Courage Connections Democracy Destruction Discovery Energy Ethics Extinction Family Fantasy Fate Frontiers Future Grief Growth

Happiness Institutions Inventions Justice Knowledge Language Mindpower Movement Patterns Peace Politics Power Progress Recreation Relationships Soul Structure Survival Symbols Technology Tradition Wealth Wisdom

Term 2 2010Rangiora and Christchurch

Senior, Middle and Junior School classes.

Concept for the term: Progress

Week 1: Mathematical Progress Week 2: Loos through the Ages Week 3: Growing up – What happens during this progression. Week 4: Architecture: How shelter has developed Week 5: Extinction of animals Week 6: Dinosaur extinction theories Week 7: Cooking methods Week 8: Communication methods Week 9: Nana technology Week 10: Entertainment Week 11: Clocks and calendars