Confratute Ends-But For Austin Elem, the fun just begins!!

One last look at UCONN as our bus begins our trek back home..

Last night as the plane landed, I looked outside the window and listened to the excitement in the cabin of the plane. Slowly, a roll thunder could be heard. People were clapping and singing praises to be back home!! Yes, we had just experienced the best educational conference in the world!! We all had survived a week of living in the dorms!! Brought back fun memories for some and others reminisced about how hectic dorm life could be!

Although I was tired to the deepest part of my bones, my soul has been filled with an elixir of excitement for new opportunities for our students and staff!! We were immersed in a great week of learning, self reflection and collaboration with the finest instructors in the field of gifted education. Yet, these well known scholars, who are THE experts in their field, were humble, caring individuals who wanted nothing more than the success of ALL children.

I was then given the tools I was looking for to make this work in the classroom. SEM-R is one of the afternoon week long strands that I attended. This method of reading instruction is just what this teacher was looking for. I had spent the first part of my summer tweaking my writing workshop yearly plans and was excited about the upcoming year. But, I still was looking for the WOW for reading. And then comes Confratute, SEM-R!! I now have what I need to go in and share my love of reading with my students, while meeting them where they are, meeting the individual needs of ALL students, helping them become independent readers who love to read and know the joy that reading can bring to our lives!!

So, where do we go from here Austin Elementary? Your SEM (School Enrichment Model) team is truly excited about what we learned this week!! We can not wait to see each and everyone one of you and share with you what we have learned!!

My hope is that we are able to help you feel the excitement, taste the elixir of the joy of learning that we tasted and have your soul renewed (as mine has been) and that 2010-2011 becomes our best year ever for our students and ourselves!!

Once again, I would like to thank the Coppell Gifted Association for funding this opportunity for me. I am truly thankful!! I look forward to sharing with you what I learned this week!! You are invited to come see what this looks like in my classroom this year! I would love for you to come visit!!

I See ......

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/movie/South_Grove.mov

I invite you to view the above video about SEM at South Grove Elementary in New York. One of the strand presenters, Nora Friedman, was the principal at this school (she just retired this past May). This makes me feel like "this is what school is all about".....smiling faces - rigor and enjoyment!

It's Legen (wait for it...wait for it)...dary!

I'm the techie nerd...we all know this and I've made peace with it. So what, then, am I supposed to find relevant in all this talk about how to facilitate authentic learning in the classroom? I don't have a classroom...I have a desk and lots of cords.

Well, color me surprised and pull my foot out of my mouth! After the first day I was a tad disheartened to find that the "technology strands" being offered were little more than jazzed up PowerPoint how-to courses. Or at least that's what I thought.

I attended an evening strand titled "60 Tools in 60 Minutes" that was to introduce 60 web tools to be used in the classroom. It was STUPENDOUS! Not only did I pick up a few new sites to share with classroom teachers, many of the sites were familiar and completely validated the direction we are headed at Austin! If you want to access the list, take a gander at http://brianhousand.com (scroll down until you reach the Confratute banner, and click on 2010).

Today I had the chance (along with David) to attend Day 2 of "101 Ways to Use Renzulli Learning", which is the website element of our SEM. When we had our training in the Spring with the Renzulli rep, Debbie, she told us to watch for the launch of the new and improved teacher site. Ladies and Gents..."new and improved" doesn't do it justice.

The new teacher site is not only easier to navigate, it has more resources and elements than anything I've ever seen. If I was excited for the classroom teachers before, I may weep at all that is offered here. Seriously. There may be tears.

In addition to a new literacy component that allows teachers to find lists of books based on interests (the whole point of Renzulli), and have authentic assessments with any activity based on open-ended questions, teachers now have the option to group students into Collaborative groups that allows the students in the group to communicate online (like a chat) with ONLY those students in their group. Teachers can moderate all, some, or none of the comments at any time. If a teacher is idle for more than 1 week, the group chat goes into "sleep mode" so that the students are not able to continue without supervision. I can't wait to share ideas with teachers on how to utilize this element!

