Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT is a weekly chat on Twitter that takes place on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT and 5 p.m. PT in the U.S. For one hour, parents, educators, advocates and experts in the field of gifted and talented gather to share resources, links, authentic life experiences and insights about gifted issues.
My tweets for the next hour will be devoted to Global #gtchat ( #gifted#talented ) Powered by #TAGT@TXGifted Please feel free to join the conversation and share your experiences!
Welcome to Global Gifted and Talented Chat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented @TXGifted#TAGT ~ Thanks for joining us to chat about “Authentic Learning to Create 21st Century Learners” #gtchat
I’m Lisa Conrad ~ moderator, advocate for gifted children, conference presenter, blogger and parent of 2 gifted adults from Pittsburgh, PA. Please take a minute to let us know who you are and from where you’re tweeting! #gtchat
Are you new to Twitter chats? We use the Q1/A1 format for #gtchat … Please remember to add the #gtchat hashtag to participate in the conversation. This will make sure that other chat participants see your tweets.
Lurking to learn? Please say ‘hi’ and then view a livestream from Participate Learning at https://t.co/1zR97oWQw0 Enjoy the chat! All the resources and a summary of this chat will be posted later on our blog at https://t.co/ktMEK3YPqI#gtchat
Our first question is coming up; let’s get ready to chat! Please preface your responses with A1 Excited to collaborate and share ideas with you today about authentic learning. #gtchat
A1) Authentic learning is deeply engaging w/real world relevance/connections, answering those “burning” questions. It often takes the learner beyond what they set out to discover in the 1st place & might even create more questions the learner wants to explore. #gtchat
A1 Authentic learning is participating in meaningful, real-world learning that is in response to active student voice in the process of deciding what they need as an individual to succeed. #gtchat
A2 Authentic learning breaks through the decades of monotonous rote-learning to prepare students to become innovators, critical thinkers and leaders. #gtchat
When the learning means something other than just a grade or meeting a standard the drive to learn more is greater and when the drive is there, the learning comes easier. #gtchat
A2) Students become engaged & excited! THESE are the moments the teacher can step back to guide/facilitate the process, allowing students to own their learning & choose/ innovate their projects/products. Behavior problems melt when engagement/authentic learning happen. #gtchat
The more motivated the students, the less disruptive they are the more enjoyable the class time is for the teacher if the students are pulling info from them, rather than the teacher pushing it out. #gtchat
A2 Authentic learning benefits all of society by providing future problem solvers who have learned the skills to think, assess, and imagine solutions unknown to us today. #gtchat
Makes for a much better workforce. Employers have been complaining students are coming to them not knowing how to think. They are simply memorizers #gtchat
A3 The inquiry learning such as project-based learning, problem-based learning, or case-based learning enable it way more than traditional strategies #gtchat
A3 Asking open ended questions and designing lessons to give students room to deviate from the core lesson so they can apply the learning to what interests them. #gtchat
It is sometimes called the guide on the side but I heard Brian Housand refer to it as the meddler in the middle which is so much more intriguing @brianhousand#gtchat
We are already half way through our chat! Thank you for sharing so many inspiring thoughts about authentic learning! Please remember to use the #gtchat hashtag to participate in the conversation.
A3) Some of the most exciting moments in my career have been exploring ideas/concepts w/my students & asking more ?s than I answered. It required me to give up “control” & ask them what THEY wanted to know. They always surpassed my expectations in these moments. #gtchat
A3) Bring in community members that are doing it for a profession. Ex. My students are designing a school so, we have an architect working with us.#gtchat
A3 Authentic learning strategies go by many names today … problem-based, cased-based, portfolio driven, etc. The goal should be to use the strategy most responsive to the student’s individual needs. #gtchat
Absolutely. We are in a service industry and should be personalizing our teaching to fit the student, not the student having to adapt to the teacher #gtchat
A4 Authentic learning promotes critical thinking by pushing beyond content and striving to understand why things are the way they are and how they work. #gtchat
A4 Authentic learning encourages critical thinking by engaging a student’s curiosity because the learning is relevant to them. It gives them a reason to want to learn. It makes a difference in their lives. #gtchat
A4) When students see relevance in what they’re learning & are engaged in this process, these open questions invite them to think critically at a high level & solve problems. This process is so organic & natural, a beautiful thing to see unfold. #gtchat
A5 Lots of them but the most important ones are collaboration, public speaking, creativity, adaptability, leadership, initiative, all survival skills as shared by Tony Wagner #gtchat
A5 A good friend of #gtchat once said, “Every time a data-driven decision is made, a fairy dies.” Many may disagree, but the point is that children are more than the data collected about them … and they know it! We should learn from them.
And the sad part is by using a well-made rubric, you can measure these "soft skills". Some school systems are just too lazy and take the easy way out #gtchat
A5 Folks in the business community were first to realize that our test-obsessed, only by the numbers education system was missing things like creativity, working together for a common purpose, and being able to adapt to new situations. #gtchat
A5) We’ve devalued engaging a student’s inquisitiveness. We’ve taught them to worry about getting the right answer rather than innovating solutions to relevant problems, to merely compute/regurgitate facts rather than wonder... about anything. #gtchat
A6 It is difficult to show authentic, real-world growth with a single test. Capstones are a way to see the big picture of what students truly learned #gtchat
A6 They tend to have broader questions to get students started and ask them to pull everything together without dictating minute details of the final product. #gtchat
A6 Capstones are a reflection of growth not captured by standardized testing and an excellent choice for both gifted and high ability students. #gtchat
A6 Capstones provide a vehicle to showcase the cumulative experience of students near the end of their educational experience. They are generally long-term in production and investigative in nature which result in a final product, presentation, or performance. #gtchat
A6) Capstones take into account a student’s voice & choice & measures the process of their learning. It’s the whole enchilada instead of a single test snapshot on a single day. It also allows for students to wrestle with tough, important questions as they seek to learn. #gtchat
Our next chat: Thursday Nov 8th at 8E/7C/6M/5P US & Friday 9th Nov at 2 PM NZST/Noon AEST/1AM UK. Our topic: “Benefits of Online Learning for Gifted/2e” Guest: Madeline Goodwin @EcoScienceGirl - GHF Director of Online Classes #gtchat
