Looking forward, looking back

For the final #gtchat of the year 2011 Deborah Mersino will be encouraging us to look back at the year 2011 and forward to 2012. She has given the example with her Ingeniosus blog post 5 Gifts from 2011 5 Hopes for 2012 at http://www.ingeniosus.net/archives/5-gifts-from-2011-5-hopes-for-2012

So, of course, the Memory Elephant was summoned to give an account of 2011 and the Dabrowski Dogs gathered round to give their interpretations.
Intellectual Dabrowski was very matter of fact about it. “If you want to know what Jo and Gifted Resources did during 2011 you should read the Activity Report at http://www.giftedresources.org/gr/files/giftedresourcesactivityreport2011.pdf ”
I noticed that two extra dogs had joined in. Wistful Black Dog and P’est pour Parfait, the perfectionist poodle, had also arrived.
“Jo should have done a lot more things and she should have done them better!” said Parfait.
“It was just a really difficult year – a lot of stressful things happened” said Wistful and Emotional Dabrowski put back her head and howled inconsolably.
“But next year will be different and better” said Imaginational Dabrowski. “Jo is preparing for a move to the lovely seaside town of Rosebud and there will be a little bungalow at the back where she can have an office for Gifted Resources”
Emotional cheered up immediately and started  yelping with delight.
“I love the seaside!” said Sensual Dabrowski ” It smells great!”
Psycho Motor Dabrowski starting bouncing enthusiastically in anticipation.

“Sprite had a good year,” said Intellectual. “She participated in Survivor -Gifted Island and was nominated in the Best Australian blogs and went to parties and conferences”
“And we had a wonderful year!” chirped Twitter Birds Tweet and Retweet ” We celebrated our marriage in August!”
“They might have Tweetlets next year!” said Imaginational with a contented sigh.

Texas style BBQ

This week the #gtstoogies will be holding a Texas style barbeque to celebrate  the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) signing on as a Lead Global #gtchat Sponsor for 2011-2012 You can read all about it on Deborah Mersino’s Ingeniosus website at http://www.ingeniosus.net/archives/texas-association-for-the-gifted-and-talented-signs-on-as-lead-global-gtchat-sponsor

Imaginational Dabrowski is envisaging how beneficial the partnership between TAGT and #gtchat will be.
Intellectual Dabrowski is sharing wisdom with Native American Indian Dog.
Australian Cattle Dog has arrived because he loves a BBQ.
And Psycho Motor Dabrowski is going ballistic at the Twitter Bird who had retained his moustache from last Movember and is getting into the action with a Texas style  display of lasso prowess.
The barrels for the Barrel Racing events were donated by Sprite. She has not needed them since her rather confused attempt at Porkbarrelling last May.

Coffee for the #gtstoogies

We are running a bit late with setting upthe supper table for the #gtstoogies gathering after #gtchat this week.
This is due to having problems with my computer and having to use my little very old laptop which needed lots of updating and is still very S….L….O….W  

On the pinboard you can see announcements of the topics for gtchat – twice exceptional students and discussion on the blog post on Deborah Mersino’s Ingeniosus blog Call to Action: Making Gifted Education Relevant Today.
There are also reminders about The Bavarian Center for Gifted and Talented Children’s Gifted Education conferences in Second Life. and New Zealand’s Gifted Education Centre GO  Gifted Online  Mary St George is organising blog tours for New Zealand’s Gifted Awareness  Week in June.

I have brought out the chocolate fountain as I am in need of consolation! I may not be able to participate in the next Second Life session as the little old computer may not cope with it.

#gtstoogies 22 April

This week the #gtstoogies hold a surprise Birthday party for  Deborah Mersino,  founder and principal of Ingeniosus website and #gtchat and also an Easter egg hunt. For some parts of the world this week’s #gtchat session will be on Good Friday and in other parts (including Australia) it will be on Saturday morning.
Every year on Good Friday the people of Victoria conduct the Good Friday Appeal for the Royal Childrens’ Hospital in Melbourne.

Buttercup Mersino is an honoured guest of the Dabrowski dogs and is playing Pass the Bone with them (except Psycho Motor who is already trying to break the pinata and Imaginational who is contemplating Easter).
The New Twitter Bird Band is in fine form. A special fireworks display has been arranged for the occasion.
And Sprite has managed to sneak in her Best Australian Blogs campaign poster and Peoples’ Choice voting instructions.

The Twitter Birds are ready with wheelbarrow loads of Easter eggs for distribution to various websites and blogs for the Easter egg hunt.

