OAGCT Newsletter
August 2017 - Special Populations Edition
President's Corner
Elizabeth Anne Albright
Welcome back to school! I have always loved the beginning of a new school year. The promise of new things to learn, different books, the smell of new pencils, and new school supplies. Summertime has come to an end and we are refreshed for a new beginning.
The Oklahoma Association of Gifted, Creative, and Talented is committed to promoting, supporting and improving educational opportunities, informing the general public, disseminating news, fostering professional growth, supporting legislation and funding for programs, working in cooperation with NAGC, and providing a forum for the exchange of information and ideas among the membership.
We want to be a resource for parents, teachers, and the community that is gifted, creative, and talented. We want to connect you with the resources you need to be successful in your position. If you are new to your position as the site coordinator for gifted students, or if you are a seasoned gifted teacher, we are here for you. Many OAGCT board members have advanced degrees or certification as gifted specialists. We are passionate about working with gifted students and their families around the state.
Contact the OAGCT board if you have questions or concerns. Bear in mind that most of us are teachers with busy schedules, so it may take time to get back to you, but we want to be able to help. There are gifted educators in this state who have several volumes of gifted education journals. If you have problems or questions, we will help connect you with answers and resources.
One resource available to gifted education teachers is the GO Foundation. If you are attending gifted education classes through one of the approved programs in Oklahoma, you are eligible to apply for the GO Foundation scholarship. The GO Foundation scholarship application can be found on the OAGCT website. Note that the application is due at the beginning of the course and a presentation at the OAGCT conference is required. Please contact the board if you have any questions about the application process.
On February 16th, 2018 we will host the OAGCT conference at Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater. This conference is an opportunity to connect with other professionals in your field, share stories and experiences, while gaining encouragement and knowledge from others around the country and the state. In addition to our keynote speaker, Ian Byrd, we will have a guest speaker from NAGC, Rene Islas. We hope you add this to your calendar. Please extend an invitation to your administrators and parents.
We want to be an advocacy resource for parents and teachers. It has become increasingly clear over the past few years that education is not valued by legislators in our state, and even in our country. It is important for parents and teachers to band together to address this issue. As teachers, we cannot simply advocate enough for what our students need. If there are going to be positive changes in education, then parents and teachers must stand together. This may mean recruiting parents to help write letters, visit offices, or attend town hall meetings to speak with legislators. This may mean that parents help organize thank you post cards for those who support positive education legislation. This does mean that parent members of OAGCT stand with teacher members of OAGCT to affect positive education change in the State of Oklahoma.
2018 OAGCT Conference
February 16, 2018
Oklahoma State University - Stillwater
Keynote Speaker: Ian Byrd
Author and Creator
A website dedicated to better understanding
of gifted learners
Also featuring M. Rene Islas
National Association for Gifted Children
Gifted English Language Learners
You never know who will see your work! At last year’s state conference I presented on underrepresented populations. A research reporter for Education Week contacted me about my presentation, data we use in the identification process and how our gifted program is evolving. Information from my interview as well as an interview with Pat O’Dea (gifted teacher at McClure Elementary and Marshall Elementary), and Mitchell Elementary principal Dr. Lyda Wilbur was included in the article.
Here is a link to the Education Week article, "Too Few ELL Students Land in Gifted Classes"
written by Sarah D. Sparks and Alex Harwin.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/06/21/too-few-ell-students-land-in-gifted.html
How Can I Identify and Serve Gifted English Language Learners?
By Brenda Maier
I recently sat down with Mary Casto, a woman who is uniquely qualified to speak about Gifted English Learners. Mary holds both a Masters in TESL and a Gifted Certification, and she serves as an English Learners Curriculum Specialist in the Union Public School District.
I asked Mary to share her expert opinion about how teachers can better identify Gifted English Language Learners. She emphasized the importance of flexibility in identification, which could involve using a nonverbal test such as the Naglieri, the Torrance Test of Creativity, or an IQ test in a student’s native language. Many schools do also consider some version of a teacher and parent checklist, but Mary cautions teachers to be aware that cultural norms can affect the way a student behaves. For example, a student might reach for the answer she thinks the teacher wants to hear rather than the one she actually believes.
If your school requires referrals before a child can be tested for giftedness, how can you tell if an English Language Learner should be referred? Mary suggests teachers look for language growth “that is beyond the normal scale.” Some children pick up English unusually quickly, but a child who has an aptitude for learning any subject quickly should also be referred for testing.
