The Month of Maybe 2

Posted on May 10, 2013 by jo

Here is an update on the status of the Month of Maybe after the first week as recorded by the Padlet sticky note wall http://padlet.com/wall/zbanwzr95y

So far I have scored three green completion ticks.

The Gifted Resources newsletter was prepared and sent out. It can be read online at http://www.giftedresources.org/gr/files/newsletter2013/grnewspdfmay1301.pdf

The Blog Hop post was written and can be read at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4340

I created two posters which can be used if suitable at the coming 20th Anniversary WCGTC World Conference 2013 http://worldgifted2013.org/ and learned how to provide a creative commons license for them and post them on Flickr in the Gifted Education photo quotes group http://www.flickr.com/groups/1680413@N20/

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

Last weekend I bought three bookcases for the bungalow. Two of them were already assembled and have been set up. I have been able to put the contents of three of the old small bookcases into the two new ones and also to shelve the contents of two cardboard boxes of books that were sitting on the floor.
I have also continued with the work of cataloguing the Gifted Resources library.
So both of these tasks on the To Do list, although they do not yet have a completion tick beside them, at least have some progress to show on their progress level meters.

All the other tasks are still waiting to be done!

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum Bloggers Group Blog Hop: Stealth Schooling

Posted on May 7, 2013 by jo

I found Sprite making preparations for Sprite’s Site’s participation in the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum Bloggers Group Blog Hop on the topic of Stealth Schooling.

“Retweet wants to come with us” Sprite said “She is having problems with getting Tweetil to learn the things she wants him to learn. She thought she might be able to get some NEST ED tips.”

You may remember that the Twitter Bird Tweet family had decided not to send their tweetlets to FLOCK Ed but to continue with NEST Ed. If this is your first visit to Sprite’s Site you can read the stories about the Tweet family here http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4308

“Can we go now?” pleaded Sprite “Do I have to hop all the way?”

Before I could reply there was a deep warning growl from Intellectual Dabrowski.
“No, you can’t go yet! The whole idea of a Blog Hop is that Jo has to write a post about the topic for people to read when they come here while we are off looking at what other people have posted on their blogs.
Jo needs to write about how she used Stealth Schooling when she was home schooling her children. I hope she can remember – it was a long time ago.”

I do remember our home schooling days well and I do remember some of the stealth methods I used and also the learning by stealth which just happened naturally.

When we started home schooling I was very formal. It was almost a case of school in the home. We had timetables (the children had helped to create the timetable; so they had some feeling of ownership and control). I had chosen the text books and other materials we would use. We had spent time with an education consultant who tested and determined the levels at which we should start and also where gaps in learning existed.

But as we progressed we became less regimented and less dependant on adherence to the timetables and the text books. This allowed the children to continue working if they were engrossed in a subject and me to schedule visits to the library, museum, art gallery, plant nursery, etc. when it suited us. I realised the value of reading for enjoyment and ceased needing to see a tangible product to illustrate each piece of learning.

However, as I did want to have a record of the learning which I could produce for the Education Department if necessary, I kept records of the activities and the learning.
For example on one occasion I found Christian watching TV. Instead of turning off the TV and telling him to get back to work I sat down to watch it with him. The program was Big Cat Diary. Later he put the information he had learned into practice by playing a computer simulation of a wildlife ranger caring for a pride of lions. I wrote up my journal for the afternoon as

The formal learning schedule suited our daughter very well but not our son. He liked to direct his own learning. Teachers aim for their students to become autonomous learners so that they will be well equipped for future tertiary studies and for whatever problems and dilemmas life will deal them. However when students are truly autonomous they are not really easy to teach! But they can be guided and encouraged by some stealth schooling!

Some of the stealth learning was completely serendipitous. For example when we found a possum which had been hit by a car and took it to the local vet the possum had to be euthanized; but the baby in her pouch was given to the “Possum Lady,’ a wildlife carer, to raise. She visited us and brought some possums and gave the children a wonderful lesson which incorporated Biology, English and Art.

Some of the stealth learning grew out of interests. Christian was interested in science fiction, fantasy fiction and Arthurian legend. This led to him corresponding by email with the secretary of the Society for Creative Anachronism at a local university. Thinking she was writing to a fellow university student she invited him to a meeting and later we were invited to a medieval feast event and learned a great deal about medieval arts and crafts, games, food, clothing and armour.

