The face of the school district’s Gifted and Talented Education program at the elementary school level is changing. Suzanne Heiser, a fourth-grade teacher at Prestwood Elementary and a Gifted and Talented Education coordinator for the district, is leading the charge by way of a series of Gifted and Talented Education symposiums which will serve as a district-wide model for differentiated learning.
The symposium pilot is rotating through all five elementary schools. Once a month, the district’s 52 fourth- and fifth-grade Gifted and Talented Education students are bussed to a single school site to learn a new concept together.
“The GATE symposiums provide a forum for the students to meet one another and work collaboratively,” said school superintendent, Pam Martens.
The first symposium, held at Prestwood in October, was a “think tank” with three distinct lessons: analogous thinking, depth and complexity, and Bloom’s Taxonomy and hierarchical thinking. The first lesson was well received by the group of students.
“This forum provides a way for the students to network with one another and learn new and different thinking strategies,” said Heiser. “It also gives each school site a way to show off what they do best.”
The symposiums held at the sites will reflect each school’s unique flavor. Coming in November, Sassarini will host the Gifted and Talented Education students for problem solving activities with the high school forensics team. Students will then break into groups and attempt to put together a mock trial — despite the limited amount of time they will be together. Heiser realizes the times constraints but is confident that students at this level of learning can grasp the concepts necessary to create a successful trial.
When the Gifted and Talented Education students visit El Verano they will take advantage of the schools’ Exploratorium project and participate in a science-heavy lesson. At Flowery, they’ll learn about different cultures and in April, Dunbar school will host an Earth Day seminar.
In the district, Gifted and Talented Education got its start in all-day self-contained classrooms. This method proved to be less than advantageous as it isolated Gifted and Talented Education students from the rest of the school. In more recent years, the program moved to a “pull-out” method where students were taken from classroom lessons to take part in higher-level activities geared only to Gifted and Talented Education students.
According to Heiser, today’s Gifted and Talented Education strives to provide differentiated learning in the classroom without removing students for specialized activities.
“Everyday students have multiple GATE lessons,” said Heiser. “The activities can be open ended or more challenging. Whatever the case, it keeps these kids interested and engaged where they may otherwise have lost focus or gotten bored. We want to give them access to independent learning and open the door for lifelong quest for knowledge.”
