Alex Sharp's Blog

Posted by Alex Sharp

Here is a list of the November-related articles I have written, which may be of use for some teachers.

For Veteran's Day, here are two of the three podcasts I will be using with my advisory group. The third podcast will be by President Truman, but it doesn't really follow the theme of welcoming home veterans. It is something that I feel my students will be interested in - I can post our discussion questions later. (If you need a better podcatcher - here are some choices, but NPR can stream them online.)

Thanksgiving Games for Middle School -- the name says it all, right? The picture of the hand turkey I used with the article is by Brandon Schauer, a very clever and talented artist, and that would be a lovely activity right there. I have another game I am getting ready, I hope I will have some clever pictures for you.

Finally, some all purpose holiday games ...

Happy Teaching!

Posted by Alex Sharp

I have been reading some interesting research from Medscape Medical News, which is attempting to link birth weight and IQ in the article "Improved Fetal Growth May Predict Increased IQ at School Age".

I have had many students who were premies, so I think that that there is something missing in this study. Perhaps parents care for premies and high birth weight children with more intense care? I'm not sure. The research is interesting, although despite the distinguished researchers, to me it has the feel of psedo science. Directly from the article by Laurie Barclay, MD : "'Longer birth length, higher birth weight, or larger head circumferences within the normal birth size range are associated with higher IQ scores in Asian children,' the study authors writes."

I have not read the research, just this abstract, which to me, is scary enough. The importance of environment can not be underestimated.

You can read all about it here.

Posted by Alex Sharp

The Flight of the Conchords new album, I Told You I Was Freaky, is available as a special offer 4.99 mp3 album on Amazon.com. Of course, many fans of the band and show downloaded the songs one by one on Itunes during the second season of the show.

Songs include:

• Hurt Feelings
• Sugalumps
• We're Both in Love with a Sexy Lady
• I Told You I Was Freaky
• Demon WOman
• Rambling Through the Avenues of Time
• Fashion is Danger
• Petrov, Yelvena, and Me
• Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor
• You Don't Have to be a Prostitute
• Friends
• Carol Brown
• Angels

FOTC fans can stream the cd from the band's Myspace page.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Just as the new of Elise Tan Roberts was brought headlines earlier this year, young Oscar Wrigley's i.q. score is causing a stir in England. The BBC reports that young Wrigley has "IQ of 160, on a par with Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking."

I am always a bit skeptical about parents who seek out media attention for a child with high potential, because of the sad case of Justin Chapman. For those who don't know, Justin Chapman's whole high IQ phenomenon was created at the manipulative hands of his mother, who wanted to have a genius for a child and the glory and opportunities that genius can sometimes offer.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Once again my students and I had a great time on Constitution Day. It is tricky when one teaches looped classes because we can't repeat the same thing every year, but we also have to be aware that there are new students in loop group one. So, I always try to find something that will appeal to everyone. This year one of our senators joined us at school, and then we had good times in the computer lab working on Constitution-related activities.

This is the list of websites my students used:

• http://constitutioncenter.org/BillOfRightsGame/
• http://www.constitutionfacts.com/index.cfm?page=quiz.cfm
• http://www.homeofheroes.com/arcade/quizshow/constitution/quizshow.htm
• http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz-center/constit.htm
• http://www.dustinkirk.com/flashcards/trivia_united_states_constitution_flashcards.php
• http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/constitution_day/
• http://www.texaslre.org/crelay/constitutionrelay.html

Posted by Alex Sharp

This school year my day starts with my advisory class, and I am happy to share some of what we have been doing. I have some concerns about stress and teens - that stress, especially in girls, can lead to adult problems, and that friend choices can make or break a teenager. Gifted teenagers have special concerns when they arrive at the door to secondary education, because the top dog of elementary is now a young puppy among many other puppies. Feeling average is a good thing, but it takes adjustment, and that is exactly where gifted education steps in.

My advisory class is composed of gifted students who have been in my program - which I teach across two years - and lasts under 30 minutes, so the activities I have posted fit that group (short activities for tweens). Our advisory is happy, helpful, and fun, because that is how to deal with stress - be happy, do things that are have fun - and how to know if you are in a good friendship - good friends help each other, in positive ways.