We sampled a number of languages with a course called L.O.T.E. Pot Pourri which I wrote for the children. We had a group of characters from various countries who shared their languages and customs with us. We learned how to be polite and basic things like counting, colours and days of the week and learned songs and carols in several languages. Christian decided he would like to learn Russian.

Other stealth learning came about through interactions with people, groups and courses on the Internet. There were opportunities such as email chess matches, learning MOO code, Visual Basic and HTML, participating in serial fan fiction writing and creating video clips.

Maths was a subject which involved a great deal of stealth learning such as investigating the current cost of giving the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas song and edible maths calculations of percentages and ratios and creation of graphs using M&M chocolate buttons.
Learning about complex 3D shapes was disguised as making Christmas decorations

And I was the instigator of some of the stealth learning simply by bringing home a stack of interesting books and videos and just leaving them on the coffee table or by arranging visits to interesting places with interesting people.

“That is really sneaky!” said Sprite “Would you do that to me?”
“No, I just set up the telescope for you in the garden” I replied

P.S. Just two days ago I received a book in the mail which I would have loved to have owned when I was homeschooling. I will be reviewing ‘Did you ever wonder?’ by Jon Barell more fully later but I could see that it could provide a rich source of stealth learning and so asked a few questions about that when I wrote to thank IB for sending the book

Allie McKay, Acquisitions Editor, IB Publishing
International Baccalaureate Organization replied
“Although John partnered with the IB to publish the book, he wrote it for a much wider audience than just IB teachers and students, and readers don’t need to be familiar with the IB to find it useful. We hope that all educators, parents, and anyone who has a hand in raising children can be inspired by the ideas for maximizing kids’ curiosity.

Your potential post on stealth learning sounds really great, and you might be particularly interested in the chapters on “playing with possibilities” and “playing the games of imagination” from Did You Ever Wonder, which include some very fun examples of learning through dramatic play, sports, and stories.”

The book is available from http://store.ibo.org/maintenance.php

This was a post in the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum Bloggers Group May 2013 Blog Hop: Stealth Schooling.

Blogs in the series can be read at

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum
http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blogs/blog-hop/

Wenda Sheard JD PhD
http://wendasheard.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/stealth-schooling-a-tale-of-two-teachers/

Building Wingspan
http://buildingwingspan.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/stealth-schooling.html?spref=fb

Cedar Life Academy
http://www.cedarlifeacademy.com/blog/2013/my-experience-with-stealth-schooling/

A voracious mind
http://giftedunschooling.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/stealthschooling-and-strewing.html

Mommy bares all
http://mommytg.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/stealth-schooling-one-of-reasons-i-love.html

Thea Sullivan
http://theasullivan.com/stealth-schooling-just-dont-call-it-educational/

Chasing Hollyfeld
http://chasinghollyfeld.com/2013/05/06/the-gentle-way/

Little Stars Learning
http://littlestarslearning.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/stealth-schooling-bait-hook-reel-release.html

How to work and homeschool
http://www.howtoworkandhomeschool.com/2013/05/homeschool-tips-simple-stealth.html

Buffalo Mama
http://buffalomama.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/you-might-lead-a-horse-to-water/

Chance to Shine
http://chancetoshineblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/stealth-schooling/

Sprite’s Site
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4340

Best Australian Blogs 2013 No 16: Afterwards

Posted on April 29, 2013 by jo

“I need to spend some time over at Gifted Resources now. I will be busy writing posts about the VAGTC EmpowerEd conference for the Gifted Resources blog for the next couple of days” I told Sprite.
“But I will be back in time to help you hold a Best Australian Blogs 2013 Finale celebration on Wednesday. Have a think about what you would like to do to celebrate.”

In the meantime Sprite’s Site readers could read about the blogs which were selected as finalists in the Australian Writers’ Centre Best Australian blogs 2013 competition http://www.writerscentre.com.au/bloggingcomp/2013competition.html
I love About a Bugg http://aboutabugg.com/ because it is written by Renee who is the mother of a girl who is like Sprite in many ways.

Sprite’s Site was not one of the finalists.
We were given a bit of insight into the considerations used by Marina Go, Judge of Lifestyle section best blogs, in making her selections
http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/the-daily-juggle/how-do-you-judge-australia-s-best-blog/201304282051

The people’s choice voting for all the blogs is open until 30 April and all the winners will be announced on 1 May. I certainly have enjoyed participating in the competition. Thank you all for sharing the ride with me!
Plenty of good things came from participating – we now have a Face Book page and several improvements have been made to the blog and I have enjoyed writing special posts for the competition.

