Projects & PBL
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Stop Researching Other Countries: Let Students Become Local Data Experts
The Global Innovation Lab: Every Drop Counts transforms traditional country research into an authentic global collaboration. Each classroom investigates its own community’s water sources, use, challenges, and conservation efforts before contributing findings to a shared dashboard. Students compare common indicators, question patterns and differences, and consider the context behind the data. They then use what…
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What Real Detectives Can Teach Students About Evidence—and Assumptions
In the gifted classroom, I often ask students to become detectives. They examine primary sources, investigate the Roswell UFO story, study ocean mystery files, solve BreakoutEDU challenges, and analyze competing explanations. I even use detective badges—not as classroom fluff, but as a reminder that students are expected to observe carefully, ask strong questions, and support…
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🕵️ Why I Love the Detective Badge in My Gifted Classroom
In the #smithingifted classroom, Detective Badges aren’t just for fun—they represent a mindset of curiosity, investigation, and evidence-based thinking. Students learn to look closer, ask better questions, analyze evidence, solve problems, and defend their conclusions across reading, STEM, coding, history, and more. The badge may be small, but its message is powerful: Don’t just answer—investigate,…
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🌬️ From Wind to Work: Building the TeacherGeek Wind Lift 2.0 in the Gifted Classroom
Building the TeacherGeek Wind Lift 2.0 transforms wind energy into a hands-on engineering challenge in the #smithingifted classroom. Students build a working wind-powered lifting system, trace how energy moves from wind to blades to rotation and lift, and then test its performance using real data. By changing variables such as blade number, size, angle, and…
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#smithingifted Teacher Lab: Where Teaching Ideas Get Tested
The #smithingifted Teacher Lab is a place where teaching ideas move from theory into real classrooms. I’ll share the successes, challenges, surprises, and adjustments that come from using gifted education, STEM, robotics, technology, and creative-thinking strategies with real students. But the Teacher Lab isn’t just about my classroom—teachers who use #smithingifted curriculum can share their…
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Why I Use Disruption Cards in My Gifted Classroom
Disruption Cards add unexpected constraints to STEM challenges, pushing gifted students beyond simply “getting it right” and into deeper problem solving. By changing materials, requirements, or design conditions mid-project, students practice flexibility, perseverance, systems thinking, debugging, and evidence-based redesign. Instead of rescuing students when something goes wrong, teachers guide them with questions that encourage productive…
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🇺🇸 More Than a Veterans Day Worksheet: Let Students Become Historians
This Veterans Day critical thinking lesson for grades 3–5 helps students move beyond simply saying “thank you” and think more deeply about what it means to honor veterans. Students examine assumptions, consider multiple perspectives, reflect on courage, service, sacrifice, and thankfulness, and discuss how to show respect in meaningful ways. It’s a thoughtful way to…
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Teaching September 11 Twenty-Five Years Later: An Oral History Project for Grades 3–6
The 25th anniversary of September 11 offers a meaningful opportunity to help students understand history through the voices of people who experienced it. The 9/11 25th Anniversary Oral History Project for Grades 3–6 invites students to interview a trusted adult, explore firsthand perspectives, compare 2001 to today, and think critically about memory, evidence, and change…
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Stop Doing All the Talking: How to Use Socratic Seminar in the 3–8 Gifted Classroom
By Beth Smith, M. Ed. | #smithingifted One of the biggest shifts we can make in gifted education is surprisingly simple: Stop doing so much of the thinking for our students. Gifted students do not need a teacher standing at the front of the room explaining every idea, asking every question, and confirming every correct…
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Every Drop Counts: Exploring New Mexico’s Water Resources in the Global Innovation Lab 💧🌵
This blog post explores New Mexico’s water resources through The Global Innovation Lab’s Every Drop Counts challenge, helping students connect science, geography, agriculture, technology, law, and systems thinking. It also explains how the Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado Rio Grande case and the 2026 Supreme Court settlement affect groundwater use, farming, communities, industry, and…