I still have a nagging feeling that the participants at Confratute deserve more than just PowerPoints on crack, but I am SO excited about all the thought and planning that has gone into making Renzulli Learning easy (it took literally 49 seconds to create and differentiate a lesson in the class today) and teacher-friendly.

My friends, a new day is dawning at Austin Elementary...and yes, it's going to be LEGENDARY.

Confratute: An Adventure in Learning

Wow! Excitement is in the air here at the University of Connecticut! Excitement about education, excitement about new ideas and innovative teaching practices, excitement about reaching and teaching kids in ways that will allow each of them to discover and develop the incredible potential that lies within! Confratute is AMAZING...though that word is pitifully inadequate when attempting to describe the atmosphere of learning, collaboration, inspiration, and passion that permeates every class, every activity, every conversation, every moment here at Confratute.

The week began with a keynote presentation by Dr. Joe Renzulli and his wife, Dr. Sally Reis. Together they gave us an overview of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model and excited us with inspirational stories of student success and achievement. One such story involved a young lady who noticed that a wheelchair bound classmate did not have access to the school playground. Her concern for a friend led her on an incredible journey of exploration, research, and discovery. As an elementary school student, this young lady did not yet have the skills and/or knowlege base necessary to solve the problem she had identified. However, what she did have was a desire to help a friend, an ability to imagine what could be, and a willingness to follow through until what "could be" actually was. She also had a teacher who was willing to walk beside her throughout this journey of learning, providing encouragement and guidance along the way. The results were phenomenal! Her efforts led to the construction of a new, handicap-accessible playground at her school. She was also invited by other schools to help design handicap accessible playgrounds at their facilities as well. What did she learn? She learned the many skills involved in playgound design and construction, she developed the skills necessary to propose her idea to the school administration, and she learned how to organize and implement fund raising campaigns. Most importantly, she learned that she had the power to make a difference in her community and in the lives of those around her.

One of my favorite strands (like classes) has been "Enrichment Clusters: A Practical Plan for Real World Student Driven Learning. The presenter, Marcia Gentry, is amazing. Her love of learning, dedication to kids, and passion for education is evident the moment you hear her speak. She has been sharing with us the nuts and bolts of how to successfully implement enrichment clusters in an elementary and/or middle school environment, and her enthusiasm is absolutely contagious! Clusters allow students (and teachers) the oppotunity to pursue advanced learning through an avenue of high interest and student driven real world problem solving. I am so excited about the prospect of providing these opportunities to the students at Austin Elementary!

Day 2-It Just Keeps Getting Better!!

This morning, our keynote speaker was Dr. Math. Close your eyes and picture your grandmother at age 74!! This woman is one fine, sassy role model for all teachers of math!! She tells it like it is and is passionate about teaching math so that kids get what they are doing!! She showed us so many examples of how math was 50 years ago; and then showed that we are still teaching many things in the same manner!! How could our students not love math and get it, if only we taught it the way she modeled? We then had our morning session with Dr. Renzulli and his wife Sally. We looked at how to bring in different levels of lessons that will hook our students interests and lead them into deeper investigations if that is where their interests, questions, etc take them. Teresa and I were able to attend Day 2 of SEM-R (School Enrichment Model) Reading, this afternoon. Today's focus was about Book Hooks. Taking just a few minutes to share great literature with students and sharing the love of reading!! During this time you might be sharing a reading strategy such as visualizing or teaching how to decide if a book is a good choice for you. We looked at great picture books and shared with our classmates on how to extend and enrich our lessons by guiding students to see connections in many ways. What do we do if we only have 1 copy of a book, how can we guide them to other areas? Perhaps, through other books with the same type of characters, or the author's writing style or theme... Bookmaking was our next class, where today we finished our Gypsy Bag book, made a wallet book, hand stiched a book (I'm seeing this one in our pioneer study :) ), and the spine covered book. Students can make all of these books and use them in a variety of ways!! We quickly took a walk in the rain on our way back to the room and got ready for dinner. We then headed off to hear Dr. Gentry. She gave a book talk about Clusters in the School. I sat there and kept saying, "Yes, yes, yes;" and shaking my head in agreement the whole time!! As you can tell, I am so pumped about what we are learning this week!! Hopefully, all of our staff, will be able to experience Confratute for themselves at some point!! I am so honored to be a part of this team and so excited to share with everyone when we get home!!