“Don’t go yet!” said Sprite “Tell us about the conference”
“I will be writing about it for Gifted Resources http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/ blog” I said.
“Tell us something silly that you would not want to put in the proper stuffy blog” Sprite persisted.
“Very well, then!” I said.
“To get to the conference I had to walk to the bus stop, take a bus from Rosebud to Frankston and then the train from Frankston to Melbourne and then I had to walk to CQ Functions in Queens St where the conference was to be held.
I had a heavy computer case to carry and a heavy case on wheels to drag behind me and a heavy handbag draped over my shoulder.
I had plotted the way I had to walk from Flinders St Station to Queens St on a map and it did not seem to be very far.”

“But I came out of the station by a different exit and so I asked a man for directions to Queens St. He pointed out Crown Casino and said that was in Queens St and gave me directions to it. So I walked over a footbridge across the Yarra River and headed for Crown Casino. It had been raining and my suede shoes became waterlogged.”

“When I arrived there I found a sign pointing to Queensbridge (not Queens St.)
I asked a lady and she told me to go back over the Yarra on another bridge then turn right and then left. But this is what I ended up doing.”

“I did arrive in good time and the conference was excellent and I was given a lift back to Flinders St Station for the return journey”

“Yes, yes! All very fascinating!” said Intellectual Dabrowski sarcastically “I’m glad you didn’t write all that on the Gifted Resources blog.
Now please hurry up and start writing your reports!”

You have one day left to vote for Sprite’s Site (and as many other great Australian blogs as you like) in the People’s Choice section by clicking on the Vote for Me button in the sidebar of the blog. But you can only vote once: so be sure to make the vote count. Sprite’s Site is on Page 4 O-S.
If you have entered Sprite’s Site by following a link to a specific post you will need to click on the Sprite’s Site header to see the sidebar.

Best Australian Blogs 2013 No 11: Characters

Posted on April 12, 2013 by jo

As P’est Pour Parfait, the Perfectionist Poodle, had pointed out, several characters that appear in the group picture in the header of Sprite’s Site are not mentioned in the About the Characters page. http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?page_id=2584

So some of them have been added to that page and a second About the Characters page has been created at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?page_id=4261 to describe the others
The Memory Elephant has been called in to act as Photographer Pachyderm and record pictorial memoirs of them.

Additions to Page 1 include in the Les Souris section Oliver Moremouse who is a spokesman for the mice in the skirtingboard and was first noticed begging cheese in Dobrou chut for #gtstoogies http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=1841 Oliver is often seen souveniring a cheese platter (for example after the festivities for the 2012 Best Australian blogs competition http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3244 )

The Twitter Birds have been moved to the newly created second page and particular Twitter birds such as One Twitter Bird and Angus McTvitter have been recognised.
The Tweet family and the Psych-Owl-Ogist have also been added to the second page.

Others included on the second page are

Tweetelle’s Caterpillar pet

Outfora Duck http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3533

The Origami Secretary Bird http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=90

The Topiary Tessellation Bird Leaf Tree http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=topiary-tessellation-birdleaf-tree
and the Topiary Tree Octopus (Octopus Topiarii) http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=tree-octopus

Echidna and Kiwi http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3412

The Lobsters http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=933

Red Herrings http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3405

Turtle http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4067

Beloved Snail http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=941

Pair O’Noids http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4027

Vote for Sprite’s Site (and as many other great Australian blogs as you like) by clicking on the Vote for Me button in the sidebar of the blog. But you can only vote once: so be sure to make the vote count. Sprite’s Site is on Page 4 O-S.

If you have entered Sprite’s Site by following a link to a specific post you will need to click on the Sprite’s Site header to see the sidebar.

Best Australian Blogs 2013 No 5: Interaction with Twitter

Posted on April 3, 2013 by jo

Sprite’s Site has a close connection with the social media Twitter and the iconic Twitter birds.

