Web Site Launched for Students Keen on Math, Science

BALTIMORE, Feb. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- Imagine if a teen-age Stephen Hawking could have sparred with Einstein over physics. For gifted teens in the United States and worldwide -- perhaps including future Einsteins and Hawkings -- it's now possible, through Cogito.org ( http://www.cogito.org ).

Cogito.org, developed by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth ( http://www.cty.jhu.edu ), offers a virtual home for the world's brightest students with strong interests and abilities in mathematics and science. The site offers free use to all visitors, who can access most of its resources and learn about everything from global warming to cold fusion.

Cogito's developers want the site to inspire its users to become the innovators, visionaries, and problem-solvers of the future. They also want Cogito.org to play a critical part in upgrading math, science, technology, and engineering education -- known as the STEM subjects -- for the estimated 1.5 million gifted middle and high school students in the United States and greater numbers worldwide.

These four areas are the subject of national efforts defined in President Bush's 2006 American Competitiveness Initiative. Improved education in STEM subjects is seen as critical to maintaining U.S. competitive advantage in science and technology.

The free, public-access section of Cogito.org is packed full of interviews with experts, profiles of young scientists, science news, Web resources and directories of summer programs, competitions and other academic opportunities.

Middle- and high-schoolers, for example, have interviewed a nanotechnologist, a scientist at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and a roboticist at Carnegie Mellon, to learn about research they would never hear about in science class.

The site also features a section that is open to membership by invitation. It is here that students can participate in online discussion forums with top math and science students worldwide -- where U.S. students can share math problems with their Chinese, Russian or Thai counterparts, for example. Membership is expected to expand rapidly as programs serving gifted students in programs around the world nominate their students for membership.

Early site activity is promising, with students using Cogito.org as developers had hoped. "For some of us, it's the first time we've been in contact with so many other gifted math and science kids in our lives," says Willow Smith, a senior from Palm Bay, Fla. "It's the first time we've been in a community with people who can stand up to our arguments and then return ones of their own that are just as convincing."

Expert participation in discussions is also important Cogito.org's members, according to Andrew Peters, a 14-year-old 10th grader from Rochester, Minn. "I especially liked it when an expert was brought in to discuss the issue of planet status for Pluto," he said. "The chance to hear an expert's opinion on a current event is a rare and excellent opportunity."

To that end, a key goal and need, say CTY's Cogito.org developers, is to attract and retain adult scientists and mathematicians who can serve as discussion leaders and mentors. "Along with the benefits the site holds for young people, we think this is a wonderful opportunity for scientists and others to offer their knowledge to students," said Lea Ybarra, executive director of CTY.

The name Cogito.org, which was chosen with input from gifted students, was taken from the Latin translation of Descartes' famous maxim Cogito, ergo sum or "I think; therefore, I am." The site was developed by CTY in partnership with these other leading centers serving gifted students: the Talent Identification Program at Duke University, the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University, the Rocky Mountain Talent Search at the University of Denver, C-MITES at Carnegie Mellon University, the Belin-Blank Center at the University or Iowa, the Center for Excellence in Education, the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, and Science Service.

A $1.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation provided initial funding to develop and launch the site, and additional funds are being sought to sustain and expand it.

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CONTACT: Amy Lunday, JHU Media Relations, 443-287-9960, acl@jhu.edu

Not on the Test

*Not On The Test *
by John Forster & Tom Chapin
(c) 2007 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)

Go on to sleep now, third grader of mine.
The test is tomorrow but you'll do just fine.
It's reading and math. Forget all the rest.
You don't need to know what is not on the test.

Each box that you mark on each test that you take,
Remember your teachers. Their jobs are at stake.
Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed.
They'd never teach anything not on the test.

The School Board is faced with no child left behind
With rules but no funding, they're caught in a bind.
So music and art and the things you love best
Are not in your school 'cause they're not on the test.
Sleep, sleep, and as you progress
You'll learn there's a lot that is not on the test.

Debate is a skill that is useful to know,
Unless you're in Congress or talk radio,
Where shouting and spouting and spewing are blessed
'Cause rational discourse was not on the test.

Thinking's important. It's good to know how.
And someday you'll learn to, but someday's not now.
Go on to sleep, now. You need your rest.
Don't think about thinking. It's not on the test.

Blizzard #2 Update

Snow on the ground from the weekend blizzard: 12" compacted to 10"
Snow forecast last night: 5-6"
Snow that actually fell last night: ~1" :(
Snow Day on Thursday? Early dismissal, probably
Snow predicted from now until Friday 6 pm: 6-12"
Snow actually falling now (11 am CST)
Snow Day tomorrow??? Priceless!

For Music Junkies

Anyone looking for an easily accessible music appreciation course for kids should investigate The Classic Composers series from International Masters Publishers. It's a Time-Life send-you-one-disc-of-our-choosing-every-three-weeks kind of a deal. I got a sample disc (Mozart) in the mail yesterday. I usually just throw those things in the trash, but this had an actual CD in it, so I checked it out. It's pretty cool, actually. Each CD comes with a 24-page booklet detailing the composer's bio, a "turning point" in his life, "life and times," "In [historical Context," a listener's guide, the composer's influences and ends with a 20 question quiz (answers provided).

The CD itself comes with ~60 minutes of the composers "greatest hits." The Mozart CD includes the overture to the Marriage of Figaro, the Clarinet Concerto in B Flat Major, the Piano Concerto No. 21 "Elvira Madigan", "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," the first movement of the "Sinfonia Concertante" (my favorite) and some others, recorded by well-known ensembles. Clearly none of this is in depth information--more of a taste--but from the sample and what I can tell from the promotional literature they sent, it's enough to introduce kids to classical music without overwhelming them.

Yes, they send a junky free gift with your order. "Buy as many as you want, cancel anytime." We decided to get a couple and see if they're all as useful as the Mozart cd is.

The Groundhog Was Wrong!

I feel very sorry for the folks in Northern New York who got 11 feet of snow over the course of a week earlier this month. Here in the Great White North, we got 6.5 inches overnight Friday, another six or so overnight Saturday (with blizzard warnings in the wee hours), about a half inch each on Sunday and Monday nights. Now I hear we're in for another 6-12 inches between Wednesday night and Friday afternoon! UNCLE!

So much snow during the week would be cause for celebration around here, if Klaus' district hadn't used both of its built-in school snow days. If they have to call school again Thursday or Friday, they will have to start adding extra school days at the end of the year. Of course, as homeschoolers, this doesn't matter as much, but we're still following the public school's calendar since Klaus is still taking classes there.

I realize that snow blocking us from opening the screen door in the kitchen does not really compare to snow covering the first floor of a house. All I want to know is, "Where's that early spring you promised us, Punxatawny Phil? Could it be that Quentin the Quahog was right all along?"

What Is Going On In Our Schools?

Apparently, nothing. According to yesterday's New York Times:

"The National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam commonly known as the nation’s report card, found that the reading skills of 12th graders tested in 2005 were significantly worse than those of students in 1992, when a comparable test was first given, and essentially flat since students previously took the exam in 2002.

The test results also showed that the overwhelming majority of high school seniors have not fully mastered high-school-level math.

At the same time, however, grade-point averages have risen nationwide, according to a separate survey by the National Assessment, of the transcripts of 26,000 students, which compared them with a study of students’ coursework in 1990." [emphasis mine]

"The proportion of high school students completing a solid core curriculum has nearly doubled since 1990, and students are doing better in their classes than their predecessors did," Education Week reported. A solid core curriculum "includes four credits of English and three credits each of social studies, math, and science." EdWeek also mentions that "Two-thirds of the 26,000 graduates who were followed for the transcript study also participated in the 2005 NAEP math and science assessments." So we know we're comparing apples to apples. Now we have data supporting John Stossel's "Stupid in America" 20/20 episode from last fall (click the link to watch it on YouTube.)

What is up with this? In the NYT, "The Education Trust, a nonprofit group representing urban schools, attributed the disparity to a kind of academic false advertising, saying that schools may seem to offer the same courses to all students, but that the content of those courses is sometimes less demanding for poor and minority children.

For example, the group found, a ninth-grade English teacher at one school assigned students a two- to three-page essay comparing the themes of Homer’s “Odyssey” to those in the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” At the same school, assignments in another class covering the same material were considerably less demanding. There, students broke up into three clusters, with one designing a brochure for “Odyssey Cruises,” another drawing pictures and the third making up a crossword using characters from the “Odyssey.”

If the Trust is referring to tracked classes, i.e. the essay writers are in the "Honors" 9th grade English course and the others are in the "regular" course, they're being a bit disingenuous. I would hope kids at different academic levels would have different curriculum. However, if both of these classes are billed as 9th grade English (or worse, Honors 9th grade English), there's definitely a problem. "Just slapping new names on courses with weak curriculum and ill-prepared teachers won’t boost achievement,” Kati Haycock, the Education Trust’s president, said [in the NYT]."

