Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

For our 9th graders they are finishing their first week of high school finals and then in 2 weeks they will wrap up their first college semester!  I have been looking for articles to help them improve their metacognition and study skills and found this one: https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/11/22/a-better-way-to-study-through-self-testing-and-distributed-practice/

Metacognition is the #1 thing I work on with the DAHS students.  What I have learned from four years of working with Dimensions Academy is that gifted students struggle with studying and figuring out whether they have mastered material before the test. Our program is one of the first times these students have had to study.  This article has some great study strategies but it is not just for gifted learners.  These strategies work for all kids to improve their studying. https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-metacognition-boosts-learning?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

This is an interesting article and it really resonated with me.  I think teaching social emotional skills is something we aren't trained as teachers to do but that is critical to do.   A 19-Year Study Reveals Kindergarten Students With These 2 Skills Are Twice as Likely to Obtain a College Degree (And They Have Nothing to Do With Reading) "Then researchers followed up with the kids once they became young adults to see what happened to them. They discovered that the kids with the highest social and emotional competency scores in kindergarten fared better overall. For every one-point increase in children's social competency scores in kindergarten, they were twice as likely to obtain college degrees. They were also more likely to have full-time jobs by age 25. But the kids who had trouble cooperating, listening, and resolving conflict were less likely to finish high school--let alone college. They were more likely to have legal problems and substance abuse issues.&qu

Parents, guardians and students who are interested in the Nobel Program at Kennedy High School are invited to attend the information session at KHS on Tuesday, January 9th, 2018 @ 7pm in the Kennedy Media Center (9701 Nicollet Ave in Bloomington). This is the slideshow   I'll be using to present.  If you have questions please email me at maby@isd271.org.  

Gifted programs show significant increase in reading, math scores https://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/node/3132708 Published on November 15, 2017 Reading and math scores among students in Bloomington Public Schools’ gifted programs showed significant growth on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) tests over a two-year period. The overall percentage of gifted students who hit reading national growth targets increased from 57.1 percent in 2014-15 to 74.9 percent in 2016-17. Math scores increased from 57.7 percent to 72.1 percent over the same time period. The MAP test sets national growth norms by measuring year-over-year growth compared to the average growth of students in the nation that have the same prior year score. Bloomington gifted students have significantly more than 50 percent of students scoring above national growth norm. Another MAP test measure is Percentage of Expected Growth (PEG). During the 2016-17 school year, gifted students achieved 151 percent

I recently read Quiet Power:  The Secret Strengths of Introverts by Susan Cain .  For those of you who know me you know I am not an introvert.  :). However I am married to a gifted introvert and I have a lot of gifted introverts in DAHS so I wanted to read this book because it came highly recommended and because I wanted to understand people different from me. The book is engaging and easy to read.  It does a great job of helping perfectionist introverts with strategies for being able to participate in class discussions and in school.  I think the chapters on "Quiet in the Classroom", "Group Projects, the Introverted Way", "Quiet Leaders", "Quiet Creativity" and "Quiet in the Spotlight" are especially helpful for high school students who are struggling academically because of their fear of speaking or failure and for parents who are trying to figure out how to support their students. I recommend the book for both teens and parents.

Upcoming meetings: 8th Grade Registration Information presented to students at OGMS -   Jan. 5 at 12:52 pm- 2:37 pm. I'll be presenting on the Ap/Honors offerings and the appeals process.  AP/Honors Registration Parent Meeting for incoming students at Jefferson  -  Jan. 11 at 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. AP/ Honors Registration Parent Meeting for current students at Jefferson -  Jan. 18 at 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Dimensions Academy STEM High School Info Meetings: All meetings are held from 6:30-7:30 pm in room the Partnership Center at Normandale Community College in P0808A and will be held on  Jan 8, Jan 16, Jan 25, and Jan 29th. Nobel Program Meeting for Current 8th Graders and their Parents at Kennedy High School on  Tuesday, January 9th at 7:00 pm in the Auditorium.

I am excited to be presenting at the MCGT conference this weekend.  I'll be using this slideshow and this handout for parents.  My workshop is titled "Differentiation in the High School AP and Regular Classroom".  The conference is at Robbinsdale Middle School.