CAG Santa Lucia Region 5, CAG, California Association for the Gifted, education, gifted education, gifted and talented, gifted and talented education, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, San Benito County, Region 5

GATE News & Ideas:

• Second Annual Student-to-Student Conference!

  Saturday, May 8, 2010 1:00–5:00 pm
  Merrill College, University of California at Santa Cruz
  Students present workshops on their favorite subjects; other students attend these workshops! Open to all students grades 3–12 in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito and San Mateo Counties. You do not need to be a GATE-identified student in order to attend the conference, or to present a workshop. Everyone is welcome!

  New This Year: Parent Workshops! Also: tour the beautiful UCSC campus!

  Learn more about this great conference, and register online today!

• 2009–2010 GATE Coordinators & Advocates Meetings

  This year’s meetings will all be held on Thursday evenings from 5:00–7:00 pm at Hobee’s Restaraunt in Los Gatos. Read more on the Calendar of Events.

• Spring 2010 Stanford Splash!

  Saturday & Sunday, April 17 & 18, 2010  ~   10 am – 6 pm
  Splash! is a program that brings students grades 7–12 (ages 11–18 if home schooled) to Stanford’s campus for a two-day learning extravaganza. Read more and learn how to register on the Splash! flier (34 KB .pdf ).

• NEW Resource:  Depth & Complexity Icons resources page!

• Op-Ed: “In focus on proficiency, bright kids lose”

  An Op-Ed piece in the Sacramento Bee (Thursday 8/27/09) discusses what Jack O’Connell and other educators should do to improve the education of our advanced students. www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/2142102.html or www.sacbee.com/opinion/v-print/story/2142102.html (printable version).

• GATE Certification: Workshop Materials & Teacher-Created Standards-Based Lesson Plans

  A GATE Certification training was held July 27–31, at the Campbell Union School District Office, and presented by Marilyn Lane, Nora Ho and Andrea Tracy. Workshop materials & teacher-created standards-based lesson plans are now available from this training.

• From Brain Research Into Teacher Action

  
  Barbara Clark, author of Growing Up Gifted, has created a table that succinctly summarizes some of the major findings from brain research into how we learn, and aligned those findings with actions teachers of gifted learners —and all students— can take in their classrooms. Read Clark’s table.

• High Achiever, Gifted Learner, Creative Thinker

  
  Understand the differences —sometimes subtle, sometimes profound— between different types of “advanced” students by reading this informative comparison.

CAG SLR5 Educator Representative for 2008–2010: Steve Kahl!

Steve Kahl is the new Educator Representative for the Santa Lucia region of CAG. He is the GATE Coordinator at Mountain View High School, as well as AVID Coordinator there. He has taught English in the Bay Area for 24 years. He makes presentations to elementary and high school teachers throughout California on differentiating instruction for gifted students, and he has published articles on the subject. You may reach him at steven (dot) kahl (at) mvla (dot) net or by calling him at 408-395-0002.

Nora Ho: 2008 Distinguished Service Award Winner for Santa lucia Region 5

Nora Ho, a principal in Berryessa Union School District (San Jose), is devoted to supporting gifted children and their teachers. Her career spans preschool to university students and all in between. Nora has held many roles in various school districts. In each role she kept the gifted students’ needs not only in mind but also as a part of the conversation. Nora works with gifted in each job regardless of “assigned” job or duties. Her longevity, continuity and quiet persistence have been a continual catalyst for increased quality differentiation by classroom teachers in each of the districts lucky enough to eploy her. Unequivocal expectations coupled with her practical approach quickly facilitate an atmosphere of professional inquiry and growth, which directly benefit the students at each of the school sites. Nora is steadfast in her pursuit of an excellent educational experience for each child, and her action mirrors belief. When she teaches, there is no doubt in the student’s mind that she is knowledgeable and holds them to the same high expectations to which she holds herself.

Nora continues to train teachers in differentiation through her university courses, county courses, principal duties, and as a CAG representative. Her commitment is so strong that she has filled the role of Parent Representative for the Santa Lucia Region 5 of CAG even though her children are no longer in K–12 public schools. This goes along with her history as a strong parent advocate. Parents in teh community have always viewed Nora as a person to whom they could come and discuss their children’s development, academically and otherwise. It has always been abundantly clear that gifted children and their families are enhanced by Nora’s commitment to them.

Nora Ho, the students, parents, teachers and school/district administrators of Santa Lucia Region 5 salute you, commend you and thank you!

Two Excellent Books on Clustering

Two books about clustering gifted and advanced students in regular classrooms, both by well-known well-respected experts in gifted education, were published in 2008. Read more about each book, including Table of Contents, and the authors, by clicking on the image of the front cover.

Susan Winebrenner and Dina Brulles have released The Cluster Grouping Handbook: How to Challenge Gifted Students and Improve Achievement for All. It is research-based, comprehensive, well organized and very readable. ISBN 978-1-57542-279-4, $34.95 from Free Spirit Press.

Marcia Gentry (who did some of the original ground-breaking research on clustering in the early 1990s) has published with Rebecca Mann Total School Clustering & Differentiation. This is well organized, comprehensive and very readable. ISBN 978-1-931280-09-9, $26.95 from Creative Learning Press.

Cag 2008 Conference

Many of us from Region 5 attended and were actively involved with this year's CAG Conference, held February 15–17 in Anaheim, CA.