So what to do? Stop worrying about self-esteem and start worrying about rigor, for a start. Stop telling teachers that "best practice" for differentiation is "For example, if you're reading Charlotte's Web in a class, tier one might be working on basic plot facts while tier two might write a story about one of the characters. A gifted child in tier three might be asked to "write your own chapter from one of the character's point of view." (Suggestion is from Imagine Teaching Robin Williams -- Twice-Exceptional Children in Your School on the Council for Exceptional Children's website.

This example is clearly for elementary students, not 9th graders. Regardless, this is not differentiation. This is busywork for everyone except those in tier one. I like writing stories, but writing your own story with someone else's characters isn't encouraging creativity and it certainly isn't deepening understanding of Charlotte's Web, any more than making a crossword puzzle of character's names deepens understanding of The Odyssey. Writing a paragraph about how the story would be different if the animals couldn't understand Fern, or if Charlotte were a goose rather than a spider, that is appropriate differentiation for gifted kids.

The Secret Key to the ACT

Or at least to the English subsection--diagramming sentences! Yes, it's true! Klaus raised his score on the English subsection by 10 whole points (from 59th to 96th percentile) by taking a half hour to learn to diagram sentences. I couldn't believe he'd gotten all the way through the first half of 10th grade Enriched English without learning to identify the subject and predicate of a sentence. No wonder he had so much trouble last year. How would he correctly identify subject-verb agreement problems if he couldn't identify the correct subject and verb?

As you might expect, this method of teaching grammar/parts of speech works particularly well with visual-spatial learners. Plus, it's loads of fun, kind of like cracking a code. With Klaus, I used exercises from the following sites:

From the Student Learning Assistance Center of the Alamo Community College District--very clear, step-by-step instructions for basic diagramming. This is primarily what Klaus used.

AP Language and Composition Resource Page from Southwest High School's Language Arts Department, gets into a little more detail on the complexities.

So when would someone need to know how to do this? Maybe never, unless he or she wanted to rock the house on the college entrance exams or in a college composition class. I used my ability to deconstruct a sentence when I was doing freelance paper-editing in college. It's not being able to draw the diagram in the right way that's important, but rather being able to analyze the structure of a sentence, brick by brick, and see the relationships between the words, phrases and clauses. That's when writing begins to become the tool, rather than the taskmaster.

What's So Great About Long Division?

In my last post, I mentioned that Xavier hates long division. Here are a couple of sites questioning the need for long division in the first place, courtesy of Zany Mom: (And you thought I ignored your email, didn't you! LOL)

Senseless of School Math

"Math learned as a side effect of using it is easy. Kids learn to see the big picture and how things fit together and how numbers work.

When kids are made to do pencil and paper math, they get lost in the details. They have to figure out 11/17 of 87 before they have been casually exposed to hundreds of personally meaningful ways fractions are used around them.

I think one of the most helpful things parents can do is to solve everyday problems in their head out loud. It forces you to see things in simpler terms so that you can do it in your head. If one is faced with 103-56 and does it the way you were taught in school, you'll have to juggle and remember a lot of numbers that don't relate to the problem in your head. But if you can see the problem broken down into understandable pieces, then it's much easier and kids get to see how numbers work. (One of the big problems with pencil and paper math is that the numbers feel fixed. You can't alter the problem into something simpler.)

So for 103-56 you might ask how far 56 was from 100. Well, 4 gets you to 60 and 40 more gets you to 100 and 3 more gets you to 103. So 47." (emphasis mine)

Spoken like a true visual-spatial learner. ;-)
Not that there is anything wrong with that! I would do the same problem in my head the same way. But not all kids work this way. I never had trouble applying algorithms to math problems and I can multiply and divide fractions like a house on fire. LOL

Unschoolers and Mathematics

"People do NOT need to learn math the way it is taught in schools. In fact, they don't need to "learn math" at all. Math is INSEPERABLE from most everything else in life, and if you live a full life, you'll learn all the math you need because you need it. It's there. It's part of everything. You couldn't escape it if you tried really hard."

We're not unschoolers but I mostly agree with both of these sites. The problem comes in when the kids skip the lower difficulty stuff (with Wolfie it's dealing with polynomials) and then run into trouble with the higher level stuff they are interested in. We're having to go back and practice the polynomials and he hates it hates it hates it. The practice, not the math.

High Working Memory = Math Anxiety?

There's an interesting article in Education Week entitled "Math Anxiety" Confuses the Equation for Students I'm not sure the link will work, and Ed Week requires you register before reading the full article, so I'll pull the most interesting bits out here:

..."When he first began examining the impact of anxiety on math performance, Mr. Ashcraft [professor of cognitive psychology at UNLV] assumed that students’ unease or nervousness amounted to “an attitude,” as he recalls it, rather than a phobia with a direct link to the brain’s processes. “I was wrong,” he says now.

A number of researchers, including Mr. Ashcraft, say there is evidence that anxiety disrupts student performance in math by wreaking havoc with “working memory.” Such capacity is a type of short-term memory individuals use to retain a limited amount of information while working on a task—and block out distractions and irrelevant information. Anxiety can sap students’ working memory during tests, but in other problem-solving situations, too."...

..."In a 2001 study, published by Mr. Ashcraft and Elizabeth P. Kirk, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the researchers concluded that math-anxious students struggle on problems involving carrying, borrowing, and long division."...

Interestingly, researchers at the University of Chicago and Michigan State University have found that it's students with high working memory who have the most problem with math anxiety.

"Students with a good amount of working memory rely on “really intensive strategies” to solve math problems, such as keeping track of numbers in their heads as they move from step to step, [Sian] Beilock [assistant professor of psychology at U of Chicago] explained in an interview. That approach serves them well on relatively simple math problems, but not more complicated ones, she said.

In higher-pressure situations, such as timed tests, or where researchers put students under additional stress, those high-memory students fare more poorly. Performance pressure sucks the working-memory that has served them so well previously. By contrast, individuals with relatively little working-memory capacity do not seem to suffer as much, Ms. Beilock said."

I find this particularly interesting because this is exactly the case with Xavier. His IQ testing last year showed working memory was a real strength for him. Yet he says he hates math and definitely freezes when in high pressure situations, whether math-related or not. I have noticed in working with him that he tries to do all calculations in his head. The only exception to this is long division, which he's sure he's terrible at.

So, what to do about math anxiety?

..."Still, research has shown that students can learn to overcome anxiety, Ms. Beilock said. One strategy simply involves practice with math problems, which can make it easier to retrieve answers from memory. Another is to train students to become more accustomed to working under pressure by having them take timed practice tests, for example."...

I would add to this being able to move at his own pace through the material. The constant repetition in a scope-and-sequence math curriculum adds frustration, which adds stress. (In fourth grade, Xavier refused to do a math worksheet saying, "She should know I know this by now!") Using lined paper horizontally instead of vertically, so it's easier to line up columns of numbers, has helped tremendously, particularly with long division. After a semester of math at home, he now acknowledges that, although he still doesn't like math, he's pretty good at it. I think that's a good first step toward alleviating his math anxiety.

Jack Bauer Missed the Boat

The new season of 24 is just as engaging and silly as the last one. Loads of nuclear bomb detonation fun! And it turns out that the mastermind who has been trying to get Jack killed since the beginning of the show is his own brother. So Jack got to torture his brother for information last Monday, but he went about it all wrong. He used the usual CTU chemical interrogation tactics and his brother, of course, lied to him.

So the boys (and DH) would like to suggest to Jack some more time-honored and effective brother-torture techniques:

"I'm not touching you"
The Punching Machine
A Wedgie
The Indian Burn
Noogies

And of course, the coup de grace, the Wet Willie!

Output and the Twelve-Year-Old Boy

I've been having a lot of discussions lately about output--essays, worksheets, projects, book reports--those pieces of paper that "prove" your child has learned something. My boys are allergic to output. I'm not entirely sure whether it's an age-thing or if it's a hold-over from public school busywork. I suspect it's a little bit of both.

Xavier is much worse than Wolfie is at this. We do most of his math and vocab work orally because he doesn't want to have to write out the problems (or do workbook pages in the case of vocab). It's fine with me, for the most part, because as a sixth-grader, he's still considered to be in elementary school by the online schools that we work with. He doesn't have a lot of output to produce. Seventh grade, which he is almost ready for, is going to be another matter entirely.

Wolfie, on the other hand, is taking high-school-level classes that are supposed to be pitched for middle schoolers. His EPGY course is excellent--dealing with the tough intellectual issues of literary analysis with output requirements more appropriate for 7th graders. For example, he's asked to write a four page paper that could easily become 8-10 pages in a high school class.

Some of his other classes seem to be even harder than the equivalent high school class would be. His biology book is thicker than the one Klaus used last year for a similar class. The reading assignments are huge. It's not that he can't understand the material, he just doesn't read fast enough to be able to keep up a good pace. I'm sure his algebra class is covering more information more quickly than a 9th grade algebra class would do.

