I always enjoyed substituting in gifted student settings and meeting students who had strong interests and liked to come up with creative ideas.

I went to a STEM conference outside Atlanta a few years back. One of the presenters was teaching how to do challenges for gifted kids. She had us make the tallest tower possible with a file folder and 6 inches of tape. I made a ridiculously tall tower. It was deened as not counting because I used some of the tape ti anchor it to the table. Nowhere in her directions did it say that could not be done. She got pretty rude about it too. I stopped listening to everything she had to say after that point because she proved she did not know how gifted kids view the world. If I had done such a thing in a challenge like that most gifted kids would shut down. As a teacher, you have to anticipate any loophole you don't want them to exploit. If they do, just go "Oh well, I didn't you couldn't do that". The lesson is not holy doctrine. The important thing is getting the kids' creative juices flowing.

Fewer years in K-12? Man, this hurts my heart. Music programs are already losing students to "academic electives" like AP classes, r college classes, or any other course that may make the school look good on a state assessment rubric. Students need to be just as creative as they do academically prepared. Every educator is preparing students for jobs and careers that do not exist yet, but we are stuck in a primitive model of educating students. I am disappointed in the lack of creativity in the 10 best practices, maybe 9 good ones and 1 that needs more thought and development.