Insert Witty Title Here

It's good to know that I'm helping provide entertainment as Laurie noted. We're trying to keep things fun. It's not hard to do given the overall vibe here. There's more positive energy here than I've ever experienced at any professional development conference in my meager 13 years of teaching.

I don't even know where to begin to summarize the past 48 hours here at Confratute. I had a general idea of what to expect and knew that it was going to be a whirlwind but wonderful week. I was genuinely excited to have the opportunity to learn directly from some of the people whose research I studied during my graduate courses in gifted education. Dr. Renzulli and Dr. Gentry were among some of the first "GT gurus" whose work helped shape my core beliefs as an educator of gifted children. To be here with them is beyond incredible for me. And the best thing? They talk and share with us as peers, not high and mighty researchers with PhD's who are so mentally removed from the classroom that they can't relate to our day to day struggles and triumphs. It makes me respect them and their work even more than I already did.

I really have more to say about a couple of the specific strands (workshops/sessions) that I have been attending but I just don't have it in me to rifle through my notes at the moment. Hopefully more of you will have the opportunity to come to Confratute next year and you will understand how desperately tired you are by the end of the day. I promise that I will be back!

Marcia Gentry

Picture of Marcia Gentry during one of the strands "Enrichment Clusters for All Students"

What Lights You Up?

If you have ever watched the video of Ma and Pa Kettle (You Tube) about solving a math problem, then you know how much laughter we had this morning as we listened to Ms. Math – Dr. Rachel McAnallen . I don’t think there was a person in the room who did not re-examine the way we were taught math and probably perhaps the way many of us have taught math to our students. I hope I never again see a student who has “D M S B” on their worksheet as they solve a division problem. If you’d like to experience what we did with Ms. Math then visit the Confratute Ning at http://www.confratute.ning.com/.

Dr. Joe Renzulli discussed that an enrichment program deals with much more than just test scores. As our Enrichment Team looks at theory and research (as it relates to enrichment), we will have to decide what our goals of schoolwide enrichment will be for Austin Elementary. From the goals, how will we go about organizing and implementing this at our campus? There are many ways in which we can deliver enrichment opportunities ----from enrichment clusters, using Renzulli Learning, compacting the curriculum, offering Type 1, 2 and 3 learning experiences to so much more.

Austin Elementary’s Enrichment Team is composed of Heather Cechin (Kinder), Beth Cook (3rd grade), Liz Malone (5th grade), David Barnette (Music), Cathy Kirby (GT Facilitator), Debbie Sblendorio (Dyslexia), Sarah Daugherty (IT Specialist), and Teresa Raney (Literacy Coach). This team will plan – organize – look at schedules – organizes clusters - recruit enrichment mentors - identify enrichment events and the list continues.

What do I mean when I talk about Type I, Type 2, and Type 3 Enrichment opportunities? It really isn’t rocket science! Type I experiences bring a learner in touch with kinds of topics in which s/he may develop an interest. It can be something as simple as a two-minute announcement each morning about a topic. Guest speakers, field trips, virtual field trips are also examples of Type I experiences. If interest is peaked, it can lead to Type 2 or it can skip directly to a Type 3 experience. Type 2 consists of materials, methods, and instructional techniques that are concerned with the development of higher-level thinking and feeling processes. Type 3 consists of activities where the student becomes an actual investigator of a real problem or topic.

What a Veteran Means to Me is an incredible video that was created by a young lady who had an interest in poetry. She checked out many poetry books to read. From this, she wrote the poem “What a Veteran Means to Me” – this then led to the video with the same title. I will find the link for this tear-jerking video so you can watch.

