Ilam School Introduction The following story is about the gifted and ...

advocate for children whenever I have the opportunity, while providing a safe place forchildren when they are emotionally charged. [p. 18]I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and anxious about how the learning centre is viewed bycolleagues. At times I feel out of control and it isn't a comfortable feeling. I've felt it beforewhen setting up other independent learning programmes. There were teachers whogenuinely supported my work and were interested in how it was developing, other teachersreserve their judgement and need time to understand and appreciate the advantages ofindependent learning. I needed to put these teachers to one side and work with thoseteachers who were willing to come on board. I believe that teachers aren't in control whenchildren are, and children don't learn to be in control when teachers keep control. It is adelicate balance of power and very dependent on children exercising self-discipline. [p. 18]2005A community of practice for twenty-first century life-long learners: Mentoring – another highlysuccessful initiative was sparked by the children's enthusiasm for the mentoring programme.During the university term time several students were fortunate to have a graduate studentas a mentor for a subject area that they were passionate about. [p. 25]Engineers, computer scientists, zoologists, philosophers, mathematicians and politicalscientists were in hot demand. The children were responsible for the organisation ofmeetings and the direction of the discussions. Parents were kept in the communication loopthrough the use of notebooks. The university grads were very generous with their time andenthusiasm. After several years of successful experiences I wondered how the childrenwould feel about sharing those experiences with younger children in the school and actingas mentors with junior gifted children. [p. 25]The response was overwhelming and an insight into how successful our independentlearning programme has been. Every mentor took complete ownership of the mentoringsessions organising the resources and their younger "mentor-ees" with skills and informationthat were complex and deep. I was ecstatic to see them select organisers to scaffold theirplanning and thinking as a natural component of learning. Like minds connected. [p. 25]Student reflections – Diary of a super gherkinI'm very impressed by some of the work that others are doing and I do feel good aboutgetting something done this week even if it was just the title slide to my PowerPointpresentation. I'd like to go on trips to talk to people who know about stuff. I also have aproblem with the way I organise my time. As a goal I will try to get to school earlier, that wayI can do useful stuff that wastes class time before school starts and I can get myself fixed upfor the day. [p. 1]I'm not getting any info when I search. I find I have too many responsibilities and I'm missingthings in class. I am finding it hard to find out what is going on each day. I think I need towrite myself lists to help me remember. I keep losing my timetable and I need to get moreorganised. Doing task maps is very hard and I need the teacher to explain So What? ideas. Ifound out that you can make music in Quick-basic. I'm a bit concerned about all the things Ihave to do, otherwise I am quite happy. [p. 2]Best things this week were Daniel's visit and his work with robots that learn. It is a scarythought that one day robots may be smarter than us. My interview with Professor Fraser atthe hospital went well and I found out heaps about neuro-transmitters and that interviewswere not only asking questions. I'm enjoying my learning. I'm not sure what I need to do