Jefferson Middle SchoolBack-to-School Night Parent Meeting

September 23, 2014

You tube video Clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omx_iLtMjZA&list=WLt726B7fCGEvagt2GxtyHB4BKvvecl6O5

Introductions:Mr. Adriane and Mrs. Cheryl Hasenmayer, GATE Parent

Advisory Leads

Mrs. Michele Aragon, GATE Teacher Lead

Ms Lisa Daddario, YMCA Program Director, Model United Nations

Mrs. Lisa Jones, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Kara Heinrich, Principal

Today’s Topics:Model UN Opportunity

Parent Support:◦What does it mean to be gifted?◦What are some of the common issues gifted children

experience?◦Why is advocacy for gifted students important?

Gifted and Talented (GATE) at JMS:◦JMS Site Enrichment Opportunities via TUSD ◦JMS Parent Lead Enrichment Activities

What Does it Mean to be “Gifted”?

Gifted and talented children are those identified byprofessionally qualified persons who by virtue ofoutstanding abilities are capable of high performance.Children capable of high performance include those withdemonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any ofthe following areas:

•General intellectual ability Specific academic aptitude Creative or productive thinking Leadership ability Visual and performing arts Psychomotor ability

U.S. Department of Education

GiftednessHighly Sensitive to sounds and touch

Looks before s/he leaps

Large Vocabulary

Learned to read and speak early

Loves the word “WHY”

Difficulty making friend and/or managing

relationships

Not keen on birthday parties

You might have noticed in your child along the way…….

Excellent Problem-Solvers

Keen Ability to interpret Non-Verbal Cues

Focused on Concentration for Long Periods of Time

Boundless Energy Large Store-House of Information

Giftedness is Asynchronous Development

Gifted students possess advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity which combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm.

This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching, and counseling in order for them to develop optimally.

Redefining Giftedness:The development or talent is a lifelong process. It

can be evident in young children as exceptional performance on tests and/or other measures of ability or as a rapid rate of learning.

As individuals progress through childhood to adolescence, achievement and high levels of motivation in the domain become the primary characteristics of their giftedness.

Various factors can either enhance or inhibit the development and expression of abilities.

Key Factors That Drive Success: 10,000 hours of sustained, purposeful practice

Agassi hit a million balls a year. Mozart put in the hours. He had

clocked-up 3500 hours by the time he was six and had studied his art for 18 years before he wrote his Piano concerto No 9 at

the age of 21.

Tiger Woods started when he was 2 years old.

Key Factors That Drive Success:

Mindset of hard work - innate talent versus perseverance

Pushing past one’s comfort zone

Expectations

Belief

Quality feedback

Learning from failure

Dealing Productively With FailureExperiencing occasional failure and frustration are essential, because everychild must learn how to appropriately interpret personal failure andDifficulties to be able to productively cope with the demands of thereal world.

Successful Failures: • Michael Jordan was cut from his high school

basketball team.

• Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime.

• Stephen Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times.

• Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because "he lacked imagination."

Want to Know More?

Strengths Possible Problems

Inquisitive and show intellectual curiosity

Strong-willed, may ask embarrassing questions, expect the same in others, tend to dominate conversations, perceived as a “show-off”

Acquire and retain information quickly

Impatient with slowness of others, dislike routine and drill, may resist mastering foundational skills, may make concepts unduly complex

Possesses a vast knowledge on diverse

topics

Very persistent , “I’d rather do it myself” is a common attitude. Perceived as stubborn; resists interruption

Love of truth, equity, and fair play

Difficulty in being practical, may worry about humanitarian concerns

Enjoy organizing things and people into structure and order; seek to systematize

Construct complicated rules or systems, may be seen as bossy, rude, or domineering

Fiercely Competitive Difficulty compromising. They can become “loners,” competing against themselves