Once you do identify an English Language Learner as Gifted, how can you best serve the student? Entire books have been written about this subject, so I asked Mary if she could share a few of her best tips.
- · Find out what the student already knows, and don’t try to reteach it “our way.” For example, if a student learned multiplication in another country and that method works for him, respect that knowledge and move on.
- · Speak slowly, face the students so they can see your lips move, and do your best to point to things that would help aid in understanding—a word, an object, a picture.
- · If at all possible, put your plan or goal on the board, follow the steps, and restate or repeat the directions with synonyms.
- · Remember that five new words per day is about all a person can be expected to learn, but a gifted child may be able to learn more.
- · In order to become fluent in a language, a student must do four things well: say, hear, write, and read. All are important for a student’s success.
When I asked if there was anything else Mary wanted to share with teachers of Gifted English Learners, she had two final thoughts. “Remember, they’ve left their culture and are learning a new way to live,” she explains, “so we need to keep assessing them. Their needs can change.” In addition, she has noticed some teachers might mistakenly believe an English Language Learner requires remediation when it may not be necessary. We shouldn’t assume that. “If you can scaffold the lesson and the child can get it, the child isn’t in need of remediation.”
Beverly Riggs Scholarship Recipients
Andrew @ Art Camp
Britton @ STEM Camp
Miles @ Ozark Suzuki Institute
Stella @ Project Sew
Stella made a draw-string bag, a quilted water bottle holder with her initials embroidered on it, and a coin purse with a zipper. She really learned a lot in this week!
Eric @ Robotics Camp
Your student @ their dream camp
Late, Lost and Unprepared
Late, Lost and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning
By Joyce Cooper-Kahn and Laurie Dietzel
Since this issue of our publication is dealing with Gifted students and special populations, I decided to review a book and some curriculum that deals with Gifted and ADHD. I have a child at home that is GT and ADHD (and other alphabet soup letters) so I wanted to help others who might be struggling with these issues. Happy Reading!!!!
This book is mainly for people (students and adults) who have issues with executive functioning. According to the online dictionary, executive function is a set of mental skills that help you get things done. These skills are controlled by an area of the brain called the frontal lobe. Executive function helps you: manage time, pay attention, etc. All people who suffer from ADHD also suffer with executive function issues, but not everyone who suffers from EF also battles ADHD. The specific abilities that are included in EF include the following:
Inhibition - stopping and starting actions and thoughts at appropriate times.
Shift - moving from one situation to another and flexibility to respond appropriately.
Emotional Control - ability to use rational thought in a situation.
Initiation - ability to begin a task as well as plan out and problem solve through a task.
Working Memory - ability to hold information in your mind to finish a task.
Planning/Organization - ability to manage current and future tasks.
Organization of Materials - ability to organize materials in a certain way.
Self-Monitoring - self monitor one’s own performance in regard to a standard.
The first step in figuring out how to help people with this disorder is to contact a psychologist and have a comprehensive assessment performed. This will give the best road map as to what needs to be tackled first and what might be able to wait. After this is done, there are specific strategies that can be utilized to help the person in various situations. I will address some home strategies that pertain to school, homework and planning projects, but this book also discusses strategies pertaining to helping with controlling impulses, shifting gears, working memory, and monitoring behavior.
To help students with homework some general strategies are as follows:
Provide external structure, guidelines, support etc. - Put guides in place as to when the child will start, stop and take breaks in his homework routine.
Develop and stick to a schedule - This creates an autonomous situation for the child eventually. Provide verbal reminders to help get them going or keep them involved in the task. Try to review your child's homework needs with him daily, and work with him to plan out how much time will be needed for each task. Writing this down on a white board or calendar may help him concentrate better since he will not have to tax his already weak working memory skills.
Use technology - Use alarms to keep on task and allow breaks, or when a child should start back to a task. I really like the idea they give of setting an “hour” (or whatever time you feel is appropriate) for your child to do homework. Even if they are finished within this hour, they will then need to read a book before going on to a more self-selected task. This will also help keep them from rushing through their work.
Start the task with your child - get him started on the right foot. Use visual timers to help him see how long he has on certain assignments.
Use rewards - tangible, verbal, non-verbal. You can also use punishment or a loss of privileges. Some kids like playing “Beat the Clock”. This involves setting a timer and if the child finished the assignment before time's up, they win. This may not work well with older children or children who are anxious.
