Well, the official GATE support program is over for the year. Teachers will continue to differentiate for your students in their classrooms. 

It has been a great year for me, working with your children.  This year we learned:

• Thinking Maps, using a Frame of Reference
• Depth and Complexity icons (6th gd)
• blogging
• cybersafety
• emailing classes across the country
• we looked deeply at topics such as Water, Natural Disasters, and Global Warming
• Slippery Science and Mineral Mania
• wikis
• social-emotional issues with gifted children

A special thank you to Drew’s mom, Juanita Harris for helping with 5th grade each week!  Thanks to Mrs. Gil for her support with the program as well.

There will be a GATE parent meeting at the District office on Wednesday, April 27 from 6-7 in the ESSC Room.

I will be teaching Mrs. Hasting’s 5th grade class for the rest of the year since she is moving and getting married! See you around school!

We are honored to have a guest speaker, Dr. Morgan Appel from UCSD speak to us about gifted children.

Here are some of the main points that I learned as I was listening:

The Brain!

Every learning moment has a cognitive and an emotional component.

Evolution of the brain:

1. Primitive dinosaur brain has “fight or flight” survival.

2. Limbic system of mammals: behavioral response based on learning.

3. Neocortex of human brain: Social, emotional

Gifted Brains…

process constantly.

are hypersensitive.

have increased memory efficiency and capacity.

have “analysis paralysis”.

learn incidentally (cognitive flypaper).

 For gifted and high acheiving kids, 50% of the year’s curriculum can be skipped without ill effects. 

Asynchronous Development: 

 A typical child develops +1physical; +1cognitive, +1Social emotional per year.

A gifted child develops +1 physically, +3 cognitive, – 1 social/emotionally.

Gifted kids look outwardly for approval and inwardly for blame.

How can parents help?

take complaints of boredom seriously.

help with organizational and study skills.

model downtime

praise process as well as product.

talk with the teacher about providing application and abstraction, rather than manipulation.

LOVE THEM, unique quirks and all!!

Resources:

hoagiesgifted.org

email Mr. Appel: mappel@ucsd.edu

For the latest news on gifted education, please visit the UCSD Education Department on Facebook!

McMillin will be hosting a guest speaker, Dr. Morgan Appel from UCSD. He will be discussing the socio-emotional characteristics of the gifted child. Please join us on March 15 at 9-10am or 5-6pm in the auditorium. Hope to see you there!