Frequent Characteristics & Potential Roadblocks

Strengths Possible Problems

Thinks critically, have high expectations, can be self-critical

and evaluate others

Intolerant of others, may become discouraged, depressed, and/or perfectionist

Ability to conceptualize, synthesize, and problem solve

Reject or omit details, resist drill or practice, question teaching procedures

Creative and inventive; like new ways of doing things

May disrupt plans or reject what is already known, seen by others as different and out-of- step

JMS Gifted Kids’ Bill of RightsYou have a right to… Know about your giftedness. Learn something new everyday. Be passionate about your talent area without apologies. Have an identity beyond your talent area. Feel good about your accomplishments. Make mistakes. Seek guidance in the development of your talent. Have multiple peer groups and a variety of friends. Choose which of your talent areas you wish to pursue. Not to be gifted at everything.

How Can You Support Your Gifted Child?

Learn more about what it means to be gifted (start with the recommended resources).

Understand that gifted children often have unique social and emotional needs.

Attend local conferences related to gifted education.

Participate in gifted webinars.

Get involved and network with JMS the Parent Advisory Team!

Webinars:1.) Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG)

http://www.sengifted.org/webinar_download _order_form.shtml

2.) UCI Free Gifted Webinars (scroll down to education) http://unex.uci.edu/services/events/recorde d.aspx

Gifted Blogs to Follow: Prufrock Press’ Blog: http://www.prufrock.com Education Week: “Unwrapping the Gifted” http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gift.ed Gifted Exchange: http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com Talented and Gifted: http://www.talentedandgifted.net The Mislabeled Child (written by two MD’s): http://mislabeledchild.com/

Stay Current on Gifted Education

The Task at Hand……

Why Advocate for Gifted Children? Gifted students have unique social and emotional issues. They may require more depth and complexity in the curriculum and

acceleration. Gifted students need to be in settings, at least part of the time, where they can be

challenged by their peers and can have opportunities to develop their capacities even further.

Food for Thought… About half of the states consider gifted education a part of special

education. California is not one of them. Exceptional students at the extremes of the normal development curve

need program modifications because they learn differently and at different paces.

Often, the public and policymakers do not understand the needs of the gifted. Gifted programs are often the first programs eliminated during a budget crisis.

What is the Common Core (CCSS)?A state-led effort to develop a common set of standards in English language arts

(ELA) and math that:•Align college and workplace expectations •Are rigorous and evidence-based http://www.corestandards.org

California was part of the 26 state consortium who has adopted the NextGeneration Science Standards. You can review the standards online at:http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/sc/ngssstandards.asp

Why Common Core State Standards? More Students Need a More Rigorous Curriculum -Adelman et al. (2003) 15% of students in the top quintile in academic rigor required remediation 57% of students in the bottom quintile in academic rigor required remediation -

Adelman (2006) 83% of students whose highest math class was calculus graduated within 8

years 40% of students whose highest math class was Algebra II graduated within 8

years

Implications for the GiftedThe Common Core State Standards… Offer a growth model that is applicable to gifted learners. Support gifted learners to develop abilities in domains or areas of interests. Stress critical and creative thinking. Focus on transferability of knowledge.

Implications for the Gifted Common Core Standards… Support self-efficacy and self-awareness, leading to skills for life-long

learning. Are equipped for acceleration, complexity, depth, and creativity. Validate gifted education best practices, such as concept-based learning,

integration of disciplines, and inquiry- based options.

JMS Parent GATE Support Team

Meet and Connect with other GATE families

Sign-up to create and facilitate a Parent Sponsored after-school activities (See Sign-Up tonight)

Volunteer on GATE field trips and for Parent Sponsored GATE Enrichment activities

Please leave us your contact information

NEW DISTRICT-SUPPORTED GATE PROGRAMResources now posted on the Torrance Unified School District’s websiteUnder the “Parents/Students” tab there is now a GATE subtopic for you to explore

Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program in TUSD

Student Activities

Parent Support

Emotional Needs of Gifted Children

Important Dates

GATE Contact Information

Resources

Differentiation of Instruction

Local Events

Parent Volunteer Opportunities

Twice-Exceptional (2e) Children

GATE Identification and Testing Protocol

Competitions

NEW TUSD AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT

• On the third Monday of every month beginning in October your GATE student will be invited to an after school enrichment program in room 18 or the cafeteria.

