Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

Dear DA parents, We are making a change - DA STEM will be housed at Jefferson next year.  It will still be open to Kennedy students but it will be taught by Jefferson staff.  We are transitioning to a 4 year program instead of a 2 year program with an emphasis on Advanced Placement (AP) as opposed to Normandale Community College (NCC) classes.   We are making this change after 6 years of doing our program at NCC.  Current 9th graders will get to finish their program but our next cohort will not start at NCC.  We feel these changes will allow us to better meet the needs of our gifted students. We are going to build towards the following scope and sequence:   Math Science 9 th Graders Honors Algebra II/ Honors PreCalc AP Environmental Science/  AP Computer Science Principles 10th Graders AP Calc BC AP Physics C  11th Graders AP Stats/Probability & Adv. Stats Topics AP Chemistry 12th Grade...

We have a change in our Dimensions Academy High School (DAHS) model that we are excited to share with you! This model involves bringing the STEM portion to Jefferson High School and keeping the DA Humanities portion at Kennedy High School. Students will have the opportunity to be in a cohort to take college level courses at college pacing with support from the Gifted and Talented Dept.  We will use a dual campus model in order for students at both high schools to access either or both programs.  Families interested in potentially having their 9th grader participate in either or both DAHS pathways are invited to come to one of the upcoming informational meetings:  *Thursday, December 12th at 6:30 pm at Kennedy High School in the Media Center *Tuesday, January 14th at 6:30 pm at Oak Grove Middle School auditorium *Tuesday, January 21st at 6:30 pm at Jefferson High School in the Media Center Also, our DA HS application due date is moved back one week to Fr...

Soon we will host presenters from Camp Rising Sun on Tuesday, December 17th at 6:30 p.m. at Kennedy High School in the Media Center . Over the past several years, a number of students from the Bloomington Public Schools have been awarded this prestigious scholarship including Tuan Dinh (KHS), Ebba Wako (JHS) and Isabella Marker (JHS).   Go to this website ( http://www.lajf.org/ ) for information on this extraordinary camp. The camp boasts an international flavor combined with personal development experience.  In addition, there is NO COST to attend this camp for those students who are selected. Camp Rising Sun is well established, and has been around for over 70 years. Many of the people who have attended the camp have become leaders in their communities and their countries. Camp Rising Sun is looking for students who are intelligent, well-rounded, with outstanding moral character, an appreciation of diversity and individual abilities, a leader amongst their peers, and wi...

I gave a 3 hour session for teachers yesterday at KHS on  Culturally Responsive Teaching & Bloom’s Taxonomy . I really enjoyed the conversations we had together with staff from Oak Grove Middle, Olson Middle, JHS and KHS about how to increase the amount of culturally responsive teaching in our classrooms and how to do it in a way that helps our kids carry more of the cognitive load and to be less dependent learners. x

This is our second year implementing the social studies component to Dimensions Academy Humanities.  My students are taking an accelerated course of AP Human Geography.  I wanted to share some picture of some recent activities.  Last week students completed infographics on agricultural topics that they choose. Some did it individually whereas other did it with a partner.  In class we did a gallery walk and everyone got to learn from each other's projects.  On the last day of our agriculture unit we had Socratic Seminars on food insecurity.  Students discussed student generated questions like "To what degree is it western country's responsibility to help developing countries with food insecurity?"and "What and when will the next agricultural revolution be?" Everyone is required to speak a minimum of two times and to come prepared to discuss the articles with 3-5 higher level discussion questions.  My favorite part of Socratic Seminars is that th...

I have been a big fan of Ian Byrd's blog for a long time and have tried to get into see him present at NAGC multiple times but haven't been able to get in.  I'm excited to be able to see him present today with Lisa Van Gemert (giftedguru.com) and to learn more about the Depth and Complexity framework.  I plan to use this in my teaching in DA Humanities and in professional development I'm leading in 2 weeks! 

