This document summarizes the topics discussed at a back-to-school night meeting for parents of students at Jefferson Middle School. It introduces gifted education opportunities including Model UN, enrichment activities, and advocacy. It defines giftedness, discusses the social and emotional needs of gifted students, and strategies for supporting gifted children. Resources for parents on gifted topics are also provided.

1. Jefferson Middle School
Back-to-School Night Parent Meeting
September 23, 2014

2.  You tube video Clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omx_iLtMjZA&list=WLt726B7fCGEvagt2GxtyHB4BKvvecl6O5

3. Introductions:
 Mr. Adriane and Mrs. Cheryl Hasenmayer, GATE Parent
Advisory Leads
 Mrs. Michele Aragon, GATE Teacher Lead
 Ms Lisa Daddario, YMCA Program Director,
Model United Nations
 Mrs. Lisa Jones, Assistant Principal
 Mrs. Kara Heinrich, Principal

4. Today’s Topics:
 Model UN Opportunity
 Parent Support:
◦ What does it mean to be gifted?
◦ What are some of the common issues gifted children
experience?
◦ Why is advocacy for gifted students important?
 Gifted and Talented (GATE) at JMS:
◦ JMS Site Enrichment Opportunities via TUSD
◦ JMS Parent Lead Enrichment Activities

5. What Does it Mean to be “Gifted”?
Gifted and talented children are those identified by
professionally qualified persons who by virtue of
outstanding abilities are capable of high performance.
Children capable of high performance include those with
demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of
the following areas:
•General intellectual ability
 Specific academic aptitude
 Creative or productive thinking
 Leadership ability
 Visual and performing arts
 Psychomotor ability
U.S. Department of Education

6. Highly Sensitive to
sounds and touch
Learned to read and
speak early
Looks before s/he leaps
Large Vocabulary
Loves the word “WHY”
Not keen on birthday
parties
Difficulty making
friend and/or managing
relationships
Keen Ability to interpret Non-
Verbal Cues
Excellent Problem-Solvers
Focused on Concentration for
Long Periods of Time
Boundless Energy Large Store-House of Information
You might have noticed in your child along the way…….

7. Giftedness is
Asynchronous Development
 Gifted students possess advanced cognitive abilities
and heightened intensity which combine to create
inner experiences and awareness that are
qualitatively different from the norm.
 This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual
capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them
particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in
parenting, teaching, and counseling in order for
them to develop optimally.

8. Redefining Giftedness:
 The development or talent is a lifelong process. It can
be evident in young children as exceptional
performance on tests and/or other measures of ability
or as a rapid rate of learning.
 As individuals progress through childhood to
adolescence, achievement and high levels of
motivation in the domain become the primary
characteristics of their giftedness.
 Various factors can either enhance or inhibit the
development and expression of abilities.

9. Key Factors That Drive Success:
 10,000 hours of sustained, purposeful
practice
 Agassi hit a million balls a year.
 Mozart put in the hours. He had
clocked-up 3500 hours by the time he
was six and had studied his art for 18
years before he wrote his Piano concerto No 9 at
the age of 21.
 Tiger Woods started when he was 2 years old.

10. Key Factors That Drive Success:
 Mindset of hard work - innate talent versus
perseverance
 Pushing past one’s comfort zone
 Expectations
 Belief
 Quality feedback
 Learning from failure

11. Dealing Productively With Failure
Experiencing occasional failure and frustration are essential, because every
child must learn how to appropriately interpret personal failure and
Difficulties to be able to productively cope with the demands of the
real world.
Successful Failures:
•Michael Jordan was cut from his high school
basketball team.
•Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting during
his lifetime.
•Stephen Spielberg was rejected from the University
of Southern California School of Theater, Film and
Television three times.
•Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because
"he lacked imagination."