Part of this is just Wolfie's nature. He's slow-moving, always has been. When he was two, he spoke so slowly he had to take a breath in the middle of pronouncing his name. His name has one syllable. I kid you not. When we talked about being able to go at his own pace in virtual school, he thought we meant he could take as much time as he wanted. And he can, if he doesn't mind working through the summer, but somehow I don't think he's going to be down with that.

I've very proud of him for stubbornly sticking with classes that challenge him intellectually even if the workload is tough. As I said, he can understand the material. And he's getting faster (and certainly more independent) about writing essays because of EPGY. But I as parent and teacher would sure like to have some papers to show that he and Xavier are "making progress." And I sure wish I knew if I was requiring too much or not enough.

World of Time Suck

Yes, my boys have been initiated into the World of Warcraft phenomenon. Nearly every morning, I come downstairs to find Xavier playing (apparently he's a Level 49, which means he's good.) Wolfie has several IRL friends who also play, so they get together online and go on quests and stuff. Sometimes one of them, I'll call him Dr. Evil, would come over and sit on the computer in the livingroom playing with Wolfie, who is on the computer in the diningroom. (Not quite as sad as Klaus and his friend sitting not five feet away from each other and talking over AIM.)

Yes, there's lot of fighting, but it's a good game, increasingly difficult/ stimulating, and cooperative, in that you need to recruit other players (actual other people!) to help you achieve most of your quests. With the new expansion pack there's an even larger world to explore. No, I don't play. I couldn't care less about virtual worlds. I'm Stan's mom in the South Park episode Make Love, Not Warcraft. "Stan's about to be killed online!" his dad yells and mom replies, "So?"

[By the way, that episode of South Park is quite awesome, but the best part was that Xavier was online playing WoW while watching the episode--which makes fun of the gamers--and he wasn't the only one. Ironic, no?]

We've had a couple incidents where we've had to restrict access to this game but for the most part, they're allowed to play as much as they want outside of school hours, so long as turns are shared equitably and they get some exercise during the day. So they play a lot. An irritating amount, actually. And I'm quite sure they don't realize just how much time they're spending online, hence World of Time Suck.

There are some who would insist they're addicted to this game. Bollocks. Yes, they spend an awful lot of time doing it. Yes, it's the first thing they think of to do when they're bored. But they're not addicted. I've not seen one incidence of shakes, obsessive thoughts or any other signs of addiction. If anything they suffer from a lack of good ideas on how to spend their time.

Eventually they'll move on to something else. Wolfie has already expressed interest in something called Age of Mythology, which promises to teach him something about mythology in addition to strategy and killing dwarves.

I Crack Myself Up

I was helping Xavier with fractions yesterday. He had to determine the least common denominator for 5/6 and 2/7.

X: 42

Me: Correct. And 5/6 is how many forty-twoths?

X: You said that wrong.

Me: I did?

X: Yeah, you said 'forty-twoths.'

Me: Oh, I'm sorry--"forty-teeth."

LOL He's so disappointed in me, but I just couldn't help myself.

Being a Good Role Model (or Not!)

All the parenting books and teaching methods books stress the importance of modeling behaviors for kids, i.e. if you want the kids to be kind and gentle, you have to be kind and gentle yourself. If you want the kid to not be such a perfectionist, you need to demonstrate laughing at and/or learning from your mistakes. This is all well and good, until it comes to procrastination.

Klaus's college app is due February 1. That's Thursday. Four days (or less, depending on how we send it). With much nagging and browbeating, he is finished with his essays, the letters of recommendations have been requested, Dad is mostly finished with the financial aid forms, but I have not even started the "parent's recommendation" essay yet. Bad Mommy.

Bad role model! It's not much use for me to give him the "you have to stop waiting 'til the last minute" speech when I'm sitting here blogging about what a procrastinator I am instead of just writing the stupid essay. ;-)

Sure, I have lots of reasons for not having done it yet (we don't even know if we're going to let him go to college in the fall so why bother?) and a long history of avoiding writing college app essays (my mother had to confine me to my room for a week to get me to apply to college.) Plus he's sitting here looking at me and who can be expected to think in such an environment?!?!?!

Sigh.

I guess I'd better start writing now...

Thinking and Sledding

It's been a weird winter. We finally got a good snow last week--the first since November. Klaus had even given up on winter. "It took so long, winter lost it's chance. No do-overs!" Anyway, since we've had about five inches on the ground for more than a week the boys have been doing a lot of sledding and I've been giving them school time to do it, since they hardly get any other exercise during the winter.

Meanwhile, Wolfie had a lot of writing for his EPGY class this week, something he would normally stew about. This week's assignment was three to five paragraphs each, on a character with an internal conflict, one with an external conflict and the relationship between the two conflicts, if any. He stared at the blank page/screen for about 45 minutes before I took pity on him and let him sled with Xavier for a half-hour. Wonder of wonders, when he came back in, he'd figured out what he wanted to write about!

Whether you call it kinesthetic learning or simply the fact that exercise sends more oxygen to your brain, this situation is one that homeschooling is made for. Had he been at school, he would have stared at a blank page for an entire class period, then gone on to a completely different subject with a whole new set of problems to consider. Then, at homework time, he would have had to start the process all over again. What does that teach him? Writing is hard and he hates it.

This week, not so much. He wrote what he could, then took a break. Wrote some more, got stuck, went sledding, had another idea and wrote yet more. Yesterday, he told me that even though he doesn't like the class, he recognized that he was a better, faster writer now than in September when he started. Granted, the EPGY program does an excellent job of teaching writing. But the workload is huge and I think if it were taught the same way in the schools, it would be overwhelming. It's the flexibility of homeschooling that makes it possible for him to produce the quantity and quality work that he is producing.

The class lasts until the middle of March. I hope the snow hasn't melted by then.

I Don't Like 12-Year-Old Boys

Xavier (ds11.75) has really been feeling his oats lately. I knew I was in trouble when he grew a full inch in less than two weeks. Now my sweet, compliant, hard-working, might-as-well-get-it-over-with boy has turned into a whiny, demanding, foot-dragging grumbler who thinks he's funny when he annoying other people--specifically his mother. Oy! At lunch today I had to threaten to send him to his room if he said, "Did the dingo eat your baby?" one more time, despite his excellent approximation of a British accent. (I managed the first 450 times quite gracefully, I thought.)

Tonight he wanted me to stand in his room for an indeterminant amount of time while he leaned on me. Then he complained about the order in which I put the blankets on his bed, how I tucked him in and whether his arms were in or out of the blankets. I don't like to be rude to my children, but I finally had to just close the door and walk away. I know he was just playing, but mein Gott!

The good news is that Wolfie (ds12.75) has really grown up in the last few months, so I know there's hope for Xavier. If he lives that long.

No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Die

Klaus just showed me this web comic he's been following called XKCD. Velociraptors and Vanilla Ice are recurrent themes. Just thought I'd share. LOL

It's Crunch Time!

Klaus's application to Simon's Rock is due February 1 and, after six weeks of intensive work, it looks like he will have it done in time. Whether he'll be ready to go to college in the fall, he's not so sure. I don't blame him. It's a huge life transition and he's never done well with transitions.

He's also terrified of rejection. Been there, done that. Applying to college, particularly a competitive college like Simon's Rock, is horrible for a sensitive perfectionist. My mother had to lock me in my room (okay, the door wasn't literally locked) so I would apply to Northwestern, and even after I'd been accepted, I wasn't sure I wanted to go. I remember waking her up in the middle of the night a month before I left to get permission to put college off a year so I could backpack around Europe. At least Klaus comes by it honestly. ;-)

College isn't the be-all and end-all, particularly since some of the state schools are little more than very expensive, glorified high schools. Klaus' career plans require a PhD in psychology, which does require college, though. And I couldn't help thinking, while watching The Pursuit of Happyness that while Chris Gardner is clearly intelligent and driven to succeed, he'd have been in much better shape if he'd left the Navy with more than a high school diploma and radar certification. I don't know if Dean Witter would even accept a non-college-graduate these days.

I'm sure Klaus can handle college-level work. If I had him home for the next semester, I could guarantee he'd do well on his AP tests and know how to write a college-level paper. I know a college-type schedule suits him better than the more regimented high school schedule does. I believe he will find some true peers there. Now if I can only convince him of all that.

If Only Learning Wasn't So Loud

So I'm trying to watch the second half of the premiere of the new season on 24 last Monday night, when Wolfie comes down with the Van de Graff generator he made as part of his science fair project last year. Which would have be fine except it's really loud, he set it up in the same room where I was watching tv and he keeps saying,"Mom, look! Watch this! Come here and pick up the salt for me."

Okay, that last sounded like a non sequitur. Turns out he had figured out that if he put the salt-substitute canister (cardboard with a metal bottom) at a certain distance from the generator and waited a bit for the charge to build up, he could generate a shock from the cardboard--suprising, no? Definitely not what I would have predicted. "I made iodized salt into ionized salt!" he says. A two-fer--a science experiment and a pun at the same time. LOL

And right in the middle of 24, of course. Thank goodness for our DVR.

