Saving Tom Turkey

I thought we would take a bit of time today to work on developing our creativity and have some fun in the process. I asked my students to come up with some advertisement to Save Tom Turkey. They enjoyed the work so much that had students begging to skip recess so that they could finish their project. I love days like these.  Here is a bit of their efforts.

Please note that we used PhotoBooth on my Mac to record these videos so all writing will be backward.

Newsletter-October 2017

Dear Parents-

Our Gifted Laboratory is off to a great start this year! One thing we have been striving for is

to keep a focus on our learning process rather than our final products. Since many of the strategies we use in one inquiry will be needed in another, it is my hope this focus will help strategies transfer. This quarter, we have spent a great deal of time exploring and discussing the idea of metacognition, or the awareness and understanding of your own thoughts. We are identifying and exploring these concepts in a variety of subjects from dealing with text to strategy games.

During the next quarter we will be exploring the ideas around Grit. Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” The research on Grit has shown it contributes to long term success. It proposes individuals who possess a drive to tirelessly work through challenges, failures and adversity to achieve, set goals and are uniquely positioned to reach higher achievements than others who lack similar stamina, no matter their intelligence level. With this in mind, we will spend time defining, listening to experts, holding group discussions and writing reflections on the role Grit plays in our personal success. Throughout the year, these types of explorations will encourage students to own their individual growth process. As a parent, one thing you can do to encourage and/or develop this mindset in your child is to focus your praise on process, learning, and effort (You really worked hard on this and have learned a lot. You did a great job of developing a plan and following it through. You’ve really developed as a musician.), as opposed to ability (You’re so clever. Look how smart you are; you did that so fast. You’re good at math. You’ve got a lot of talent.)

We will also begin to explore the topic of Genius Hour, which is based on a business practice that Google uses with their developers. They are allowed to use 20% of their time, provided that work has the potential to advance the company. Like everything else we do in our program, we will be focusing on the process. There will be mini lessons on strategies such as choosing an appropriate topic, note taking, developing a quality product and other items that may appear throughout. 

Our guidelines/rules for Genius
Hour are as follows:
-You must start with a real-world question or problem.
-Your answer/solution must require research. It must require more than a Google Search.
-Your final project must be shareable.
I am really looking forward to seeing where these students take these projects.

Again, if you need to reach me, the best way is through email snyderf@manateeschools.net.

Thank you,
Frances M. Snyder (Francie)
Educator of the Gifted
Abel, Bayshore, Oneco, and Prine Elementary Schools 

Newsletter August, 2017

Dear Parents,
      Hello, my name is Frances (Francie) Snyder and I would like to welcome you to
the 2017-18 school year. I have been teaching in Manatee County for over twenty years, with the last ten years working with the Gifted Population. This year, I will be working at Abel Elementary on Mondays, Oneco Elementary on Tuesdays, Prine Elementary on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and Bayshore Elementary on Fridays.
     I heard a speaker say once, “Your school should have an academic focus not a project focus.” This is a statement I whole-heartedly agree with, however, the presence of projects does not mean that academics take a backseat. On the contrary, academics are as front and center as ever, which is why we began using the Gifted Program's motto - WE are a Laboratory and NOT a Factory. Let me explain, laboratories are places of exploration, questioning, discovery and the focus is on the learning process. In factories the focus is usually about the outcome or products. Those in factories are taught to do something one way and never expected to ask why or to try to find a better way of completing the task. With those principles in mind, we do what we can to construct projects in such a way that a multitude of cross curriculum skills are covered. These skills include: Grade Level State Standards, The State of Florida’s Framework for the K-12 Gifted Learners, and National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students.
      Finally, I try my best to ask for very little supplies throughout the year and only ask for things that we use a great deal. I want to personally thank you in advance for sending in the items I am requesting and please know the extra help goes a long way.

Supply List:
-2 reams of white copy paper
-4 sharpened pencils
-wide tip washable markers (Crayola are best)
This is going to be an EXCITING year! If you need to reach me, the best way is through email snyderf@manateeschools.net.

Thank you,
Frances M. Snyder (Francie) Educator of the Gifted 

Current Events -8/24/17- Student Post

The process we followed for this activity can be found here.

Today we heard about the eclipse and how it effects Depoe,Oregon.  This was the Great American Eclipse that has not happened in 99 years. This was a once in a lifetime event. We heard that in Depoe they had to open three fire stations so they could give out solar eclipse glasses for free so people can look at the solar eclipse without damaging your retinas.Finally, the eclipse directly went through fourteen different states in the United States of America. We feel this eclipse was important because it had a big effect in the Depoe,Oregon and the United States of America.

By: Razil, Ameer, Richard, and Natalie