Together we can make a difference!
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Meade
We are looking for parents, teachers, and students who support advanced and gifted education for Rochester Community Schools in Michigan. Please subscribe to Rochester SAGE to receive updates.
Also, please visit the "How to Help" link in the upper right.
Opportunity: Online Classes for Gifted Students?
Michigan has a new opportunity for gifted learners! Students 5th grade and up can take up to two online classes in place of their standard classes. While available to all students 5th grade and up, this opens the door for gifted students to take advanced classes through other districts or Michigan Virtual University that their district does not offer. This new opportunity has been created through Section 21f of the Michigan State School Aid Act.
Students can find classes to enroll in via Michigan’s Online Course Catalog at https://micourses.org/, but need to enroll through their home district. A very helpful F.A.Q. is available at http://media.mivu.org/institute/pdf/21F_FAQS.PDF.
A student taking an online class may make some parents nervous. However, all classes will be taught by certified teachers and the student’s home district is required to supply a teacher as a mentor for the class.
Gifted students in Michigan need your help! As this opportunity is new, the courses listed thus far are limited. It is expected that many districts will be adding courses in the next few months. Please contact your district and districts near you to ask if they will be offering online classes for gifted learners under Section 21f and which courses they plan to offer. By being out front in this, we have a chance to increase options for gifted learners.
When you hear back from other districts about their course offerings, please post a comment with their response. Do not worry about overlapping. The more parents that contact a district, the more likely they will be to offer these classes.
Thank you for reading Rochester SAGE. Together we can make a difference for gifted children!
Music, Lessons in Life and Gifted Education
Genuinely excellent education is not restricted to bringing individuals up to a preconceived standard of performance, to “norms”; rather it seeks to encourage each individual to develop standards for himself, to give him a clear perception of all that he might become as well as the opportunity to realize his personal vision. – Talent Development: An Investment in the Nation’s Future
The habits we form from childhood make no small difference, but rather they make all the difference. – Aristotle
One of the most valuable things my daughters do is take piano lessons. Oh, I don’t really care if they can play an instrument, although I do think that it would be cool if they could also learn drums and upright bass and form a jazz trio. Nope, it is the non-musical lessons that they are learning that are the real value.
1) They learn to work at their own pace. In music lessons, students move on when they have mastered the previous lesson. The students don’t move up based on age or grade level. They can move fast or slow. It all depends on each student’s ability and dedication. This is an important lesson in self determination and self-directed learning. Read more…
Adventures in Math Acceleration
“Adult surveys of gifted individuals reveal that they do not regret their acceleration. Rather, they regret not having accelerated more.” – The Journal of Applied Psychology, Lubinski, Webb, et al. (2001)
“Meta-analytic reviews have consistently concluded that education acceleration helps students academically without shortchanging them socially and emotionally”. – James A. Kulik, The University of Michigan
This past summer we embarked on a journey, a journey of acceleration in math.
It was time. It was past time. Our daughters had been complaining since entering school that they weren’t learning anything in math and the tests showed that was true. Our eldest daughter, entering fourth grade, and our middle daughter, entering second grade, had both been tested for acceleration in math in the past. Each time they were given the end of the year test and each time scored in the mid to upper 70 percents. While this may not sound high, it meant that only 20-25% of the material in math that year would be new and the bulk would be review of concepts they already knew. However, Rochester Community Schools requires 90% to accelerate in math and they had not met that standard.
It is tough to accelerate in math in Rochester Community Schools. While many districts recommend 80% on the end of the year test for acceleration, RCS’s standard is higher and more difficult to obtain. In addition, Everyday Math, also known as Chicago Math, covers a vast number of topics superficially each year instead of the in-depth study of a few areas most students in the 1980s did. (Common Core is expected to change to in-depth study, but the results remain to be seen.) Our daughters were answering correctly on the areas they had been exposed to, but there were concepts they hadn’t been introduced to that they could not correctly answer. Not having been exposed to a few of the 20 or so topics each year means the student does not pass.
In addition, instruction in the district is not set up to accelerate a student to the next year’s material. Differentiation in the Math Workshop model and using Everyday Math’s extension worksheets does not move the student to the next concept but digs deeper into the current topic, resulting in the problem stated previously. Teachers also have limited time to differentiate instruction, have many levels to differentiate for, and are under considerable pressure by “No Child Left Behind” and the state to use that time on the struggling student. We have had teachers who have told us they don’t have time to differentiate, provided differentiated worksheets without differentiated instruction, or stated that they should not be expected to know the next year’s curriculum. We do not blame the teachers. It is the system that is broken.
Three Important Events for the Gifted Community
Three great chances to make a difference for gifted children are happening this week! These are excellent opportunities to become more involved in advocacy for gifted learners and to find out more about what gifted students need to succeed.
Superintendent Community Coffee
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Parker Room at the Administration Center
RCS Superintendent Bob Shaner will give a presentation on a particular topic, followed by informal dialogue.
Often sparsely attended, these meetings provide an excellent opportunity to share your experiences and advocate for increased gifted services district-wide.
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Rochester Community Schools Strategic Planning Community Event
Saturday, October 12, 2013 from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Stoney Creek High School Auditorium
Rochester Community Schools is embarking on the development of a dynamic strategic plan and is encouraging all community stakeholders to attend this important Community Planning Event!