Two of our activities so far have been fun to play and fun for me to watch: a game about what people like (kind of like Whonu from Cranium, a student has later informed me) and a game where people find commonalities in each other that separate them from others.

Summer is quieter than the school year for me here, I get more emails from other gifted teachers during the year. I look forward to hearing about what everyone is doing!

Happy School Year!

Posted by Alex Sharp

My child turned in two Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program lists yesterday. The book choices were great - some classics, some newer, multicultural, you name it. A list of the free books by grade shows that there are plenty of choices, and there was no problem getting books for a higher reading level than my child's grade.

The reading logs are great; they help focus on the books and filling them out does take effort and thought. I read the fine print, and it says, “This offer is valid for one free book .. Limit of 2 free books (1 free book per completed Reading Journal) per school-age child (Grades 1-6). Of course, since we were tired, hungry, and in a hurry, the sales clerk told us she was not allowed to turn in two reading journals; the associates had been specificall”y told one book per child. (Sigh) I pointed out the statement on the paper. She said, “Well, I'll do it this time.” It makes me wonder if the next person with two logs will only get one book.

So as much as I love Barnes and Noble and I appreciate the Summer Reading Programs, I don't like feeling like I have to read the fine print for something that is supposed to be fun, simple, and in the hands of an elementary school child. We'll continue to participate, because the pros far outweigh the one little hassle, but just know that the program has a bonus lesson in fine print -- and know that two reading logs are allowed, at least this summer.

Posted by Alex Sharp

During my recent trips, I was able to spend quite a bit of time with kids - my own, and the children of others - and see a lot of museums. One of the most interesting conversations was listening to two gifted elementary students talk - with great enthusiasm - about the differences and similarities of Night at the Museum and the Museum of Natural History. It would be very difficult to create that level of interest in a Venn Diagram compare/contrast activity. I know that not everyone can get to New York City for field trips, either school or family, so in the article I wrote about what exhibits at the museum are actually in the movie I also included a link to the interactive museum. A far away field trip perhaps?

Also, we had an art attack at the Museum of Modern Art, and I was able to bring one of the favorite books from my our happy family's toddler days and from my classroom: When Pigasso Met Mootise by Nina Laden. This is an article that focused on activities that can be done at any art museum, but of course MOMA has the advantage of having many of the original Picasso and Matisse paintings available for people to see.

Art education is important, as every elective teacher knows, and I was heartened to read about a new BA program at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. I wrote about how elective programs will benefit by having colleges recognize the importance of art and making money , and I think that is it just a great leap forward for art and business education.

Posted by Alex Sharp

As I wrote earlier, through my stops in so many airports over the recent spring months I was delighted to discover the student art on display at the Memphis International Airport. The reasoning behind the exhibit makes it worth being a teacher, especially a teacher who pushes artists to create, produce, and show work. For every teacher, like me, who has bought art supplies out of her own money, come early, gave up lunch, and stayed late to supervise artists, and who has driven kids hours to the state fair to see their pictures on walls...just read why the Memphis-Shelby Airport Authority and Memphis City and Shelby County Public Schools partnered together for this great display of truly lovely art:

"In light of the much too frequent negative press about American high school students ... [MSAA and the districts] sponsored an art contest to show the traveling public ...a glimpse of our students in the Midsouth area that learn, excel and express themselves trough their talent in the visual arts."

What more could teachers, students, and artists want? The contest will apparently become an annual event, and Memphis Airport took charge of getting the supplies and having the art displayed professionally. The theme was related to music, so all of the art fit that theme, and the 40 or so paintings brought so much light to a day of heavy travels. Young kids were enjoying looking at the paintings, rushed business people slowed down to look, and being a huge art fan, I stopped to read the little displays. That is when I discovered the artists were high school students; there is nothing in the quality of the art that indicated these are artists at the beginning of their careers.

Enjoy the pictures, including the full text of the empowering statement.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Somewhere in the thousands of pictures I've taken recently (and "thousands" is not an exaggeration - that number of is proof of a trigger finger on a digital camera) I have pictures of the amazing student art that is showcased at the Memphis International Airport. I've been traveling a lot lately - I'm including a picture of myself weary at Chicago O'Hare, where Olympic hope radiates from every wall surface - and I've gotten to see how a lot of airports do things. Memphis is doing something special for their gifted students.