12. Want to Know More?

13. Frequent Characteristics & Potential Roadblocks
Strengths Possible Problems
Inquisitive and show
intellectual curiosity
Strong-willed, may ask embarrassing questions, expect the same in others,
tend to dominate conversations, perceived as a “show-off”
Acquire and retain
information quickly
Impatient with slowness of others, dislike routine and drill, may resist
mastering foundational skills, may make concepts unduly complex
Possesses a vast
knowledge on diverse
topics
Very persistent , “I’d rather do it myself” is a common attitude. Perceived
as stubborn; resists interruption
Love of truth, equity,
and fair play
Difficulty in being practical, may worry about humanitarian concerns
Enjoy organizing
things and people into
structure and order;
seek to systematize
Construct complicated rules or systems, may be seen as bossy, rude, or
domineering
Fiercely Competitive Difficulty compromising. They can become “loners,” competing against
themselves

14. Strengths Possible Problems
Thinks critically, have high
expectations, can be self-critical
and evaluate others
Intolerant of others, may become discouraged,
depressed, and/or perfectionist
Ability to conceptualize,
synthesize, and problem solve
Reject or omit details, resist drill or practice, question
teaching procedures
Creative and inventive; like
new ways of doing things
May disrupt plans or reject what is already known,
seen by others as different and out-of- step

15. JMS Gifted Kids’ Bill of Rights
You have a right to…
 Know about your giftedness.
 Learn something new everyday.
 Be passionate about your talent area without apologies.
 Have an identity beyond your talent area.
 Feel good about your accomplishments.
 Make mistakes.
 Seek guidance in the development of your talent.
 Have multiple peer groups and a variety of friends.
 Choose which of your talent areas you wish
to pursue.
 Not to be gifted at everything.

16. How Can You Support Your Gifted Child?
 Learn more about what it means to be gifted (start
with the recommended resources).
 Understand that gifted children often have unique
social and emotional needs.
 Attend local conferences related to gifted education.
 Participate in gifted webinars.
 Get involved and network with JMS the Parent
Advisory Team!

17. Webinars:
1.) Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG)
http://www.sengifted.org/webinar_download _order_form.shtml
2.) UCI Free Gifted Webinars (scroll down to education)
http://unex.uci.edu/services/events/recorde d.aspx
Gifted Blogs to Follow:
 Prufrock Press’ Blog: http://www.prufrock.com
 Education Week: “Unwrapping the Gifted”
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gift.ed
 Gifted Exchange: http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com
 Talented and Gifted: http://www.talentedandgifted.net
 The Mislabeled Child (written by two MD’s): http://mislabeledchild.com/

18. The Task at Hand……
Stay Current on
Gifted Education

19. Why Advocate for Gifted Children?
 Gifted students have unique social and emotional issues.
 They may require more depth and complexity in the curriculum and
acceleration.
 Gifted students need to be in settings, at least part of the time, where they can
be challenged by their peers and can have opportunities to develop their
capacities even further.
Food for Thought…
 About half of the states consider gifted education a part of special
education.
 California is not one of them.
 Exceptional students at the extremes of the normal development curve
need program modifications because they learn differently and at different
paces.
 Often, the public and policymakers do not understand the needs of the
gifted. Gifted programs are often the first programs eliminated during a
budget crisis.

20. What is the Common Core (CCSS)?
A state-led effort to develop a common set of standards in English language arts
(ELA) and math that:
•Align college and workplace expectations
•Are rigorous and evidence-based http://www.corestandards.org
California was part of the 26 state consortium who has adopted the Next
Generation Science Standards. You can review the standards online at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/sc/ngssstandards.asp
Why Common Core State Standards?
 More Students Need a More Rigorous Curriculum -Adelman et al. (2003)
 15% of students in the top quintile in academic rigor required remediation
 57% of students in the bottom quintile in academic rigor required remediation
-Adelman (2006)
 83% of students whose highest math class was calculus graduated within 8
years
 40% of students whose highest math class was Algebra II graduated within 8
years

21. Implications for the Gifted
The Common Core State Standards…
 Offer a growth model that is applicable
to gifted learners.
 Support gifted learners to develop abilities
in domains or areas of interests.
 Stress critical and creative thinking.
 Focus on transferability of knowledge.
Implications for the Gifted Common Core Standards…
 Support self-efficacy and self-awareness, leading to skills for life-long
learning.
 Are equipped for acceleration, complexity, depth, and creativity.
 Validate gifted education best practices, such as concept-based learning,
integration of disciplines, and inquiry- based options.

