Hanging by a tendril...

Gourd tendrils,
though delicate in appearance,
can support large weights.

...so see what the next assignment is going to be! 

Seize the Day!!



Gourd allowed
to grow unencumbered.

Seize the Day!! Grab the chance and don't let it pass! Many students would seize learning pro-actively if they could move at their own pace and learn lessons about topics of personal interest. Therein rests the joy of Montessori education, ability grouping, and successful gifted education. Like students, any gourd will take the shape of a tight environment when it is placed in a mold to grow, but give it space for expansion and the fruit becomes beautiful!


Mimeographing practice handouts.

Practicing with a SmartBoard.

There are various paths for teaching and learning using the new mobile technology that students are surrounded by and live within. It can be used to drill facts that get spewed back, used to spur curiosity like any of the previous technologies (chalkboards, mimeographing, SmartBoards), or a combination. In any event, technology gets smaller, more portable, and more immediate. Writing facts on a chalkboard 20 times has the same mind-numbing effect and touching a SmartBoard 20 times to prove knowledge. The only difference is the eye/hand coordination and the parts of the brain activated.
Mobil technology combines 'doing' with learning, making it more dynamic and immediate reflecting how information is accessed outside of school. Whether information and learning accessed at school is shallow (lower order thinking -- drilling facts) or deep (or higher order thinking -- critical evaluations) depends on the education goal and use of the technology. The thinking skills accessed make a difference when learning: repetition and critical evaluation is vital, but not exclusively one or the other. Gifted students generally get a concept in one, maybe two, repetitions. Anything over that is counterproductive. Mobil technology can empower students in new and expansive ways by sidestepping the drill overkill. However, if questions don't inspire thinking, why bother? Will technology be used as the teacher or the tool?

Online public schools such as Carpe Diem Schools offer middle and high school education as an online experience on a main campus, or through the Student Support Centers. For gifted thinkers, this allows individual pacing. Since there would not be a 'classroom of students', individuals would not be held back so everyone can catch up. On the other hand, images of classrooms at these schools show students working individually...hardly indicative of personal, collaborative learning but more solitary in nature.

At St. Mary's in Ohio, students use Smartphones to use programs to sketch, write daily learning blurbs, investigate quick answers, and access flashcards. Small, portable, and easy to use, Smartphones technology is fast, efficient, and accessible as a tool in addition to the hands-on paper and pencil activities. Students engage in immediate answers, can work together in groups, and keep technology with them as they move through the day. But what if someone needs a little more drill? At what point does student learning get assessed so he/she can be stopped, backed up, and given a little extra practice?

In both scenarios, drill-and-practice or inquiry, there is the potential for classroom distraction since the very reasons that make computers helpful and SmartPhones efficient and portable can also provide opportunities for activities apart from educational purposes. Trust and responsibility must become part of education.

I feel prepared to engage in teaching with technology. I never used the SmartBoards much because of the 'toy-factor' -- even my students said they were nothing more than fancy white boards. Currently, I use Word extensively, online search engines and databases strategies, and assisting students with moving at a personal pace. We use the oldest laptops in the school system--ones that do not hold a charge anymore so there are cords wrapping around the tables and across the floor, keyboards with missing letters, two have duct tape holding the guts in the body. Word is currently expiring on the laptops, and being replaced with Apache Office Works. Yet, we move forward!

The students use the Index Card System for making notes--coding source cards to match the note cards. They learn how to write a survey: introduction, question organization, type of questions, differences between types of responses, and placement of demographics. They tabulate the results and prepare charts and graphs illustrating the results. The process takes about 3 weeks....using Google Forms would cut that time down to days and allow for additional surveys or further research!

The students currently keep a daily journal that keeps their reflections, daily summaries, and
key information about their topics. The binder is kept at school, or sometimes taken home depending on what is due or when extra time needs to be given to the project. Blogger could replace the journal, especially when combined with other tools and links. DropBox would allow written work to be accessed from anywhere!

An combination of what I've been doing and updated technology could turn a research class into a higher level thinking course that is in keeping with what happens in the world...certainly what is happening in the students' world. Using Google products would be an exciting avenue of learning and, for me, teaching.  So, to that end, this is what I've done:

I applied to the Frederick County Education Foundation for a grant to fund a pilot program to have 17 PRISMS students (my research students) use ChromeBooks next semester to have an almost completely online class. I'll finish the class site I built here during my GourdGracious days for the handouts, calendar, and course information. Instead of journals the students will keep blogs, build surveys with Google Forms, take quizzes, collaborate with each other, utilize DropBox, access their Smartphone apps on field trips, and generally move through their topics using the technology this old gourd learned this semester. IT is thrilled and figuring out the approvals we'd need to access the software and apps. The grant will pay for the equipment [I'm working gourd magic on this one!]

At the end of the semester, I'd assess the level of success with a survey. Of the 17 students, 8 have taken PRISMS twice before so not only will I get data from middle school students who have never had an online course before, I will get information from students who can make clear comparisons between the online and not-online class strengths and weaknesses.

As a pilot program, the results can be used to promote the use of technology, or parts thereof, with administrators and other teachers.  What starts as a gifted education experiment can expand to other areas. While it is true gifted thinkers need space to explore learning at their own pace without being slowed down by classmates, all students can be encouraged to learn to their ability. Mobil technology, or the sharing technology, could be a valuable tool to that end.

