Robotics

Chaffee had two teams compete in the Hampton Cove FIRST Lego League Qualifier. The students who competed were in the two 5th grade classes. The students worked very hard to get ready for the tournament.
The tournament consists of three areas where the teams are judged. The first area for judging is based on a presentation of a solution to a community problem. This year the topic was Senior Solutions. The students learned about the various problems that senior citizens face. They read articles about challenges for seniors and interviewed seniors. Next they had to chose one of the challenges and create a solution. Team 1188 chose to make a model of a robotic medicine dispenser. They made both a lego model and a CAD model. Team 1239 chose to make a robotic dog that helped with medicine, falling, exercise and communicating with friends. Team 1239 presented their idea as a commercial.

The second area of judging was based on completion of missions. The tournament has a competition field with a variety of objects constructed of Legos. The teams must program an NXT robot to complete as many of the missions as possible. Both teams had to first learn how to program the robots. They used curriculum from Carnige Melon University to learn how to move forward, backward, turn and use sensors. Then they had to apply their learning to the missions. It was challenging but both teams were able to successfully accomplish a number of the missions.

The last area of judging was teamwork. The teams were given a problem to solve at the tournament so the judges could observe how they worked together to solve the problem. This year it was a story telling problem. The teams had lots of preparation for this event through our unit last year called Team Challenge and on working together on the other areas of judging.

I was very proud that Team 1239 was awarded a third place trophy for their teamwork. Both teams did a great job. They learned a ton and had a lot of fun.

AAGC Conference

I attended the Alabama Association for Gifted Children conference September 27 and 28th. One of the keynote speakers was Sylvia Rimm, who is an expert on helping parents of gifted children overcome underachievement. She also has some great general advice for parents.
Dr. Rimm covered the Top 10 Needs of the Gifted and Talented. This is great information for parents.
1. Need high expectations for themselves. GT students need to feel smart and the best way to feel smart is take on challenges.
2. Need a good work ethic. GT students need to work hard and see that the harder you work the more you achieve.
3. Need competitive resilience. GT students need to know that you win some and you lose some.
4. Understand that they have areas of strength and weakness.
5. Need differentiated curriculum so they can take on challenge and have a good work ethic.
6. Need GT peer environment. They need a safe place for their giftedness especially in Middle school years.
7. Need united positive parenting. They need both parents working together on the same beliefs and values.
8. Need to know that their parents respect teachers.
9. Need good role models.
10. Need a reasonable balance between achievement and affiliation.

Check out www.sylviarimm.com for more information.

New School Year

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year. I am looking forward to working with some new students and some students from last year. Every year brings new changes and this year, we have two changes to the start of the SPACE year. The first change is that district policy for this year is that pullout services will not start until September 4th. I will begin picking up students that week. The second change is that I am at Chaffee four days a week and Providence one day a week. I will be at Providence on Tuesdays.

The Digital conversion is making lots of headlines. In SPACE we do not use the textbooks that are online, but we will use the laptop/netbooks for our research. It will be wonderful to have immediate access for all the students instead of having to move to the computer lab. With the digital conversion change, my email address has changed. My email is colleen.laymon@hsv-k12.org. I am much easier to contact by email.

I am looking forward to a new year of learning and growing. Feel free to contact me with any concerns, questions or needs. I am flexible and willing to meet your needs, but I need to know what they are. Let's keep the lines of communication open.

Thank You

Thank you to all the families for their support during teacher appreciation week. It was lovely to receive all the flowers, fruit, sweets, school supplies and cards. How thoughtful you and your children are.
We are closing up our 11-12 school year. It has been a very successful year.
I will miss all those moving to sixth grade. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and I will see some of you in August.

Empowerment and Illumination

"Those moments of empowerment and illumination are built on the foundation of hard work that often doesn't look either shining or glorious" Linda Christensen, Teaching for Joy and Justice.

We have had lots of moments of empowerment and illumination lately. Students have been working hard on some long term projects and they are producing some shining and glorious work.
Third graders have begun using the Independent Investigative Method to research methods of preserving memories. They will shortly decide how they want to share what they have learned.

Fourth graders finished their censorship study. After researching the current topic of the SOPA and PIPA bills, they enjoyed a debate. They learned a great deal, and were shown how the Internet can be used to create change. Through an Internet blackout and activism, the SOPA and PIPA bills were removed from the senate and house.

Fifth graders have been working hard on their autobiographies. It was hard work writing the essay and going through two edits to improve it, but the students are very proud of their essay. All the essays were combined and printed for each student to read and share. It was exciting to see the final project.

The fifth graders have also been working on learning contracts for a while. Many are finally finishing their projects. We have had a movie produced, posters, Lap books, ABC books and costume designs created recently. It is fantastic to see kids get to take a passion, work hard to gain knowledge, and then share their learning in a creative way.

Emotional Sensitivity

High levels of emotional sensitivity are associated with giftedness. High levels of emotional sensitivity can be a strong asset, in that these children can be more sensitive to the environment surrounding them, sensing beauty, joy, and feelings more than others. It can also be an problem when that sensitivity sees suffering, injustice, and world issues with more intensity than their peers. They may be overwhelmed by the sufferings they perceive. Parents need to discuss what are the possible ways that the child can reach out and help; what is beyond an individual's control; and how to process their feelings.
Sensitivity can also appear as a drive for excitement, fast-paced change, and active pursuits. Children may come to believe that living on the edge is preferable to reflective, contemplative states. Both states are necessary for growth, and students need to learn how to find a balance between active pursuits and states of reflection. Without reflection, students may just be hurrying from one activity to another, and may not be learning and growing.
Here are some suggestions (Loveky, 2004) on ways to develop these strengths and mitigate the accompanying issues:

• Do things as a family to help those in need.
• Visit local charities.
• Discuss how things may be beyond your control and how a partial solution is better than none.
• Promote the child's desire to help by structuring and planning the process for helping.
• Help them control their impulsivity and look at the consequences of their helping actions.
• Discuss selfishness and when thinking of oneself first is best and when it is not.
• Plan small tasks that can lead to the larger whole of helping.

Children with great emotional sensitivity can be difficult to raise, but if we take the time to direct and channel those feelings into positive actions, they will grow to be kind, caring adults who make our world a better place.

Censorship Survery for Thursday Group

The Thursday fourth grade group also created a survey. We would love to have your responses!
Click here to take survey
Thank you for your help!