GREAT THINKING THURSDAY
For Klein ISD Educators of Gifted/Advanced Learners
April 2, 2020
TEACHER BECOMES AUTHOR TO MEET THE NEEDS OF GIFTED/ADVANCED LEARNERS!
By Carie Barber, Program Coordinator, Advanced Academics
Letta Cato knows her students by name, strength, and need. She is personally invested in growing and stretching every one of her students, especially those she has had for three school years in a row! Mrs. Cato currently teaches the 2nd/3rd grade multi-age gifted class at Roth Elementary. She has truly embraced the idea that gifted learners need challenge. Given the opportunity to work with high-ability learners in this pilot program, she jumped in with both feet to tackle two grade levels and four core content areas. Being the only teacher in the district made lesson planning a lonely endeavor. However, through this thoughtful planning for a unique population of students, she made an interesting discovery. Cato noticed a shortage of read-aloud resources for high ability students and took it upon herself to fix it by writing and publishing her own book. Cato says, “Mentor texts for teachers of advanced learners are limited and I want to change that one book at a time.”
Oh No! Not Mrs. Martin, Again! chronicles a 2nd grade student who gets the same teacher she had in 1st grade and follows her journey through a school year where she is challenged by her teacher. Sierra learns to embrace rigor and appreciate all she has learned from Mrs. Martin. Cato also infuses the text with advanced vocabulary and opportunities for thoughtful reflection.
We are so proud of and impressed by this Forever Learner and P2P Investor who exemplifies the Profile of a Gifted Teacher! Congrats to Letta Cato and her new book. Oh No! Not Mrs. Martin, Again! Is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
EcoRise - Not Just Another Resource for Ehrhardt Environmentalists
By Stacie Mehaffey, Ehrhardt, 3rd grade, GT Advocate
A couple of years ago I was struggling to find a way to help students understand the importance of taking care of our environment and Earth. We teach the 3R’s every year (reduce, reuse, recycle); the students are able to recite what it means, create projects that reflect what we should do, and maybe complete a campus project for Earth Day. Outside of that day, there seemed to be little proof that we (me included) took those ideas to heart or applied them on a regular basis. I was looking for a way to instill these important concepts more frequently and have tangible outcomes. It was randomly mentioned to me that EcoRise might have something along these lines.
AAAAAhhhhhh!!! *Cue angels descending* Enter EcoRise and their amazing curriculum with a combination of sustainability, social responsibility, and fun! There are a range of lessons that are already aligned to the TEKS per each grade level. These lessons have been cultivated to teach the 3 pillars of sustainability, which are: social, economic, and environment. Teachers and students are able to navigate through lessons about water, air, energy, waste, ect. to get an in-depth understanding of the concerns we have for our environment. The curriculum has clear lesson plans and amazing graphics to support the teacher and students.
Most of the time, our learning ends here. There is often not an opportunity to apply the knowledge obtained. This is where EcoRise excels! At the end of the lessons, EcoRise encourages the students to get out and explore their environment and challenge the status quo. There are EcoAudits that are well scaffolded for the students to do independent or group surveys. Did I mention grants? That is right, after the many different audits/surveys that can be completed, students and teachers can use their data to write a grant to make a change to improve their current environment.
After finding this amazing resource, my classroom was able to complete the lessons and conducted our own EcoAudit and grant with success! The students that worked through the lessons and completed the audits are now passionate about our environment and have a better understanding of the work we must do each day to make a change. I encourage you to check out EcoRise and incorporate it into your science regimen!
Lillian’s Project:
Lillian Hall, a 3rd grade GT student at Ehrhardt Elementary, wanted to study chemistry for her GT project. After a lot of questioning, we got to her real “why”. She did not understand why people would use harmful chemicals to clean things when you can use natural elements that would not be nearly as harmful. Thus after researching which elements would work well together and which would be toxic, she created her own cleaning solution!
Check out EcoRise and their grant submissions:
https://www.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEB&search_query=ecorise
Professional Learning:
HAC: FREE Online GT Update Courses!
If you have not yet earned the annual 6 hour update for gifted/talented, please visit the link below to register for one of these outstanding courses!
NAGC: Best Practices and Technology Tools
AVID: HOME MADE DOCUMENT CAMERA!
Update from the College Board: AP Classroom Resources
Free: AP Webinar Series!!
The College Board has added a few additional options in April to participate in our two-part webinar series, "AP® Instructional Resources and Supports," focusing on getting the most out of AP Classroom. Similar to previous sessions, we'll cover the following:
April 21
Webinar 1 (Foundations): Learn how AP Classroom supports the new AP course and exam descriptions and offers students opportunities for practice and feedback throughout the year.
Webinar 1 (Foundations) Dates:
April 2, April 22
Webinar 2 (AP Classroom Demo): See a live demonstration of AP Classroom, highlighting how to assign, score, and interpret results from topic questions, personal progress checks, and teacher-created assignments and quizzes.
Webinar 2 (AP Classroom Demo) Dates:
All remaining sessions in April will begin at 7 p.m. ET and will include time at the end for participants to ask questions and share feedback.
Additional College Board AP Webinars: FREE and Recorded!
AP Histories: Creative Student Centered Projects
Recording will be available on the AP Histories Teacher Community the following day.
AP Physics: Instructional Strategies for Effective Writing
Recording will be available on the AP Physics Teacher Community the following day.
KLEIN ISD VIRTUAL Learning and SMORE Resources
Please watch email for additional resources from Teaching and Learning regarding extended learning opportunities for available on kisd.us/StaffAtHomeLearning. Keep visiting this site for future updates!
This outstanding SMORE newsletter is COMPLETELY full of resources for teachers to utilize as we transform and REIMAGINE learning for our #KleinFamily!
Family and Community Involvement
When visiting Advanced Academics-Gifted/Talented page, scroll down to the bottom and check out SUPERCHARGED SCIENCE-truly an incredible site!