Exceptional Learners (Question #5)

I gather that the students created their own board games in groups to review for the upcoming test on power plants. Today, we played the games, and they were 99% creative and engaging (except for the games that were only half done...you're killing me, Smalls). A lot of the questions, which were based off of a review guide, were really difficult, although some of the True-or-False questions tested trivial knowledge that would not be on a well-made test (which I am assuming theirs will be). Also, the games tended to not have enough questions--we would be halfway through the board and run out of questions. 

One game that I am going to steal for sure for my students is one in which the players need to wear a hand band and put a component of a system in the band, so that everyone but the player can see their component. The game is then to ask questions until getting the term right; the next player goes after the first player makes a guess, and the players take turns until all have gotten their term right (which didn't happen with us). This game will work great once we get into metabolic cycles (gluconeogenesis, glycolysis, etc.). We have one exam left, since my students' final is an abbreviated, ACS style final presentation. I am starting to prepare for the classes I'm teaching this summer, and I'm sure I'll find more ideas to appropriate from the middle school students.

My partner and I also spoke with the ELP instructor, who teaches talented and gifted students (anyone who scores sky-high on standardized tests) K-8. She says her purpose is to help those students go further, so that they're not bored. I noticed that her students were analyzing Divergent the movie vs. Divergent the novel when I walked in, and I thought it was pretty neat that they seemed so passionate about reading. I also thought it was cool that a lot of students in her class are those I see a lot in science class, anyway. 

In regards to our questions, the ELP instructor said:

1. Instructional Considerations. Her instructional considerations are based on her students being at the high end. I had no idea what she meant by that at first (I thought she must have meant that her students with mild ID or students with Asperberger's, rather than autism). She has had students with IEPs in the past who needed accommodations in regards to their writing. 

2. Limitations. She says that every student is different and sometimes does not like to do this or that activity (e.g., writing). I gather that their limitations might be pushed at a farther ZPD than those of their peers. 

3. Goals and Objectives. The goals and objectives are also unique to each student. Everyone keeps a Lifelong Notebook, in which they explore their goals in different sections and how they might go about achieving those goals within a specific timeline. They use S.M.A.R.T. (Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound) goal-setting and then work to achieve their goals. For instance, she said that if a person's goal was to get a million dollars, they couldn't set their timeline for tomorrow, and they would have to have a plan for earning that money.

TUESDAY.

Mwahaha, I successfully stole some of the children's ideas. I have a lame mutation DND-style board game that got put to shame by the games I saw yesterday, so tonight I started my students out on making one that was more cool. They are working on making many, many questions with the answers--one thing that I saw yesterday at the middle school was that the students sometimes ran out of questions mid-board, ending the game. I also have a picture in my head of awesome board games that we can (will?) be making, that model helicase or ribosomes (maybe the the markers could be an amino acid, and if you make your way to the right anti-codon, you win the game...). The possibilities are endless, and we have the NSF "Origins of Life" debate coming up, so I am extremely excited to incorporate all of the ideas I'm observing.