#gtstoogies 6

The food and pictures which Sprite had provided for this week’s #gtstoogies gathering were French in flavour. When she learned that there was a general Southern theme for the festivities she pointed out that she had the poster for Gifted 2010 the 11th Asia Pacific Conference on Giftedness Sydney 29 July – 1 August 2010 http://www.gifted2010.com.au/ on the wall which represented the Southern states of Australia and she brought out a picture of Southern belles. She also lent us her Linux penguin soft toy which she was given at her P Party because what is more Southern than Antarctica?
Intellectual Dabrowski brought pentaque boules this time because nobody had guessed the names of the items had brought to the two previous gatherings.
Caramel Cat having been deprived of Twitter bird delicacies was hoping for a feast of ‘les petites souris’ as they always seemed to be ‘sous la table’ in the French language text books.
Papillon and French Bulldog had arrived to be taste testers,
I became quite anxious when I saw the third taste tester as he looked suspiciously like Leaping Attack Black Dog did when he attended Sprite’s P Party after a day at the pooch pamper parlour.
And given that Sprite and I still have not managed to get organized and several rather stressful events have happened recently I would not have been too surprised if it was indeed Leaping Attack Black Dog trying to sneak in.
However he assured me “Je suis P est pour Parfait”
“OK” I said “So you are Parfait (a fluffy dessert) from Pestpour Kennels? Why would anyone want Pestpour as a kennel name?”
“Non! Non! Non!” he barked “I am Perfect from ‘P is for’ Kennels. I am P is for Perfect!
What a great way to get in a mention of the next event for Gifted Resources which is Psychologist Alison Brown speaking on the topic P is for Perfect – Perfectionism and Anxiety in Gifted Children

Lacrimae Mundi – the tears of the world

They say it takes a village to raise a child and it takes a global village to raise a gifted child. The Internet is a wonderful global village for parents, teachers, psychologists, education consultants etc who have a passion for caring and advocating for gifted people.
Even on a global scale it is a fairly small community when compared to the size of groups which share other interests. We don’t always agree with each other in our discussions about education. Sometimes we cannot even agree about definitions.
But it is reassuring to have a community where it is possible to share triumph and grief and know that there is understanding of the issues.
So when My Son My Hero the story of the difficulties being faced by a gifted lad
was posted on a Gifted and Talented forum 
tears were shed in America, Canada, Ireland, France and probably many other countries for a small Australian boy and his family.
And now the same global village is supporting and cheering the family as they set up learning projects and search for future pathways for their remarkable son.

#gtstoogies 5

What is Imaginational Dabrowski thinking?
He is imagining how good the pizza will taste at this week’s #gtstoogies get together before and after the Twitter #gtchat sessions.
But also on a deeper level he is contemplating the posters of Venice and Pisa and thinking about the history of the places. The poster of the Leaning Tower of Pisa makes him think about Galileo http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/ltpisa/ltpnews/physnews1.htm and whether or not he actually dropped things from the tower in order to disprove Aristotle’s assertion and about Galileo’s arguments with the Pope.
And on an even deeper level Imaginational Dabrowski is thinking about how the sands fall through the hourglass and the glowing future passes though that tiny moment of being the absolute present to become buried in the sands of time and how when you turn the hourglass on its side it looks like the infinity symbol lemniscate.
This makes him think of Mobius strips which leads to Mobius bagels which brings him back to the wonderful Italian feast being prepared for the #gtstoogies
A pizza oven has been brought in and fired up and the table is laden with the delicious fare which the gtstoogies have cooked or collected from their favourite delis.
Intellectual Dabrowski remembered his hero Leonardo da Vinci and went to fetch a puzzle for us. What has he brought with him this week?
Italian Greyhound, Maremma Sheepdog, Bracco, Italiano Bolognese and Volpino Italiano were all invited to be taste testers. Italian Greyhound was a bit overawed by the grand scale of the affair. Maremma Sheepdog was too busy with his shepherding duties to come and sent an apology.
The Twitter birds had been busy searching for dark handsomes to serenade us and finding History programs and teaching units such as
http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/menus/Year_8/The_Renaissance.htm
Italy History lesson plans
http://countries.mrdonn.org/italy.htm l
http://worldhistory.mrdonn.org/renaissance.html
for discussion at #gtchat.
They also managed to get us a good deal on Gondola tours at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=437Al1QzpBc&feature=related
Enjoy!

What is Imaginational Dabrowski thinking?

We REALLY need to get organized!

Caramel the Chat Cat

As Intellectual Dabrowski and Pugnacious Loyola returned to Sprite’s Site blog after farewelling the Chinese taste tester dogs and bringing the Italian flag for use at next week’s #gtstoogies gathering Caramel Cat emerged from the shadows with a mouth full of Twitter bird saying
“Je suis Caramel le chat – le CHAT chat vous savez?
J’aime manger les oiseaux de Twitter avec la crème!”

Apparently Caramel had realised that there was delicious food to be had at the chat gatherings and also that the word chat was the French word for cat.