There is art all along the corridor at Memphis International, and it is there because of a Memphis:Music, Sights, and Sounds contest for students. The art is gorgeous - vibrant, musical, and it has that exuberance that kids - in this case, high school kids - throw into everything.

The best part about the exhibit is the motivation - there is a sign that says, in effect, that schools do a good job, there is a lot of talent waiting for an opportunity, and that students do appreciate culture. I hope I took a picture of the sign.

When I am done sharing my love of NPR in the classroom, I will find those pictures and write about how gifted arts can find unexpected chances to shine.

Posted by Alex Sharp

The May 16, 2009 Dear Abby column interested me because the first letter is from a 12 year old girl who wants friends who can match her level of conversation. At first I thought the letter was written with her mother, because of the odd phrasing ("pals?") and the lack of mention of anything middle schoolers talk about - the virtual friendships of facebook, myspace, twitter. However, I think that the phrasing is exactly what happens when kids talk to adults more than other kids.

Part of Dear Abby's response addressed the importance of gifted education, which is in need of program support and student teachers for program growth. Dear Abby said, "Many school districts offer special classes for gifted students" and in her description of what she advised the girl, she addressed what happens in gifted classes:

• "interact with other girls and boys who are also intellectually advanced"
• "explore activities ....let yourself go ....have some fun"
• "time to.... be carefree"

I would like to write a series about concerns with gifted friendships, so if parents, teachers, and yes - gifted kids - will email me some experiences and questions, I'll start putting things together. I have over a decade of teaching gifted kids to draw on, and that does lead me to one thing: I know which kids are not good friends, and the signs of it, which I wrote about when I was the featured writer for Parenting Teens in Understanding Deviant Peer Associations.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Having worked with gifted kids for over a decade, I've seen a lot of high IQ scores. Most gifted ed teachers meet kids who are smarter than they are, and I'm no exception. I completely believe that a two year old could be as brilliant as people are suggesting Elise Tan Roberts is. That Mensa accepted her makes me feel like they consider her scores valid, but then - this is also great advertising for Mensa's children's program. Of course, joining Mensa is a paperwork experience - someone can join easily if they qualify, but Elise didn't fill out that paperwork, and if her parents are pushing her to join Mensa at two, they are probably pushing in other non-age appropriate activities as well.

Elise Tan Robert's would not be the first fake genius (if she is one, and I have no idea if she is or not). Google "Justin Chapman" and read a similar story, about a prodigy who was tested as a genius, who played the chess as well as he played music when he was a mere toddler, and who, unfortunately, was placed in a foster care because his mother faced jail time for faking his scores.

Elise Tan Robert's took the same test that Justin Chapman's mother prepped him for, the Stanford Binet (which is a well-respected, reliable test). Joan Freeman, the professor who tested Elise, seems well-established in the UK, although I find it especially interesting that her consultancy includes television companies, including the BBC.

Maybe Elise is the real deal, maybe she's not. Either way, she needs to be tucked at home, playing with developmentally appropriate puzzles. How awful it will be for her now if she decides that despite her abilities, she would rather risk being a mediocre athlete or artist than whatever job her fabulous memory makes her suited for (museum tour guide?).

Posted by Alex Sharp

Posted by Alex Sharp

I love my church, and one aspect I really love about it is that I can download church services as a podcast when I need to go out of town because my church has gone high tech. Even though I go to a church in a building, where we drive and park and walk in and everything, I like having the podcasts and internet church options for snowy days last minute travel plans.

I was been unexpectedly called out of state last week, so I have missed updating everyone on my Earth Day projects (but I will). Luckily, I had my pre-planned sub lessons, so I just had to straighten up my messy desk and I was on my way. Having a Kindle makes travel that much easier - no need to pack books or a laptop.