My Twitter handle is @jofrei

Naturally I use Twitter to receive and share information, to socialise, give and receive encouragement and to announce my blog posts.
I enjoy participating in Twitter chats particularly #gtchat and many of the posts on Sprite’s Site are related to #gtchat

Global #gtchat on Twitter http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4143

Posts tagged with Twitter can be found at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=twitter

Posts tagged with gtchat can be found at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=gtchat

Blog posts on Sprite’s Site have been used for #gtchat discussion starters or contributions such as the experiences of the Tweet family at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4064 for introducing the chat session Coping when extended family doesn’t get giftedness http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/257/
and
Sprite on the topic of homework http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4107 for The Homework Dilemma http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/the-homework-dilemma/

Sprite’s Site posts are quite often referenced in post chat write-ups on the Global GT Chat Powered by TAGT Blog http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/

Sometimes Sprite’s Site posts are picked up by Paper.li creators such as

Kim McNeill Gifted kids and Parents http://paper.li/kim_mcneill/1304624896

Sonia Dabboussi Gifted Success http://paper.li/soniadabboussi

The Twitter Birds are also characters on Spite’s Site

The Twitter bird images were adapted from birds in a set of free Twitter Bird icons available at http://www.productivedreams.com/free-twitter-bird-icon-set/
The Twitter birds play an active part in the blog by bringing links of interesting websites and holding their own events such as weddings http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=wedding-album
going A-MAY-ing http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=a-may-ing
and participating in creating challenges http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=creating-challenge

Twitter Bird Bowers have been set up on Sprite’s Site to house the 100 plus musicians, poets, scientists and pirates at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3482
And during the 2012 Olympics Un-Olympics Bowers were also added to Sprite’s Site http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=un-olympics-bower

We witnessed the wedding of Tweet and Retweet and are now following the story of The Tweet family http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=tweet-family and their gifted Tweetlets, Tweetil and Tweetelle, and their Great Aunt Hashtag.
The stories have covered subjects such as parenting, giftedness issues, choosing schools, homeschooling and consultations with the Psych-Owl-Ogist http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=psych-owl-ogist

For the collection of posts relating to the Twitter Birds see http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=twitter-birds

If you have entered Sprite’s Site by following a link to a specific post you will need to click on the Sprite’s Site header to see the sidebar.

New theme for Sprite’s Site

Posted on April 2, 2013 by jo

As I guess you have noticed the appearance of Sprite’s Site blog has changed.
I opted to change the theme after a recent update resulted in large pictures appearing distorted. I was able to fix individual pictures by reducing their size but it would have been a huge amount of work to reduce every picture.

The new header for the blog is a picture of the Sprite’s Site characters celebrating the blog birthday in June last year. See how many of them you can name.
Information about the characters can be found at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?page_id=2584

Best Australian Blogs 2013 No 4: Interaction with other blogs and blog tours

Posted on April 2, 2013 by jo

Sprite is keen to demonstrate the interaction that Sprite’s Site has with other blogs by participating in blog tours, leaving and receiving comments and mentions and inclusion in blogrolls.

Last August I received an email telling me that I needed to either close my other blog, Gifted Resources blog http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/ or update it to the newer format. I had neglected that blog as all my blogging energy has been poured into Sprite’s Site for the last few years.

My tech guru, Jamie Tarling, put in a lot of work to update the blog and transfer old posts into it. It was exciting to see the possible formats and themes on offer for the updated version. The picture in the blog header changes randomly from a selection of Gifted Resources pictures at each page refresh. http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/08/18/theres-life-in-the-old-blog-yet/

It meant that I was now ‘two-blog lady’ and had to divide my time between the two blogs. You can read about the reactions of the Sprite’s Site characters here
Between the Blogs
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3606
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3610

Here is a round up of the posts on Spite’s Site and Gifted Resources blog during 2012 http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3937

Sprite’s Site participated in blog tours, blog hops, blogathons etc including

Calling all Bloggers: Sir Ken Robinson blogathon
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=1752

http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=1824

What Seth Godin Doesn’t Understand about Gifted People - Answers to a blog post by Seth Godin organised by the Facebook group Gifted Homeschoolers Forum Bloggers Group
What Seth Godin Doesn’t Understand about Gifted People: Goes the other way? I think not!
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4067

What Seth Godin Doesn’t Understand about Gifted People: Goes the other way? I think not! 2
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=4077

NZ Gifted Awareness Week Blog Tours

New Zealand Gifted Awareness Week
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=gifted-awareness-week-new-zealand

In 2012 I answered the call for posts and filled in TBA (To Be Advised) as the proposed topic for the post. I will be careful not to make that mistake again; as having said I would write about TBA I felt obligated to do so and ended up writing a series with a total of 7 posts for the blog tour.

Gifted Awareness Week Namibia
The post Namibia, cheetahs and gifted students http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=2998 was written at the invitation of Roya Klingner from the Global Center for Gifted Education as a part of Gifted Education Awareness Week in Namibia.

