Think like an "ologist" (GT technique)

Think like an "ologist" (GT technique)

by Colleen Guzman

          Aside from teaching Pre-AP science and general education science I have also been provided with 1 section of GT (gifted and talented) science. Many people, including many of the students, believe that GT students are just smarter Pre-AP students but that is not actually the case. GT students are capable of Pre-AP work but they are also so much more, especially when it comes to their thought processes. GT students have a different depth of thought and a broader scope of thought and as their teacher it is my responsibility to increase that scope and have them expand those GT

muscles. In order to expand those muscles the students have to use various tools to get there. One of the tools we've been provided with at my district is the tool of having the students think like an "ologist".This is a wonderful way to engage the students because they have to take the current topic and look at it from different perspectives. There are numerous ways to use this tool and we are not given a single way to do it so I came up with one possible way to do this.

         

The first step is to explain to the students what an "ology" is and provide them with a list of some known "ologies". We have a document that has a whole list of them so I took the time to look through them and locate the ones that I thought would fit the best with the topic we were studying, which happened to be cells. Sometimes if you give GT students too many options it overwhelms them and they spend so much time trying to make choices they don't manage their time well enough to make it through the actual assignment, so I limit their choices but I also do give them the choice to pick something not on my list should they want to go that route. Generally when we try a new technique the students will use what is on my list and as we practice they become more adventurous. Also as` I have the students practice this train of thought I will move away from "ologies" that go with the topic and I will have them stretch their minds to find difficult connections between the concept and the "ologist".

          Once the students have chosen the "ologist" and considered the cell from that perspective then I have them create a wanted poster or brochure where the "ologist" is asking for the cell to come help them with their branch of knowledge. We studied plant and animal cells so the students had to specify which cell the "ologist" wanted to come help them out. I also decided to let the students use the Chromebooks in order to research the "ologies" and to create their final product. I was impressed with some of the results because some of the students said they wanted both cell types. For example, one student wanted plant cells to study for herbology and animal cells so they could see how the herbs affected the animal cells. Overall I thought this was a great way to get the students to expand their thinking and I will be continuing to use this technique of thinking to expand the way students view things.