Strategies to help a child who puts off major projects:
Help your child make a list of all activities that need to be done during a project. Then assign a time amount for each activity from start to deadline. Post this so that you and the child can cross off activities when finished. This will allow all involved to make sure progress is being made in a timely manner.
Daily, review homework and long term assignments and record on a calendar.
Use a whiteboard or a visual mapping program on a computer to organize and plan assignments. Keep this posted where all can see progress being made. If this is out of sight, it will be out of mind since students suffering from EF also have working memory issues.
Consider the employment of an ADHD coach (or even a tutor). This may help if the child does not respond well to the parent when it comes to homework/projects.
If necessary, help the child narrow down the topics that they can research for a project. This will help get them started.
Work with your child to set up a reward for completing the activity on time and reasonably well done. The child needs to be involved as they will then have “buy -in” to complete the project. Keep a reminder of the reward handy to remind the student what he is working for.
I found this book to be full of many useful strategies to help students who are GT as well as ADHD. But there are also many web based activities to help students increase their EF. I would like to review a couple here.
http://www.cogmed.com/ - This is a web based program that consists of 25 sessions that are completed on the computer. They take 30-45 minutes each. All the activities are directed at increasing working memory and EF. This is a program that is run through doctor’s offices across the US. It can be costly and is described as hiring a personal trainer for your brain.
https://sites.google.com/a/mdirss.org/curriculum/response-to-intervention-rti/executive-function - This site lists the executive skill and then goes on to also list what each looks like, other relevant functions, as well as some resources for each skill.
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/activities-guide-enhancing-and-practicing-executive-function-skills-with-children-from-infancy-to-adolescence/ - This page has brochures that will help parents and children build EF skills and it is broken down by age group. It starts as young as 6 months old and goes through adolescence.
https://toolsofthemind.org/learn/tools-for-parents/ - This is a great article discussing EF and has suggestions to go with it.
http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/news/executive-function-issues/ - This article also has many great suggestions for helping students with EF issues.
https://adhd-naturally.com/adhd-children-books-about-adhd-anxiety-good-behavior-and-social-skills/ - Lists books that help students learn about their ADHD.
2017 OTA Encyclo-Media
This conference provides sessions which combine curriculum, technology, and classroom-tested techniques. Attendees will also be able to visit the exhibit hall with 150+ booths which are education related. The keynote speakers bring new ideas for educators to consider. All of this plus luncheons, receptions and opportunities to network with others.
Several OAGCT members will be presenting break out sessions. For more information visit http://www.ota.wildapricot.org/
Gifted in Disguise
I teach in a large, urban district where a high percentage of the students live in poverty. While we are able to keep many students from falling through the cracks with universal screening in second grade, not all students perform to the best of their ability in a group test setting. That means we must continue to search for gifted students at every grade level.
Some of my colleagues express frustration that no matter how many students they test, they still have difficulty identifying gifted students. Part of the problem may lie in the choice of test, but quite often the issue is the misconceptions held by the referring teachers. In a classroom full of challenging behaviors and underachieving students, it’s often the compliant, hard-working, high achievers who stand out and end up being referred for GT testing. What we must help our teachers understand is that those challenging behaviors may actually be gifted characteristics in disguise.
Early in my career, I was fortunate to receive training that focused on GT identification of students in poverty. The training was based on the book Removing the Mask: How to Identify and Develop Giftedness in Students from Poverty by Paul D. Slocumb, Ed. D., and Ruby K. Payne, Ph. D. It was eye-opening to say the least. In addition to explaining how the lack of resources (financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, support systems, relationships/role models, knowledge of hidden rules) impact students’ school performance, it also provided a great tool for understanding how gifted characteristics might manifest in students in poverty.
The Slocumb-Payne Teacher Perception Inventory © aha! Process, Inc., 2000 takes common characteristics of gifted students and shows how they might manifest positively and “negatively.” Students receive just as many points for the more negative manifestations as they would for the positive. See sample page below (used with permission).
Even thought my district utilizes our own teacher recommendation forms specifically designed for students in special populations, I’ve still found the Slocumb-Payne TPI to be a useful tool for helping teachers identify characteristics of giftedness in students with challenging behaviors. When I presented gifted characteristics as coins with two sides, “positive” and “negative”, it really gave teachers an “aha!” moment and led to more accurate GT referrals. Here are some abbreviated examples that I used for the “Flip Side” activity.
Positive Manifestation/ Negative Manifestation
Curious / Asks obnoxious questions
Eager to learn at accelerated rate / Rushes through work
Uses language well, advanced sense of humor / Sarcastic or smart mouthed
Focused on meeting high standards / Focused on own interests. Misses deadlines.