As it stands, I met with a network of parents that I am excited to write about, learned some organic gardening tips, got an interesting email about a gifted study that I am looking forward to following up on, and I have an update from the Movie Mom, who was quite generous to my classroom - so I have lots to share there, not to mention the big Earth Day project my students and I are working on for April 22. Right now, we can all enjoy that Lent has helped us focus (and we can eat again), and of course, continue to bask in the glory that Christ is risen.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Earth Day is a big deal in my classroom - some years we've made stationary (with blenders and old paper), some years we've enjoyed nature as we read, and this year I have something exciting planned - I am waiting for our supplies to come in so I can take pictures and explain how to do what I hope turns out to be the start of best Earth Day classroom traditions I've had.

I have heard back from Erin at one of my favorite sites, School Family and of course they have great resources for us, so I will look at those and post some ideas. I already have some of the best Climate Change resources posted, and I am also finding great computer games and other activities.

Finally, in April I will have some other activities that gifted kids will love. Right now in my classroom we are working on democracy as a topic and I have a group of students that I am working on developing concentration with, so I will have some interesting ideas for you soon. We worked quite a bit on our student message board through Nice Net today - always a great way for kids to communicate as they work in the lab, and easy for me to track that they are on task.

Posted by Alex Sharp

My favorite movie reviewer, The Movie Mom, is giving away some free goodies from her collection, and the rules are so very easy, but it is a contest for teachers only. All one has to do is email her. This means that the contest will be short and sweet. It is only open to teachers. She says, "I have some real treasures to give away and I want them to go to people who are real treasures. I can't think of more fitting recipients than teachers."

How sweet is that? It is reflective of her site and how kind Nell Minow is. Go to the site, explore her reviews, and if you think you'll visit it as often as I do, then - hey, it's a contest, so enter it.

Movie Mom does a lot of reviews. and teachers love her because (I'll quote myself here, as a teacher who loves her) she "from a parenting perspective. Her reviews are more concerned with the impact of the movie on children, rather than the cinematic value."

She also has a comment section so people can add their opinions. She gave Monsters vs. Aliens a B+, which surprises me enough to let my child see it, because I think it looks crude and pointless. A comment on her site confirms my suspicions, because the current top comment says the movie is , "real yawner, too loud, needless violence and almost no charm". I trust Movie Mom though, she looks at the movie through the eyes of the intended audience and their parents and teachers.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Of all the different Harlequin collections, there are some outstanding books. I never would have read a Harlequin if not for my Kindle, by the way. It has brought me to a lot of books through free and easy downloads.

I am a Jane Austen/ D.H. Lawrence Fan (and fans of Lawrence know that he was no Austen fan), so adjusting to the contrived romances of Harlequin has been a bizarre experience. Since the 16 books are available to everyone, I ... attempted ... to read all of them. My eyes got through the screen, but anyone who has ever gotten a rejection letter from a publisher should never, ever read Baby Bonanza. I read that thinking - this got published? Did the editor get fired?

The best books in the 16 book collection of free books are:

Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson is worth reading. I don't know if it is because the main character is a Quiz Bowl coach and we have that in common, but with the exception of the author's odd insistence on delving into the natural privacy of teenage girls, I thought it was a really good book. Of all of them, it is the one I would most likely read again.

Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch was an intriguing mystery, and I liked reading it and fell for the red-herring suspect. It would have been better without the romance, actually, B.J. Daniels is a good mystery writer.

Homespun Bride is a good read for anyone who ever wished Mary Ingalls would fall in love. I was afraid that Jillian Hart would let love cure blindness, but she didn't. It is a good Christian book.

Runners up include Speed Dating, for humor (the actuary award is a sharpened pencil), and Hide in Plain Sight and Stranded with a Spy were both okay without a lot of clothes ripping.

I'm not a romance novel reader, but I will probably buy some more Janice Kay Johnson books. She seems like a "real writer" who found Harlequin as an avenue to get published, but that is all just my conjecture. All of her other books might be clothes-ripping romps for all I know. If I read more, I'll review them or at least blog about them.

Thanks for the books, Kindle and Harlequin!

Posted by Alex Sharp

Well, I somehow stumbled on BzzAgent and signed up to be a Bzz Agent (notice the difference in spacing), and then I agreed to try out Palmolive Free + Clear. It works, smells fine, and they sent me lots of coupons and samples to pass out, as well as little cards to for the people who try it to login and offer feedback.