2E Dansk

Hilde Buys from Denmark picked up my post Reading to dogs http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3069 and commented on it on her 2E Dansk blog http://2e-giftedogdiagnose.blogspot.com.au/
in a post titled ‘Læsning til hunden med Sprite og 2e-footsteps’ at http://2e-giftedogdiagnose.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/lsning-med-sprite.html
I wrote about Sprite’s visit to Denmark at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3083

A set of posters about Creativity was created for
International Week of Giftedness 2012/International Year of Giftedness and Creativity 2013 blogtour at http://iygc.wordpress.com/
at http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3578

Inclusion in Blogrolls and mentions in posts on blogs and commenting on blog posts.

Sprite’s Site enjoys excellent relations with many blogs and provides commentary and links to posts on them and is quoted and linked to in their posts.
Some of the main blogs which Sprite connects with are:

Jo Hart’s E-verything blog
http://johart1.edublogs.org/?s=Jo+Freitag

Lisa Conrad’s Gifted Parenting Support
http://giftedparentingsupport.blogspot.com.au/

Global #gtchat powered by TAGT blog
http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/?s=Sprite%27s+Site

http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/?s=Jo+Freitag

http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/?s=Gifted+Resources

VOTE FOR SPRITE’S SITE

If you have entered Sprite’s Site by following a link to a specific post you will need to click on the title on the blue Sprite’s Site header to see the sidebar.

That was the year that was 2012

Posted on January 1, 2013 by jo

Many of my colleagues and friends have posted excellent reviews of their activities and experiences during 2012 on their blogs.

Tim Dracup aka Gifted Phoenix compiled an awe inspiring review at http://giftedphoenix.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/gifted-phoenix-2012-review-and-retrospective/

And Jen Merrill from Laughing at Chaos summed up her year with reflections at http://laughingatchaos.com/2012/12/29/reflection-not-just-for-a-mountain-lake/

I was hoping to post yesterday about the things we had done on Sprite’s Site and the Gifted Resources blog during 2012.

But the Memory Elephant returned from Memory Elephants Day rather too mellow and laid back and not at all inclined to put in the hard work of remembering and insisted on viewing the memories the Twitter Birds had recorded of memory Elephants Day before commencing any work.
(The Twitter Birds had taken photos and made recordings of the event so that the Memory Elephants would not have to remember the fun they had on their day off but would still have some memoirs to keep)

“What did the Memory Elephants do on Memory Elephant day?” I asked.

“Just elephanty sort of things -they trumpeted and ate lots and had dust baths and squirted each other with water” One Twitter Bird said “But I don’t have a clue what they were saying because I could not find a translation tool that could handle Memory Elephant to Twitter Bird!”

“That is really strange – seeing pictures of things you did and don’t remember doing!” said the Memory Elephant.

Eventually, towards the end of the day the Memory Elephant produced this summary of the blog posts on Sprite’s Site and Gifted Resources Blog

There were 154 posts on Sprite’s Site during 2012. Some of the main highlights were

January 5 posts

Move to Rosebud http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=2913

February 3 posts

Valentines Day Keeping calendars and Filing memories

March 15 posts

More filing memories and settling in to Rosebud http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=2967

Return of #Gtchat http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3016 and http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3004

Best Australian blogs nomination http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=best-australian-blogs-2012

Birth of Tweetil and Tweetelle – start of Tweet family series about parenting gifted children http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=tweet-family

Book review Gifted and thriving at school by Derrin Cramer http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3034

Gifted Awareness week in Namibia http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=2998

April 19 posts

April Fools Day prank http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3047 and http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3050

Continuation of Best Australian blogs and Tweet family series – the Tweet family begin NEST Ed and encounters problems caused by the asynchronous development of the Tweetlets

Reading to dogs http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3069

Sprite in Denmark http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3083

May 41 posts

Continuation of Best Australian blogs and Tweet family series

Tweetelle becomes a seedetarian http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3168

We meet the Psych-Owl-Ogist http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=psych-owl-ogist

And The Twitter birds went A-May-ing http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=a-may-ing

June 18 posts

Blog birthday

http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3456

http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3493

Language Garden review http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3485

Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Education of Gifted and Talented students http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3463

Gifted Awareness Week New Zealand http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=gifted-awareness-week-new-zealand Seven posts on the topic TBA

And a discussion of the Birds and the Bees in the Tweet family nest http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3363

July 10 posts

Critical thinking http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3559

The Finding the Right Flock series about choosing a school for gifted children http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=choosing-schools

Advocacy http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3538

The Twitter Bird Un-Olympics Bower series http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=un-olympics-bower

August 7 posts

Creation is to Creator as … http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3615

