monday sessions

i attended a social/emotional course this afternoon about using literature/movies/web tools to address teens.  there were only 2 of us in the session with the presenter – he told us that he pushes for secondary offerings each year, but they are never really well attended.  it was a bit of a downer talking about all the issues that teens run up against, but i’m looking forward to talking about tools for conversation.  the next session was podcasting and it proved to be a bit elementary.  it sounds like the last two days is what i really want to learn more about, so i’m happy to stick with it until then.  plus, i enjoy watching someone present technology to adults, as that is the position we are finding ourselves in more and more.  good stuff overall, i’m looking forward to adding another strand tomorrow.

 

before my first strand session

sally reis gave an fascinating talk about kids who were part of the SEM and what they grew up to become – the point, without what they were able to pursue at a young age, they would not have grown up to become what they did.  i was inspired the way sally talked about talent development.  so frequently we shorten the label gifted and talented to “gifted” and leave out a valuable part.  i believe it is guilford’s model that shows the necessity for a treatment of some sort to nurture the gifts students have into the talent that they produce.  good stuff to kick around in my mind.  it also got me thinking about our efforts to impact students and how great it would be to spend time in hisd schools working with identified students and going through type III projects to allow them to explore their passion areas.  not sure how that would work logistically whether it be after school, or as a colleague suggested due to buses, during the school day.   looking forward to a social emotional strand that i will be attending regarding guiding teens to self understanding using film, literature and web 2.0 technology.