Maker Education
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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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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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Using Google My Maps in the Gifted Classroom: Mapping The Global Innovation Lab
The Global Innovation Lab is growing! 🌎🚀 In this post, I share how Google My Maps is helping us connect classrooms around the world so students can collaborate on real-world challenges like water conservation. If you want your students to think bigger, create meaningful solutions, and learn alongside students from other communities and countries, I…
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Finding Professional Development That Actually Works for the 3–5 Gifted Classroom 🚀
This blog post shares my love for finding meaningful professional development for the 3rd–5th grade gifted classroom. As a self-proclaimed PD junkie, I’m always looking for fresh ideas that support STEM, coding, robotics, maker education, creativity, and real-world problem solving. One of my favorite PD resources is Infosys Pathfinders, a free platform that offers valuable…
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Building a Coding & Robotics Continuum for Gifted Learners 🤖💡
This blog explains how the #smithingifted Coding & Robotics Continuum organizes STEM tools into a purposeful, 3-year learning pathway for 3rd–5th grade gifted students. Instead of using coding and robotics as random activities, the continuum helps students move from introduction to developing skills to strong, independent use across four nine-week cycles each year. It highlights…