There were so many things I should be doing rather than chasing Caramel around the Blog to make him spit out the Twitter birds – like writing the next newsletter, finishing a presentation, preparing for meetings, and writing a series of blog entries about getting organised.
Sprite’s room had resembled Camlan, the scene of King Arthur’s last battle  already but was even messier after we had chased Caramel though it.
“OK!  We really do have to get organised!” I said.

#gtstoogies 4

The Twitter #gtchat sessions have proved to be a valuable arena for collaboration in discussions about issues relating to giftedness and gifted education. They have also provided a wealth of information and links.
The topics for the two sessions are chosen during the preceding week by a poll of a selection of topics.
To find out about #gtchat sessions and how to join see Deborah Mersino’s Ingeniosus website http://www.ingeniosus.net/gtchat
Transcripts of past #gtchat sessions can be read at http://www.ingeniosus.net/gtchat-transcripts
Two of the recent chat sessions which were particularly inspiring and provided a rich collection of resources were
Math Mania: Finding the Best Sites/Resources/Tools- http://bit.ly/bRw4y7 {Scroll to 10:20pm/GMT for start of links}
And
Role Models: Delving into the Best Biographies for Gifted Students- http://bit.ly/9q9tos {Scroll to11pm/GMT for start}

The #gtstoogies gather in the lobby each week before and after #gtchat sessions for general chatter. During the week the chat at #gtstoogies continues and we have fun planning the theme for the next virtual feast and other activities.

Most weeks Sprite helps to set up the virtual table. Sensual Dabrowski initially wanted to serve as taste tester but had to admit he was not sure what the taste and texture of the food should be. So now he calls in tasters who have local knowledge to give their approval.
This week there will be a Chinese theme. The visiting taste testers are Pekingese, Chow Chow, Imperial Dog, Chinese Crested, Shih Tzu, Shar Pei and Sprite’s friend Pugnacious Loyola.
Intellectual Dabrowski enjoyed being patted at the camp fire last week so much that he decided to come along again and when he saw the Chinese lantern that Sprite had hung above the table he bounded out and returned with a puzzle for us. Do you know what his puzzle is?
Sprite lent the panda that she was given at her P Party.

Through the night window you can see a fireworks display.

Through the day window you get a glimpse of Melbourne’s famous processional Chinese dragon performing at the Moomba Parade. If you want to see it in action you will have to step out to http://bit.ly/d8Vfwa and if you would like to see the Chinese community of Melbourne celebrating with a Lion Dance go to http://bit.ly/c3tOSk If you would like to take a wander around Melbourne and also Bendigo you can see both Oriental dragons and their Western relations on Carole’s Dragon tour at http://www.carolewilkinson.com.au/dragontour/

On the table you will find a fortune cookie with a generic message of good fortune for #gtchat Please bring more messages for the fortune cookies when you come to #gtstoogies lobby this week!

#gtstoogies 3

The #gtstoogies will be having a camp fire evening this week before and after the #gtchat sessions. People will be bringing North American Indian food and Deep Waters Coach and ljconrad have already introduced me to the delights of s’mores which they say are must haves for camp fire meals.
Sprite and I have put up a teepee and started the camp fire. Sprite lent us her telescope for stargazing and when Intellectual Dabrowski saw that he called his equally clever friend Native American Indian Dog to come for the evening.
Emotional Dabrowski also came because she loves the intensity of the camp fire discussions and singing along with camp fire songs.

Perchance to dream

“I had a really weird dream last night!” Sprite told me.
“I can see where most of it came from – it was all about things I had been reading or doing or watching on TV. But some of it was just really weird!”
“Tell me about it” I said.
“Well, we are studying the book Chinese Cinderella and I watched a documentary about foot binding in China. Then I watched a documentary about the carbon cycle and measuring your carbon footprint. Then there was a promo for the evening news about ‘sightings of Bigfoot ‘and ‘how you can still see the footprints on the moon’.
Then I went out into the garden and I was reading the fairy stories about Cinderella and Goldilocks and the Three Bears and also Around the World in 80 Days.
In the evening I looked at the moon to see if I could see the footprints and then I read the poem The Land of Counterpane before I went to sleep.”
“So what did you dream?” I asked
“I dreamed that I was in the garden daydreaming about riding in a hot air balloon. Then I was flying over fields and towns and seas in the balloon till I came to The Land of Counterpane. First it was all light and pretty like the picture in the book but then it turned all grey and menacing and turned into a blurry hospital room.
Then I was reading the Fractured Fairy Tales version of Cinderella. When the clock struck midnight and she started to run down the stairs (silly girl!) and her glass slipper came off she fell down the stairs and ended up in the blurry hospital room. And when the Prince’s people came round with the glass slipper she couldn’t try it on because she had a plaster cast on her leg. So they took her to the palace to see if she could sit on the throne. (It broke when the Three Bears tried to sit on it.) And because she could sit on the throne it proved she was in the same dimension as the Prince and because she could sit on it without breaking it she was allowed to marry him.
And they should have all lived happily ever after.
But then on the TV in my dream there was a very disturbing promo for an item in the evening news –
BIGFOOT CINDERELLA LEAVES MASSIVE CARBON FOOTPRINT ON THE MOON

 

A Topiary Tessellation Bird Leaf Tree for All Seasons