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Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts

EMOTIONAL EDUCATION is stressed at the Blue School, a private school in Manhattan founded by members of the Blue Man Group in 2006. Now with 200 students in preschool through third grade, according to The New York Times, "the school has become a kind of national laboratory for integrating cognitive neuroscience and cutting-edge educational theory into curriculum, professional development and school design." Making kids aware of emotions supposedly helps the academic education process in the school, which is largely child-centered.  Read the article.
AUTISM AND THE BRAIN. NPR's show "To the Best of Our Knowledge" on Sunday, April 15, focused on autism and the brain, including interviews with a variety of experts. From the program blurb: "We explore the frontiers of brain science, from the neurobiology of emotions to recent discoveries about autism.  Renowned neuroscientists Richard Davidson and V.S. Ramachandran reveal new insights into the brain, and we'll hear the story of one marriage saved by a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome." Find the program. (The first segment on autism diagnosis is, in the opinion of 2e Newsletter editor L.C. Neumann, perhaps the most relevant to the 2e community. Decide for yourself.)
PREDICTING PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT. A Finnish longitudinal study has established that that the use of psychiatric treatment or meds as young adults may be predicted by signs and symptoms at age 8. According to Science Daily, "The parents and the teacher completed questionnaires with items concerning family structure, parental education level, conduct problems, hyperactive problems, emotional symptoms, bullying, and victimisation of bullying behaviour. The children themselves completed questions regarding depressive symptoms, bullying, and victimization of bullying behaviour." Find out more. 
HOAGIES' PAGE. Don't forget that webmistress Carolyn K is always updating her ginormous website on all things gifted -- including 2e. What we see on the "What's New" page at the moment is a video of top 10 myths in gifted education; and a list of recently added pages and pointers. Find "what's new."
MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS. The Dana print newsletter Brain in the News pointed us to an article called "How the Brain Learns," about timing, sensory systems, and neural interconnectivity. Find out about the research -- and about some of the ways the research can apply in the classroom -- at the US News site. 
NAGC ANNUAL AWARDS. Each year at its annual conference NAGC presents a variety of awards. The nomination process for the 2012 awards closes on May 1. Award categories include those for educators, researchers, scholars, advocates, and those who otherwise serve the gifted community. Find out more.
NEW SURVEY. A PhD student at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is conducting research to find out about theabilities and achievements of twice-exceptional individuals on the autismspectrum and to find ways that strengths and abilities of people on the autismspectrum can be developed. Participantsare sought from the following five groups:
  • Adults with an ASD
  • Parents
  • Teachers
  • Psychologists
  • Mentorsand coaches
According to the researcher, the study involves an online questionnaire(approximately 15 minutes) and an option to take part in interviews conductedby e-mail. Full details of the study can be found in theexplanatory statement by following the link to the online questionnaire http://tinyurl.com/monasheducation.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

REDUCE THE PRESSURE. Research published by the American Psychological Association indicates that students have less fear of failure -- and learn better -- when  they're told that failure is a normal part of learning. A researcher pointed out that "teachers and parents may be able to help students succeed just by changing the way in which the material is presented.” Find out more about helping your 2e child succeed in school.
GOT AN ANXIOUS KID? Lots of 2e kids are anxious, according to the parents we communicate with. A brief article in the Kansas City Star by Julia Cook offers tips for recognizing anxiety and ameliorating it. Find them.
IEP. The Wilmington, North Carolina, Star News Online provides an overview of the IEP process, including getting started, following up, and putting the IEP into practice. Read more.
RITALIN DOSAGES. Twice-exceptional kids with AD/HD may be affected differently by different doses of methylphenidate (Ritalin). A study using monkeys recently found that low doses boost cognitive performance, but that while higher doses can reduce hyperactivity they may also impair memory. Find a writeup of the study.
RESIDENTIAL SUMMER APPRENTICESHIPS. The Institute for Educational Advancement offers gifted students the opportunity to participate in residential apprenticeships. IEA calls them "an invaluable and intensive learning opportunity working with teams of professionals in medicine, industrial design, science, law and business at some of the nation's leading universities, corporations, and research facilities." Find out more. (IEA is a non-profit organization that also puts on the Yunasa Summer Camp for the Gifted.)
IN MANHATTAN, at the Quad Manhattan, on the evening of April 9, The Quad will sponsor a workshop on neurofeedback. According to a blurb for the workshop, neurofeedback may be of use to children "with various diagnoses and presenting conditions by allowing them to regulate their behavior and in turn, become more available for learning and other activities." Find out more. 
YOUTUBE is now available through a special portal for schools that limits student access to certain content and allows schools to use only the videos they want. A New York Times article says that YouTube contains many educational videos which can benefit teachers and students when brought into the classroom. Find out more.