Self-starter with high standards / Perfectionism may delay starting or finishing projects
You can see the full TPI in the Removing the Mask book https://www.ahaprocess.com/store/removing-the-mask/
and order a set of inventories from https://www.ahaprocess.com/store/slocumb-payne-teacher-perception-inventory-25set/
By educating ourselves and our colleagues about the impact of poverty on gifted students, we empower ourselves to identify gifted students in poverty who may be hiding in plain sight.
Catch and Release
By Karen Dotson
Achieving equity in the identification process is a major challenge and a worthy goal. But the issue of equity is much more comprehensive than identification alone. Equity is just as vital in our provision of services for gifted students in poverty and in other special populations. In Removing the Mask: How to Identify and Develop Giftedness in Students from Poverty, Payne and Slocumb do an excellent job of practically illustrating the differences in resources, the hidden rules, and registers of language of socio-economic groups. They also emphasize the importance of understanding these differences.
Survival, relationships, and entertainment are three driving forces for students in poverty. Entering a gifted program may be viewed as a threat to these driving forces, particularly relationships. A parent in poverty may view the academic excellence and aspirations of their child as rejection or a threat to their relationship. Students in poverty may ridicule or ostracize their gifted friends for participating in the gifted program. These factors prompt some students to drop out of the program. Many of those who choose to stay in the program will eventually feel that they don’t belong anywhere if they also sense they aren’t fully accepted by their gifted classmates because of the disparities in their backgrounds.
The challenge for school personnel is to help them learn how to live in an academic world and, at the same time, in a neighborhood where survival is more important and valued than intellectual pursuits. (Slocumb, Payne 2010)
Relationships are a key to successfully working with gifted students in poverty. The more time the gifted educator can spend with the students the better. Identify students as early as possible. Provide as much time as possible with the gifted educator. (A self-contained looping or multi-age class is ideal for relationship building according to Slocumb and Payne.) Provide support and resources so the teacher comes to be seen as an advocate rather than an adversary.
Affective development is another key for success. All gifted students benefit from affective education due to their exceptionalities, but it is especially beneficial for those in poverty. Gifted in poverty need additional affective support for the feelings of alienation mentioned above. They may also benefit from behavioral support with both the hidden and explicit rules of school. Students in poverty may have minimal experience with boundaries and logical consequences at home. They need a teacher who can calmly, respectfully and supportively help them learn the boundaries. Speak respectfully to students making certain to not embarrass them in front of peers. Model appropriate ways to deal with frustration. View misbehavior as clues to underlying issues. Instead of hastily reacting to the behavior, take some time to ferret out those root causes so they can be addressed. Chapter 9 of Removing the Mask is an excellent resource for addressing affective issues.
Curriculum scaffolding increases the success of gifted students in poverty. Gifted students’ lack of resources often affects their academic readiness. Teachers may need to make modifications or provide scaffolding. However, to provide equity, the goals and objectives should be the same for all students regardless of socio-economic status. “If the focus is on the lower end of the learning because the students lack ‘the basics,’ then the gifted students from poverty may never get to the higher learning. While focusing on higher learning, the teacher must fill in the gaps of information and skills needed to achieve the higher learning.” (Slocumb, Payne 2010).
Curriculum design also has a significant impact on success. Survival and entertainment are driving forces in poverty. Incorporating storytelling and the arts is beneficial. Students in poverty also may show a preference for concrete learning that has practical, real-world application. “They gravitate well to real-world thinking and problem-solving situations, especially those that are highly open-ended and require the use of fluency and flexibility in attempting solutions.” (Van-Tassel Baska 2010)
Research also shows, “the use of a central concept, issue, or problem to guide the unfolding of student understanding” (Van-Tassel Baska 2010) is desirable. At first glance, this may seem to contradict the preference for real-world learning, but the two are not necessarily at odds. For example: During studies of the Civil War, a student may be disinterested, wondering how this information is important to his or her reality. If the goal of the Civil War unit is to constructively explore the nature and causes of conflict, then the learning becomes connected the students’ everyday life. When students are exposed to big ideas, principles, and themes across different disciplines, they can begin to internalize and synthesize those ideas. They can then recognize those big ideas in real-world situations and apply their understanding.