[Speaking of loud, as I write this, Wolfie and Xavier at sitting at the table with me, meowing the "Ode to Joy" in two different keys. Yes, I said "meowing." Sigh.]

70% Gifted at Bannockburn Elementary!

From the Jan. 3 Washington Post article Schools Seek and Find 'Gifted' Students:

"Most of Alexis Peterson's students are third-graders in name only. A recent morning found Dorothy Neher, 8, reading "Charlotte's Web," a book most teachers save for fifth grade, in breathless preparation to see the new movie at the megaplex. A group at the back of the class discussed the back-cover blurb of a fifth-grade tome they were about to read. Jack Herscovitz, also 8, sat at his desk, attempting to draw a picture illustrating the idiom "catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

Bannockburn Elementary School in Bethesda is suburban Washington's Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor's fictional hamlet where every child is above average.

Not every student at Bannockburn is above average. But 70 percent of the third-grade class has been identified as gifted, based on tests and other academic indicators."

Call me reactionary, but this does not indicate to me that Bannockburn has an unusually high number of gifted kids. I think the issue here is more one of "what is grade level"? In our local school, Charlotte's Web is a third grade book, not a fifth grade book. So according to Wisconsin, these gifted kids are working right at grade level, not two grades ahead. But I digress...

"Program officials contend that the gifted label buys virtually nothing, on its own, in terms of additional goods or services to the student. It serves mostly as a flag to teachers, parents and students that children should be considered for advanced study at various points in their academic careers. Being gifted does not qualify a student for admission to a highly gifted magnet program or to an AP class, but students so labeled might be more apt to apply."

So what's the point, exactly? Helping kids feel good about themselves by being positively labeled? Yippee! Not all kids are gifted but more than 2/3rds of them are--we must have really good schools! Bravo to us!

And in the meantime, the expectations creep lower and lower, so more and more kids can be "gifted" and more and more kids with few, if any, academic skills can still come out "at grade level" on NCLB. And that's the more insidious result. The story quotes parents indignant at the underrepresentation of gifted minority students. They should be indignant, not that their child does or does not get a label, but that the expectations of academic rigor as early as fifth grade are equivalent to that of third graders elsewhere in the country. These kids are starting out two years behind. And when they accomplish something an 8 year old should be able to do, the school calls them gifted and then does "virtually nothing" about continuing to challenge them. I see no cause for celebration here.

Have a Horrible New Year!

It's Horrible Books time again. Ray at Del Sol Books is readying another bulk order from the UK of Horrible Histories/Science/The Knowledge and the other Terry Deary books. For those who don't know, these books are short chapterish books that cover lots of "educational" topics in all their gory (and don't stint on the human sacrifice) details. These books aren't available in the US and they can run $20 a piece on ebay, but Ray gets them for ~$7.50 a piece with a flat rate for shipping ($7).

These books are appropriate for gifted elementary aged kids and particularly appeal to 9-12 year old boys, who are terribly difficult to find books for. Last day to order for this round in January 28, for delivery in mid-February. For all the horrible details, see horriblebooks.com.

And so it begins...

Or maybe ends would be a better word. We were a little concerned at Christmas because Xavier seemed to have fallen off his growth curve. But we just measured him and he's grown an inch in the last two weeks. Way! Along with the sudden burst of cleverness and the fact that I had to play full out to beat him at Khet over the weekend (and even then I got lucky), I guess he's officially having his growth spurt. I'm the only one who is sad that he's not a little boy, though. He's been feeling left out of the puberty pool, I know. (We had the same problem with potty-training--sharp demarcation between the big boys and the little boys.)

So good for you, Xavier! We're very proud of you!

Feelin' Pargly

We all went out for dinner the other night and Klaus came up with a new word game. Take the obligatory word search on the kids' menu and take turns circling words--any words except the ones you're supposed to circle. Preferably words that you've just made up. Then, as in Scrabble, you have to define the word. This is how we found out about "Tukh," the Egyptian basilisk god of tubas; the "sloa," a snakelike creature who fed on giant sloths; and "lolic," that state of annoyance with your little brother so extreme that you are moved to violence. My best one was "pargly," which is how you feel when you're trying to think of something clever and your mind goes completely blank. Lame attempts at cleverness have since been greeted with, "That was very pargly of you."

So, the reason I haven't posted in awhile is because I've been feeling pargly. ;-)

UK Spending Big Bucks for Gifted Online Classes

According to the article E-credits for more gifted pupils at BBC.com, "The government is arranging "e-credits" for schools to access extra lessons for an estimated 800,000 gifted pupils. The £65m scheme is part of its drive to ensure all children in England with special talents are given extra help."

Now you all know I think online classes for gifted kids are an excellent idea. Particularly for kids who are gifted in particular areas and working at grade level (or below) in others. I don't understand why schools are so resistant. Sending one first-grader to second grade for math and another to fifth grade for science is a logistical nightmare unless you can mandate that every grade in the school teach the same subject at the same time each day. Otherwise the child is likely to miss something relevant in his or her own classroom during the accelerated lesson time. Pulling kids from the classroom for gifted classes can give the same result. But if a child could go to the library or media center during math time, say,--whenever math is scheduled for that day--to work on Aleks.com, where is the harm in that? The child's academic needs are being met. The teacher doesn't have to deal with a bored student who is at best tuned out, at worst, disruptive. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Despite the title, the BBC's article is primarily about identifying gifted kids. The British government has suggested identifying the top 10% as GT--very generous according to US standards that usually run top 2-5%. One teacher quoted asks "what to tell a girl who said: "Miss, I really wanted to go to the giant insects workshop today, but I'm not clever enough," adding that the criteria for inclusion should be "good attendance, good behaviour, good citizenship - anything but natural ability". Sigh. I'm the parent of one of these borderline kids--sometimes he's considered gifted, at school he's not. I would suggest that if a child has high interest in a workshop on giant insects, she should be allowed to go.

But this quote smacks of a reverse elitism, particularly the bit about "anything but natural ability," and a basic lack of understanding about the purpose of gifted classes. Gifted programs are not rewards for being born with high ability. Gifted programs are (or at least, should be) appropriate education for high-ability students. Anyone with high ability in any subject(s) should be allowed/encouraged/assisted to develop those abilities. That's not elitism, that's what schools are supposed to do.

Merry Christmas, Rolfie McHorkenstein!

So how was the Christmas holiday at our house? Pretty good, except for the part where the dog had one too many Swedish meatballs and threw up in the front hall (twice), the front room (three times) and right behind DH and the FIL WHO NOTICED NOTHING! until I started cleaning up. Wolfie chimed in, "I never knew Christmas could be so horrible" (which is a quote of what Klaus (age 5) said at Wolfie/Zavier's joint 2nd/1st birthday, after Wolfie ate too much Thomas the Tank Engine cake and threw up all over the table: "I never knew birthdays could be so horrible.")

Said dog's name has now been changed from Jack the Wonder Dog to Rolfie McHorkenstein by Klaus, the teenager who is too cool to say "er".
("Whatev, Mom!")

Hope your weekend was equally entertaining. :D

Merry Cranky Christmas!

My Gawd, has life around here been awful these last two weeks! Xavier's been picking fights with everyone, including me, since he found out he has a proctored final for his reading class. Wolfie can hardly drag himself out of bed and doesn't really wake up until dinnertime. Klaus has been walking around like a zombie. I've hardly seen him crack a smile all week, even though he's still meeting his obligations, school-wise. I could barely function yesterday but I blame Lunesta for that.

Part of it has been the weather--very dark and rainy. (We've got a 0-25% chance for a white Christmas.) Bleah. But I don't remember the run up to Christmas being this tense. After all, the cookies are made, the cards are sent, the presents are wrapped (at least my presents are wrapped), the WWI Royal Canadian Flying Corps uniform is finished...

Maybe after school on Friday (yes, the public schools have a full day tomorrow) things will begin to look a lot like Christmas.

Anyway, I hope you all have a joyous and relaxing New Year! :D

What's Opera, Doc?

I love the internet. The boys have been playing World of Warcraft--a lot--and they keep talking about magic helmets. Which in turn makes DH and I sign the "Spear and Magic Helmet" recitative from the Bugs Bunny cartoon "What's Opera, Doc?" The boys thought we were insane (not for the first time, mind you) until I found the cartoon on Google video this morning. LOL
Click the title to watch.

Without a...Clue?

DH and I were watching a rerun of "Without a Trace" the other night about a 15yo violin prodigy who has disappeared. Making a case for her running away, her manager says, "And her mother homeschools her! There's nothing normal about that!" So this is our new catchphrase: "There's nothing normal about that!" LOL

Unschooling live chat transcript from Teacher Magazine

Last week, edweek.org hosted a live Web chat with Ken Danford, executive director of North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens, in Hadley, Mass. From their promo material: "Founded in 1996, North Star is an education center for homeschoolers, catering mostly to students who've grown disaffected with high school. North Star offers an eclectic mix of courses as well as career resources, but what the students do with their time is largely up to them.

