TeachersFirst's Gifted in any Classroom: Respecting and Injecting Creativity
Start • Helpful Background • Differentiating Academic Content • Respecting Creativity• Personalized Connections • Organization for a Sane Classroom
Meeting the needs of gifted students in your classroom means planning for divergent thoughts and different approaches to learning, and technology can help. It's not about tools; it is the challenges they offer. If you are not sure going through the effort to institute projects for your gifted students is worth it, this article and this one with gifted students reflecting back on in-depth, long term projects may convince you. NO matter what project options you choose, you will want to inject and respect creativity.
Key to respecting creativity are choice (with accountability) in project options and tools, unusual or unexpected project options, and permission (and places) for gifted students to collect their divergent ideas.
Encourage students to keep "idea bins" to store the thoughts that pop in their heads during routine class activities -- or anytime. Mobile friendly idea bins are ideal for that. Don't forget to ask students what crazy questions or ideas they have added to their idea bins during class at the start of a unit. These could be the seeds of a terrific project, and the student is more likely to "buy in" if he/she contributed to the idea.
The list below has resources to get started. Find rubrics to hold students accountable for their creative choices. Find customizable parent permissions and class policies to have in place so your gifted students do not push beyond the limits. And to make sure your students start out well by keeping track of their sources, we have even included a handy bibliography tool! (Gifted students are notorious for "losing things" so build resource-tracking into their routine!)
Once you get started, you are ready for tool choices to help students SHOW what they know. Try these collections of handpicked tools:
Animations, Images, Drawings, and Whiteboards
Presentations, Audio, and Multimedia
Interactive Books, Maps, and Unusual Challenges
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Dimensions of Creativity: Sample Project Rubrics - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
In the Classroom
Mark this page in your favorites and refer to it as you develop rubrics for upcoming class or independent projects. Use appropriate options from these samples to customize creativity rubrics for any student who needs a different target. If you teach gifted students, these rubric ideas will help you adapt your existing rubrics to challenge gifted students beyond simply requiring "more of the same." Challenge them to move beyond "excellent" and to know what the expectations are. Consider including them in goal setting as you develop the rubrics together. By including creativity elements in project rubrics you respect student creativity and expect it to grow.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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TeachersFirst's BYOD Dream Tools: Free Tools that Work on ANY device! - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (123), DAT device agnostic tool (147)
In the Classroom
Mark this page in your Favorites to use when choosing or recommending tools for your students (or their parents). Be sure to read the "Edge Features" list at the end of each review to know whether you need to create individual accounts, how products can be shared, and other tips on using these DATs safely and within school policies. This is a must-have list for students collaborating on projects using different types of devices! If you teach gifted students working on advanced projects or have students all working on different projects all at the same time, use this collection of tools as a trusted starting point for students to create their products on any device they may bring to class (or work on from home).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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lino - Infoteria Corporation
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bulletin boards (15), collaboration (94), collages (16), creative fluency (5), creativity (91), DAT device agnostic tool (147), gamification (78), note taking (36)
In the Classroom
Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. Students can use this when researching alone or in groups, sharing files, videos, and pictures quickly from one computer to another. Have students write tasks for each member of the group on a sticky so that everyone has a responsibility. Show them how to copy/paste URLs for sources onto notes, too. Use lino as your virtual word wall for vocabulary development. Use a lino for students to submit and share questions or comments about assignments and tasks they are working on. Use it as a virtual graffiti wall for students to make connections between their world and curriculum content, such as "I wonder what the hall monitor would say finding Lady Macbeth washing her hands in the school restroom... and what Lady M would say back." (Of course, you will want to have a PG-13 policy for student comments!) Encourage students to maintain an idea collection lino for ideas and creative inspirations they may not have used yet but do not want to "lose." They can color code and organize ideas later or send the stickies to a new project board later. In writing or art classes, use lino as a virtual writer's journal or design a notebook to collect ideas, images, and even video clips. In science classes, encourage students to keep a lino board with (classroom appropriate) questions and "aside" thoughts about science concepts being studied and to use these ideas in later projects so their creative ideas are not 'lost" before project time. A lino board can also serve as a final online "display" for students to "show what they know" as the culmination of a research project. Add videos, images, and notes in a carefully arranged display not unlike an electronic bulletin board. This is also a great tool to help you stay "personally" organized. Use this site as a resource to share information with other teachers, parents, or students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Stormboard - Edistorm.com
Grades
6 to 12Begin by entering the name of your storm, choosing privacy options, adding a description, and inviting users to join in (Stormboard members or by email). Type on the stickies. Drag them to arrange. Stormboard will suggest possible new stickies along the bottom. The center sticky on your screen will drive the "smart" suggestions. If Stormboard's suggestions take you away from your goal in your description, move another sticky into the center spot or close the suggestions area. Use the viewfinder to see where all your stickies are located. Group related ideas together by aligning them together or color-coding them. Contributors can drag an "idea vote" to mark the ideas that they like best. Click on the tab "Top Ideas" to view those with most votes. Click on "All Unrated" to view all, including those with no votes (great idea if you may have missed one).
