Gifted and Talented News
By Lenora Barnes 2/12/16
THIS WEEK
This week the students completed a creative thinking activity that required them to combine two unrelated topics. Each grade level class was asked to combine Valentine's Day with the read aloud book that their class is currently reading and then illustrate and explain the combination. The students found this activity to be very challenging at first, but were able to formulate and communicate many great ideas. I shared an article with them that demonstrated how being able to think creatively to combine unrelated ideas or objects can result in helpful, innovative products. Please click below to read the article about how plants and LED lights were combined to provide a much needed light source for a village in Peru.
The students continued to work on their long-tern TPSP projects this week as well. In addition to the actual research problem, we are working on computer skills, the research process, organization, and time management.
UPCOMING
2/20/16 - Destination Imagination Tournament - This year MISD will have 8 teams competing in the tournament at Oakridge High School. We would love to see you there!
Below you will find the campus, team manager, team name, and central challenge presentation time for each of MISD's DI teams.
MRE- Shannon Torcoletti- MRE - In Plain Sight - 10:40 AM
LSE- Kayla McCurry- The Dude and Dudettes- The Meme Event - 9:40 AM
MES- Nikki Taylor- MES - In Plain Sight - 11:00 AM
SCE- Stephanie Dooley - 7 Tall Tailes - Pace of Change - 10:00 AM
MIS - Kathy Wheat - Montgomery Little Helpers- The Meme Event - 8:00 AM
MIS - Lisa Miller -The Montgomery Beats - Musical Mashup - 9:00 AM
MIS - Kyle Reinholtz - Montgomery Miracles- Pace of Change - 3:00 PM
MMS- Murrai Scanlon - DInamite - Close Encounters - 2:40 PM
No GT Class (I will be attending the TAGT Leadership Conference.) - April 4-5, 2016 (Mon. & Tues.)
Noetic Math Challenge Contest - Week of April 8, 2016
Third and Fourth Grade TPSP Project Presentations - Week of April 25, 2016
DID YOU KNOW?
Curiosita
"Curiosita, an insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning- comes first because the desire to know, to learn, and to grow is the powerhouse of knowledge, wisdom, and discovery" (Gelb, 1998, p. 9).
One of the biggest misconceptions about the use of creativity or creative thinking in schools is that is belongs in the areas of art, music, drama, and dance. The truth is we need creativity in all content areas. Creativity can be used to make learning environments more meaningful and engaging for students (Shade & Shade, 2011).
Creativity is also one of the 21st century skills that our students must have to be prepared for the future. Creativity, one of the 4 C's, will serve our students well in their future world, where the type of jobs they will have and the problems they will need to solve have not yet been imagined. Creativity and curiosity are essential for our future innovators. We need to facilitate and encourage the development of both.
This week I want to share the stories of a couple of teens that have both of these characteristics in spades. The first is a link to a TED talk by Jack Andraka who developed an early detection test for pancreatic cancer before he was 16 years old. He was a keynote speaker at the Texas Association of Gifted and Talented conference this year. Amazing. The next is an article about a young girl who developed a new way to purify water.