22. JMS Parent GATE Support Team
 Meet and Connect with other GATE families
 Sign-up to create and facilitate a Parent Sponsored
after-school activities (See Sign-Up tonight)
 Volunteer on GATE field trips and for Parent
Sponsored GATE Enrichment activities
 Please leave us your contact information 

23. NEW DISTRICT-SUPPORTED GATE PROGRAM
Resources now posted on the Torrance Unified School District’s website
Under the “Parents/Students” tab there is now a GATE subtopic for you to explore
 Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program in TUSD
 Student Activities
 Parent Support
 Emotional Needs of Gifted Children
 Important Dates
 GATE Contact Information
 Resources
 Differentiation of Instruction
 Local Events
 Parent Volunteer Opportunities
 Twice-Exceptional (2e) Children
 GATE Identification and Testing Protocol
 Competitions

24. NEW TUSD AFTER SCHOOL
ENRICHMENT
• On the third Monday of every month beginning in October
your GATE student will be invited to an after school
enrichment program in room 18 or the cafeteria.
• The district has fundraised to purchase enrichment kits for
your students to interact with.
• Since Jefferson has a large number of GATE students, when
the invitations are given to your GATE student in the his/her
fourth period class, the first 30 students who bring back the
invitation will participate in the activity.

25. ASTRO CAMP AND CIMI
• 6th and 7th grade GATE students will be invited to
participate in Astro Camp at Idyllwild the weekend
of January 16 - 18.
• 8th grade GATE students will be invited at
participate in Cimi at Catalina Friday, February 6 - 8.
• Both camps are highly interactive and stimulate
student interest and understanding of science.

26. DIFFERENTIATION AND
TIERED ASSIGNMENTS
• Your student will be asked more often to
complete a different assignment if his/her
understand of any topic covered in a
classroom is advanced.
• The district and the teachers do not want your
student to complete more work. Instead they
want your student to engage in more rigorous
work so they can grow academically.

27. FIRST ANNUAL GATE PARENT
CONFERENCE
• On Saturday, January 31st, 2015 you will be
invited to the first annual GATE parent
conference in Torrance USD.
• Funds have been raised for two keynote
speaker to present and engage with parents:
Dr. James T. Webb Dr. Daniel B.Peters

28. GATE TESTING
• Effective this school year 6th grade will be the last year for GATE testing
in Torrance USD.
• Parents and students will now have a choice of two tests:
• NNAT2 - assesses cognitive abilities, by strictly through nonverbal
means. No vocabulary of any kind is used in the test. Instead, children
are given visual images, designs and models which need to be organized
and sequenced.
• OLSAT - measures verbal comprehension and reasoning, pictorial
reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative
reasoning through such tasks as detecting likenesses
and differences, recalling words and numbers, defining
words, following directions, classifying, establishing
sequence, solving arithmetic problems, and
completing analogies.

29. GATE Parent Resources
 Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/parents/parentrp.html
National Association for Gifted Children
http://www.nagc.org
 California Association for the Gifted
http://www.cagifted.org
 Central Cities Gifted Children's Association
http://centralcities.org/index.html
 Orange County Council for Gifted and Talented
http://www.occgate.org
 Hoagies' Gifted Education Page
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org

30. GATE Parent Resources Cont. 2 of 3
• How Not to Talk to Your Kids
• http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
•
• Why Praise Can Be Bad for Kids
• http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=2877896&page=1
•
• Acceleration Q & A (Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration)
• http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/QA/General.aspx
• California Association for the Gifted (CAG) : California Association for the Gifted (CAG) is an
• Organization of educators and parents dedicated to meeting the unique needs or "gifted and talented students.
• CA was started in 1966 by a group of educators and parents who wanted to make a difference hi the lives of
• gifted students. CAC is '.One of the nation's largest state advocacy groups of its kind, providing its 'members
• information and training about the education of gifted and talented students. www.cagifted.org
• National Association for Gifted Children: The national organization for parents teachers and
• Administrators interested in spreading knowledge and awareness about gifted students and gifted education.
• Includes gifted education standards. www.nagc.org/
•
• Center for Talented Youth: A Johns Hopkins University program that actively seeks students with the
• Highest academic abilities and provides challenging educational opportunities for them. htt:p://cty.jhu.edu

31. GATE Parent Resources Cont. 3 of 3
Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG): Includes many expert-written articles on
social and emotional topics and has excellent community forums. www.sengifted.org/
Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students: Focuses on awareness
about and Interventions for this often-misunderstood segment of the student population.
www.aegus1.org
The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented: Run by researchers from tne
University of Connecticut and the University of Virginia, the NRC/GT focuses on research topics
relevant to the identification of gifted individuals from underrepresented groups:
www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html
Center for Talent Development: A Northwestern University program that offers a number of
online learning opportunities for gifted students of all ages .www.ctd.northwestern.edu
Gifted Resources: Resources and links for gifted kids. www.giftedsources.com
A Different Place: A compilation of many links on gifted topics. www.adifferentplace.org