Defiance City Schools Gifted News Spring Issue * Also Available on the DCS website February 2019 Middle School/ High School News by: Renee Long I have the pleasure of being in classes with gifted students in grades 6, 7 and 8 alternating weeks between math/English classes. Each week, I am impressed by the challenging and interesting lessons created and taught by our teachers. I frequently get to co-teach, take over a classroom for a special project, or contribute curriculum suggestions as enrichment. Watching the children interact, learn and grow is the best part of my job! My visits to high school classes will begin later this month. In the first semester my primary interaction with high school gifted students is through the Written Education Plan (WEP) process. I asked them to assess their learning and academic development, their study habits, and set goals for each advanced course. I try to invite parents in for their child’s WEP meeting, if possible. If “The Gifted Brain” District Mission Statement Defiance City Schools offers quality academic instruction, a community committed to students beyond the classroom and a staff invested in fostering relationships to prepare each student for lifelong learning and success. Gifted Services Department: Todd Fruth: Gifted Coordinator Renee Long: MS/HS Gifted Intervention Specialist Mary Kasuga: Elementary Gifted Intervention Specialist Tammi Elwood: Assistant Psychologist Elementary Happenings by: Mary Kasuga I have enjoyed getting to know everyone through their interest inventory surveys. A good portion of my time has been spent writing 44 WEPs across grades 2-5. After WEPS are complete, I schedule parent conferences. Then I have the pleasure of discussing each child, and their goals and plans for growth with parents. During class I am working on growth mindset activities with 4th and 5th graders, plus further developing their logical reasoning and creative thinking skills (tangrams, coding, analogies, patterning, colloquialisms). I also focus on developing the ambidextrous mind; understanding the brain and how it works. In 3rd grade, I am working with teachers to help provide resources for their classrooms. I look forward to working directly with the children in the classrooms soon. In 2nd grade, I recently gave them their interest
Transcript
Defiance City Schools Gifted NewsSpring Issue * Also Available on the DCS website February 2019
Middle School/ High School News
by: Renee Long I have the pleasure of being in classes with gifted students in grades 6, 7 and 8 alternating weeks between math/English classes. Each week, I am impressed by the challenging and interesting lessons created and taught by our teachers. I frequently get to co-teach, take over a classroom for a special project, or contribute curriculum suggestions as enrichment. Watching the children interact, learn and grow is the best part of my job! My visits to high school classes will begin later this month. In the first semester my primary interaction with high school gifted students is through the Written Education Plan (WEP) process. I asked them to assess their learning and academic development, their study habits, and set goals for each advanced course. I try to invite parents in for their child’s WEP meeting, if possible. If not, I meet individually with each gifted child to review this document. Parents sign the WEPs and return them to school.
Mrs. Long visiting Denver Colorado, outside the state capitol dome. What do you do on vacations?
Thoughts on HS level testing. Many students (gifted and non-gifted) don’t perform well on college
“The Gifted Brain”District Mission Statement
Defiance City Schools offers quality academic instruction, a community committed to students beyond the
classroom and a staff invested in fostering relationships to prepare each student for
lifelong learning and success.
Gifted Services Department:
Todd Fruth: Gifted Coordinator
Renee Long: MS/HS Gifted Intervention Specialist
Mary Kasuga: Elementary Gifted Intervention
SpecialistTammi Elwood: Assistant
PsychologistCandy Leal: Secretary
Student Services Office801 S. Clinton StreetDefiance, OH 43512
419-782-5662
Elementary Happeningsby: Mary Kasuga
I have enjoyed getting to know everyone through their interest inventory surveys. A good portion of my time has been spent writing 44 WEPs across grades 2-5. After WEPS are complete, I schedule parent conferences. Then I have the pleasure of discussing each child, and their goals and plans for growth with parents. During class I am working on growth mindset activities with 4th and 5th graders, plus further developing their logical reasoning and creative thinking skills (tangrams, coding, analogies, patterning, colloquialisms). I also focus on developing the ambidextrous mind; understanding the brain and how it works. In 3rd grade, I am working with teachers to help provide resources for their classrooms. I look forward to working directly with the children in the classrooms soon. In 2nd grade, I recently gave them their interest surveys and will be working on a schedule to see them soon.
