Spy School: Disguises and Ciphers for Future Agents! (High Ability Learners 7-9)
In this interactive five-session course, high-ability students will learn spy skills, including disguises, cryptography, spy lingo, and observational skills.
Heather Hinze, Ed. S.
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(327)
What's included
5 live meetings
4 hrs 10 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
Your student will love this class- I've taught it with my own public school gifted students and received rave reviews! This course is challenging, as it is designed for high ability learners who typically perform beyond grade-level expectations. Please note that I don't require any 'proof' of your student's abilities in order to enroll. If you believe your student is up for the challenge, I encourage him or her to try it out! In this class, we will learn ciphers, spy lingo, and spy skills; see more details in the paragraph below. I believe in flexibility, and allowing student interest and questioning to guide the course. Therefore, this is an estimation of how time will be spent: 10 minutes: share time and discussion- everyone deserves a turn to be heard! 15 minutes: direct instruction of a cipher- students are on mute, listening, and following along with the examples given 15 minutes: guided student practice of encoding and decoding- students are unmuted and able to ask and share as needed 15 minutes: instruction of spy lingo and spy skills, with student participation- students are listening, but able to unmute to ask questions or share their perspectives 5 minutes: wrap-up and at-home assignment (optional, but more fun if you do it!) It is very important to me that students have an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging and community. My primary goal in offering this course is to allow your student to learn something while getting to interact with peers. While the course will encourage mathematical thinking, note-taking, and other curricular skills, I am most interested in encouraging socialization and fun among high ability learners. I will always stay an extra 5-10 minutes to help a struggling student when it is needed! I am also very comfortable working with twice-exceptional children, but please let me know in advance how I can best assist to minimize frustration and maximize learning!
Learning Goals
In this class we will learn...
* four types of ciphers for encoding secret messages: Caesar Cipher Wheel, Pigpen Cipher, Keyword Cipher, and Polybius Square. Students will receive a printable for each of these ciphers so they can maximize their practice (and fun!) with each.
* spy techniques for disguises, props, pocket litter, cover stories, and more!
Other Details
Supply List
a spy field journal (notebook) scissors something to write with five pages of handouts (I will supply a PDF for you to print)
1 file available upon enrollment
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined May, 2020
4.9
327reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Update: I will be taking a short teaching break for a few months, but I'll be back in June!
I am passionate about providing challenging and motivating curriculum to gifted, talented, and high- ability learners. I love to teach thematically, and some of my favorite topics include spies, ancient Egypt, Rube Goldberg machines, architecture, archaeology, poetry, psychology, philosophy, and about a million other topics. Essentially, I enjoy teaching anything that makes my kiddos really 'light up'.
My educational degrees include: Bachelor of Science- Elementary education; Master of Arts- Gifted Education; Educational Specialist- Educational Technology. I hold three teaching certificates: Early Childhood, birth-3rd grade; Elementary 1-6; Gifted K-12. I've taught 15 years in private, public, and charter schools. I found my "forever home" in my current district, where I have been teaching gifted youth in grades 1-8 for the past 8 years.
"I feel safe here." If nothing else, I want my students to experience a sense of community and belonging, and to feel comfortable to be their true selves while in my class. That is the lens through which I design every lecture, game, video, quest, worksheet, web link, or activity. My students pride themselves on "embracing" their "inner nerd", and we delight in learning together without fear of judgment or reproach. It is safe to make mistakes in my class, it's okay to laugh at ourselves, and it's wonderful to take risks, even when they lead to failure- because that's how we grow.
When I'm not teaching I like to swim, hike, travel, ballroom dance, and socialize with friends and neighbors on my back patio. I spend much of my free time with my husband and son.
I am truly looking forward to working with your student and sharing my love of learning. I am confident that your kiddo will have a very positive experience in my class!Reviews
Live Group Class
$60
for 5 classes1x per week, 5 weeks
50 min
Completed by 489 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 7-9
2-14 learners per class