• The district has fundraised to purchase enrichment kits for your students to interact with.

• Since Jefferson has a large number of GATE students, when the invitations are given to your GATE student in the his/her fourth period class, the first 30 students who bring back the invitation will participate in the activity.

ASTRO CAMP AND CIMI

• 6th and 7th grade GATE students will be invited to participate in Astro Camp at Idyllwild the weekend of January 16 - 18.

• 8th grade GATE students will be invited at participate in Cimi at Catalina Friday, February 6 - 8.

• Both camps are highly interactive and stimulate student interest and understanding of science.

DIFFERENTIATION AND TIERED ASSIGNMENTS

• Your student will be asked more often to complete a different assignment if his/her understand of any topic covered in a classroom is advanced.

• The district and the teachers do not want your student to complete more work. Instead they want your student to engage in more rigorous work so they can grow academically.

FIRST ANNUAL GATE PARENT CONFERENCE

• On Saturday, January 31st, 2015 you will be invited to the first annual GATE parent conference in Torrance USD.

• Funds have been raised for two keynote speaker to present and engage with parents:Dr. James T. Webb Dr. Daniel B.Peters

GATE TESTING• Effective this school year 6th grade will be the last year for GATE testing

in Torrance USD.

• Parents and students will now have a choice of two tests:• NNAT2 - assesses cognitive abilities, by strictly through nonverbal

means. No vocabulary of any kind is used in the test. Instead, children are given visual images, designs and models which need to be organized and sequenced.

• OLSAT - measures verbal comprehension and reasoning, pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative

reasoning through such tasks as detecting likenesses and differences, recalling words and numbers, defining words, following directions, classifying, establishing sequence, solving arithmetic problems, and completing analogies.

GATE Parent Resources Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Developmenthttp://www.gifted.uconn.edu/parents/parentrp.html  

National Association for Gifted Children http://www.nagc.org  California Association for the Gifted http://www.cagifted.org  Central Cities Gifted Children's Association http://centralcities.org/index.html   Orange County Council for Gifted and Talented http://www.occgate.org   Hoagies' Gifted Education Page http://www.hoagiesgifted.org

GATE Parent Resources Cont. 2 of 3• How Not to Talk to Your Kids• http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ •  • Why Praise Can Be Bad for Kids• http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=2877896&page=1•  • Acceleration Q & A (Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration)• http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/QA/General.aspx

• California Association for the Gifted (CAG) : California Association for the Gifted (CAG) is an• Organization of educators and parents dedicated to meeting the unique needs or "gifted and talented students.• CA was started in 1966 by a group of educators and parents who wanted to make a difference hi the lives of• gifted students. CAC is '.One of the nation's largest state advocacy groups of its kind, providing its 'members• information and training about the education of gifted and talented students. www.cagifted.org

• National Association for Gifted Children: The national organization for parents teachers and• Administrators interested in spreading knowledge and awareness about gifted students and gifted education.• Includes gifted education standards. www.nagc.org/•  • Center for Talented Youth: A Johns Hopkins University program that actively seeks students with the• Highest academic abilities and provides challenging educational opportunities for them. htt:p://cty.jhu.edu

GATE Parent Resources Cont. 3 of 3Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG): Includes many expert-written articles on

social and emotional topics and has excellent community forums. www.sengifted.org/

Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students: Focuses on awarenessabout and Interventions for this often-misunderstood segment of the student population.

www.aegus1.org

The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented: Run by researchers from tneUniversity of Connecticut and the University of Virginia, the NRC/GT focuses on research topics

relevant to the identification of gifted individuals from underrepresented groups:www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html

Center for Talent Development: A Northwestern University program that offers a number ofonline learning opportunities for gifted students of all ages .www.ctd.northwestern.edu

 Gifted Resources: Resources and links for gifted kids. www.giftedsources.com

A Different Place: A compilation of many links on gifted topics. www.adifferentplace.org