Mary Kasuga, Elementary GIS
MATHCOUNTS
entrance exams, such as the ACT, ACCUPLACER, or SAT. While there are many reasons for this, here are some strategies which are helpful to most students.*To truly maximize test scores, students need to realize that there are tons of tools at their disposal:Go to College Board or ACT websites for free resources.*Take numerous practice tests. This will help students become familiar with the test format, questions, and practice periods of sustained concentration. Even MS students can take these tests for practice.*Work with an experienced coach or take a class to learn critical reading and problem solving skills as well as proven strategies.*Learn how to improve the “test taking mindset.” This is critical to ensuring success and maximizing score improvement. Some students benefit from the meditation and/or the Emotional Freedom Technique https://breakthroughtestprep.com/5-types-of-students-who-dont-test-well-and-practical-solutions/
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Many gifted children benefit from summer camps and activities. Programs are varied and offered by many organizations. Here are some that are offered locally:NwOESC Summer Honors Academy:Popular camp for students in grades
Gifted Children's Bill of Rights You 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.Published by: National Association for Gifted Children 1331 H Street NW, Suite 1001, Washington, DC 20005
MS Students have begun meeting on Tuesdays during
PASS to try their hand at Destination Imagination
Challenges. This club with
Amazing Mathcounts Club: L to RCaden Allman, Kendallyne Kroeckel, Luke Walz, Victoria Gerencser, Jackson Honsberger, Jack
Kost, Joshua Bolman, Anna Monte (behind) Savanna Tijerina, Elisabeth Johnston, Aidan
Brennernot pictured: Dakota Stanton
For the last five months twelve ambitious students have gathered after school to face down some seriously challenging math. With concepts such as factorials, Pythagorean triples, and tangram geometry under their belts, we can look back on the first Mathcounts Club as hugely successful! Due to consistent attendance, we were able to earn Silver Status for our school. A four person competition team will head to the regional competition on February 22. Good Luck Mathletes!
Do you wonder what gifted Programs look like around the world? In this newsletter from The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children you can see who is making news and who has the best programs. RJosh Bolman at work in Discoveries and ead the profiles of 15 different countries here: https://www.world-gifted.org/World-Gifted-Newsletter/wg-37%282%29.pdf
2-7. Classes change from year to year, but offerings should be available for viewing on their website by late March. Sign up early- camps fill quickly! 2018 info:https://sites.google.com/nwoesc.org/academy/home This GREAT robotics camp for kids aged 7-14, was brought in by a couple of ambitious parents, and no doubt it will fill up quickly!https://www.trine.edu/innovation-one/youth-programs/BGSU:https://www.bgsu.edu/pre-college-programs/pre-college-certified-summer-academic-programs-and-summer-camps/academic-summer-programs.html In Defiance:http://www.defianceathletics.com/camps/index (sports camps)** Check local businesses and papers for additional offerings.
“The best way a mentor can prepare another leader is to expose him/her to other great people.”
John C. Maxwell
Calling All Parents!Do you have an interesting job? Are you willing to answer some questions about your occupation, and possibly have a DHS student shadow you? We are looking for members of our community who are willing to help a student explore a career firsthand. If you can help us, please complete this google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwRHYZiq0_2w2kPBvjyIwH6UkgTRy41g4-6rU7oxKsdTWMBw/viewform?usp=sf_link
innovative curriculum involves collaborative challenges each
week. For students who have a conflict with the Tuesday time frame, Mrs. Long will change the day to Mondays for fourth
quarter.
Choir Camp Scholarship
A generous private donor has offered four $100 scholarships
to gifted students in our schools who would like to attend a week long choir camp in Bellville, Ohio. See the application link below.
Deadline: April 1st. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lNGhKQq_fv7tdKfrWnoFp
DKrbacXgRn6MBpOPt0NV4k/edit?usp=sharingetter.
https://www.byrdseed.com/calvin/
Questions about College Credit
Josh Bolman in Discoveries and Opportunities Class. April ‘18
Intelligence is like a river: the deeper it is, the less noise it makes. – Unknown
Asynchronous Development is one of the hallmarks of giftedness. While most children develop in a relatively uniform manner, gifted learners are asynchronous in their development. The more gifted the child, the more asynchronous that child may be. There can be huge differences between a gifted child’s physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development. A gifted child can have the intelligence of an adult with the social-emotional development of a child. It is often said that gifted children are “many ages at once”. They are quite literally out-of-sync.
OAGC Sponsors several scholarships for Gifted kids in grades K-12. http://www.oagc.com/scholarship.asp
Questions, comments and contributions to the newsletter are welcome! Please contact:
