A Never Ending Book....GATE Whitefield

Congratulations to the Gate second grader at Whitefield who completed this amazing never ending Book!

More on this project HERE

Edmodo Introduced for GATE Communication

Hello GATE learners!  What an amazing couple of weeks.  Projects are gaining momentum and our laughter has filled many schools!  Our biggest set back has been in communication and networking across schools.  For this reason I am introducing Edmodo! Edmodo is a secure, social learning platform for teachers, students, schools and districts. Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for our program to connect and collaborate, share content and access homework, assessment and school notices.

1. The SVRSU12 Edmodo site is located here: http://svrsu12.edmodo.com/
2. Your usernames and initial group password are in the GATE Shared Folder in your Google Apps. 

All GATE learners need to log-in, change your password, look around and leave a message for Mr.S!  I want you all to check this site every day if possible.  I will put more and more information on the site as the holidays approach! 

Scratch at Whitefield GATE!

Our community is excited to showcase our first Scratch project!  Look for more on this project soon!

The Holiday Season and Weekly GATE Check-ins!

Greetings GATE learners!

The Holiday season is upon us and our weekly meetings are getting interrupted!  Regardless of our crazy schedule, I need to stay apprised of your weekly progress, reflection and To Do lists.

Please fill out this form as soon as you can (and definitely prior to this weekend):

Weekly GATE Check in (NOV 30-DEC 9)

I will do my best to respond to your progress, give feedback and answer any questions you have in a timely manner!

I will be stopping by Whitefield School tomorrow on my way to Palermo School for the day.  I hope to catch up with the Whitefield GATE learners then (Quick, 5-8 all group in homeroom?).

A wonderful day at Chelsea School today!  See you all soon.

Next weeks Schedule:

Whitefield: Wednesday 7 December 2011
Chelsea: Thursday 8 December 2011
Palermo: Friday AM 9 December 2011

Mr.S

Link to Avrind Gupta's Toy Page

 HERE

Week of 7 November Schedule

This is a crazy week in SVRSU 12 and we will be doing what we can as a cohort this week.

Tuesday: Chelsea AM/ PM  

Wednesday: Whitefield AM/PM

Palermo GATE! Please work on your project proposals and I will see them at the top of the documents list.  Remember to fill out the whole proposal to the best of your ability and send me any questions via the GATE Google doc for your cohort (5th, 6th)!  I will see you all next week for full meeting times!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is ready to dig into your projects or identify clear directions. I will be checking Renzulli Learning and our shared Google Docs this evening and we will continue to streamline communication in between meetings! I look forward to you all this week!

Making Toys from Trash!

Palermo GATE Update

Another excellent day (1/2) at the Palermo School! There are some GATE learners using Renzulli Learning this year and some who are running with Google Docs and Student Driven Projects! I am so impressed with them all! Everyone is in the project proposal stage except for Grade 3 where a Redwall Project is underway! 4-6 Remember to work on your project proposals in Google Docs or profiles in Renzulli over this week. I will take a peek at your progress over the next two days! Ask questions!

Whitefields GATE Projects in image and more....

 2011 GATE Projects

Mindstorm Fundraising Campaign discussed today!

Let's bring robotics to SVRSU 12!

GATE reminders:

7-8: Discuss VHS spring courses with parents if appropriate and fill out your first project proposals of this year! Check Google Docs often!

5-6: Fill out first project proposals of the year!  Keep Scratching and research in topics (WWII and Perseus). Check Renzulli for communication!

4: Keep working on your amazing farming project!  Remember to complete your To Do list!

VHS and Renzulli Learning: Chelsea School GATE

The Chelsea School GATE learners are off to an incredible start!  Google Apps for Education account information and communication set, we took time today in the Middle School to go over the amazing possibilities provided to Middle School learners through Virtual High School (VHS). We are fortunate to have Wiscasset High School as a VHS sponsor school in the district. VHS offers fully accredited online courses to GATE Middle School students and High School students.  VHS courses are dynamic and challenging.  The wide offering of studies and online methods of delivery prepare young people for high school, university and learning in the 21st century.  I look forward to updating you on the GATE program and VHS soon.