tag(s): brainstorming (18), creative fluency (5), organizational skills (89)
In the Classroom
Consider creating a classroom account for use with your students. Require them to initial their stickies in order to know which idea is whose. Use for any decision-making activity such as "What kind of pet should I buy?" Also use to generate related vocabulary words about a topic by entering their first word and letting the "Idea Bots" suggest stickies along the bottom. This is especially good if students must find information for a presentation or learn about a particular theme or topic. Share this site with your gifted students to use for organization, brainstorming, or collaboration with others outside their class. Social studies classes could brainstorm on how they might travel back in time to solve a political crisis or avoid a war. Lit classes could "storm" better outcomes for a novel or play based on evidence from the first portion of the text (for example, what if Romeo and Juliet had used Stormboard first?). Many issue-based or ethics-based problems in Science and Health can also be organized, debated, and discussed in this space. Why are some ideas "Top rated" over others?Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Evernote - Evernote
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), images (260), organizational skills (89)
In the Classroom
Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. Consider creating a class account that can be used by all students. Spell out the use of the site and what is allowed, not allowed, and the penalties. Even though all students have the same login, create different notebooks for different tasks that students can use to upload information that can be shared by all. Create separate notebooks for student groups who can then share their notebook with other groups. Use Evernote to snapshot and share links, documents, files, and pictures for any group project or class work. Whole class accounts can be used by a class scribe during class and accessed from home for review, etc. If your students are permitted individual accounts, they can collect notes in Evernote and share their research notebooks with you as evidence of completion of that phase of long term projects. Encourage creativity with your gifted students (or any students) by having them set up individual Evernote notebooks to use as "idea bins." Idea bins are a place to collect quotes, snippets of writing or poems they have started, questions and thoughts, artistic project ideas, images they like, or even voice memos to remember creative inspirations. It is important for students to know that idea bins (by whatever name) are an important part of the creative process, even for engineers!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
Requires download/installation of software
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Padlet - Padlet
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (148), biographies (95), blogs (65), book reports (28), brainstorming (18), bulletin boards (15), DAT device agnostic tool (147), images (260), journals (16), rubrics (36), timelines (55)
In the Classroom
Use a Padlet to collaborate in collecting ideas, brainstorming, and more. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students can access it for free, no matter what device they have. Padlet does not show which work is attributable to which student, so you may want to require that students initial their contributions in order to get credit. If allowing all students to post to the wall or make comments, you may want to discuss internet safety and etiquette and establish specific class rules and consequences. Making the setting private again will prohibit content from later being replaced by classmate "vandalism."Take advantage of Padlet's many features, such as "recipes," to make and personalize Padlet collections quickly. Examples of recipes include exit tickets, read-and-respond activities, class schedules, and blogs. Another option to use with Padlet is the Sandbox option, which allows members to draw, create, and play with others in real time. Be sure to visit the Sandbox examples that share ideas and templates for Jeopardy games, interactive lessons, collaborative reading reflections, and much more. If you previously used Google Jamboard, which has been discontinued, Padlet's Sandbox features are a worthwhile replacement for Jamboard.
Use a Padlet to collect Webquest links and information to share with students. Leave the wall open to comments, and solicit input, discussions, or viewpoints from students. They can even contribute other sources they find. Color code resources to indicate different reading levels or "high challenge" sources for your more able students. Assign a student project where students choose their theme and design a wall around it. For example, have students create a wall about an environmental issue. They can include pictures, audio or video, links, and other information to display. Use as a new format for book reports. Do your students have favorites such as music or sports? Create a wall around these favorites or hobbies. Use a wall for grammar or vocabulary words. Create walls for debates or viewpoints. Post assignments, reminders, or study skills on a wall. Do you use student scribes or reporters? Use the Padlet site to create a wall with the goings-on in class. Embed your walls in a blog, wiki or website. See a similar tool (and more ideas to use either tool) in the TeachersFirst review of Lino here. Decide which one you prefer! Unfortunately, the Padlet embedded viewer is very small but can be scrolled in both directions.
Use Padlet as a class space during snow days and school breaks. Share the link to a teacher-created, public wall where students can share notes about what they did during the snow day or respond to a thought-provoking question.
Encourage creativity and organization by having your gifted students (or anyone doing independent projects) create Padlets to collect ideas, images, quotes, and more in an "idea bin." Require them to share a brainstorming Padlet to show you the ideas they considered before they launch into a project. Have them brainstorm (and later sort/color code) the possibilities for a creative problem solving or "Maker Faire" project. In writing or art classes, use Padlet as a virtual writer's journal or design notebook to collect ideas, images, and even video clips.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Bibme - team exibeans
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): citations (32)
In the Classroom
This is a great tool for students who are both learning to cite correctly and as a helpful tool for those who forget some of the "little" things that count when writing a bibliography. It offers a great example, too, of the difference between what is in a "Works Cited" page and what actually appears in the text as a citation. Teachers can use this on a Smartboard or simply through a computer lab or projector to demonstrate the correct way to cite as well as mistakes to avoid. Be sure to include the link on your teacher web page for students finishing reports in the wee hours of the morning on the due date. Set up a free account for yourself so you can "save" example bibliographies. If you assign independent projects to your gifted students (or any student), be sure to make Bibme part of your instructions so they learn to organize their sources early on. If students are allowed to set up individual accounts, this tool is worth the time! They must be 13 or have parent permission.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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