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Jan 22&23, 2010: Creative Problem SolvingCGA awarded scholarships to 12 CISD teachers and administrators to attend the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented “Growing their Gifts” Annual Conference from Dec. 2-4 in Houston. The committed scholarship recipients are Dr. Jeff Turner (CISD Superintendent), Brenda Caproni (CMSW), Thom Hulme (School Board Member), Tracy Kling (Pinkerton), Melissa Mahan (Administration), Alicia Montgomery (CMSE), Marie Riley (CMSN), Melanie Ringman (CMSN), Laila Sanguras (CMSW), Jana Scott (Town Center), April Tate (Valley Ranch), and Kim Wootton (New Tech High). The grants were made possible by CGA’s successful fundraising efforts through our summer MOSAIC program.
Two CGA board members, Tracy Fisher and Amanda O’Neal, will also be in attendance to take advantage of all the conference has to offer them as parent advocates. Tracy, CGA founder, will also be a featured speaker discussing ”Effective Advocacy 101: Parent to Parent.”
The attendees will be posting comments about their experiences at the conference on this blog. Please visit this page often for a glimpse into their insights and participation.
Our world is changing every day… many have suggested that America’s domination is weakening due to failings of education. Our kids will compete with others around the world for jobs. Jobs that we can’t even imagine as they don’t yet exist. Will our children be ready?
To thrive in the 21st century, our children need creative problem solving skills. We know that this is a life skill — yet it is rarely taught… until now.
Have you talked to your 4th-5th grader about enrolling in our weekend MOSAIC Creative Problem Solving course? Still need more incentive? Read this hypothetical scenario to your child and see if it strikes a chord:
American students fail miserably on international comparisons, especially our science and math scores which are near the bottom compared to other developed countries. President Obama has suggested that our students may need more time in school to catch up. Subsequently, Dr. Scott Roberts of Austin formed the Texas Alliance for Competitive Education (TACE). TACE hopes to encourage the State Board of Education (SBOE) to extend the school day as well as the school year. Although the SBOE has not acted on the TACE recommendation, a local group of business executives in Coppell has urged CISD to take the lead and lengthen the school day as well as the school year for Coppell Schools. The group has suggested an 8:00am-5:00pm school day and a school year of two hundred and ten days instead of the current one hundred and eighty. The school district is seeking feedback on this idea as well as alternative solutions.
Registration is going on now. We have limited spaces available.
January 22-23, 2010:
MOSAIC
Creative Problem Solving
New Tech High School
for 4th & 5th Grade Students, CGA members only
Jan 22: 5:30-6p check-in, 6-9p class
Jan 23: 9a-2p class, presentations at 1p
Cost: $50
Small groups of students will use the powerful tools of Creative Problem Solving in this fun, hands-on weekend experience, guided by CISD educators. Participants will learn how to utilize time-tested techniques to reach a resolution using teamwork, creativity and imagination. At the conclusion of the event, teams will present their unique and creative solutions in a short skit for an audience of parents and educators.
Participants may bring a snack with them for Friday night.
CGA will provide pizza lunch on Saturday.
Group size is limited and will be filled on a first-come basis.
Developing Your Child’s Creative Thinking Ability
with Dr. Joyce Juntune
Thursday, February 18, 2010
CHS Lecture Hall, 7pm
$5 for non-members, FREE for CGA members
Creative and innovative thinking are valued as skills in the workplace. Creativity also provides an important and necessary outlet for gifted children. What can parents do to make the development of creativity a natural part of family life? Join us and learn ways to have fun as a family while becoming better creative and innovative thinkers.
Joyce Juntune is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University. She teaches graduate level courses in gifted education and undergraduate courses in creativity. She spent several years as a public school teacher in Minnesota and California. Dr. Juntune was one of the developers of Project REACH – a staff development program for integrating creative thinking into content area classrooms, and served as its Director for 5 years. She was the Executive Director of the National Association for Gifted Children for ten years and the Executive Director of the American Creativity Association for six years.
She has traveled extensively across the United States and Canada providing training to thousands of teachers in over 500 school districts in the areas of creative thinking, instructional improvement, differentiated curriculum, creative problem solving, and gifted education. She has also provided training in creative thinking and problem solving to law firms, hospital and health care professionals, corporate managers, small business owners and mangers, and members of the transportation industry.