"There's no attendance taken," writes author Dan Robb in his recent TEACHER MAGAZINE article on North Star. "Nor are there bells, grade levels, or evaluations. Students are absolutely in charge of their own education." Adds Danford, "Unstructured time here is invaluable--is more important than the classes, in a way--because ultimately it's more important that kids have time and space to figure out who they want to be."

Some of North Star's students attest that this laissez-faire approach has reawakened their engagement with learning. And despite leaving the center without grades or a diploma, a number of North Star's alumni have gone on to elite colleges."

There are two of the predicable "What if they just want to play video games all day?" questions. Danford doesn't mention deschooling, perhaps because most of his audience is teachers, but he handles most of the questions well. I suspect the center is even less structured than it appears to be from his answers--again playing to the audience. With a staff of two, they couldn't possibly be as hands-on as he suggests. Not that that is a bad thing, but it's something that teachers just would not understand.

Science Curriculum Ideas

First an update: I have not been able to get the HHMI Virtual Labs disk to work under Mac OSX or Windows. Granted I'm not the most adept Windows user, but I can't even get the computer to recognize that there is a program on the disk. Too bad because the splash page looked pretty slick.

On a more positive note: The disk of supplementary material that came with the NIH science unit works well under Windows and presumably under Mac OS9 (it kept trying to open OS9 under my OSX browser). It has lots of good stuff on it, including a short documentary on what a hazmat worker does. We'll be trying out the Toxicology unit in the next month since Xavier has finished his 6th grade science course. :D

Differentiation from the Teacher's Point of View

Excellent article from the web version of Teacher Magazine:

"Published: November 6, 2006

The Kid Who's Sleeping in Row 3, Desk 2

By Elaine Duff

As part of a new partnership, teachermagazine.org is publishing this regular column by members of the Teacher Leaders Network, a professional community of accomplished educators dedicated to sharing ideas and expanding the influence of teachers.

I think teachers can often fall into the trap of teaching content instead of children. Howard Gardner says, "When students cannot learn the way we teach them, we must teach them the way they learn." That's a powerful statement. But even if we know, in theory, that differentiating our instruction to match the needs of each student is an important key to success, it's still challenging in practice.

Many of us have the attitude that "we will put the information out there, and if they don't get it, it's on them." We tend to be resistant to the whole idea of differentiation. I believe it starts with the teacher's attitude and expectations. We've got to be willing to entertain the idea that not all students will learn the same way or at the same rate, nor will every student respond every time. We've got to be willing to keep trying to reach every student.

One incident in my personal history springs to mind. I was teaching 12th grade English that year, a curriculum mostly centered on writing and British literature. I was certainly not the paragon of teaching excellence I am today (insert smile here), and I was struggling to find ways to make the content interesting.

Though Jeremy was classified as gifted, he slept in class every day. He'd come to class, stay awake for about 15 minutes, and then down he’d go on the desktop. It didn't matter what I did. Since British literature can be a little dry, I really tried to spice up that class. I used lots of cooperative learning, visuals, and let the students have lots of choices. Jeremy didn't care. During his standard 15 minutes of awake time, he'd stare into space, grunt when spoken to, and cultivate a general look of disdain. I began to get really frustrated because I couldn't pique Jeremy's interest. I even began to harbor a little resentment toward him for not liking my class.

I was thinking, "OK Jeremy, if you want to fail my class, FINE. I've tried everything." As time went on, I sort of gave up. I just started to ignore Jeremy. I didn't ask him questions, or even make eye contact with him most of the time. I didn't expect anything from him, except snoring and an occasional puddle of drool left on his desk.

It was quite by accident that I came to realize that Jeremy was capable of much more than I had given him credit for. During my planning period one day, I went downstairs to the TV broadcasting classroom to edit some film. I was in charge of homecoming, and each year I took the footage from homecoming week activities and put together a montage with music for our school TV station to broadcast during homeroom.

Several students were working on an assignment while I sat in the corner at the editing machine. I was focused on editing and not paying much attention at first, but then I heard a voice I recognized. I looked up and saw Jeremy, not only awake and standing upright, but teaching his classmates.

He was moving about in an animated fashion while explaining how to film a fight sequence. My first thought was that Jeremy must have a twin brother! I sat there staring with my mouth agape, struggling to reconcile the Jeremy I knew with this stranger. Suddenly he realized I was sitting in the corner by the editing machine.

When our eyes met, he said, "Mrs. Duff?"

And I said, "Jeremy?"

He asked with surprise, "You know how to edit video?"

I almost said, "You're walking upright?" but then I caught myself. "Yes, Mrs. Bernard taught me. You really seem to know your way around that camera. I had no idea you were a videographer!"

He beamed with pride and proceeded to explain the project his group was working on. It was clear he had earned the respect of his classmates. And it was also suddenly clear that I had not really made an effort to know Jeremy at all.

What happened after that day was nothing short of amazing. When Jeremy came to class the next day, he not only stayed awake, but he completed his work, and even participated in the class discussion. In fact, from that day on, he was totally different. He volunteered to film some projects we were doing in class, and even completed one himself. He ended up passing my class with a B.

What happened? When Jeremy encountered me in a situation other than English class, it changed his perspective of me. He realized that I wasn't just some weird lady trying to force him to learn British poetry. Equally important, my perspective about him was altered. He wasn't just the kid who slept in my class.

I'm not proud of the fact that I didn't make a better effort to know Jeremy long before this incident. He was just desk two in row three of my second-period class. It was easier just to see him that way. I told myself I had tried everything, but I had not stepped outside of my little English-class world at all.

When I think about what caused me to underestimate Jeremy, I see that it is related at least in part to my own school experiences. You see, I'm a "teacher pleaser" from way back. Since I saw teachers as magical beings, I can get offended when my students don't perceive me that way—especially when I've tried so hard to make the subject matter interesting for them.
I did learn from that fortunate accident. Now I make a great effort to cause more of these "accidents" to happen. I try harder to discover the many facets of my students. And I am happy to report that Jeremy now works for a television station in Tennessee.

In the end, it's all about attitude. It may be a teaching strategy, a timely smile, or a fortunate accident. But if we're determined to reach our kids, we'll eventually find a way.

Elaine Duff is a National Board Certified Teacher in Cumberland County, North Carolina, where she teaches high school English and serves as the professional development coordinator for the Cumberland County Schools Web Academy."

Choice is Good!

From today's EdWeek:

"Public School Choice Seen on the Rise

"Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993-2003" is available from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Increasing numbers of U.S. students, over time, are attending public schools of choice rather than their neighborhood schools, a federal study concludes.

The report by the National Center for Education Statistics says the share of enrollment for public schools of choice grew from 11 percent to 15 percent of all students in grades 1-12 from 1993 to 2003. Those schools include public charter schools, magnet schools, and other types of options both within districts and in nearby districts. The data come from telephone surveys of a nationally representative sample of parents.

— Erik W. Robelen
Vol. 26, Issue 14, Page 12"

Archaeology Camp in Southwestern Colorado

Thinking ahead to next summer: Do you have a child interested in the history of native peoples or in archaeology in general? Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in SW Colorado offers week-long archaeology camps for middle schoolers and high-schoolers and a three-week High School Field School. All programs are residential and offer a wide variety of cultural experiences in the evenings, in addition to days working hands-on in the field.

Your Kids Might Be Gifted If...

...He can never do things the easy way.

Wolfie, Wolfie, Wolfie. He can never do things the way everyone else does them. The first time he made dinner for the family, he chose to make beef stew and refused to follow, or even look at, a recipe. And the other day when we were making gingerbread cookies, instead of using the cutters, he ended up sculpting a gingerbread travelling salesman and a pair of tied eighth notes out of the dough. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but sometimes it's really hard to give him the space and time he needs to do things his way.

...The strangest things turn into word games.

Several years ago, I bought a set of stocking hangar letters. The set spelled PEACE with a star at the end (we needed six stockings so the dog could have one, duh!). Sure enough, the star became a wild card and the mantel began to read things like APE and PACE. We needed more letters so we added the SANTA set and the next thing I knew, we had EAT CANAPES. Now we also have JOY, NOEL and WISH. My mantel currently reads SANTA'S WRATH. (We added a leg to the P, to make R.)

Oh, brother.

School for Snowbunnies

There is an article in today's New York Times about specialized private winter sports schools and how they're giving their students a leg up on college entrance.

"Once, winter sports schools were mainly the domain of those eyeing Olympic gold. But now they are becoming the choice for students and parents who do not expect to see a dime from future athletic careers. They are willing to sacrifice a traditional high school experience and pay up to $35,000 for a few more hours of play each day — and an edge on scholarships or entry into a prestigious college."

A traditional high school experience is well-worth sacrificing, if you ask me, particularly if you're able to pursue your passion in a homeschooling-type atmosphere.

