C-Span is hosting an annual documentary competition inviting students to create a 10 minute video on issues that affect the nation. The video must include C-SPAN footage but should also include student exploration of the issue. This would make a great independent or small group project for middle school students who have mastered grade level benchmarks. There are examples of prior year winning projects on their web site. These examples are great models for gifted students to see and think about.

The World Affairs Challenge, challenges students to think about their relationship to the rest of the world. The 2008 theme is Global Health. Students living near Denver, Colorado or San Francisco, California can participate in the full program. Students who are not near one of the challenge cities can participate by submitting a video.

I’d love to hear from gifted students who are blogging for fun.  What are some of the things that you are blogging about?  What do you enjoy most about blogging?  Be sure to post a link to your blog so we can share some of your thoughts.

1.        What are the big issues in the presidential election this year?

2.      What issues or platforms are they personally concerned about and how do their personal view affect how they view the candidates.

3.      How can they use technology to get involved in the political process?

Yesterday was Blog Action Day. Jamais Cascio says “Blog Action Day is an interesting concept: make the environment a topic of conversation by making it essentially unavoidable for people who read blogs. If it’s successful — and in this kind of effort, success is measured not in practical results, but in levels of participation — I’d expect to see this become a regular type of event, across a variety of issues…. We’re still in the early days of figuring out how to use this Web thing for good.”

It’s so simple, gifted kids need to make a difference.  Blogging is easy, fun, and accessible.  We need to encourage gifted students to find a cause, and blog about it.  Others will read their blog, comment, forward the link to the blog to others… the cycle continues.  Students can connect with others interested in the same cause by searching Technorati for other blogs on their cause.  Social action or community service, needs to be part of all GT programs.  Students need it, the community needs it, our future needs it.  Blogging is such a simple way to start, to get connected to others doing good in the world. 

The type of skills needed to do what Vickie suggests are at the higher ends of Bloom’s taxonomy.  These are exactly the types of things gifted students need to do.  

What do you think of this video?  Are we really preparing GT students for the world ahead.  How can we prepare students for a world we can’t even envision?  What are the skills and tools GT student will need to be leaders, to be the next Nobel Prize winners, to be our future?  We need connected, collaborative and authentic learning for all students.  We need to break down the barriers to learning and allow students to discover for themselves.