Likewise, if teachers begin to understand the themes and issues of poverty and how they affect students at school, we can more equitably identify and serve gifted students impacted by poverty. “Teachers who don’t understand the hidden rules of poverty all too often spend more time trying to remove the student from the program for the gifted rather than making the programmatic adjustments and efforts necessary to keep the student in the program. The student’s needs are the reason he/she should remain in the program; they are not reasons to remove the student from the program.” (Slocumb, Payne 2010) After investing much effort in identifying gifted students in poverty, we must provide equitable services to ensure their success. Otherwise we’re playing a game of “catch and release.”
Sources:
Slocumb, Paul D., and Ruby K. Payne. Removing the Mask: How to Identify and Develop Giftedness in Students from Poverty. Highlands, TX: Aha! Process, 2011. Print.
VanTassel-Baska, Joyce. Patterns and Profiles of Promising Learners from Poverty. Waco, TX: Prufrock, 2010. Print.
OSDE GT Coordinator Workshop
This is vital training for Oklahoma school personnel who are responsible for coordinating and managing a district Gifted Education program. Participants will learn about Oklahoma state statute, identification procedures, reporting, funding and budgeting, staff training, and student programming options. Information will be presented by the state Director of Gifted Education, as well as other experts in the field. Participants will receive resources and a professional development certificate upon completion of the training.
LOCATION
Francis Tuttle Technology Center - Rockwell Campus
12777 North Rockwell Avenue
Room D-1750
Oklahoma City, OK 73142
Important Notice from the Oklahoma State Department, Office of Gifted and Talented Education!
Due to the high demand, we have created an additional GT Coordinator Workshop by splitting the day on August 31. The morning session will now be repeated in the afternoon.
If you have already registered, you are still registered – for the MORNING session.
If you have not registered, you may now register for the AFTERNOON session via the link below.
If you wish to change your attendance status, you may do so by logging in to Event Brite and making those changes. Please make sure you are registered for only ONE session, either morning or afternoon, i.e., if you change your attendance from morning to afternoon, be sure to delete the original morning registration.
If you are on the waiting list, you will be automatically moved into any cancellations that occur.
MORNING SESSION: 9-11:30 a.m.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gifted-education-coordinators-training-am-session-tickets-31943437682
AFTERNOON SESSION: 1-3:30 p.m.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gifted-education-coordinator-training-pm-session-tickets-36786085171
Rebecca McLaughlin, M.Ed.
Director, Gifted Education, Advanced Placement (AP), and Arts in Education
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Ph: 405.521.4288
Fax: 405.521.2971
Considering Pull-Out
Wendy S. Leader, Ph. D.
The school year starts all too soon, in case your calendar hasn’t reminded you. Across the state, gifted and high-potential students will be attending classes every day, hoping to learn something new. Secondary students may be enrolled in honors classes, accelerated math or language arts classes that provide instruction beyond their grade level, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses, dual enrollment in high school and college courses, or special seminars. For elementary students, their needs are often addressed in pull-out instruction.
The term “pull-out” refers to removing some students from their regular classrooms for some period of time in order to receive different instruction in a different setting. After full-time regular instruction in regular classrooms – i.e., doing nothing – pull-out is the most common means of meeting the needs of gifted students in elementary schools (Westberg, et al., 1993).
Pull-out is a service delivery model, not a programming model, which refers to an all-encompassing approach including curriculum. The advantage to a non-specific service delivery model is that decisions about who is served, how often and for how long, where and by whom can be made by the people closest to the students – namely, local teachers and administrators. Every decision made with respect to pull-out programming has the possibility to make positive or negative impacts on students. Some elements to consider in pull-out programming include the following:
· Screening and identification
· Program model
· Program content
· Professional development
· Learning environment
· Communication
· Economics
· Resources
· Time commitment
· Cognitive benefits
· Affective benefits
(Gubbins, 2013)
Many decisions about pull-out instruction are made by those who are concerned primarily with being compliant with state law, with district or school budget limitations regarding personnel and materials, and with scheduling demands. Often these decisions have been made in previous years, and sometimes they are not revisited unless new law or regulation is passed or budget constraints come into play.
Despite these decisions being out of the teacher’s hands, they still affect what happens in gifted programming for students. For example, although you may have no say in how identification is conducted, you might still ask the following questions: Are all identified students expected to come to your gifted class, no matter their areas of strength? Are non-identified students allowed in your class if the programing meets their needs? Do different students attend during different times of the school year, depending upon the topics being addressed?
