Gifted Homeschoolers Forum celebrates 10th Anniversary

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/  turns 10 years old on 18 November 2014

GHF serves the parents, teachers and professionals caring for gifted and 2E students and homeschooling families.

They provide an online community,
Website http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/
Information and resources about giftedness http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/resources/gifted/

Information and resources about 2E twice exceptional
http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/resources/twice-exceptional/
Information and resources about homeschooling http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/resources/homeschooling/#ghfresources
Monthly GHF Blog Hops http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blogs/blog-hop/
Publications http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/ghf-press/
Brochures http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/about-us/gifted-children-brochures/
and online classes. http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/…/ghf-online-spring-2015-se…/
Corin Barsily Goodwin discussed the work of GHF as the guest of honour on Twitter #gtchat on Sunday 9 November 2014.
A review of the session complete with links that were shared can be found at http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/happy-10th-anniversary-gifted-homeschoolers-forum/

OZeLIVE Reflections 2

The first OZeLIVE Conference http://australianeducators.ning.com/  was held 0n 22-23 February 2014

It was a great thrill to be invited to present at this conference on how Gifted Resources uses the website, e-newsletter and social media to provide information and support to teachers, parents and service providers of gifted students.

The link to the recording of the session will be found at http://australianeducators.ning.com/ozelive-2014-recordings

My session is on You Tube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCr-14YzfvM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUfns7VgoFLFlRd1JpUkwOUw

My slides for the session can be found on Slideshare at

http://www.slideshare.net/jofrei/signposts-for-roman-riders

Bright vs Gifted vs 2E

In case explanation is needed:
Average riders would sit or maybe try standing on one horse
Bright ones at the top of the group could learn to Roman ride on two horses
Gifted ones, who are way beyond the top group, express the experience of their different rate and level of learning by Roman riding on two cheetahs
2E Twice Exceptional, who are both Gifted and have a learning difference or disability are trying to manage Roman riding on a cheetah and a tortoise at the same time

I have given these images have a creative commons license and posted them on Flickr in the Gifted Education photo quotes group http://www.flickr.com/groups/1680413@N20/

Fine Focus Webinar Part 2

Jo Hart has posted on her E-verything! Blog http://johart1.edublogs.org/2012/11/15/edublogs-webinar-overviews-pt-2-de-bono-action-shoes-for-2e-students-a-serendipity-shared-tools/  an overview of the second part of my Fine Focus session ‘Which de Bono Action Shoes are best for a 2E student on Gagne’s DMGT Road?’

The session which was recorded and can still be accessed using the link https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/nativeplayback.jnlp?sid=vclass&psid=2012-10-25.1520.D.4C3548A84E624FA254CD6511B7CA09.vcr

I began with a brief recap of the first session see Jo Hart’s post at http://johart1.edublogs.org/2012/10/23/webinar-overviews-edublogs-serendipity-de-bono-action-shoes-for-2e-students/

Topics covered in the recap were

• Edward de Bono’s Six Action Shoes
• Gagne’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent;
• the Six Action Shoes in the context of the Feetspeak Quest Map;
• a reminder of the six shoes and their relationship to the Gagne DMGT model.

The main focus of the second session was a consideration of combinations and variations in the shoes. We explored the possible combinations of two shoe types to produce modified action plans. I also shared some extra shoe types which I have added  that broaden the program possibilities including Sprite’s plaster cast that symbolizes the support that may be available through eligibility for funding!

We looked at the needs of 2E students and the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. methods of varying the program to make provisions for them and discussed them.

Fine Focus webinar

Last Friday I presented the first of two SerendipEd Fine Focus webinars ‘Which de Bono Action Shoes are best for a 2E student on Gagne’s DMGT Road?’
An overview and the recording of the presentation can be seen on Jo Hart’s E-verything blog a http://johart1.edublogs.org/2012/10/23/webinar-overviews-edublogs-serendipity-de-bono-action-shoes-for-2e-students/

In preparation the Feetspeak 2E shoes page on Gifted Resources website http://www.giftedresources.org/  has been updated to include links to the resources and websites used as references and Sprite’s Site blog has included posts on de Bono’s 6 Action shoes

Orange gumboots http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/orange-gumboots/
Pink slippers http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/pink-slippers/
Grey sneakers http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/grey-sneakers/
Blue formal shoes http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/blue-formal-shoes/
Purple riding boots http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/purple-riding-boots/
Brown brogues http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/brown-brogues/
and also
More shoes http://spritessite.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/more-shoes/

I will give the second part of the presentation this week. Details about how to join the session and find the time for your part of the world can also be found in Jo Hart’s blog post.

Doc Sykes Psycho-educational Resource DVD

Recently I was introduced to a DVD full of resources from Dr Stewart Sykes which will be of great usefulness to teachers and parents, particularly teachers and parents of gifted and twice exceptional students.

The DVD is organised into documents in PDF format and contains

• Basic definitions, conceptual frameworks, notes and references
• Checklists
• Psychological and educational strategies and interventions

Each document presents topics central to general and special education as well as areas important in developmental, educational and clinical psychology.

The Parenting document, while specifically prepared for parents, should also be helpful for teachers and psychologists.

The general format of most documents is outlined at http://www.docsykes.com/

The section topics are

1. Introduction
2. Bio
3. Learning readiness
4. Early learning essentials
5. Reading
6. Spelling
7. Written expression
8. Mathematics
9. Study skills

10. Exceptionality

11. Learning disability

12. Dyslexia

13. Developmental and behavioural problems

14. Giftedness

15. Parenting

16. FAQs

 Doc Sykes also offers much valuable information on his website http://www.docsykes.com/  which is freely available and can be copied and printed provided the copyright text is retained.

The DVD can be purchased from Doc Sykes website at http://www.docsykes.com/purchasedvd.htm

Dyslexic Teddy Dragons

I had an interesting discussion with Christian (now 18) recently.

When he was 8 he was adopted by a Tasmanian Teddy Dragon called Smidgen Smollett Smutts and when he was 9 or 10 he wrote about them (see http://giftedresources.org/jo/teddydragons.htm)

At the time he told me that Teddy Dragons (TDs) have a tonal language with only one word in it – MEEP – but that dyslexic TDs say MEEP but spell it EPME, EMPE or PEEM.

I have been thinking about dyslexia quite a bit recently because of the OGTOC Online Conference with Drs Brock & Fernette Eide and also because of discussions with two Education Consultants who work with Gifted Learning Disabled (or 2e Twice Exceptional) children.

As I was walking home from the shop I was considering the lot of dyslexic TDs. Christian had said that singing was an important way for TDs to learn their tonal language and I was thinking that although there could be a large number of possibilities relating to the tones; the language was necessarily limited by having only one word.

TDs are expected to find one new piece of knowledge or combine existing knowledge in a new way to increase their communal knowledge and to receive a personal reward of a truck full of chocolate.

I wondered if the dyslexic TDs represented the next evolutionary step forward as they would be the ones to introduce new words to the language. I wondered whether they would be appreciated and hailed as innovators or just declared WRONG and ignored.

When I asked Christian about this he laughed and said ” Really, Mum! That was just a joke! TDs don’t have a written language. They only have a tonal one. How can you be dyslexic in a non-written language? That was the joke!”

Ok, call me slow – it only took me 8 years to get my son’s joke!