A LITTLE HELP FROM THE 2e COMMUNITY, PLEASE. A family moving to the Edwardsville, Illinois, area is looking for a school for their nine-year-old 2e son, who is thriving in his current IB elementary school, according to the family. Now, Edwardsville is near St. Louis, and our reader says she doesn't mind if her husband "has to drive awhile" to get to work in Edwardsville, which should widen the choices. If anyone has suggestions or advice, please post here with your email address (we won't make it public) or email us and we'll forward it on for direct communication with the family. (Subscribers, you know where to find us anyway.) Thanks!

YES I CAN! CEC has announced the winners of the 2010 "Yes I Can" awards, which will be presented on April 23rd. The awards recognize achievement by young people with disabilities in nine areas -- academics, arts, athletics, community service, employment, extracurricular activities, independent living, self-advocacy, and technology. See the winners and their stories at the CEC site.

UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Blogger Tamara Fisher previews upcoming webinars on giftedness from NAGC and SENG. Read more.

SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE, on a roll with the topic of IEPs, continues its coverage this week with articles on documenting IEP concerns, getting the IEP revised, including parent and teacher training in an IEP,and using academic standards to develop IEP goals. If that twice-exceptional child you know has an IEP, check out the issue.

INSTANT REWARDS LIKE MEDICINE. British researchers have reported that the brains of AD/HD kids respond to instant rewards the same way they respond to medications such as Ritalin, although not to the same degree. One researcher, according to the report, says that the combination of drugs and incentives produced the best results, and might mean children with AD/HD could take lower doses of drugs while maintaining control of their behavior. Find out more from BBC.

SOLVING THE PUZZLE OF AUTISM is the title of a new article posted at the Dana Foundation site. Like most articles there, this is not "light reading," but rather a 3,700-word piece about which the editor says in a preface: "Desperate to understand and to cure autism, many activists argue that the disorder can be traced to a single source. But in order to understand autism, writes Alan Packer of the Simons Foundation, we first need to determine the genetic, neuronal, and behavioral elements at play. These elements, argues Packer, are more complex than those involved in cancer. Researchers will then need to translate their understanding of autism into treatments, an undertaking that will require a long-term, interdisciplinary approach." Read the article.

LEARNING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. The New York Times points to some websites that help those interested in using all of "mind-boggling volume" of free educational material on the web. The sites include Academic Earth, Connexions, the OpenCourseWare Consortium, Open Culture, ITunesU and YouTube, and Highlights for High School. Find the article and educate yourself -- or that gifted young person in your life.

HARD 2 SPEL DAD is the title of a play in performance in Dallas. It's the result of a long chain of dyslexic-related experiences by several families and organizations, starting with a mother whose daughter's diagnosis in the 1970s made her feel "like someone had run over me with a large truck." The mom came up with her own teaching methods and introduced her daughter to theater. The play, scripted a generation after the daughter's diagnosis but based on her experiences, features a young actress who also has dyslexia. Read more.

EDUFEST. If summer's coming, so is EduFest, the annual, late-July Idaho skill-building conference for educators, school psychologists, and administrators involved in gifted education. The conference also features a parents' day on the Saturday prior to the conference, July 24th. Session descriptions have been posted. Find out more.

AND FINALLY, THIS, from an April 21st press release by the U.S. Census Bureau. "Today marks the birthday of a German educator most Americans have never heard of but whose ideas about how young children learn have had a profound effect on many generations. His name was Friedrich Froebel, born in 1782. He believed that directed play was an important part of each child's education -- a theory that led to the establishment of the first kindergarten -- literally, "children's garden." The first kindergarten in a U.S. public school opened in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1873. Underlining the acceptance of Froebel's ideas across the country, more than 3.5 million youngsters now go to public school kindergarten each day. A half-million attend private kindergartens." To see more census "daily features," go here.

TEMPLE GRANDIN BIOPIC. An HBO movie about autistic achiever Temple Grandin airs for the first time this Saturday night. Grandin frequently speaks at conferences where twice-exceptionality is a topic. Her "real" job is animal behavioralist and livestock consultant. The New York Times says this about the movie: "Hers is a tale that could be easily be played up for drama, intrigue and weepy reconciliations, but this narrative is loyal to Ms. Grandin’s credo: emotions are secondary to tangible results. And the result is a movie that is funny, instructive and also intangibly charming." Read the Times article. Hear a recent NPR interview with Grandin.

AP FAILURE RATES. USA Today notes that even while the number of students taking Advanced Placement exams is rising, the rate of failure among those taking the exams is also rising. In some states, more than 50 percent of AP test-takers fail. Read more. Jay Matthews, education writer for the Washington Post, also commented on the problem.

