DA STEM Parent letter 11/4/2021

November 4, 2021 Dear Parents and Guardians of DA 10 cohort, We have noticed that this semester is significantly more difficult for some of our DAHS students than previous years. We appreciate that many of you answered the survey the GT department sent out. The data demonstrated what we are seeing in class - we have a wide range of experiences right now in the DA STEM program and some of our students are very stressed. What we are seeing in Bloomington is similar to the experiences of educators (including other AP teachers and gifted advocates) across the country. Many of our students are struggling in ways which hadn’t manifested in pre-pandemic times. We are now seeing many members of our cohort struggle with self-regulation, the ability to focus on their work, their ability to ask questions, their ability to work with peers on an academic task, and are struggling with issues of depression and anxiety. We want to be responsive and support our gifted learners. I have met with Mr. Kersten and Mr. Foley and would like to offer the following types of support: Self Advocacy Many students are frustrated that learning calculus and physics is hard and they are struggling to ask for help both in class and outside of class. I have had multiple students say to me that they don’t want to ask questions - they want to figure it out for themselves. I have had parents say to me that their kids are spending too much time being confused and looking for internet videos to help them understand the material. Both teachers think that when your student is frustrated they should stop working and take a break and/or go to sleep. Then come into school the next morning early to get help. Frequently a 5 -10 minute one on one conversation is exactly what they need to get back on track! Both teachers have before and after school office hours posted in their classroom and/or on Canvas. Please encourage your student to do their reading/video watching and complete the homework on time or early. We assist with this; we highly encourage students to utilize the calendars that the teachers have given them so students can come to class with their questions before the homework is due and can ask before, during or after class. We have many students who are procrastinating - leaving their homework and learning until right before the assignment is due which is contributing negatively to their stress levels. Additionally, both teachers allow retakes. Students should be encouraged to figure out why they struggled on specific test questions because they will have another opportunity to demonstrate mastery this trimester. Mr. Foley and Mr Kersten have remediation they have students do to prepare for retakes which can help guide their restudying efforts. This could be something that a student could work on with a tutor or complete during office hours. Jefferson has a testing center for after school and I am currently offering retakes at KHS on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Fridays after school in my classroom C101. Study Groups Students are encouraged to form their own study groups to work on homework and to prepare for tests together. Some students do this in person outside of school while others use Google meet from their homes to work together. As I said before, many of our students are struggling with their ability to work with other students and to ask questions, so this strategy could help with both. Practice One of the key differences between high school and college is the amount of practice students are required to do. These gifted students do not need as much practice as their counterparts at JHS/KHS which is why they can do a year’s worth of math or science in a semester. However, some of them need more practice than what they are required to do in AP. Additionally, our students sometimes need to notice when they can do something without assistance from their notes versus when they cannot. This is a new experience for many DA students in that they are not used to needing to think, after they are done with their homework, about whether they are ready for the test. Please encourage your student to mark areas of their homework on which they need assistance to complete, so that before the test they can try to do it again but without notes. For more information on this strategy I encourage you to read this section from A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science to learn more about practice strategies. Tutoring The Jefferson National Honors Society offers several student members to help tutor. We have students who are able to tutor in both DA classes. You can find them on the NHS website here (https://sites.google.com/view/jeffersonnhs/find-a-tutor) and sign up for an online tutoring session through Google Meet. I particularly recommend Megan Zheng, Andrew Barton, and Sneezy Medvedovski for help with Calculus. Megan Zheng is also available for AP Physics C tutoring. At Kennedy the National Honors Society doesn’t have folks set up for tutoring at the DA level. However, we have 2 DA alums, Malachi Martichuski and Huang Nguyen, who have agreed to help tutor KHS students in AP Calc BC. I can help students get in touch with them for assistance. I have also connected students with DA alums like Jamie Melville for tutoring in AP Physics C. Balance and Social Emotional Needs The DA STEM program is very challenging and many of our cohort members are also in DA Humanities. Because of the challenges of this year, for some of our students taking DA they might benefit from taking a DA hybrid schedule. Trimester 1 ends on December 2nd and we can make schedule changes for Trimester 2. Students could choose to stay in AP Calc BC and transfer out of AP Physics C to General Physics if they want to stay in the cohort but change the level of rigor so that it is a better match for them. General Physics not AP but it is a senior level class. Similarly, we can change their DA Humanities schedule to better fit their academic and social emotional needs. Planning for Next Year We are in the process of transitioning our 2 year DA STEM program to a 4 year program. Our plan for now is that your student will take AP Biology next year and AP Chemistry their senior year. Additionally, we will move AP Physics C to senior year for future cohorts so that students will take it as a review of calculus before they go to college instead of while they are taking calculus. We hope these strategies will be successful. Please let us know if we can do anything to support your student. Sincerely, Meredith Aby-Keirstead for the Gifted Department