Dr. Juntune has been a keynote speaker at state and national conferences and a guest on several radio and television shows. She has written numerous books for educators on using creative thinking as a tool for building comprehension.
January 21st
7:00p – 8:30p
Technology Learning Center at
2427 Carrick Street in Farmers Branch
For thousands of students, this is not a game. It’s what they’ve been working toward for about 13 years! (or at least their families have). There are so many questions:
What schools are right for me?
How do I know?
How do I get in?
How can we afford it?
Is it worth it????
Discover the top 10 experiences colleges want students to have when they are ready to apply for admission to the college of their choice, and much more!
As a Certified Educational Planner, specializing in college admissions advising, Catherine has helped place hundreds of students in colleges of their choice.She is one of a handful of college admissions advisors in the Dallas area who has pursued the rigorous certification process of the American Institute of Certified Educational Planners (CEP).
Catherine earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona, a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University and a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA. She has also completed the Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions, the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) Principles and Practice Training and earned her Certificate in Educational Planning in 2007.
This program is open to all and will be ideal for students in grades 7-12 and their families.
Yep, got an app for that!
Abilene Christian University – a school that many North Texas students attend – is meeting students where they are: cell phone-, Internet-, and app-savvy.
According to an article on Wired.com, 1000 freshman students at ACU were given an iPhone or iPod Touch to use in class, and their course curricula was integrated with technology to better engage them. This seems to have helped with the problem of knowing which information and what sources on the web are valuable for students who no longer appear to be taking notes in class, the majority. Polling applications are used in large classes to field questions; assess understanding; etc.
Included is an app for ACU campus communication (probably a great thing in an emergency) that provides campus maps, news, resources, and even a student’s current meal account balance.
Read the article and come back here to discuss the implications for Coppell ISD as it prepares students for college and races ahead of the curve in standards of educational excellence.
Did you miss “The Discussion” in December? You missed a great discussion about what the district is thinking about the meaning of rigor. Throughout the presentation, you will hear time and time again about how our learners need to be engaged and that not every child is engaged in the same way and at the same level. They need our support.
Are you interested in having your voice heared about the subject of rigor and engagement? Check out the district website and fill out the survey — 2 minutes of your time can make a huge difference to changes in our district. Give gifted education a voice.
The Discussion (video, presentation and survey).
During 2009-2010, each school is evaluating some of the best practices in modern education. The potential programs are exciting! These schools are merely evaluating this year — at year end, we will know better whether these out of the box ideas will be implemented. Get involved in what is going on in your campus. Have any thoughts? Share them below by commenting.
Here is the layout of what is being evaluated.
International Baccalaureate: Pinkerton, Denton Creek
Project Based Learning: Valley Ranch, Mockingbird
Thinking Maps: Austin, Lakeside, Cottonwood Creek
STEM: Town Center
Vertical Teaming: Wilson
Rigor/Vertical Teaming: CMS East, North & West
Authentic Assessment: Education Annex
Small Learning Communities: Coppell High School
(Engineering, International Baccalaureate, and Academics)
Here is the information for Joey Ashbrook’s Blood Drive and the T-shirt we will be giving to donors.
Date: Dec. 17th 2pm – 7pm
Location: Coppell Middle School North
Sponsor Number for Joey Ashbrook: 048721
If you donate blood at another Carter Blood Care donate under Mr. Ashbrook’s number and he will get credit.
We will have T-shirts for the first 100 donors (Action Trophy and Awards deeply discounted the shirts and donated the graphics). CarterBloodCare will supply juice and cookies for donors.
Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD is bringing Dr. Sylvia Rimm to present “Why Gifted Children Sometimes Underachieve.” Program will be geared to parents and educators. No childcare will be provided.
Date: January 19th
Time: Doors Open at 6:30 p.m. Program will begin promptly at 7 p.m. and conclude at 8:30 p.m.
Location: DeWitt Perry Middle School Auditorium – 2550 Beltline Road, Carrollton
Cost: Complimentary
Take the time during the break to read a good book. There are certainly a lot of good fiction books out there (please feel free to comment your latest good reads). If you are looking for some great books about giftedness, here is a list of some to consider giving yourself this holiday season.
A Love for Learning
Spark the motivation in your gifted child or student! Keep them eager and excited at home and in the classroom!
Gifted children are susceptible to many de-motivating factors, which can lead to depression and academic underachievement. The authors present concepts and techniques to counteract those factors, allowing a child’s motivation to skyrocket.