VISION, DYSLEXIA, AND LEARNING is the subject of a recent article at LD Online. The article notes a joint statement between the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on Children with Disabilities, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology on visual problems and dyslexia, along with possible treatments. Read the LD Online piece; read the full statement.

TEACHING THE GIFTED is a topic of an article from the San Diego News Network. The article offers strategies that can positively affect learning in high-ability young people. Read it.

EDUTOPIA EVOLVES. The organization Edutopia, here-to-fore the publisher of a print magazine of the same name, has announced it will no longer publish the print edition, instead using the Internet "to deliver deeper, more relevant stories, especially with video, about innovation in teaching and learning. New community and content-sharing tools make it possible for educators to find and exchange tips and solutions with each other whenever they wish." Find out more.

CEC COMMENTS ON THE NEW EDUCATION BUDGET. The Council for Exceptional Children offers its opinions on a couple things the federal government is proposing that involve IDEA and the Javits act, and the Council is not happy. Read why.

TIDBITS. ScienceDaily offers three news items for those of you with an interest in certain exceptionalities in that gifted child you raise or teach. One article describes how children with AD/HD may have differences in the brain's reward system. Another article covers a study on similarities between symptoms of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and AD/HD. And a third study links excessive Internet use to depression, although the population in question uses the Internet so much that the article uses the word "addicts" to describe them.

AD/HD VERSUS GIFTEDNESS. Mom and blogger Kelly Burns recently posted a long piece offering information and advice to parents in regard to giftedness being misdiagnosed as AD/HD. One of her main suggestions: find a qualified psychologist for an assessment. Read the blog.

From the Week of July 19th

TECHNOLOGY IN INSTRUCTION. In the July/August issue of 2e Newsletter, we featured the use of technology in educating twice-exceptional students. The New York Times, on July 22nd, reported on "The School of One," a summer school pilot program in a New York middle school in which students use laptops to work their way through a math program that consist of online quizzes, games, and worksheets. The students' progress on any given day determines the next day's curriculum. The superintendent of New York schools says that the program tailors lessons to student strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Read more.

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE -- A NEW PERSPECTIVE. Science Daily reports on a newly published research from the University of Iowa that calls for burying the "nature versus nurture" debate in favor of a systemic, multi-causal perspective. The research team rejects the idea of genetic expression as a one-way, deterministic mechanism. Instead (from the article): "The UI team believes genes are expressed at every point in development and are affected all along the way by a gamut of environmental factors -- everything from proteins and chemicals to the socioeconomic status of a family. These ideas are unified by a perspective called developmental systems theory." Find the article.

DISABILITY AWARENESS. Easter Seals has released Friends Who Care, a disability awareness curriculum to help presumably "normal" children understand what it's like to have a disability involving vision, hearing, AD/HD, autism, and others limiting factors. Find out more.

ASK AN ASPIE to anticipate another person's state of mind -- and the Aspie may be able to respond correctly to the prompt, even though many with the condition don't spontaneously "read" the mental state of others -- that's the message in a short piece in Scientific American. Read it.

POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS -- BAD FOR IQ. A study reported in Science Daily links environmental pollutants by that name (also called PAHs) to lower IQ test scores in children who are exposed to high levels of those pollutants prenatally. Exposure led to a difference of 4.31 points on full-scale IQ scores and 4.67 points on verbal IQ scores, as compared to less-exposed children. PAHs come from burning coal, oil, and other organic substances (including tobacco). Chalk it up as another one of those things that affect us beyond our control. Read the article.

ADVOCATING FOR THAT 2e CHILD. Wrightslaw, in its newsletter Special Ed Advocate, is offering a refresher course in effective advocacy. Find the first lesson -- along with a link to an advocacy resource directory -- in this week's edition.

LEARNING IS COMPUTATIONAL, SOCIAL. Science Daily reported on research converging to "create foundations for a new science of learning," according to the article. The research, from the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, notes that infants "learn the sounds and words of their language by picking up probabilistic information as they listen," that they are calculating statistically. But the researchers also emphasize the social aspect, noting that babies need other people to learn, not just a TV screen. That said, the article also covers the role of technology in learning. Read the Science Daily article. (To read more on the research, find the June 17th edition of the journal Science.)

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews reviews the book Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County Public Schools. While the book emphasizes process and can seem academic, implies Matthews, he urges those interested in education to take a look. To encourage such a look, Matthews offers some lessons titles from a key chapter, titles that might entice those with a stake in 2e education. One sample lesson title: "Implementing a strategy of common, rigorous standards with differentiated resources and instruction can create excellence and equity for all students." Does that sound like what a 2e kid needs? Readers of 2e Newsletter know that MCPS has a reputation for serving 2e kids well; this book about the schools and its leaders may offer reasons why that's so. Find Matthews' article.

MORE NEWS AND RESOURCES as the week goes on.