Chelsea School GATE learners are also using the full capabilities of Renzulli Learning.  We are focused on completing a new full profile for this year and for  some learners in 5th 6th and 7th grades the Renzulli Personal Success Plan (PSP). The PSP was designed to help young people, especially middle school-aged students, to think critically about their interests, heroes and career aspirations – and then create tangible goals and plans for achieving those dreams. We will use the PSP to encourage projects this year that focus on the future and current learning interests.

Reminder: Please look at The Johns Hopkins University Center for Gifted Youth Website.  I would like to see SVRSU 12 represented at camps this summer.

 See you all next week!  Please check your Renzulli inboxes and/or your shared Google Doc for updates and ask questions as they arise in these spaces also!

GATE learners where also excited about Días de los Muertos today!  Con Much Gusto!

We ended the day discussing Mindstorms!

GATE Schedule Week of 31 October

Tuesday 1 November

• Chelsea School

Wednesday 2 November

• Whitefield: AM
• Palermo: PM

Mindstorms!

What would we have to do to get a few Lego Mindstorms for our program? Anyone interested?

Why Scratch?

Mitch Resnick: Making, Tinkering, and Remixing in Learning Innovation from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

Light, Redwall, Chinese and GeoGebra at Palermo School

What a wonderful day at the Palermo School with GATE students spanning third through the seventh grade.

Palermo 3-4 students worked with The Autonomous Learning Center Guide in brainstorming their topics and projects for the year.  Some interesting ideas emerged dealing with ELA and Mathematics.  I sense that an interesting project on Brian Jacques Redwall is in the works and the Hobbit was mentioned also....

Palermo 5-6 students made quick work of learning Google Docs, Discussed our use of Renzulli Learning next week and initiated project discussions about the Physics of Light, Learning Chinese, Literature Studies and GeoGebra.

Reminder: Please look at The Johns Hopkins University Center for Gifted Youth Website.  I would like to see SVRSU 12 represented at camps this summer. 

Don't forget your To Do lists.... See you all next week!

Scratching, Nanowrimo and Introductions at Whitefield School!

What an amazing day at the Whitefield School.  I was able to meet GATE learners from second to eight grades today and our focus was on introductions and first project topics.

• For most of the K-5 Group I am using The Center for Autonomous Learning Series (CALS) from the recently closed ALPS Publishing.  You will notice forms with the CALS Wizard on them around the house.  CALS guide the gifted learner through an interest inventory and a process-product-activity-presentation design.  Note that the two fifth graders work looks more like the 6-8 group but may use CALS.

• The 5-8 learner group is active and inspired! We worked on systems of communication using Google Docs through SVRSU 12 domains today and on initial brainstorming for projects.  "Learning Languages", "anything with Math", "Writing", and "Science, Science Science" where the themes of our brain storming sessions.  A few projects are already underway and research into prestigious national programs are being researched.  For more on the programs being considered click on the following icons:

 MIT coding projects for young learners and writing a novel in a month are both activities befitting of these amazing learners.  I look forward to updating you on more project ideas as they surface.

Reminder: Please look at The Johns Hopkins University Center for Gifted Youth Website.  I would like to see SVRSU 12 represented at camps this summer. 

I look forward to answering any questions you may have.  Thank you for participating in SVRSU 12 GATE.

Palermo GATE Schedule

Welcome SVRSU GATE students!  I look forward to working with you all in 2011-2012! Until we get parent permission slips in for the internet I will refer to you all with grade based groups (ie. GATE 7 stands for Gifted and Talented Education seventh grade and so forth).

This Friday's Schedule at Palermo is tentatively:

TBA

Whitefield GATE Schedule

Welcome SVRSU GATE students!  I look forward to working with you all in 2011-2012! Until we get parent permission slips in for the internet I will refer to you all with grade based groups (ie. GATE 7 stands for Gifted and Talented Education seventh grade and so forth).

This Thursday's Schedule at Whitefield is tentatively:

Block 1- GATE 7
Block 2- GATE 2
Block 3- GATE 4Block 4- GATE 8
Block 5- GATE 5