DYS Homeroom

A lot of students who are gifted like to tackle the meaning of life for themselves by answering or pondering questions such as: What is time? Is Schrödinger’s cat cat alive or dead? What is real? How do I know? How does that adult supposedly know? What is truth? What is beauty?  What really matters in the end? How do I “do life” right? Is there a way to live that could be better than other ways? What is the purpose of life on the planet? Is there a purpose? Is true altruism possible? Is there another me (or millions of me’s) in a multiverse somewhere? If infinity is real and the universe is infinite, does that mean everything could happen is happening? Insert any other questions you can think of! A lot of this questioning starts long before any “Introduction to Philosophy” class. Philosophizing is for everyone, no matter how young. With this style of questioning, there are no “right answers” either (and this can be hard to realize in discussions with peers). This style of reasoning is

This week for the mini-lesson, students touched on a few key theories important to gifted education (Bloom's Taxonomy and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs). We did this to help them understand and gain insight into their unique capabilities and unique challenges.  Bloom's Taxonomy: -Six levels of cognitive learning (in the revised version of Bloom's Taxonomy) -Each level increases in complexity of thinking -Remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating -The original version in 1956 said “evaluation” was the highest level -Then, a sixth level was added (judgment was replaced by creativity/synthesis) Here’s a summary of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (another pyramid with creative living at the top): 1st level: Physiological needs 2nd: Safety Needs 3rd: Social Needs (aka love and belonging needs) 4th: Esteem Needs 5th: Self-actualization Needs        - Self-aware        - Driven by personal growth        - Don’t mind what others think        - Interest