The Gifts of the "Gifted"

I retired from the teaching profession 5 years ago after teaching elementary school for 31 years! I sub now and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I think that I enjoy teaching more now because I don't have the added responsibilities of conferences, lesson plans, testing, endless meetings, and all the other "junk" (I'm being nice here) that goes along with the daily grind of being a dedicated teacher.

I've been subbing where my sister-in-law teaches (5th/6th grade gifted students) and I feel very much at home in this particular school. I've subbed in all 3 of the 5th/6th gifted classes and I'm in awe of these kids. Here is a small sampling of a compass rose assignment that goes along with reading Treasure Island. I'm amazed at the detail these kids have included in each compass rose! The children also have to keep "sea logs" and summarize each chapter and use vocabulary words correctly.

~~~~~~~~~~The following are in the final stages of completion~~~~~~~~~~

One day I was explaining subject pronouns and object pronouns and one boy said, "Mrs. Fulton, you're killing me here. You're destroying everything I learned in kindergarten"! Apparently he was taught to use the pronoun "I" whether it was the subject or object of a sentence. When I showed him how pronouns can be placed either before a verb or after, he understood that "I" or "me" could be used depending on their placement in a sentence. These kids learn at a phenomenal pace and they thirst for new concepts and challenges everyday.

The primary directions have to be added to this colorful compass rose!

This compass rose was done using math and a lot of detail.


~~~~~Simply stated but nicely done~~~~~

These children have their heads buried in books that are at the high school reading level. I saw some "book reviews" today that were 3 and 4 typed pages long. Alleluia!

I really look forward to being with these kids because they continue to amaze me with their enthusiasm and their ability to learn so much so quickly.