GourdGracious It's Technology -- a reflection

Kettle gourds.

A momentary interlude about gourds and technology: It is possible that even the mightiest beliefs age and can appear to have outlived its purpose and usefulness, only to come to life again with new purpose.


This tree at Richards Fruit Market was an old and brittle example of plant life that can get past its prime. However, after some trimming and grooming, evidence proved it still had purpose as the strength and support for many new gourd fruits! That's a lot like digital technology. There are tried-and-true ways of doing things (like doing surveys and collaborating) but when these are groomed with new ideas and ways of performing, the two can come together.

T-test Male and Female Averages

Being able to numerically describe differences, or the amount of difference is the basis for many budgetary decisions. In this case we are using the  NCES average reading scale scores for the 2011 school year of 4th grade students from the previous post to see if there is a significant statistical difference between males and female scale scores. Looking at the straightforward scores, there are differences but are they statistically significant?




The 2-tail P value is greater than .05--no statistical difference.

To judge if the difference is numerically significant, T test scores are generated.  The hypothesis used: there is a difference; the null hypothesis: there is no difference. To investigate this, I went to the saved NCES chart of 4th grade scale scores, clicked on Data, then Data Analysis, and followed the options to select a variable 1 (male) and variable 2 (female) columns of scores. The two-tail P value is greater than .05, indicating there is no statistical significance difference between the scale reading scores of male and female students.

Initially, I questioned my numbers since they did not match other bloggers' numbers although I followed the same procedure and the conclusion was the same. Upon a closer look, I see I included the Dept. of Defense Education Agency 4th grade scale scores. In my opinion, these scores are part of the whole United States picture, even though they may not represent statehood, the students are United States citizens taught by US teachers using US approved curriculum. The addition of this 'state' appears to have adjusted the P values, but in the same direction they were going without them.  Without this addition, the P value one-tale is 1.60684 and two-tail is 3.21368 (as opposed to 2.51748 and 5.03496, with them). Either way, the P value is greater than .05 indicating no significant difference.








This procedure can be applied to another situation led by the question: How do end-of-year scores differ among gifted students placed in heterogeneously grouped classes and gifted students placed in classes of homogeneously grouped classes? The dependent variable-course scores; the independent variable-grouping in heterogeneous and homogeneous classes. The constants: curriculum, class size, teacher qualification.

Hypothesis 1 Being placed in a class with a wide spread of academic abilities alters the scores of the gifted thinkers. Scores are not as high as the scores from classes where gifted thinkers are challenged to their own levels. Hypothesis2 (null): There is no difference.

Once the course (school year) is completed and end-of-year scores are calculated, Excel Data Analysis can be used to do a P value of variable 1 (heterogeneous grouping) and variable 2 (homogeneous grouping) and determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the two sets of scores.

ISTE NETSt standard affected by this skill is #5, engaging in professional growth and leadership. By speaking to scores and differences based on numerical data, school boards, civic leaders, and budgetary faces can be convinced and possibility encouraged to see that gifted thinkers act and react to academic surroundings.

Just for fun, what would one-tail and two-tail gourds look like?

A one-tail gourd.

Two tails.....

...now, what would the P value be?  I'd say Pretty!

Dependent? Independent?

Statistics. Variables. OH my!

 

 

Excel - Descriptive Statistics

All critical information is there...

Using an Excel spreadsheet, numerical data can be analyzed to recognize differences and patterns. By looking at the National Center for Education Statistics, and going to state comparisons, a search can be made by grade, subject, student group, year(s) and type of data display desired. In this particular instance, national 4th grade reading scores for 2011 were downloaded into my Excel program for review.  I realized the scores I would have been interested in were not an option: gifted scores by state and gender. (States vary wildly with regard to mandating gifted education and funding and although the NAGC will give individual information, I have not located an Excel types chart with all the information in one place. Maybe that's my special project!)

However, I did like how the title, reference sources and websites traveled with the download to act as a one-stop-shopping sheet--an appealing aspect.

By using the sorting and data analysis functions, the scores could be arranged in ascending order. I produced a scatter plot describing the placement of Virginia's scores compared to the other states and overseas schools on military bases (which counts as a state). The plotted scores reflect the ascending order. Virginia places #9 among the states, closely aligned with Vermont by .40 -- almost the same score difference as Maryland and New Hampshire (.38). There are 8 states with higher scores (DoDEA is one of them) and 43 states with lower scores. Virginia is 5.96 points above the average.

Overall, a striking point of interest is the fact that both outliers are on the east coast: high score (MA 236.7738666) and low score (DC 200.6279879), with DC also having the biggest difference between male and female scores.

The ability to sift through numbers and interpret them is a valuable professional and leadership skill. Being able to do it using technology is a way to speak to data in an efficient and effective way. ISTE NETS-T standard 5 would be addressed with this skill: evaluate and reflect on current research on a regular basis. By using digital tools, student learning can be guided as trends emerge.

On second thought...

The Diigolet isn't loading properly so articles and images can be saved, but the annotations are sketchy. Luckily there's boatload of gourdheads coming to town this week for the Virginia Gourd Festival so life is good all around! Escape the political craziness and get crazy with gourds! Margaret "Sparky" Sparkman, the National Gourd Lady, sure would have!