You also should look at how attendance in the gifted class is viewed by students, teachers, and parents. Is attendance in the gifted class considered a privilege to be “earned” through behavior and academic performance? Is it a “right” that is given only to those who qualify under strict guidelines? Are students “punished” for attendance by being forced to make up work missed in the regular classroom, by having to choose between the gifted class and another inviting elective, or by acquiring an additional homework burden? Are twice-exceptional students kept from gifted classes so that they can get the extra interventions they require for their areas of disability? Addressing these questions in advance will keep your program from causing unforeseen difficulties.
Program content is often a pitfall of pull-out instruction. A just criticism of some gifted classes is that the students receive opportunities for fun enrichment that are denied to other students. Decision-makers are advised to consider the well-known “litmus test” for curriculum for gifted learners. Derived from the principles for gifted education established by Virgil Ward (1961), this simple could-should-would “test” consists of three questions:
· Could all students do this work? If so, then the academic rigor is not sufficient to challenge gifted learners. Students are not motivated to learn when confronted with material they already know or with activities that can be completed easily and with little thought.
· Should all students do this work? If so, then the regular classroom is inefficient in providing necessary instruction to all students. All students need to meet standards set by the local education agency, with extra interventions supplied for those who need them.
· Would all students do this work? If the class for the gifted is merely providing opportunities for enrichment that all students would enjoy and gain benefit from, then that class is not qualitatively differentiated for the gifted. For learning to occur, the content needs to be just beyond what the gifted student can comfortably reach already (Tomlinson, 2001). Students are motivated to learn when confronted by material that is intriguing but unknown to them and by activities that engage them and require critical and creative thinking.
Designing learning experiences that meet these criteria lead the teacher naturally into creating a stimulating and appropriate learning environment that will lead to positive academic and affective outcomes.
Finally, your decisions about what and how to communicate will indicate the value of your program to others. Keeping classroom teachers up-to-date on what their students are learning in your classroom and sharing your resources and knowledge with your teaching colleagues will demonstrate that you value what happens for students in their classrooms, too. Letting parents know what you are teaching and why shows them that you are aware of the strengths and needs of their children and know how to address them. Being transparent about your materials and schedule and showing enthusiasm for professional development lets administrators know that you are thinking about all aspects of education.
No matter how experienced we become in education of the gifted, it is always a good idea to examine and re-examine our practices and decisions. Renewing our awareness gives us fresh energy to commit to the job of nurturing giftedness.
References
Gubbins, E. J. (2013). Cognitive and affective outcomes of pull-out programs. In Callahan, C. M. & Hertberg-Davis, H. L. (Eds.) Fundamentals of gifted education: Considering multiple perspectives, pp. 176-187. NY: Routledge.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Ward, V. S. (1961). Educating the gifted: An axiomatic approach. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Karen L. Westberg, K. L., Archambault, F. X., Dobyns, S. M., & Salvin, T. J. (1993). An observational study of instructional and curricular practices used with gifted and talented students in regular classrooms. Research Monograph 93104. Storrs, CT: National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute - Quartz Mountain
Don't miss your chance to participate in the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institue at Quartz Mountain. Educator enrollment begins August 14th. Last year, several OAGCT members enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the NASA STEAMakers! workshop described below.
Explore how visual art and maker experiences can transform STEM learning and leading with NASA’s new K-12 STEAM programs.
Interested in STEAM and the maker movement? Join celebrated teaching artists and STEAM specialists Tyler & Monica Aiello of Eurekus for an exciting workshop investigating the power of arts-integration. As NASA consultants, the Aiellos have designed a suite of STEAM and maker-based programs to galvanize STEM learning through a variety of art forms. Have a blast exploring STEAM best practices and implementation strategies while training on their dynamic NASA programs hands-on. Explore our solar system, ancient astronomy, and cultural sky stories through mixed-media works. Investigate how kinetic sculpture can galvanize design-thinking, engineering, and language literacy. And discover how technology and design can transform collaborative creativity while building motorized mobiles. Get all the tools you need to take STEAM practice and engaging curriculum and projects back to your own classrooms and creative communities. All projects are scalable for K-12. Great for formal and informal educators and life-long learners.
Educators currently employed in Oklahoma public schools automatically receive full scholarships to attend OFAI. Scholarships include tuition and room and board. Scholarships are provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and private donors. Additional funding is provided by the Oklahoma Arts Council. Educators are responsible for a non-refundable $30 registration fee, and visual arts classes have a $30 studio fee.
Visit the website for all the details! https://oaiquartz.org/OFAI/weekend-1