Opening Keynote

Yesterday was the Opening Keynote with Dr. Renzulli and his wife, Sally Reis. They discussed the theories of enrichment and talent development as well as the goals of Confratute:
· To learn
· To create and produce
· To interact
· To enjoy and relax.
So far today we have accomplished all four goals! Beth and I learned a little about the Schoolwide Enrichment Model in Reading (SEM-R), some of us went to a bookmaking class and created foldable books that could be used for any grade level (check this out www.makingbooks.com ), we talked with some teachers from New York, and of course had a little down time in the evening to do some UCONN shopping at the campus bookstore. Looking forward to another great day!

The enthusiasm is contagious!

Today was another great day at the University of Connecticut. The keynote speakers, Dr. Renzulli and his wife, Sally Reis, spoke passionately about the merits of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Dr. Renzulli conveyed the message that although many academic areas can be measured, the parts of the intellect that cannot be tested are creativity, curiosity, ambition, and the sense of adventure. He encouraged us, as teachers, to find enrichment, utilizing open ended questioning, and infuse it into the curriculum.

Later, a group of us attended the first of four classes on Enrichment Clusters. It was the consensus of all those in attendance that the expectations for our students after 13 years in school were that they would be innovative, motivated, problem solvers with a sense of value and self respect. Later this evening, Liz, Heather and I collaborated on the homework assignment on evaluating clusters for authentic methods, advanced content, student driven, product and authentic audience.

We also attended a class on bookmaking. I can't wait to share what we learned!

I'm looking forward to tommorow!

Confratute 2010

I'm sitting here in my dorm (big smile) with my room mate, Debbie, and we are completely in awe and loving our Confratute experience!! I love the fact that we are getting to know Dr. Joe Renzulli and his wife, Sally Reis!! We have the wonderful opportunity to walk side by side with them; all while learning how to implement the Schoolwide Enrichment Module in our school!!

This afternoon, I was able to attend SEM-R. This session had me so pumped!! I can not wait to get back to school and start teaching reading again!! Cook's Cubs...get ready...you and I are in for the best year of our lives!!

Debbie and I are very honored to have been chosen to attend this conference and even more grateful to the Coppell Gifted Association for providing the funding for us to attend!! I look forward to sharing all that we are learning with our colleagues. We also hope to be able to have an opportunity to share what we have learned with the Coppell Gifted Association!! You are the best!!

First day and night!

We arrived to the University of Connecticut yesterday afternoon. It is a beautiful campus with so much pride and tradition. We started off our week with registration, checking into our dorms… yes, dorms! Then we headed to dinner in the cafeteria. We had our first session last night from 7:00-8:30. We did a group scavenger hunt in which we were given 10 clues. We then had to solve the clues then take pictures of our answers in creative ways. After we gathered our pictures, we used a great online resource called Comic Life (http://plasq.com/comiclife-win ) to make a comic strip. This would be a great tool to use to re tell a story, I know even my kindergarteners would love it! Use the demo version, it’s totally worth checking out! After the session, we went to the Patio Party, we had a great time! Here are some pictures, the first one is of the patio party and the second one is of our dorms! ..... Off to hear our key note speaker, the one and only, Dr. Renzulli!!!

Monday - Our First Day

So far, so good! We all made it to UConn safe and sound. Richardson ISD sent 37 staff members - WOW! We checked into our dorm rooms and are all close to each other - David and Cathy are keeping everyone entertained. Last night, we had "Patio Time" where there was dancing and good times had by all. Today, we have gotten some of the history of Confratute and learned that there are approx. 700 in attendance (represents 38 states and attendees from around the world - the farthest traveled is a gentleman from Guam).

Right Around the Corner

My excitement is building as I start to pack for our journey to the University of Connecticut in less than a week. I've looked over the different courses being offered at least a dozen times and changed my mind about which ones I want to be a part of during our time at Confratute. I know my focus is on Renzulli Learning and technology, but there are so many courses being offered that can be seamlessly integrated into training teachers! And here I thought my biggest challenge would be packing...silly me!