advanced learners
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🤖 Why VEX Robotics Belongs in the Gifted Classroom: It’s Not Just About Coding!
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The Power of a Confidence Meter — Teaching Students That It’s Okay Not to Know Yet
#smithingifted: The Power of a Confidence Meter Confidence doesn’t always equal understanding, especially for gifted learners! In the #smithingifted Learning & Innovation Lab, students use a simple Confidence Meter—Not Sure, Maybe, Pretty Sure, or Very Sure—to reflect on their understanding before and after learning challenges. Using our Micro:bit Coding Academy as an example, students learn…
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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 Vocabulary Matters So Much in the 3rd–5th Grade Gifted Classroom
This blog post explains why vocabulary is essential in the 3rd–5th grade gifted classroom. Strong vocabulary helps students understand complex ideas, communicate with precision, make connections across subjects, and engage in higher-level thinking. Rather than memorizing long definitions, gifted students benefit from visual, interactive, and meaningful vocabulary instruction that encourages them to apply words in…
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Sometimes the Best Learning Is Locked: Using Breakout EDU in Grades 3–8
This blog post explores how Breakout EDU can transform grades 3–8 classrooms by turning academic content into engaging, collaborative problem-solving experiences. It highlights how Breakout EDU supports critical thinking, productive struggle, communication, perseverance, differentiation, and student reflection across subjects like math, reading, science, and social studies. The post also encourages teachers to move students from…
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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…
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Gifted Doesn’t Always Look Like Straight A’s: When Bright Students Struggle in the Regular Classroom
This #smithingifted blog explores why gifted doesn’t always mean straight A’s. Gifted students may struggle with missing assignments, motivation, organization, perfectionism, or repetitive work even while demonstrating advanced thinking and creativity. The post encourages educators to look beyond grades and behavior to determine what students truly need. Gifted learners still need accountability—but they also need…
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Every Drop Counts: Turning Water Conservation into a Real-World STEM Challenge
Global Innovation Lab: Every Drop Counts challenges students to become water detectives, systems thinkers, and innovators. Through research, water audits, collaborative design, and persuasive presentations, students create realistic solutions to reduce water waste while considering people, the environment, cost, safety, and unintended consequences. This hands-on STEM experience empowers students to see that protecting our water…
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Why Gifted Kids Often Feel Like “A Square Peg Trying to Fit Into a Round Hole”
Gifted children often feel like square pegs trying to fit into round holes because they think, learn, and experience the world differently. This post explores why gifted students may struggle to feel understood in traditional classrooms and how educators can create flexible, challenging, and supportive environments where their unique strengths can shine.
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Designing for Depth: Using Big Ideas to Build Complex, Challenging Curriculum