"Just down the road, the North American Hockey Academy is housed in a chalet. Its classroom setting is informal. In the basement, students and teachers sit in pairs. Thin cubicle walls separate Algebra 2 from History of World Societies. Science class is just an arm’s length away from the Spanish lesson happening near the TV.

Several parents and students said the tiny class sizes often put them ahead of their fellow high school students when they return in the spring."

So why return? If anything, it's more difficult. "Splitting the year between home high schools and specialized academies can result in logistical headaches. Since the sixth grade, Erin Fucigna, a ski racer, has had assignments from her high school in Hopkinton, Mass., e-mailed and faxed to her at the Waterville Valley Academy, in New Hampshire. “It’s confusing at first and overwhelming,” said Ms. Fucigna, now a junior. “Science is the hardest, because I don’t have the same materials that are available at home.”

Sasha Dingle, the subject of a forthcoming documentary called “Balance,” attended both her local high school in Jericho, Vt., and the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy, in Stowe. “I always wanted to be in the high school play, but I would miss the first part of tryouts,” said Ms. Dingle, who was accepted at St. Lawrence University, in Canton, N.Y. “I felt almost like I was living a double life. Every achievement I made through the winter, I would come back to my high school in the spring and nobody would know.”

This is true for most, if not all teen professionals. At my school, we had two professional performers. One was a ballerina, the other had a nightclub act. Neither fit in well or was very happy at high school. Kind of begs the question, "Why try to force yourself into the traditional high school model?" Personally, I think I'd forego the $35K tuition, move to the slopes and homeshool.

Dr. Phil Again

I got this message from ZanyMom this morning about the results from yesterday's "Great School Debate" on Dr. Phil.

"I was poking around his website regarding today's show (which actually wasn't half bad, despite the trailer).

There is a poll -- vote for your preferred method of schooling.

What got me wasn't the replies, so much as the math is skewed:

The public school numbers are rounded UP, while the other choices are rounded DOWN. And gee, when I tried to post to that effect on their website (all posts are premoderated) they didn't post it. Go figure. ;)

;) Guess we unschoolers weren't supposed to notice the math bias. LOL

[From Dr. Phil's site:]Which style of schooling do you think is best? Take our poll!

(Actually, for PS it's 13.9%, not 16% LOL--Zany)

16%/456 Public school

10%/358 Private school

55%/1814 Homeschooling

19%/642 Unschooling

Total Votes: 3270"

Clearly the viewers prefer homeschool and even unschooling to public or private school, even with the skewed numbers. From what I understand, Dr. Phil believes middle and high school kids need socialization, although homeschooling in elementary is fine with him.

Klaus would beg to differ--if he were able to take three high school courses as a homeschooler instead of only two, he would definitely come home again at the semester. He doesn't want to give up his AP classes or Japanese in mid-year, which I think is a very mature decision. But, for him, the social high school thing has been a big bust. He actually did more extracurricular activities last year as a homeschooler than he has done this year.

Ooohhh, Noooooo, Dr. Phil!

(Disclaimer: I don't watch Dr. Phil and don't intend to watch the Great School Debate.)

FYI: The Dr. Phil show is airing an episode called The Great School Debate on November 24. From their website:

"Parents want the best for their children, but what’s the best way to educate them? Dr. Phil’s guests face off in a debate about whether to school, homeschool or unschool. Dana and her husband, Joe, call themselves radical unschoolers. They say education happens as a side effect of life, and they don’t believe in tests, curriculums or grades. Are their three kids learning what they need to know? Then, RaeAnn says public schools are death traps and wants to homeschool her children. Her husband, Steve, says their kids are safer at school than they are at home. Can this couple reach a compromise? Plus, Nicole feels like an outcast at 26. She says she hated being homeschooled, and couldn’t relate to other kids."

Just from this summary, you can tell Dr. Phil is against homeschooling. The deck has been stacked. Otherwise they'd have comments about how well the unschooling kids are doing and a former homeschooled student who thought it was the best way to learn, not that she hated being homeschooled.

You can read more about how the actual taping went from a homeschooling advocate who was a guest on the show. She writes:

"After the lady who chewed homeschoolers out as the future of her government had spoken, Dr. Phil then did something that clearly indicated why the homeschoolers had been brought to be part of an audience of an episode in which hundreds of high school students had been bussed in: Dr. Phil then asked the audience, "How many of you support Homeschooling and how many of you support sending children to school?"

Well, of course the 10% to 15% of the sparsely spread audience that were passionate homeschoolers proudly raised their hands in support of homeschooling. And when Dr. Phil said, "How many people do not support homeschooling," all those young high school students that had been unwittingly bussed in specifically for that question in this episode, raised their hands -- A forest of "No's," against homeschooling.

Although, that was just one brief question in Dr. Phil's episode, he took no chances. He deliberately rigged that audience to be a few sparsely spread homeschoolers, and an imposing majority of those who were currently in traditional schools."

Frankly, I think this was a huge chance for the show's producers to take. All the high school students I know think homeschooling, especially unschooling, is an awesome idea. However, it seemed to work out all right for Dr. Phil.

A Kid's Eye View of Capitalism

The Playstation III was released at 12:01 am yesterday morning. According to our local paper, people started waiting in line at Wal-Mart on Sunday night. I know by Tuesday there was a long line of very cold people in tents outside of Best Buy. We've been in this situation before, when Klaus spent 12 hours in line waiting for the Xbox 360 to be released last year, so I can't be too critical of the many college students waiting days for the PS3. Particularly since most of the people I saw interviewed in line said they were waiting for one to resell. Last year, the $400 and $600 Xboxes were re-selling for thousands of dollars.

Wolfie and Xavier thought waiting days was excessive, particularly for a game console they don't think is going to live up to the hype. Then we checked how much these boxes were selling for on eBay. Many sold in the $2,000-2,500 range, but some were ending between the $4-5,000. One auction ended with a "buy it now" price of $9,000!

It makes an excellent lesson in supply and demand. Our boys were astonished someone would pay that much extra just to have it now without waiting in line personally. But after DH figured that the seller who made $5300 on his console earned about $100/hour (assuming he waited 48 hours), the boys were suitably impressed. An excellent real-life example of the concepts of "value-added" and entrepreneurship.

Another lesson comes at Sony's expense--literally. These premiums paid to entrepreneurs aren't going back to the gaming giant. Also, Sony is apparently taking a loss of several hundred dollars on every console it sells. Traditionally, consoles are sold at a loss by all game makers, not just Sony, according to CNet. Companies make up the loss by selling games at a premium. Now we know why the new games are $60 a pop!

Paperless Classroom in Miami

Another blow for the "handwriting is important" crowd: Check out this Miami Herald article about a paperless 5th grade classroom, where each child has a computer screen built into his or her desk.

..."When [the teacher] assigns students a report on Civil War heroes, the students take off on their own using websites like Google and Dogpile to do research, cutting and pasting photographs into documents and saving their work on disks.

''Instead of writing with a paper and pencil and your hand getting tired, we can do it on a computer,'' said Robert Toledo, 10, as he read a site about Abraham Lincoln. ``It's faster and better.''

Here in Miami-Dade's only paperless classroom, websites are used in lieu of textbooks, PowerPoint presentations substitute for written essays and students get homework help from their teacher by e-mail.

''I can use the skills I learn here in sixth grade and in college,'' said Marissa Seijo, 10."...

Pretty cool, huh? I think written (as in word-processed) essays should supplement PowerPoint presentations to encourage actual development of ideas. In my experience, PowerPoints tend to favor regurgitation of images and sounds pulled off the internet, rather than promoting critical thought and development of ideas. Then again, we are talking about fifth grade. ;-)

Siege Weapons 'R Us

Wolfie just finished his Medieval Studies course. The final project was to build a siege weapon--he chose a trebuchet. (We found an excellent kit at American Science and Surplus.) It took him about a week to build. Since he finished it on Monday night, the boys have been having lots of fun hurling Milk Bones through the kitchen for the dog to find. Most of the time he can't find them unless someone stands over them and points, but then he's not the brightest dog that ever burned.

Anyway, this latest craze has caused me to utter another Sentence You Never Thought You'd Have To Say: "Do not put ham in the trebuchet under any circumstances!"

Buddy, Can You Spare Ninety Thou?

Ack! Klaus and I went to visit an early college program called Simon's Rock College of Bard over the weekend. The good news is, it seems like a perfect match for him. An astonishingly good match for him, actually. While we were waiting around for his interview after lunch, a current student suddenly appeared and said, "Hi, my name is P_____ and I'm going to be your new best friend. I've been assigned to you for the next year and a half. I'm going to write my cell phone number on your nametag here, even though we have no reception because we're in the middle of f-ing nowhere." He did write a phone number on Klaus' nametag then disappeared. Klaus' reaction? "I am so going to do that next year!"

The bad news is that tuition, room and board costs $45,000 a year. **faint**

They do offer merit scholarships, thank goodness, because we're likely not going to qualify for need-based aid. Most students only stay for two years, then transfer to another university (In the top 5 schools accepting transfers from Simon's Rock, Stanford is #2). Of course, schools like Stanford cost just as much. Oy vey. We're still reeling from sticker-shock.