Today I had the opportunity to observe the Nobel 9th grade class.  They were presenting their creative projects to each other for To Kill A Mocking Bird.  They got to focus on a form of current prejudice and connect it to the novel.  I saw projects on ageism, racism and sexism.  The students did a gallery walk and got to fill out comment sheets.  At the end 2 groups performed their projects.  I enjoyed getting to see the projects and getting to see what they had to say about each other's projects.  Natalie Pederson, our new Nobel instructor, is having a great year with these kids!  I'm excited to visit again next tri! 

Erin Boltik, BPS gifted and talented director, and I presented “Cultivating Creativity” on 11/2 at the MN Council for the Gifted and Talented conference at Robbinsdale Middle School.  We shared strategies for growing creativity with parents.

Dear Parents,  Bloomington Public Schools Gifted Department needs  to cancel our upcoming Dimensions Academy High School informational meetings currently scheduled for November 4 at Jefferson High School  and December 12th at Kennedy High School from 6:30-7:30p.m. In case you were interested in learning more about these programs for your student, and were planning to attend one of these meetings, we wanted to let you know that we have to reschedule. Feel free to let us know that you are interested in these advanced programming options and we will make sure to keep you in the communication loop.  Thank you for your understanding and sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. 

I received this info from Stanford this week: Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes   (Grades 8–11) A three-week summer residential program where students engage in single-subject intensive study and benefit from small class sizes and academically-themed residences. Stanford Summer Arts Institute   ( Grades 8–11) Students come together for a three-week intensive arts program offering academically challenging, interdisciplinary courses in art, music, architecture, and film. Stanford Summer Humanities Institute   (Grades 10–11) A three-week residential program where students explore the big questions at the heart of the humanities in seminars led by distinguished Stanford professors. Stanford AI4ALL   (Grade 9) Each summer, we partner with the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the non-profit, AI4ALL, to offer a summer program aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion in the field of AI. Stanford University Mathematics Camp (SUMaC)   (Grade...

As a part of our political geography unit we had Socratic Seminars in AP Human Geography on Friday October 25th and 28th about how Yugoslavia broke up in the late 1990s.  The students used a movie about the history of the conflict and some historical sources to prepare.  I was really impressed with their ability to draw connections between Yugoslavia and what's currently happening in India.  I was impressed that everyone came prepared with questions and that everyone spoke at least twice.  I look forward to future Socratic Seminars and building on these inquiry skills!

I had a great time at Normandale this morning with our 10th graders observing their Geology class.  They were looking at data and maps from NASA today to identify and describe trends.  

Parents, guardians and students interested in the Nobel Program at Kennedy High School are invited to attend an information session at KHS on  Tuesday, February 4th at 7pm in Kennedy Media Center (9701 Nicollet Ave in Bloomington).   ********** Nobel is an honors humanities pathway designed to nurture and develop the creativity of high school students and is housed at John F. Kennedy High School in Bloomington, MN.  Students who have been identified as creatively talented are grouped together in a cohort for key humanities classes and for their advisory where they work with teachers who have been trained to grow creativity.  Focusing on critical thinking and creativity, students will engage in a rich curriculum connecting literature, social sciences, philosophy and the arts.   Students are identified using the Torrance Test of Creativity and through their MAP reading test scores.  Students that graduate from the Valley View Middle School...

I had the pleasure of observing Natalie Pederson's Honors English class which houses our Nobel cohort. They had a Socratic Seminar today on To Kill A Mocking Bird and I loved hearing them explore the questions they had come up with.  I particularly enjoyed listening to them discuss how the book would have changed if Scout would have been a boy, whether the trial would have been different if it had happened in 2019 instead, and why do they think Harper Lee chose Scout as the narrator.  Today's discussion builds on the creative thinking the did earlier in the unit where they took the clues Harper Lee leaves the reader about Maycomb and they designed their own maps interpreting what Scout's hometown looked like.  I look forward to observing these creative thinkers again!

I found this article recently and it reminded me of how much stress/pressure we put on kids. https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/1/10/18174263/anxiety-kids-burnout?fbclid=IwAR1Noi5ecAKZWsLsD8eNeM3nN7WU0dtodUyQs7ga_2CNR5IL7J2ociwh1IM

I got to present to the Jefferson staff this morning at their staff meeting about the emotional needs of gifted teens.  I was asked to focus on depression, anxiety and perfectionism.  Here is the slideshow I used which also has links to resources I think are helpful.  I appreciate Jaysen Anderson inviting me in to share with his staff. 

