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Jan 22&23, 2010: Creative Problem SolvingGrab a lunch and join us for a thought provoking brown bag lunch on Friday, Feb. 19 at 11:30am with Todd Kettler, Director of Advanced Academics. We will be discussing the book, Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults
This special event is for CGA members only and space is very limited. To attend this captivating event, you must email Lian Loop to get confirmation and location information.
To order the book, click here
Are you America’s next great inventor? Sealed Air Corporation, the creator of Bubble Wrap® cushioning, is sponsoring the Bubble Wrap® Competition for Young Inventors to encourage students in grades 5–8 to demonstrate their creativity and ingenuity by creating an invention that incorporates the use of Bubble Wrap® cushioning.
This sounds like a joke but it’s serious business, especially with a grand prize of a trip to New York City and a $10,000 Savings Bond. Visit the Sealed Air Corporation website for details. Deadline is March 31, 2010.
TAGT Summer Scholarships are designed for those gifted and talented students who wish to attend academic or artistic programs during the summer months. Gifted students, grades K-12, may apply for scholarships of up to $400. Scholarships are based upon merit, not financial need. The highest-scoring elementary student and secondary student applicants are chosen as Ann Shaw Scholars and receive $500 each. Application deadline is March 1, 2010. All applicants will be notified of their status by April 15. Please note that for accounting purposes scholarship checks are made payable to both the program and the scholarship winner.
As you can imagine, the application is very important during the application review process. Here are some tips from someone who has reviewed the scholarship applications in the past:
- The Student Response portion of the application should be from the student and only the student. Yes, a kindergartener can dictate her response for the parent to write but the words in the response should be the child’s. This seems like common sense but you’d be surprised by the number of student responses that appear to be written by a parent.
- The application states, “Be sure to give specific examples,” and you should. Simply listing that your child is creative is fine, but giving a very specific example of when your child exemplified his creativity is much, much better.
- Make sure you and your child pick an adult who knows your child well and will invest the time to write a great Adult/Professional recommendation. When I reviewed the applications, this section was the most common disappointment among the reviewers. Convey to this person that specific examples which provide evidence of a child’s personality are critical and make a huge difference when the application is being reviewed.
- Remember, the person reviewing the application does not know your child. The application is meant to provide a glimpse into who he is and what he is like. Any specific information that enables the reviewer to feel like they know the child will work in your child’s favor.
To apply for a TAGT Summer Scholarship or for more information about this amazing opportunity to fund your child’s summer program, click here.
Are you looking for after school enrichment programs? Check out the selection at Socrates Center in Coppell:
- Chess
- Body Science
- Think Team
- Geography Masters
- Group Guitar
- Glee
- Creative Robotics
- Lego Robotics NXT
- Graphic Design
- Young Filmmakers
- Socrates Scholars
Questions? Call the Socrates Center at 469.774.3103 or visit online at Socratescenter.com.
As it turns out, the cognitive mirrors floating in the cranial suitcase of some take longer to cast reflections than the similar cognitive mirrors in others. But time is a tricky medium adding interesting detail to memory, so reflect I shall.
I had a wonderful experience at the National Association for Gifted Children Conference (NAGC) in St. Louis this fall. I attended several great presentations, attended a work session for a committee on which I serve, made my way to numerous receptions mastering the art of making dinner of finger food, and made three smashing presentations myself. I had dinner with some of the greatest thinkers in gifted education, and made a small donation to a black jack table at a riverboat casino.
Below is a list of some of the presentors I found to be particularly captivating, dynamic, and informative:
James Kaufman, “Championing Creativity in the Classroom and Curriculum”
Bonnie Cramond “Championing Creativity in the Classroom and Curriculum”
Mattthew Makel “Championing Creativity in the Classroom and Curriculum”
Marcia Gentry “Grouping for Instruction: Perspectives, Issues, and Applications”
Rena Subotnik and Christopher Kolar “ Evaluating Secondary STEM Education Over Time: What Should We Ask? How Will We Get Responses?”
Ann Robinson “If You Build It, They Will Come: Advocacy by Evidence”
Bob Seney “What’s New in Young Adult Literature”
Howard Gardner “Multiple Intelligences: The First 25 Years
Howard Gardner and Dean Keith Simonton “Larger Than Life: Exploring the Lives of Eminent Creators”
I would like to focus on one particular session that I attended and found of particular interest, James Kaufman “Championing Creativity in the Classroom and Curriculum”
Kaufman is an emerging expert in creativity and talked about varying degrees of creativity. Historically creative ability has been talked about as C (big C) and c (little C). Big C creative abilities are the great creators like Picasso, Joyce, and Mozart. Little c abilities refer to the creative abilities the average person may have to create a scrapbook or decorate boxes for Christmas gifts. Kaufman made a case for expanding this two part distinction to a four part distinction in describing creative ability. Big C is still eminent level creativity. But just below it he adds Professional C. Professional level creativity are those who make their living as creative workers whether painters, musical artists, actors, or writers. They may never be eminent but they are creative enough to make a living performing their art or craft. Just below Professional C Kaufman adds County Fair C. County Fair level of creativity is more of an advanced hobby level. The person with this level of creativity may not be making a living at his craft, but may have the talent to enter works in a show her and there and receive recognition for the talent. Little c still represents those creative insights each of us can have whether a new idea for a recipe or a new lyric to jazz up a holiday song or a new method of keeping your dryer lint free. I think Kaufman’s distinctions are helpful in thinking about what creativity really. Many people may claim to not be creative, but I believe everyone has little c creative ability. Perhaps the way Kaufman explains it will help both kids and adults realize that creative ability is in all of us waiting to be developed.