Holiday Gift List

Something I've found during the annual catalogue inundation that I thought might appeal to gifted kids (and adults):

Edmund Scientifics, where you can always find a winner, is offering a K'Nex Value Tub. 275 pieces for $19.99. This is a temporary overstock sale, so get them before they're gone.

For little bug-lovers: Exobonz is an award-winning building set made up of bug parts, rather than the usual blocks or sticks (like K'Nex). I just found this in the National Geographic gift catalog.

They also offer a pair of remote-control Tarantulas whose eight hairy legs move independently, just like the real thing. ICK! (Btw, I've seen single RC tarantulas in other kids' catalogs, too, for less than half what the $48 Nat. Geo wants. Check Google.)

Future engineers might be interested in the Chaos Tower, a giant Rube Goldberg-like device you design yourself. Think the Mousetrap game, but motorized. The best price I've seen for this is from American Science and Surplus, where they call it the Rube Goldberg Kit. Or Google "Chaos Tower."

Another fun one from AS&S, where we're getting most of our gifts this year, is the model trebuchet. Clearly anything that flings things through the air is worth having. Since Wolfie and Xavier have both come across siege weapons in their social studies course, they're very excited about this.

Finally, the must-have gift for ever-so-hard-to-buy-for 12 year old boys this winter is the pocketed security sock, again from National Geographic. Go figure, but my boys were all oohs and aahs about socks with zippered pockets in them. And at 3 pair for $30, they're a perfect...stocking stuffer?

Time Flies When You're Focused on the End of the Week

Hey, it's the second week of November already! This homeschooling thing is really messing up my "me time," which is when I can sit and write a coherent blog entry, unfortunately. Pardon me while I play catch-up:

Iron Science Teacher is the name of a webcast from the Exploratorium in San Francisco, pitting science teachers head-to-head to create science experiments out of everyday objects. Click the link to read more about the show, then check out the show at WWW.Exploratorium.com.

Freshwater Fred's Free Lending Library has materials for math, science, history, etc in a searchable database. From their website:

"Freshwater Fred's Lending Library includes approximately 1,100 educational videos, software programs and curriculum - and the collection is always growing. Explore topics such as biology, zoology, anatomy, physics, math, history, geography, the arts and environmental science. Some materials come with study guides.

There is no charge for Lending Library materials. Freshwater Fred's Lending Library is brought to you by Hoosier Energy and its Environmental Education Center, located at the Turtle Creek Reservoir in Sullivan County, Ind. The service functions on the Honor System.

Materials are available to educators in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin for 30-day intervals. Renewals are subject to demand. Educators are limited to 10 items at any one time."

Yale has joined the group of universities which offer course lecture online for free through Open CourseWare. Click here for more info.

Barbie vs. Baby Einstein

Interesting article on Time.com about whether the "trends" touted by the media are really trends.

"Here's how the typical American family is being portrayed. Most kids are coddled by helicopter parents who protect their child from failure. All moms have misgivings over their choice to work or stay home. Nannies are on duty at every playground, and the parents have fabulous jobs. Every child is pushed with too much homework, and every teenager is spoiled with too many luxuries. Teens have to apply to twelve colleges — because they're competing against all the other overachieving youngsters. And once they graduate, you would think every one of these young adults moves back home to mooch for a few years, unwilling to grow up and get a job."...

"The media needs a reality check. Mountains are being made of molehills. This new paranoia that we're all smothering our kids is a myth.

Parental involvement in schools has actually gone down, not up (a drop of 10% since 1998 in such things as attending PTA meetings and helping out with homework). Nor is every teenager spoiled or lazy; nearly a third of 16-year-olds have jobs while in school. Nearly a third of them volunteer, about one hour a week. Only 2% of students apply to 12 or more colleges, and only 150 of the nation's 3,500 colleges are so selective that they turn down over half their applicants. There are actually tons of college slots: 44% of colleges accept every single applicant. Some graduates do move home after college, but more 18-to-34-year-olds lived at home during the 1980s than do so today. Most families in America aren't doing too much for their children. They're doing everything they can, and it's just barely enough."

Reminds me of a senator who was interviewed during the drafting of the middle-class tax cut. When the reporter asked what family income level he considered to be middle-class, he replied, "$100,000." Not hardly! (I wish I could remember who that was.) And the fact that the media is out of touch with Middle America is hardly news. When a blizzard buries Minnesota or Wisconsin, it barely merits a mention in the national weather report. But when that same storm hits New York, it's a crisis of Biblical proportions!

I could just roll my eyes at the self-indulgent bias of the mainstream media, but the coverage is having unintended consequences. The Time authors argue that all this lack of perspective on the problems of the top 1%, the "Baby Einstein buyers," is trickling down and causing undue freak-outs among others who don't have these problems. "A survey of young Latinos showed they had picked up this panic that colleges are too selective and too expensive. Many had not bothered to apply even to their local public college, assuming it was as expensive as the Ivy Leagues and their grades weren't good enough to be admitted. When they were told the facts, three-fourths of them said they would have applied to college, if they had known earlier." And that is a shame.

The Key to a "Good" Joke

The truth is, they are. (So says Wolfie)

I have to admit, I started this. But here is a list of jokes we made up, all riffing on the idea of a key:

What do you use to open a monastery?
A monkey (Monk-key. I told this one, but did not make it up.)

What do you use to open the door to a party?
A Funky. (This was Wolfie's.)

How do you open a glue factory?
With a sticky (Dad)

How do you open Klaus's room?
With a dorky (Wolfie)

How do you open Wolfie's room?
With a stinky (Klaus)

What do you use to open the Australia Zoo?
A crikey (Okay, I admit, that was mine. With apologies to Steve Irwin's family)

What would you use to open New Zealand?
A kiwi (Klaus)

What would you use to open Rivendell?
A Keebler (This was Dad's)

And after that, we just had to give up! LOL

Check out the Biology & Paleontology Q&A blog

Why do humans have noses and great apes don't? What is a pseudoscorpion? Did Diplodocus drag its tail on the ground? These questions and more are answered in the Biology & Paleontology Q's & A's blog. This blog is run specifically for answering the questions of schoolchildren (although I'm sure they'd answer questions from curious adults). They offer a wealth of experts is many fields of biology, paleontology (duh), ecology, evolutionary biology (my favorite!), dinosaurs, elephant locomotion, the list goes on... Very cool resource for young scientists!

2007 Kid's Philosophy Slam Topic Announced

The topic for the Kid's Philosophy Slam for 2007 will be "Compassion or Violence: Which has a Greater Impact on Society?" Kid's Philosophy Slam is open to all students grades K-12, including special education students. There is a winner in each grade level. From their site:

"Entering the Kids Philosophy Slam is easy! Since everyone has experiences in life, the Kids Philosophy Slam asks kids to write, create poetry, music or create artwork about their personal experiences regarding a philosophical question posed each year. Any student from Kindergarten through 12th grade can enter, including special education students. There is a $25 registration fee for schools and a $2 registration fee per household for home school students."

Click the link above for more information about the slam, to get on their mailing list or to check out the The Philosopher of the Week.

Handwriting on the Wall? Doubt it.

According to an article in today's Washington Post, teachers can no longer find enough time to teach proper handwriting. And they don't care.

"Many educators shrug. Stacked up against teaching technology, foreign languages and the material on standardized tests, penmanship instruction seems a relic, teachers across the region say. But academics who specialize in writing acquisition argue that it's important cognitively, pointing to research that shows children without proficient handwriting skills produce simpler, shorter compositions, from the earliest grades."

I've mentioned before that I feel that "lovely handwriting" should be considered an artistic technique, not a writing skill. The Post's article would have us believe that without cursive writing, there would be no critical thought:

"The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive opportunity missed. The neurological process that directs thought, through fingers, into written symbols is a highly sophisticated one. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better -- a lifelong benefit. Children who don't learn correct technique find it harder to write by hand, so they avoid it."

"In one of the studies, Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who studies the acquisition of writing, experimented with a group of first-graders in Prince George's County who could write only 10 to 12 letters per minute. The kids were given 15 minutes of handwriting instruction three times a week. After nine weeks, they had doubled their writing speed and their expressed thoughts were more complex. He also found corresponding increases in their sentence construction skills."

Let's think about this. Being able to write easily from a young age makes children more likely to write well. Children who struggle with writing don't like to write. Earthshattering news? Hardly. And I would argue this means keyboarding is even more important than 15 minutes a day of handwriting practice.

A child who is not worrying about letter-formation will be able to add that much more attention to the ideas he or she is writing. More practice at letter-formation needed? No, how about removing letter-formation from the equation altogether? People who type don't worry about letter-formation, or spelling, or grammar when they are first getting their ideas down. All that technical stuff can be fixed later; it's the ideas that are important. Revising is easy in a wordprocessing program.