This is a great article for all the parents of DAHS students to read. Why Getting 100% on Everything is Setting Gifted Students Up to Fail MARCH 6, 2019  by Jennifer Greene There’s something we’re not teaching our most talented students. If you’re the parent of an advanced student, you’re probably well aware that your child actively searches out more and more things to learn. It’s probably a struggle to keep providing them with new material they find interesting  and  challenging. Or maybe your student is a perfectionist. They study diligently, learning everything by heart to make sure they score 100% on every test. Anything less may even bring tears. All through school, these students—both the ones who focus on perfect scores, and the rarer ones who seem to achieve those scores without effort—earn excellent grades. They look at their report cards, and see nothing but top marks. But then they land in college, and face their first truly challenging class. Co...

I had a great time with the Asst. Superintendent and the Director of GT Services last night at the Governor's Mansion. We were hosted by the First Lady of MN and the MN Urban Debate League .  We got to hear from a diverse student panel about how debate has improved their lives.  It was fun to introduce the world of debate to some new people! 

Interested in graduating with an   Honors Diploma ?   Come to the informational meeting!  Wednesday, October 9th @ 7:40 am in the College and Career Center Can’t come?  Email Meredith Aby-Keirstead at  maby@isd271.org .  Forms will also be available in the Career Center.    

I had the opportunity to see DA STEM 10th graders use tilt ,  seismic , and gas data from volcanos today.  It was great to see our students thinking as real geologists!   Later on I got to observe our new DA Honors 9 English class where they worked at stations to analyze short stories for illusion, personification, symbolism, irony, conflict, imagery, and characterization.  They did a great job applying these concepts in their small group discussions and digging into the texts! I look forward to more opportunities to see our students learning.  

I co-lead this trip 2 years ago and I loved it!  I highly recommend seeing their presentations!   From Cory Elsmore - Hello! This summer, 7 Bloomington students (2 from Jefferson, 5 from Kennedy), travelled to Costa Rica to conduct research. This trip was facilitated by the organization Seeds of Change. Our students worked in partnership with Dr. Adrian Pinto of the University of Costa Rica, and performed research on leaf cutter ants. I could not be prouder of these students. Students had to create their own unique research proposal. Their proposals were vetted by Dr. Pinto and his team with all the very direct criticism that is expected in university level research. They were expected to document their work using the same standards expected at the University level. Finally, they needed to analyze and present their findings as any research major would be expected to do. The students rolled with all of this and performed admirably. You are invited to come an...

So glad that today we had a great turnout for Dartmouth at Kennedy today!  

The College Board Advanced Placement (AP) program has recognized 12 National AP Scholars, 40 AP Scholars with Distinction, 34 AP Scholars with Honor and 122 AP Scholars from Bloomington Jefferson and Kennedy high schools. National AP Scholars  are students with an average score of at least four on all AP exams and scores of four or higher on eight or more exams. National AP Scholars: Alexandra Janey, Abigail Larson, Neython Lec Streitz, Colden Longley, Charles Maki, Ryan Martz, Ryan Meany, Amelia Miller, Tomas Panvica, Isabella Phan, Jordan Thomson and Amy Wang. AP Scholars with Distinction  are students with an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on five or more exams.  AP Scholars with Distinction: Ingrid Anderson, Jacob Bechtold, Promise Benson, Katelynn Brandwick, Hannah Butala, Jillayne Clarke, Ruth Claycomb, Elyse Cooke, Willa Countryman, Peyton Crombie, David Elliot, Jessica Greymont, Kaija Johnson, Ella Jones, Luca...

Hello Again! We’re up to  40 families  who have expressed interest in the  2020 China trip  and 80 people attending our two meetings collectively next week!   If you haven’t already, please be sure to RSVP so we can plan accordingly for next week. Kennedy 9/17 meeting RSVP :  https://rsvp.eftours.com/ 6ek444u Jefferson 9/19 meeting RSVP :  https://rsvp.eftours.com/ t5efygm See you in China!   Meredith