There isn't a lot to say about dishwashing soap, but it is clear, and it is hypoallergenic and environmentally more responsible than most products because there are no phosphates and the bottle is made from a variable percentage of post-consumer products. Palmolive works well, so there are no complaints there.

Bzz agent made it really easy. I signed up for the campaign, a few weeks later the box came, and they do not obligate anyone to say anything untruthful or pressure anyone to be overly enthusiastic. That doesn't mean people don't get enthusiastic. I wanted to see how other Bzz Agents reacted, and a quick Google search led me to "A Frugal Friend", who wrote "As silly as this sounds I have to say GOOD BUBBLES. The scent wasn't overpowering as promised. It cleaned real well. When the bubbles started fading away and it was nearing the end..."

In other Free is Good news, Amazon has a bunch of free music downloads, including a Sub Pop sampler that includes a free Flight of the Conchords mp3 for Hurt Feelings. Fleet Foxes, Vetiver, Chad Vangaalen, Iron & Wine, Handsome Furs, Obits, Blitzen Trapper, Vaselines, Red Red Meat -- it's all good stuff.

Posted by Alex Sharp

My child first got a Webkinz a few years ago, and now we are suffering from a major overpopulation. We have fun playing Webkinz together - when we were first introduced to Webkinz, we both got pets so we could play together because I didn't realize how safe the website is. It is not possible for kids to give out personal information by playing games on Webkinz. Now we have fun playing together and I am impressed with how much creativity the decorating requires, and how math skills are built into the site through games and shopping at the online Webkinz store.

My students did a fun creative problem solving activity with stuffed animals, and most of the dolls that kids brought were Webkinz. It was so fun to listen to the 6th and 7th graders share how they had gotten Webkinz for their birthdays, and how they play together online on the weekends and the summers after school. We had some snow days a few months ago, and kids got online and played Webkinz together. I am happy that there is a fairly cheap toy that kids can use to stay in contact with friends that they meet at summer camps or who they knew before they moved. Email is tricky for kids; accounts change frequently and there is more to typing email than adults realize, because we are used to writing as part of communication. Webkinz is a fun, educational way for kids to keep in touch through pre-written messages, be creative, and play together with far-away friends.

Posted by Alex Sharp

Three days ago, I wrote about Kindle's Daily Blog and how it is the best way to find free books that are still protected by copyright (three of which I reviewed yesterday).

Since I wrote the March 5 free Kindle books article, Amazon has done the following:

1. shocked us all with a very cool iphone app that apparently works fabulously
2. offered a free Carrie Vaughn book (Kitty Raises Hell) if you buy Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
3. given Kindlers a new set of free science fiction books from Random House

The free Random House books are:

• Settling Accounts Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove

• His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

• Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt

• Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

• Red Mars by Stanley Robinson

My Kindle articles are scattered among my main topic's articles in Gifted Education. Here they are in one easy-access list.

Oct 25, 2008: "Kindle Tips and Tricks for New Users: Amazon's E-Book Reader Holds Hidden Capabilities"

Dec 24, 2008: "Free Kindle Book Resources: E-Book Reading Doesn't Have to Be Expensive"

Dec 24, 2008: "Kindle Experimental Features: Commenting on Amazon's Test Applications is the Key to Keeping Them

February 9, 2009: "Amazon's Kindle2 is Not Quite a New Generation: Kindle Users Don't Need An Upgrade Unless They Want To Be Read To

February 14, 2009: Stephen King Digs Kindles and Hemingway in UR: The Amazon Product Placement Short Story Is A Gift for Kindle-Owners

March 5, 2009: Free Kindle Book Downloads from Amazon: The Store's Daily Blog Is Full of Free E-Books and Book Discounts

Amazon's whispersync implies they have more gadgets coming, so I'll keep checking the daily blog and coming back here to expand on how great it all is!