People (children) who are forced to laboriously hand-write an essay concentrate on all these mechanics to the detriment of ideas so they won't have to rewrite later. And that fear of having to rewrite is what makes the essays superficial. A child who is more worried about spelling than communicating ideas will write "Dad's mom" instead of "Grandmother." (Klaus, age 5, after three months in kindergarten). A child who is dictating a story will go on for pages with dialogue and extensive descriptions, will type a five page essay, but when hand-writing will struggle to finish half a page. (Xavier, the one with the perfect penmanship, grade 3) I suppose Professor Graham would be puzzled that my boy with the best handwriting is also the one who refuses to write.

We are in a transition period from the paper to the paperless society. (Offices have been trying to achieve this for years, right?) The paperless society is also a pen-less one. No paper, no need for pens. No pens, no need for penmanship. Yes, lovely cursive writing may survive as a hobby or an art form, like calligraphy (which used to be a necessary skill--for medieval monks--until the technology changed, i.e. invention of the printing press).

I would argue that technology is about to supercede the need for any handwriting. Think security, a signature can be forged more easily than a thumbprint. Electronic security codes and layered encryption seal legal and economic transactions. Credit card receipts and grocery lists are the only things I handwrite now. FastPass technology is doing away with signed credit slips and if I could order my groceries online, I absolutely would. Then what would I need pens for? Probably only to write myself sticky notes and I don't need good handwriting for that.

It's Horrible Books Time Again!

I've just been notified that Ray at DelSol Books is ready to put in another order for the UK's Horrible Books series. You can find more information on Terry Deary's Horrible Histories in my What Guys Read post from last June. With the bulk discount, he sells the books for about $7.50, plus $7 shipping no matter how many books you buy, which is a better deal than you'll get on Amazon or eBay. These particular books are beloved by kids everywhere. At first glance, the boys found 28 books they wanted. Even Klaus was excited when our summer order came, and Klaus hates everything! To participate, place you order with Ray by 11/1/06 at www.horriblebooks.com. Thanks, Ray!

Some Resources for Teaching Economics

DH wants to do a unit on economics with the boys. He'd tried a commercial workbook which turned out to be deadly dull, so these are some other resources for economics for kids.

James Madison University offers online lesson plans for teachers in elementary, middle and high schools.

More online lesson plans from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (my mother's alma mater) done in a nice little table laying out concepts learned, content area and NE and US standards addressed. Some of the lesson plans include food such as M&Ms and popcorn!

The National Council of Economics Education publishes a number of books on basic economics, personal finance , entrepreneurship, and business.

Finally, The Stock Market Game is designed for classroom teachers to allow each student to "invest" and track stocks. The money is virtual but the stocks are real. Kids get to research, pick and trade stocks, just like the real thing! Kids compete to have the wealthiest portfolio against their classmates, and other kids on the regional or national level. Game dates for the 2006-07 school year can be found here.

Give This to Every Teacher You Know

Fantastic article on the NAGC website: The Dos and Don'ts of Instruction: What It Means To Teach Gifted Learners Well by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Ed. D, at the University of Virginia. My favorite part is this:

"6) Instruction for gifted learners is inappropriate when it is rooted in novel, "enriching" or piecemeal learning experiences. If a child were a very talented pianist, we would question the quality of her music teacher if the child regularly made toy pianos, read stories about peculiar happenings in the music world, and did word-search puzzles on the names of musicians. Rather, we would expect the student to work directly with the theory and performance of music in a variety of forms and at consistently escalating levels of complexity. We would expect the young pianist to be learning how a musician thinks and works, and to be developing a clear sense of her own movement toward expert-level performance in piano. Completing word-search puzzles, building musical instruments and reading about oddities in the lives of composers may be novel, may be "enriching,"(and certainly seems lacking in coherent scope and sequence, and therefore sounds piecemeal). But those things will not foster high-level talent development in music. The same hold true for math, history, science, and so on."

This really struck a chord (pardon the pun) with me because Wolfie is taking a "gifted" Medieval Studies course right now and they want him to do "fun" things like "Make your own coat of arms" and "Draw and label the parts of a Viking longboat." Is he tested on any of these things? No, because there's a list of 5-10 and he's supposed to pick two. The school doesn't even want to see the projects. I have a hard time requiring him to do them since they're not graded and not "fun."

Don't get me wrong. Some of the projects are fun and some hands-on stuff cements learning and understanding. But boy, do I have a hard time forcing the boys to do things like extraneous science "activities", that are neither fun nor educational at their core. I've been guilty of this, too, both as a teacher and as a parent. Just because I think it would be fun to write a diary as a literary or historical figure, that doesn't mean everyone in my class will. Hopefully, by passing this article around, other teachers will realize the difference between gifted education and gifted filling-up-time, too.

For Mummy Lovers

Xavier is working on Egypt in his world cultures class and we've found some fun resources for Egyptophiles.

The book Egyptology by "Emily Sands" is a big pop-up book purporting to be the journal of a 1920's lady adventurer. While telling the story of a fictional expedition, it's also jam-packed with little stuff in pockets and drawings and other ephemera which give both a flavor of the times and background information about ancient Egypt. They've also published a companion volume is The Egyptology Handbook: A Course in the Wonders of Egypt, offers even more detail, broken down into actual lessons. We didn't get that companion book, though, because it was too schooly. The same company has produced similar books on Wizardology, Pirateology and Dragonology.

What math did the Egyptians know and when did they know it? Great for unit studies or math kids, Mark Herkhomer has a terrific page on the physics and mathematics behind the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A couple of good sites on mummification:

The British Museum's site offers clickable mummies that give you up close pictures of the items used in the mummy making process. They also offer a Flash game in which you pick three magic spells to protect you as you journey through the underworld.

Mummytombs.com is also a great resource, written by a professor of education and mummy aficionado. It describes the process for Egyptian mummies but also mummies from other cultures, including bog people and Otzi, the mummified man from the Alps. This site is intended for children and educators.

Akhet Egyptology is more comprensive and provides more in-depth information, including catalogues and photographs of grave goods and other Egyptian art and artifacts.

Set Your Tivo: New Season of NOVA

Hello Educators,

Next week NOVA presents the repeat broadcast of "Einstein's Big Idea," a two-hour special that explores the stories behind the world's most famous equation, E = mc2. (Subjects covered: physics, energy, properties of matter)

We'd like your help in spreading the word about the NOVA Teachers e-mail bulletin. If you refer three teachers to sign up for the bulletin, we'll enter you in a drawing to win five free NOVA videos. Simply refer three teachers to sign up at:

http://www.pbs. org/nova/ teachers/ mailing

Just make sure your friends enter your name and e-mail address so we can track your referrals. (That would be Lessa Scherrer and pittsburgheast@yahoo.com ;-)

In the coming weeks:

Sept. 26 -- Mystery of the Megavolcano

Oct. 3 -- NOVA scienceNOW

Oct. 10 -- The Viking Deception


For a downloadable PDF of the entire season visit

http://www.pbs. org/nova/ teachers/ schedule. html

Regards,
Karen Hartley
Teachers Editor
NOVA Web Site

Get Your Parrots Ready!

Tuesday, September 19th, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I also want to wear costumes, wash the poop deck (aka the kitchen floor) and learn about scurvy, but that might lead to mutiny. Maybe I can convince them to watch Treasure Island. LOL

The Bedtime Wars

Bedtime, or rather getting-up time, has been the biggest hurdle for the beginning of this school year. Xavier had to write three laws, a la Hammurabi, for his world cultures class and the first injustice he decided to right was imposed bedtimes. Klaus hasn't woken up to his alarm since the first day of school, and Wolfie and I are both dragging ourselves out of bed as close to 9 am (Dad-imposed homeschool start time) as we can get away with.

Klaus's problem is self-inflicted but, being a night owl myself, it makes a lot of sense to me that we should follow our natural rhythms, even if that means studying at midnight and sleeping 'til noon. M.S. Beltran, writing in the March-April 2004 issue of Home Education Magazine, agrees. She writes, "Training at an early age to meet with any pre-set hours seems inessential; we can be trained to go against our body's natural rhythms with minimal discomfort, but we cannot change those rhythms. Each individual has certain hours during the day that are peak performance hours, in which his or her body naturally operates at optimal performance levels. Sleep experts agree that, rather than wasting these precious hours, scheduling activities around one's most productive time of day is the most beneficial approach. To ignore the body's natural tendencies, as Dr. Dement puts it, is akin to a person "using his best shirts to scrub the floor." (The Promise Of Sleep, p. 423)."

DH, the morning person, just does not understand this and, to his credit, he's probably right that no studying would get done if we left the boys to their own devices. We differ on whether that's a problem in 6th and 7th grade, but since the boys are in charter school, so do have deadlines, though very flexible ones, I'm going along with the 9 am thing. Leaving the structure of the public school has been very difficult for him, so this is the compromise I've made to allow the boys to stay home. I do wish that just sticking Beltran's article under his nose would help him see the light. Or rather, the beauty of the dark.