I've been working on my MA in Gifted/Talented Education since August 2014. I was identified as gifted in elementary school, and I absolutely loved the program. I was constantly bored in the regular classroom, so gifted pull out time was always a blessing! (Plus I probably wasn't the easiest kids to deal with when I was bored and the teacher wanted me to sit - or Lord forbid - help a student that refused to pay attention to directions!). I always wanted a degree in G/T; even though, I've never been sure I wanted to teach it. This program has been incredible, and I have SO MANY things I'm excited to implement during the 2015-2016 school year.
Part of the G/T MA program is teaching a gifted workshop of the summer (Summer Enrichment Workshop). Since the university is five hours from home, my son and I have spent the last month living in dorms with two cats and getting the full college experience. I taught a Kindergarten - 1st Grade class and a 2nd Grade - 3rd Grade class on Medieval Times. I'm a SECONDARY teacher. Young children scare me. They're tiny. They hide well. They cry. *shudder* Thankfully, I was able to work with a magical undergrad student who is getting a degree in multiple abilities! She was incredible with these little people and kept us from crying several times (and by us - I totally mean me).
The G/T program focuses on Renzulli's Schoolwide Enrichment Model and Schlichter's Talents Unlimited. For those unfamiliar with these two gifted pedagogy models: SEM uses three types of activities to introduce students to information and possible interests (Type I), teach students to process knowledge and delve deeper into a topic (Type II), and create their own project that results in a solution to a real-world problem / TU uses six talents to teach students to process knowledge and build their critical and creative thinking skills (academic, productive thinking, communication, forecasting, decision making, and planning). (TU activities are Type II SEM activities.)
Talents Unlimited is something I will absolutely be utilizing in my classroom this year! I teach inclusion classes (lower level learners), but I see the potential in these talents helping all students with their thinking skills!
During the summer workshop, we used both SEM and TU. We explored medieval clothing, medieval foods, medieval weaponry, medieval sumptuary laws, and medieval castles. In spite of my fear of the children, we had a GREAT TIME! It was a lot of fun. The students were motivated, interested, and always ready to go! You can download my menu of activities here if you're interested in teaching a medieval unit!
We spent the first week introducing the different areas of medieval times (the type I activities) and week two allowing students to explore areas they found interesting. The students designed their own medieval weaponry, made ink from berries, learn to weave, wrote in calligraphy, and so much more! It always amazes me the creativity of students. During the last week, the students created a Medieval Faire to present to their parents on the last day. They had a king and queen who ran the show, and they presented their parents with artwork, clothing, weaponry, food, and jousting!
This experience was a lot of fun and very educational, but I will greatly enjoy getting back to my middle schoolers in August!
All my other photos have students in them, so these are the only photos I can share.
