I cannot believe it is the middle of the school year already! With all of the exciting and rigorous activities occurring, the time certainly has flown by. As many of you are aware, working with students identified as gifted can be a wonderful challenge. Engaging students in inquiry-based learning, such as Socratic Seminars or Document Based Questioning, provides our students with opportunities to delve into content while developing their critical thinking skills. Additionally, students sharpen their social-emotional skills as they share their opinions and perspectives civilly while listening and learning from others’ opinions and perspectives. I have been fortunate to witness many inquiry-based learning environments this year as I have visited the schools.

Additionally, academic competitions are in full swing. This year Collier County Public Schools hosted a spontaneous practice event for our Odyssey of the Mind teams. During this event, teams were provided with practice problems and developed spontaneous solutions to these problems. This type of event encourages our students to think creatively and divergently in order to solve the proposed problem. One example of a spontaneous practice problem, as shared on the Odyssey of the Mind website (www.odysseyofthemind.com/practice), is to build a structure, which must sit on a table behind a boundary line while also having a portion of the structure cantilever as far as possible over the edge of the table without touching the table, out of clay and toothpicks. Moreover, students are given a time frame and a limited amount of supplies to solve this problem. It is amazing to see students generate creative solutions when given such tasks!

As always, I greatly appreciate the efforts of our teachers, parents, and students in increasing student participation in Advanced Studies and look forward to seeing students in action this spring.

~ Kamela Patton, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Make Room for Makerspace!

by Marlana Rodriguez, Teacher on Special Assignment-Gifted Compliance

The goal of education is to help prepare students for their future. Yet, for many CCPS students, they are preparing today for professions which do not currently exist. During this fast-paced time of technological advancement, many jobs that will need to be filled in the future, haven’t been invented yet. Leading industry officials state that if students are to be successful in the workplace of tomorrow, they must be equipped with “21st Century Skills”.

RACE!

by Susie Summers, Reading Coach at Shadowlawn Elementary School

Students were very engaged when responding to text in Ms. Palmatier’s fourth grade class at Shadowlawn Elementary (SLE). During their literacy block, students were using the RACE strategy to cite evidence and explain their reasoning when talking about fossil fuels. The acronym RACE represents the strategy students can use to respond to complex questions; they are encouraged to restate, answer, cite, and explain.

Students were able to identify how fossil fuels are formed by collecting evidence from text and online resources. After this step, students examined their reasoning to back up their evidence. They asked questions to each other such as, “Why are fossil fuels important to our planet?” and “What would happen if fossil fuels did not exist?” As each student in the group explained his or her reasoning, other students in the group agreed or disagreed and defended their responses.

“This level of thinking and conversation between students allowed each of them to take ownership in their reasoning on this topic,” explained Palmatier. “And this example of student discourse will inevitably teach students how to value their own learning.”

Hot Off the Press!

by Ms. Craig, 5th Grade Teacher at Veterans Memorial Elementary School

As an extension activity, the students in my fifth grade gifted cluster at Veterans Memorial Elementary (VME) are offered the responsibility of communicating classroom news to their parents in the form of a monthly newsletter. The students are in charge of the entire process—from beginning to end—each month. Two students serve as permanent editors of the newsletter and work diligently on its production.

Cambridge Secondary 1 in Action at
Golden Gate Middle School

By Leesha DiPalma, Cambridge Department Chair at Golden Gate Middle School

Socratic Seminar

In early November eighth grade students in a Cambridge social studies course participated in their first U.S. History Socratic Seminar. The students used two class sessions to prepare higher-order thinking questions which pitted the Federalists against the Anti-Federalists in a discussion over the new Constitution of 1787.

Mock Trial in Language Arts

Is the madman, the protagonist in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, guilty of murder? Eighth grade students at Golden Gate Middle School were determined to analyze this character and develop arguments for each side of the fictitious case. This student-directed project motivated students to dig deeper into argumentative writing while evaluating perspectives woven into the text of this classic short story. While the ultimate goal was a mock trial, students completed a series of activities leading up to the event including: close reading, annotating, reading informational articles related to psychology, becoming familiar with courtroom vocabulary and procedures, and structuring an argument for a specific position. Graphic organizers and rubrics were provided to guide students through the process of how to structure an argument as well as what would be expected on the day of the trial.

Students collaborated while planning and composing counterarguments, claims, reasons, and evidence. The teams were also permitted to select additional evidence to submit to the court, which encouraged additional research and evaluation of the resource’s credibility. The entire process required students to analyze information and utilize this knowledge to build strong arguments. This mock trial project turned a typical classic story into a unique learning experience!

Making Strides Toward Careers in Medicine

A group of 36 Immokalee High School (IHS) students from Mr. Benson’s Biology Honors course donned burgundy scrubs and received a dose of hands-on learning during a field trip to the Immokalee Technical Center (iTech). These students are involved in a program called SSTRIDE which is an acronym for Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity and Excellence.

Becoming Global Citizens

by Amanda Holderfield, Teacher at Naples High School

AICE General Paper is a course that challenges students to transcend their cognitive boundaries. The promotion of mature thinking and the exploration of social, technological, political, and environmental topics on a global scale is different than any course the students have taken thus far. The course revolves around global events and their impact on not just the United States, but the world.

Students are encouraged to assess how an event, such as Sweden’s decision to run entirely on renewable energy, impacts the world scientifically, politically, environmentally, and socially. Students develop into well-rounded and knowledgeable citizens by exploring topics in this manner. Students thrive in a course such as AICE General Paper because it balances all aspects of literacy and forces students to defend their thoughts. They first analyze and evaluate situations and then must persuade others to understand and accept their thoughts as well by incorporating viable pieces of evidence. This practice promotes the ideal that one must know why he or she feels a certain way about a topic. The growth that students experience in this class is monumental and evident as they enter ready to be told what to think and exit generating their own independent opinions and defending them using strong pieces of evidence.

by Dr. Lauri Garbo, Teacher on Special Assignment-Gifted Compliance

Supporting students with extraordinary gifts and talents to achieve their full potential is paramount for those involved in gifted education at Collier County Public Schools (CCPS). With this mission in mind, a cohort of teachers and administrators recently attended and presented sessions at the National Association for Gifted Children 63rd Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida.

by Dr. Lauri Garbo, Teacher on Special Assignment-Gifted Compliance

“When gifted children are asked what they most desire, the answer is often 'a friend'. The children's experience of school is completely colored by the presence or absence of relationships with peers" (Silverman, 1993, p. 72).

Many characteristics among the gifted, such as intensity, sensitivity, sensory issues, and perfectionism can interfere with making and keeping friends, according to researchers at the Davidson Institute. Being a member of a social group becomes even more important during the adolescence, and this pressure of being accepted may cause some gifted teens to mask or hide their giftedness. Therefore, it is important for students identified as gifted to have opportunities to socialize with like-minded peers.