Features the Four C’s of Motivation:
- Creating Challenge
- Creating Control
- Creating Commitment
- Creating Compassion
Order through Great Potential Press before December 11, 2009 and receive 30% off one item by entering the promotional code “TAKE30OFF.”
Cradles of Eminence: Childhoods of More Than 700 Famous Men and Women
What were the common childhood experiences of 700 eminent adults? Among things, they disliked school; their families valued education; they had strong mothers; and they grew up feeling “different” from others. This exciting update of the 1964 classic includes information from “Three Hundred Eminent Personalities” (1978), as well as from new biographies published in the last six years. Key findings include:
- Most had at least one ambitious parent who was striving and driving.
- Their parents were highly opinionated.
- Their parents often held unconventional opinions that were shocking, even antagonistic, to others.
- Many of the parents–especially mothers–dominated their children’s lives.
- As children, few liked school, and still fewer liked their teachers.
- Nearly all showed the characteristics used today to identify gifted children
A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children
Raising a gifted child is both a joy and a challenge, yet parents of gifted children have few resources for reliable parenting information. The four authors, who have decades of professional experience with gifted children and their families, provide practical guidance in areas such as:
Characteristics of gifted children; Peer relations; Sibling issues; Motivation & underachievement; Discipline issues; Intensity & stress; Depression & unhappiness; Educational planning; Parenting concerns; Finding professional help; and much, much more!
This is the one book that will help you understand the gifted people in your life — and it is the basic text of our SENG Parenting Discussion Groups that are offered annually each fall.
Order through Great Potential Press before December 11, 2009 and receive 30% off one item by entering the promotional code “TAKE30OFF.”
Outliers: The Story of Success
Why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: “they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”
Letting Go of Perfect: Overcoming Perfectionism in Kids
For children who believe their best is never good enough, perfectionism can lead to excessive guilt, lack of motivation, low self-esteem, depression, pessimism, obsessive and compulsive behavior, and a sense of rigidity. By delineating the major types of perfectionists and providing practical tips, the authors show parents and teachers how they can help these children effectively control their perfectionist tendencies and use those to their advantage.
Despite a need for some improvements, a new nationwide survey has found that Texas makes one of the strongest commitments of any state to meet the needs of its estimated 356,000 gifted students.
Two major factors for Texas’ success are state funding to local districts and regional education service centers to support gifted education and teacher training, and strong language in its definition of giftedness that all school districts must follow. Texas leads the nation in spending at $91 million for educating gifted children in 2008-2009, but spends less per capita than states such as Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, and Iowa. Likewise, Texas proves among the best examples for identification of giftedness among minorities and limited English-language students. New legislation passed this year will create new evaluation standards, which will help improve consistency among the programs of Texas’ nearly 1100 school districts.
Texas’ investment in gifted and talented students comes at a time when many other states are providing reduced or minimal support or, in more than a quarter of all states, providing no support at all.
“We are pleased that there has been continued legislative support for gifted education,” said Tracy Weinberg, Associate Director of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented. “However, there is still room for improvement, particularly in regards to accountability. There is no guarantee that all school districts are in compliance with state laws regarding identification and services for gifted students.”
The findings are reflected in the 2008-2009 State of the States Report in Gifted Education by the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted, which was released on November 12, 2009. Overall, the report finds a fragmented collection of policies and practices supporting gifted students that vary greatly between states and local districts and that are almost universally underfunded and under-resourced. Nearly half of all states provided no funding for gifted students during the last school year, and most high-ability students are taught by teachers with little to no training in gifted education, the report concludes.
“At a time when other nations are redoubling their commitment to their highest potential students, the United States continues to neglect the needs of this student population, a policy failure that will cost us dearly in the years to come,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, President of the National Association for Gifted Children and Director of the Center for Gifted Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
“The solution to this problem must be a comprehensive national gifted and talented education policy in which federal, state, and local districts work together to ensure all gifted students are identified and served by properly trained teachers using appropriate curriculum,” Robinson added.
The ramifications of the nation’s underinvestment in gifted education is evidenced in many areas including continued underperformance on international benchmarks, particularly in math, science, and engineering, and in the shortage of qualified workers able to enter professions that require advanced skills.
“We are very proud of the progress we have made, and will continue to advocate for gifted children until every district in the state provides exemplary gifted and talented programs,” said Dr. Cecelia Boswell, President of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented.
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