Connie Brown - Using her gifts to help others find theirs
Connie Brown, M Ed is a retired educator, serving 34 years in secondary public classrooms and also as a GT resource teacher. Connie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Masters of Education in Curriculum Design from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA. Connie has been a speaker at the World Council for Gifted Children at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and presents regularly at state and national educational venues. She is delighted to share her expertise about gifted secondary students as well as her thoughts and strategies to nurture student (and teacher) agency.
Connie is also an experienced and engaging tour guide and voice-over actress--ask her to lead a group through your business or narrate your next video!
My Vision
A world society of curious individuals who pursue a continuous journey of creativity and evolution.
From Socrates To Steam - Student Agency Fuels Potential
We know that video games keep people engaged for hours on end, and research indicates that this is due, in good part, to player agency. That is, the ability for the person playing the game to make significant choices that have consequences to the outcome of the game. How can this idea be replicated in the classroom?
While Agency feels like a new buzzword in education, it has been around since the 5th Century, BCE. What does it really mean? Why does it matter? How has it changed (and stayed the same) throughout all these centuries? Why is it important to nurture it, and how can we do that while still developing the skills necessary to achieve on high stakes tests? And to what extent is this idea more important for gifted students?
This book is for any educator or parent who is hoping to understand the concept of agency as well as explore strategies to inspire and invigorate their most complex learners to become the best version of themselves.
Socrates Digital Workbook
Peruse these links to find digital tools to accompany the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
Editable FilesStudy Guide
Chapter 3
Unit Planning Template: This tool will help you organize your lesson plans and tools for planning. In your google drive (or whatever storage platform you choose to use), create folders for each of the links in blue. You may draw your lesson standards from the links on the left side of the template. For a more in-depth discussion about using this tool effectively, read chapter 3 of the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
Chapter 4
Presentation Rubric: While many rubrics can be cumbersome with their plethora of descriptors, the single column rubric focuses on the ideal product. Students and teacher then use the left side (delta) to note suggested changes to the product and the right side (plus) to note specific strengths of the product. This is a sample rubric, and the “ideals” are generally guided by students with teacher input--or vice versa. For a more in-depth discussion about using this tool effectively, refer to chapter 4 of the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
CB's Planning for agency: This tool is designed to guide you and your students through a course of study and the development of an individual or collaborative student “challenge”. That is, this unit presents a challenge and then guides the students through the pre-thinking, research, and creative process of problem--or product (teacher’s choice)--based learning. For a more in-depth discussion about using this tool effectively, refer to chapter 4 of the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
Challenge Rubric Cards: Built from the “Presentation” rubric, these cards are best used in a ‘gallery walk’ scenario. They can be modified based on the ideals that you and your students have defined together in your Presentation Rubric. For a more in-depth discussion about using this tool effectively, refer to chapter 4 of the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
Chapter 7
The Project Notebook: This template is to guide students in creating the project notebook which they will use to document their research, thinking, and creativity while conducting a PBL. For a more in-depth discussion about using this tool effectively, see chapter 7 of the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
Chapter 8
Games and Activities: These games are designed to allow students to learn while having fun. For more activities and a more in-depth discussion about using this tool effectively, refer to chapter 8 of the text From Socrates to Steam: Student Agency Fuels Potential
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