Time to reset the clocks for #gtchat

It is easy for the #gtchat members who are on American EST to remember the time for the two weekly sessions. For them it is always 12.00 noon and 7.00pm on Friday.
For the #gtchat members from other places such as UK, Ireland, India and Australia the time needs to be determined by using a time zone calculator such as Time and Date World Clock Meeting Calendar http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
There is a further complication and that is that the US has just gone on to Daylight Savings time. Some Australian states are still on Daylight Savings time but will be reverting to regular time on the first Sunday in April. There is a great Spicy Nodes Webexhibits article on Daylight Savings times at http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/nodes.html

So, if my calculations are correct, for #gtchat members in the Australian states of  Victoria and New South Wales #gtchat will be at 3.00am and 10.00 am Saturday for the next two weeks and will be at 2.00am and 9.00 am Saturday from 8 April through to October.

For full details about how to participate in #gtchat see Deborah Mersino’s Ingeniosus website http://www.ingeniosus.net/gtchat

And for helpful advice about using Tweet Chat to make it easier to participate in #gtchat see the tutorial by Dazzled and Frazzled from Ireland  at  http://www.dazzledandfrazzled.com/2011/01/introduction-to-twitter-part-3.html

First Birthday celebrations for #gtchat

The festivities begin for the celebration of the first birthday of #gtchat with a party in the #gtstoogies lobby.
To find out all about #gtchat see Deborah Mersino’s Ingeniosus website http://www.ingeniosus.net/gtchat
 Buttercup Mersino is the Dabrowski dogs special guest for the occasion. They are all playing Pass the Parcel except PsychoMotor who wants to preview the pinata.
Intellectual Dabrowski has brought some puzzles to go with the gifts.
Of course there is another fireworks display and the Twitter Bird Band is prepared to give a rousing oompah and harp variation of Happy Birthday to you!

Conference Chill Out Area

This week Deborah Mersino and several of the regular #gtchat participants will be attending the NAGC Conference. http://www.nagc.org/2010convention.aspx
Deborah will be part of a panel discussion about The Power of Social Networking with Joel McIntosh, publisher of Prufrock Press, http://www.prufrock.com/index.cfm Carolyn K. of Hoagies Gifted Education Page http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ and Ian Byrd of http://www.byrdseed.com/
For details see Deborah’s Ingeniosus blog post at http://www.ingeniosus.net/archives/atlanta-news-tweetup-on-friday-at-nagc

For those who are not able to attend the conference in Atlanta in person it is possible to attend the virtual conference at http://www.nagc.org/nagcvirtualconvention.aspx

There will be one global #gtchat session at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on Friday, November 13th. The topic will be Drive: Motivation and the Gifted Child.

Sprite was not sure whether the #gtstoogies had any specific plans for the week; so she set up a conference chill out area where you can relax with coffee, tea and cake between sessions.

Having experienced how stimulating but also exhausting Gifted Education conferences can be both mentally and physically, I thought an extra chill out area would be appreciated.

I was not surprised to find the Dabrowski dogs there. Sensual was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the noise, scents and flickering florescent lights and has withdrawn to a spot slightly removed from the chatter at the water cooler for the 21 Century to recharge his battery.
Intellectual and Emotional Dabrowski are waiting by the couch, eager to engage in deep discussion about the topics covered in the sessions and Imaginational is deep in thought about possibilities for new directions in education.
Psycho Motor Dabrowski had found it quite difficult to remain seated for the entire session and was eager to go and put into practice the new approaches the speakers were suggesting. He can be seen through the window skipping rope with the conference mascot.

#gtstoogies 11 Week 2

Due to difficulties with Twitter last week, the second #gtchat discussion “Can creativity be taught?” was postponed until this week.
The #gtstoogies who hold a creative virtual feast with general chatter and much laughter before and after #gtchat will continue the spa and vegetarian feast theme of last week.
A few extras have been added for this week. The pizza oven and icy desserts fridge have been brought out again. A bird bath has been installed for the Twitter birds and a geodesic dome has been constructed to house the spa bath.
For details about #gtchat 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

Getting Organized – Next steps?

Getting Sprite organized (and myself, for that matter) seemed such a huge task that I was not sure what to tackle next!

Lesley Sword’s article Gifted and Vague describes us perfectly! http://giftedservices.com.au/handouts/Gifted%20And%20Vague.doc

It was a great relief to go back to the transcripts of #gtchat at http://www.ingeniosus.net/gtchat-transcripts and find practical advice from parents who had ‘been there- done that’ as well as links to helpful articles from experts around the world
I found great articles on the Davidson Institute for Talent Development website such as Tips for Parents: Executive Functioning at Home and School by Amy Yermish at http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10523.aspx

Another helpful article was
Help your child get organized
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Helping_Your_Child/

#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!