Posted by Alex Sharp

I am lucky to truly love my job. I am reading a book outside my usual literary genres called Homespun Bride (it is one of the free Kindle books) by Jillian Hart and there is a line where one of the characters says, "You work hard, try to do what's right and at the end of the day rest up for another hard day at the ranch." I would say that describes teaching pretty well. I love it, and part of why I love it is because I work hard and I know that the challenge will continue.

We talked about Square Root Day, and my students immediately pointed out what I missed - which people also commented on with the article - some centuries will have more than 16, and 01/01/01 belongs on the list ( to be fair, I was just figuring out what would be th remaining days going forward).

The computer lab unexpectedly opened up and we were able to have some design time on Architect Studio 3D, among other computer games. That is so fun. Again, in 15 minutes some students did more than I could do in a week, but that's what teaching gifted is all about, right?

Posted by Alex Sharp

We have had a great time reading the Karito Kids library and playing with the gorgeous dolls in my gifted and talented classroom. I have suggested some activities uses for elementary gifted teachers for two of the books, Nairobi Nightmare and Manhattan Menace. I think the books offer a lot of great chances for readers to go deep and answer some thought-provoking questions.

Of course, any book is a good book for Read Across America, and teachers can have coloring sheets for kids who have read so much their eyes are falling out. Gifted readers have specific needs, and I have tried to build a classroom library with those in mind. Readers can have books at their level - but they need to match their interest level as well as reading ability. Not an easy book to find! Sometimes kids have to read below their abilities, but teachers can make it work by asking deep questions and pushing kids to go farther than they would if they were reading alone.

Happy March!

Posted by Alex Sharp

Recently someone from Great Britain emailed me, looking for resources for an upcoming university project. I am, as always, happy to oblige. The question, however, was "Why is it important and how should we cater for the needs of gifted and talented pupils in primary schools?"

I hope my answer was adequate, but I may have offended the questioner by my shock at the word "WHY" in a question about working with gifted kids. Why not, for heaven's sake?

Here was my complete answer, since other people will likely email me with similar questions:

It is 2009 and there is a university asking why? Does anyone dare ask why we need to educate regular students? Promise me that after your interview is successful you will someday - when it is safe to annoy them - go back and say, "Come on. Asking why? In the 21st century? Because they are children, that's why!"

In America, the short answer to "why" is, "so you don't get sued" and the short answer to the how is "in ways you can document and measure".

I think you should go with this -

Why -

Look at your legal obligations to Special Needs Education. In the United States, we have some education philosophies that are enforced by our courts; "free and appropriate education" is the big one. If it is a legal obligation for blind students to get their books in braille, it is legal obligation for gifted kids to get their books at their reading level, and for blind gifted kids to get braille books at their level.

There are social obligations as well - the reason schools get tax money and grants from businesses is that our kids are the future workforce, and it makes sense to invest in them. Who would only invest in low performing stocks? Why invest only in low performing students?

There is a moral obligation to the child - if everyone has the right to an education, the gifted child does as well.

How --

Well, gifted kids need training in the following: critical thinking skills, logical reasoning skills, risk taking (because so much comes easy to them - they need to learn to face and work through discomfort in learning) and often social skills. I wrote an article that might help you with the social example because in the UK, actually, research was done showing gifted girls went on to have alcohol problems. Kids have got to learn to deal with stress. If they don't get stressed until they are older, they don't have the skills they need to face difficulities.

Authors to look for: Sally Reis, Joseph Renzulli (the Renzulli Triangle is the best tool for teachers of gifted students -- task commitment, intelligence, and creative thinking), Marzano, and my favorite, Carol Tomlinson.

When in doubt - remember, meet every student where he is, and go from there. Gifted kids are ready for a faster pace and deeper thinking.

Oh - and my mentor when I started teaching gifted would say, "Why? They have civil rights, too, and they are smart enough to realize it."

Posted by Alex Sharp

Recently a student emailed me with some questions (the school required a first person source, which I think is a sensible requirement - if you want an expert, all you need to do is look online and start emailing). Here are the questions and my answers, so when other people run into this sort of project, hey, look! The questions and answers are done.

What affect do you think peers have on other teens?

Yes, of course, teens need attention. They are in a stage of transition, leaving the world of dependence and entering the world of independence. They need to know that their parents will still love them and want their company even as they stop being their children and start being their sons and daughters.