Keynote speaker Will Richardson, parent, blogger and author of Why School, will start the morning with a thought provoking message about what schools look like in a 2.0 world. Following his presentation, participants will have the opportunity to brain storm big ideas and goal areas that will help establish a foundation for building the kind of globally competitive education our students need and deserve.
RCS’s strategic plan will be created from input here and the followup meetings will influence our district for the next decade. If you want increased options for your gifted children, this is an important event to attend! Register at http://rcsstrategicplan.eventbrite.com/
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Michigan Association for Gifted Children Fall Conference – Kick It Up a Notch
Saturday, October 12, 2013, from 8:30 AM to 4 PM at Baker College in Auburn Hills
Top experts in the field of gifted education will host sessions aimed at parents and teachers of gifted learners. Gifted children will have an activity room with art workshops, robotics, and more.
The MAGC Conference is an excellent opportunity to understand your gifted learners better. It is close to Rochester and very reasonably priced. More information and registration link is at http://m90212.wix.com/magc
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I hope to see you at one or more of these events! Please post in the comments if you are coming so that we can meet.
Thank you for reading Rochester SAGE. Together we can make a difference for gifted children!
Come represent gifted students at the RCS Strategic Planning Community Event! Register now at rcsstrategicplan.eventbrite.com
It is time that RCS be as excellent for gifted students as it is for average and struggling students!
It is time that RCS invest in the academically gifted to the same extent that they invest in the athletically gifted!
It is time that RCS commits to students moving at the academic pace they are capable of and not holding back their progress!
Your voice is needed! Where will this district go in the next decade? Will parents of gifted students take a vocal stand or meekly be satisfied with the leftovers? TOGETHER we can make a difference for gifted children! TOGETHER we can make a difference for YOUR child!
12 Lessons About Gifted Kids from Matilda
Has your gifted child read ‘Matilda’? Have you?
The lovable title character in Roald Dahl’s Matilda is a precocious young girl who can teach the world a lot about gifted kids. Here are 12 lessons from the novel:
1. Signs of giftedness can often be seen early in a child’s life. Matilda is depicted as an extremely precocious and advanced child, speaking perfectly by 18 months, reading by age 3, and multiplying double-digit numbers in her head by age 5.
2. Giftedness is innate, not taught. One myth about gifted children is that they are the product of pushy parents. This may be true with some high-achieving children, but it is not generally true of gifted kids, whose intellectual ability comes naturally, sometimes even without any parental support. By giving Matilda parents who have absolutely no interest in her abilities or education, Dahl illustrates that some children just have natural intellectual ability.
3. Gifted children love to learn…
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Superintendent’s Community Coffees
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Dr. Robert Shaner, Rochester Community Schools Superintendent, will host a Community Coffee on regularly scheduled dates beginning October 9, 2013 through April 2014. Coffees will include a presentation on a particular topic, followed by informal dialogue. The schedule is as follows:
- Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Parker Room
- Wednesday, November 13, 2013, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Parker Room
- Wednesday, January 8, 2014, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Parker Room
- Wednesday, February 12, 2014, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Parker Room
- Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Parker Room
- Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Parker Room
All events are at the RCS Administration Building, 501 W. University, Rochester, Michigan 48307.
Superintendent Community Coffees are an excellent opportunity to discuss your family’s experience in Rochester Community Schools and what options for gifted education you would like to see. Please come and join the dialogue!
Thank you for reading Rochester SAGE! Together we can make a difference for gifted children!
MAGC Fall Conference – October 12, 2013
Michigan Association for Gifted Children
Fall Conference 2013
The Michigan Association for Gifted Children Fall Conference is coming up soon and this year it is local!
This year’s conference is headlined by Susan Winebrenner, national authority on Cluster Grouping and author of Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom. Other featured speakers include experts in acceleration, assessment, and the social and emotional needs of gifted children.
These seminars will help parents, teachers, and school administrators of gifted children more effectively meet their needs and provide the right education for them. Teachers and administrators can even earn SCECHs, State Continuing Education Clock Hours!
For gifted youth, the conference features many workshop activities, both STEM and artistic. They can play with Lego Mindstorm robots or create art with clay and balloons.
Local gifted schools and vendors with products to enrich the experiences of gifted children will be available to talk to or purchase items from. Prizes from many of these vendors will be raffled off at the end of the day!
Best of all, it is in close-by Auburn Hills and is inexpensive! For $45 member / $55 non-member, you get an entire day of excellent and informative speakers, a taco bar lunch, and the opportunity to meet other parents with gifted children and teachers committed to meeting the needs of gifted children!
For more information, go to http://migiftedchild.org/conference/ and register at https://www.formstack.com/forms/?1493108-TMGU4v0Nvt
Thank you for reading Rochester SAGE. Together we can make a difference for gifted children!
Scholarship One of Most Generous in Nation for High School Seniors
Lansdowne, VA
“Today the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation opens a new college scholarship for high-achieving, lower-income high school seniors who seek to attend the country’s best four-year colleges and universities. In what is expected to be an extremely competitive scholarship, as many as 40 recipients will be awarded up to $30,000 each year for tuition, books, living expenses, and other required fees. The application is open through November 5, 2013. Final notification will be made in February 2014.
Low-income students attending even the best colleges often have unmet need and the transition to college can be challenging for many. “Though we are proud to offer one of the most generous college scholarships in the country, our program will do more than alleviate the financial burden of higher education,” said Emily Froimson, vice president of programs at the Foundation. “Scholarship…
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Rochester SAGE - Supporting Advanced & Gifted Education 