Some of the captivating sessions that I attended at NAGC in November were Sandra Kaplan on layered curriculum, Dr. Treffinger and Dr. Selby on Creative Problem Solving, Marcia Gentry on Cluster Grouping, and George Betts on RTI and the Autonoumous Learner Model.
Because the RTI is so important right now in our schools, it was interesting and informative to see how this relates to gifted students. We have already discussed and will continue to discuss how Coppell ISD might be able to use the RTI model to help with creating learning plans for gifted learners.
It’s a new year and that means UC Irvine is bringing new presenters and hot topics in Gifted and Talented Education. UC Irvine Extension will be hosting another FREE, month-long series to address current legislative and economic impacts on gifted programming and to give GATE educators the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and experience from experts in the field. Although this webinar series is designed specifically for teachers, registration is open to the public, including parents. If you strive for a better understanding of the needs and capabilities of today’s gifted and talented students, sign up for this series today! To register, visit here. Credit option available. For more information, please contact Lisa Kadowaki at lkadowak@uci.edu or (949) 824-9427. Please see schedule details below.
Gifted and Talented Instruction on a Budget
Wednesday, February 3rd: 8pm – 9pm PST
Tough economic times have slashed school budgets across the nation. How can teachers differentiate for gifted learners without money for additional textbooks or classroom materials? Attend this webinar to learn about free and accessible ways to add depth, complexity, acceleration, and novelty to your instructional program.
Implications for Educators of Gifted Minority Students
Wednesday, February 10th: 7pm – 8pm PST
This webinar will address critical issues regarding diverse learners in gifted education and will provide tips on how to meet their educational needs. Cultural and academic considerations will be explored as well as the challenges minority students confront in dealing with the American education system.
Troubleshooting Today’s GATE Programming Obstacles
Wednesday, February 17th: 8pm – 9pm PST
Trying times in education can actually be an opportunity and catalyst for change that is needed to propel our programs forward. Three district GATE coordinators will share what they consider to be program obstacles and how they have used them to effect positive change, keeping focus on student success.
Classroom Applications of 21st Century Skills
Wednesday, February 24th: 8pm – 9pm PST
21st century learning is providing curriculum and instruction designed to engage this generation of digital-native students. Learn how 21st century skills can be implemented into the classroom to add critical thinking, collaboration, and complex curriculum through an interdisciplinary, integrated, project-based approach.
Interested in Camp Invention?
Register by February 11, 2010 and get discounts:
$35 off for alumni of the program (promo code: AERD)
$45 off for alumni who register with a friend/sibling (promo code: ANFD), and friend/sibling receives $35 off base price (promo code: BNFD). The “bring-a-friend” discount does not work online so you can register by calling 800.968.4332.
June 21-25, 2010
and
July 12-16, 2010
at Lakeside Elementary
Camp Invention is a program produced by the National Inventors Hall of Fame® Foundation (the premier not-for-profit organization in America dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity) in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This will be the third year in a row for Coppell to host Camp Invention and we look forward to another fabulous round of camps. You can register your child for Camp Invention and get more information at www.campinvention.org.
Camp Invention is run and organized by professional educators in CISD. While it is not a CGA program, many of our members take advantage of this wonderful opportunity in our own backyard.
Thanks to everyone who entered the Creative Writing Competition. We had an enormous response this year: 249 entries! This more than doubled the participation last year. Curious about how many entries came from your school?
Austin 12
CHS 18
CMSE 12
CMSN 21
CMSW 15
Cottonwood Creek 13
Denton Creek 16
homeschool 1
Lakeside 6
Mockingbird 8
New Tech 19
Pinkerton 13
Town Center 57
Universal Academy 2
Valley Ranch 18
Wilson 17
(blank) 1
Grand Total 249
As a result, we recruited more judges:
- Kim Smith: author of Sydney Wakefield, Into the Faraway
- Matt Bowden: Coppell High School Teacher
- Gina Peddy: Coppell High School Dean of Instruction
- Nicole Scott: Pinkerton Teacher
- Jennifer Judd: author
- Jennifer Smith: author
- Debra Marshall: Wilson Librarian
- Carol Smith: Wilson Teacher
- Angela Gortz: LISD Teacher
Currently, these judges are reviewing and ranking all the entries. We are hoping to have the results by the first week of February (watch the website for updates).
If you see any of the judges, please thank them for devoting their time and energy — we couldn’t have this competition without their generosity and talent.
The finalists will be published in a book that will be available for pre-order in March.
Everyone is welcome to come to the Book Release Party on April 10, 2010 and celebrate the talent of these young authors.
Mandy Goddard teaches PreAP and GT Algebra I and believes in applying math to real life to engage her students in learning. She recently asked her Coppell Middle School East students the following questions:
1. Your favorite math teacher has been participating in a project, and has completed 15 weeks of the required 40-week project. What percent of the project has she completed? What percent has she NOT completed?
2. Your favorite math teacher had a checkpoint on December 9th, with a measurement of 5.2 cm. Approximately how many inches is this measurement?
3. On December 29th, another checkpoint revealed a special number. 5 * 25 What is the number?
Mandy Goddard and Family
Can you guess what her project is? She’s growing a baby! Goddard integrated in percent of pregnancy complete, Crown Rump Length, and heartbeats per minute to teach her students math and announce her pregnancy. Then, she went on to explain the significance of each problem, how it relates to TAKS, and how it relates to their 7th grade Science class they took last year (which had human body in the spring semester). All questions could be tied to TAKS objectives, which students take in April and must pass in 8th grade to move onto 9th grade.
And this isn’t Goddard’s first time to use this method. With her previous pregnancy, they actually watched the sonogram in class where the sonographer measured skin behind the neck (a marker for Down’s Syndrome), chambers of the heart, and head circumference. Her class figured out diameter of head by working backwards from circumference.
Who says preparing for TAKS can’t be fun? Not Mandy Goddard.
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