Welcome to my soapbox — er, podium. This is where, on the first day of each month, I share information (and frequently an opinion) on a school issue or concern. If there is ever a time when you disagree with my position, or have information that you think I need to know about, please use the Contact button and drop me a line. I love to hear from those who think I'm on the right track, and I'm willing to listen to those who don't.

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Chatting For the Gifted

Let's start the new school year with a rhetorical question. Does it concern you that you don't have the proper materials to challenge your gifted students, or enough time to find activities and projects to keep them actively engaged while you're working with kids who are more academically needy? Of course you may not exactly worry about the situation, but I'm certain you think about it on occasion. Every conscientious teacher does — and I'm sure that mean YOU. Well, fear not. Help is a mouse click away.

I found this information in the August 5 edition of my favorite online daily newspaper, EdNews.com. The "article" was a word-for-word transcript of Michael F. Shaughnessy's (Eastern University of New Mexico) interview with Deborah Mersino, Principal of Ingeniosus and Moderator of Global #gtchat on Twitter.

In the interview Mersino discusses the social and emotional needs of gifted children and how parents and educators from across the world are utilizing the Twitter platform to discuss concerns, share resources, ignite advocacy and generate fresh ideas on behalf of gifted learners. If my thumbnail summary heightens your interest, you can read the whole enchilada at http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/97612.html.

In a nutshell...

Mersino says a simple post on Twitter (which is called a Tweet) led to the idea for a new global Twitter chat devoted specifically to gifted issues. Mersino used #edchat, a weekly chat on Twitter that draws hundreds of educators from across the globe, as her guide. Since its inception in January 2010, global #gtchat has drawn participants from throughout the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States. Its sole purpose is to gather and share ideas that will benefit gifted students. The Ingeniosus Web site (www.ingeniosus.net), which provides guidance on #gtchat and "Best of #gtchat" resources, as well as transcripts of the chats, has already received more than 87,000 hits from 61 countries.

The "live" global chat (#gtchat) takes place on Twitter every Friday at noon and 7 p.m. (EST). Each session is one-hour long. Mersino says some people in Ireland stay up for the midnight chat to participate, and a few devoted Australians get up in the middle of the night to join the discussions! Now that's commitment.

Mersino says the most popular tweets deal with:

• Finding Age-appropriate Literature for Gifted Kids
• Math Mania: Finding the Best Sites/Resources/Tools
• Understanding and Supporting Visual-Spatial Learners
• Dealing with "Little Lawyers" and Bossiness
• Role Models: Delving into the Best Biographies for Gifted Students
• Understanding the Many Facets of Perfectionism

If you're too busy or too intimidated to participate in the live chats, you can still read the past transcripts at www.ingeniosus.net/gtchat-transcripts. Quite honestly, that's where I intend to start. I MIGHT get brave enough some day to jump into the Tweet Pool, and then again I might not. Swimming isn't my strong suit.