I was watching a recent episode of The Middle (If you haven't watched the show, I'd recommend it!). Their daughter, Sue,a senior, was very excited about applying to college. Not an athlete, Sue didn't have any possibility of getting a scholarship to college. Of, course, the teenager had no concept of the cost of college in the United States. She set her goals on expensive private schools. Her parents didn't have the heart to tell her, not only didn't they have the money for a private ivy-...

Type3s - Part 3

In the last two posts, I explained how to engage students through Type 3 enrichment projects. In this blog, I want to shed some light on how to provide students with the skills needed to successfully complete Type 3s.

You see, without the proper skills, students will have difficulty completing an intensive research project, which calls for engaging in tasks they likely have never experienced before. That is one reason I love...

Last blog, I discussed the key elements of an authentic Type 3 project.

First, the student has to solve a real problem. There is lots of research, and the project could take the entire school year. Next, there is the development of a product or service, which is presented to an authentic audience.

So a student researching dinosaurs and putting together a PowerPoint would not qualify as a Type 3 project. Rather, it might involve a...

Last school year, one of my students came running up to me at his fifth-grade Open House and said, “I know what I want to do my project on this year. I want to start a Lego Robotics Team.”

Wow, I said that’s an ambitious goal.

As part of his gifted program service, the student began researching what it took to start the team.  We quickly learned it would take about $800 to pay for the equipment and registration as well as require finding a coach, place to practice,...