Posted by Alex Sharp

This has been a busy week at school, and I was so excited to see Stephen King's UR on my Kindle, two weeks earlier than expected. My daughter made dinner (and I have written about her blossoming culinary independence for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) while I read UR, by Stephen King. His experimental features -- including downloading music, which is a good idea since Amazon is removing the SD card feature for Kindle 2 -- are cooler than what my Kindle has, but I love my Kindle just the way it is.

I am pretty sure I annoyed my Stephen King fan friend at work by talking about UR so much -- I had to have annoyed more than just him, because I am the only one who read the story - and that is exactly what happens in the story. Wesley (who shares the name of the character in the Princess Bride, and Stephen King is featured in the latest anniversary edition of that book) frustrates people with his Kindle fascination and access to stories to stories they don't have...and I did the same thing.

One of the sweet things that happened at my school was during the daily bulletin over the intercom, when the speaker told all the students we love them. Smiles broke out all over. I hope every school tries that, it was just a cute moment.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Posted by Alex Sharp

Every college education program teaches Maslow's hierarchy of needs -- the idea that physiological and safety needs have to be met before students can really be open to learning new ideas. That is why I am shocked that the Senate just cut funding for school nutrition programs. Some people don't understand how that impacts teacher employment or stimulates the economy, so let me explain:

Schools have to make sure students are adequately fed before the kids can learn.

1. If states are paying for free and reduced lunches without increased tax payer assistance, they have to find the money somewhere else.
2. If schools have to look at places to make budget cuts, they look at reducing building costs, reducing programs, and reducing staff and faculty payrolls.

American public schools teach everyone, and our spending and test scores reflect that the whole population is being educated and tested, and some students have expensive needs that must be met just to manage basic skills.

Parents of limited income depend on free and reduced meal programs to help ease the burdens of feeding families. I have had students who only eat while they are at school. Society depends on schools to educate the future workforce. My gifted students have the burdens and gifts of high expectations being placed upon them, and instead of seeing money thrown at bailouts, I would much rather them see money being invested in the expectations that society places upon intelligent, capable, hard-working people.

Posted by Alex Sharp

How perfect is it that my school had a snow day and I found out I was going to be the Featured Writer for Suite101's Gifted Education section on the same day? Since I teach middle school gifted students, the combination is perfect for me and I am excited about it.

I am also proud of all the work I did in the Parenting Teens section; a lot of working with middle school students involves working with their parents and learning about research that affects teens and their families.

I am pleased to share some of my students' favorite games in our classroom! In the meantime, I am reading a great (thick) book on my kindle and I hope to have a review up soon.

Posted by Alex Sharp

As I started my Creative Problem Solving unit with my gifted students, instead of flipping back through my notebook, I used my own Suite101 article as a reference. Very handy! Meanwhile, one of my co-workers was using my NPR idea in his classroom, and his students were really excited about writing about the activities; one of his students said she just loved the idea. That has been exciting for me.

Next week we are actually taking a break from problem solving to prepare for the inauguration. We will watch some historically significant inaugurations (and aren't they all historically significant?) and I will hopefully get some of our activities up on Suite101 in time for other teachers to use them. I have them planned out (in the aforementioned spiral notebook); I just need to type them from my little shorthand note style into something coherent to others.

On my Kindle, I've been all about USA Today. It is fun to read it e-book style. One article about dramatically dropping literacy rates inspired me to think of ways to get teens reading -- and I subscribed to a magazine for my own child. I'm just practicing what I preach!

Posted by Alex Sharp

This year, my resolutions are so realistic that they barely qualify as resolutions. They are more like good ideas.

I really am going to use fewer plastic bags at the grocery store; I have actually collected all of my cloth bags and I am leaving them in the car so it is easy to remember to use them. That, of course, is a suggestion from Go Green, Live Rich.

I already have some great things going on in my classroom; it is easy when I have great students. I am really focusing on creative problem solving when we return to school next week, because every problem has a solution. If there is one thing I want my students to walk out the door knowing, it is that they can somehow solve every problem, either themselves or with the help of others.

Happy 2009!