Between the Blogs http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3606 and
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3610

Continuation of Finding the Right Flock

Advocacy 2 http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3587

Be Creative with the Dabrowski Dogs http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3578

Delta Dog http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3571

September 11 posts

De Bono’s 6 Action shoes series http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=debono-6-action-shoes

The meeting (link between Advocacy series and De Bono’s 6 Action shoes series) http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3686

Creativity challenge about Patterns and sketching http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=creativity-challenge

Overprikkelbaar http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3620

October 9 posts

Declining the table http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3816

Halloween and the Annual Lobby Lobster Fest http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3809

Continuation of De Bono’s 6 Action shoes series

Fine Focus webinar http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3804

Cuckoos in the Nest http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3742

November 6 posts

November activities http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3826

Global Education Conference http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=global-eduction-conference

Fine focus Webinar Part 2 http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3847

December 10 posts

#gtchat goes to TAGT12 http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3867

Digital badges http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=digital-badges

Christmas greetings http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3920

Memory Elephants Day 30 December http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?p=3923

Gifted Resources Blog
August

I August I received an email telling me that I needed to either close the Gifted Resources blog or update it to the newer format My tech guru, Jamie Tarling, put in a lot of work to update the blog and transfer old posts into it.

There’s life in the old blog yet
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/08/18/theres-life-in-the-old-blog-yet/

Beginners Guide to Life on the Bright Side review
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/08/29/beginners-guide-to-life-on-the-bright-side/

Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Education of Gifted and Talented Students
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/08/20/victorian-parliamentary-inquiry-into-the-education-of-gifted-and-talented-students/

September

Doc Sykes Psycho-Educational Resource DVD
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/09/17/doc-sykes-psycho-educational-resource-dvd/

Virtually attending the ECHA Conference
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/09/14/virtually-attending-the-echa-conference/

October

Mindjet Mind Manager
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/10/25/mindjet-mindmanager/

Fine Focus Webinar
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/10/24/fine-focus-webinar/

Living with ANTs review
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/10/11/living-with-ants/

GT Chat
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/10/03/gt-chat/

Let the Tall Poppies Flourish
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/10/03/let-the-tall-poppies-flourish/

November
Re-cataloguing the Gifted Resources Library
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/11/23/re-cataloguing-the-gifted-resources-library/

GT Chat goes to TAGT 12
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/11/22/gt-chat-goes-to-tagt-12/

Fine Focus Webinar Part 2
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/11/21/fine-focus-webinar-part-2/

Global Ed Con 12
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/11/12/globaledcon-12/

Skype Film Discussion
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/11/08/skype-film-discussion/

November

Susan Fisher’s dream classroom
http://www.giftedresources.org/giftedblog/2012/11/28/susan-fishers-dream-classroom/

“And now” said the Memory Elephant “I am taking Angus McTvitter to celebrate New Years and watch the fireworks. It is going to be a night to remember!”

Digital Badges 4

Posted on December 18, 2012 by jo

These are the badges I received as a result of the recent Digital Badges course with Peter Rawsthorne
overview at http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Peterrawsthorne/PhD/DigitalBadges#Digital_Badges and forums at http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=9010

The Participant Badge
Participant introduced themselves to the group via the discussion forum and actively contributes to 7 of the 12 primary discussion threads, also participates in one of the two lunch-and-learn sessions. http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=9010 http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=16751

The Contributor Badge
Contributor does everything the participant does with the addition of contributing;
1. by designing badge images
2. creating a badge system design for another curriculum
3. blogs about their participation in this seminar series
4. other creative endeavours regarding digital badges http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=9010 http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=16751

“Are you going to display them in the sidebar of the blog?” asked Sprite.

“Maybe, if I can work out how to embed them” I said. “But more likely I will leave them here in this post about Digital Badges.”

“We need a display case” said Sprite “We have the badges for Nomination for the Sydney Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs in the blog sidebar to remind us of the posts about our campaigns in 2011 and 2012.”

Best Australian Blogs 2012
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=best-australian-blogs-2012

Best Australian Blogs 2011
http://www.giftedresources.org/jo/blog/?tag=best-australian-blogs-2011

“And I think we have other badges that are included with posts but are not in the sidebar. The Memory Elephant would know!”

The Memory Elephant searched through the archives of the blog and found several badges with posts which were part of a blog tour or reflections on global conferences. Tweetil brought his newly earned Little Drummer Boy Badge and Tweetelle brought her Peacock Preening Badge to show us.

Here are the badges the Memory Elephant found