GT PAC General Meeting November 4, 2017

Website: http://mansfieldgtpac.ch2v.com Email:

Website FAQ Ideas – Kristi Ferguson
Please send questions you would want to see on the site in the FAQ section for GT parents/PAC Reps

Please collect and send quotes from GT kids about their Field Trips, we want to use them by first name on the site

‘Good things on campus’ will be added to the site

School Transition Discussion – I-Jung Chiang
Panels will be at the Advanced Academics Symposium Feb 13, 5:45pm – 6:30pm

• - How GT program changes between campuses and what to expect

• - Hoping for current reps to be on the panels to be able to answer questions and provide insights

  o Know anyone? Please let them know and ask them to email

  o EmailwillgoouttoRepsaskingforassistance

• - GT Specialists will be on panel as well

• - Board Members will facilitate the discussion; keep the conversation moving with questions and topics, as needed

• - 45 General Discussion then Q&A time

• - Please share any transition topics that you would like to see discussed
  Potential April 26 at CPA to offer the panels again, if we have a large interest/response to the Feb 13 panels

  Parent representatives – Jessica Cunningham (no report)

  Good things on campus – Jason Bair Nancy Neal

  Field Trip to Medieval Times – successful!

  22 of 46 GT students submitted PTA Reflections, 7 of the 22 advanced! Donna Shepherd

6th grade went to Fab Lab @ UTA

Mrs. Morris’ child wanted a Maker Space for the school after the field trip. He was challenged to create a presentation so he and friends created a Prezi, presented to Principal and they got the money to do it!

GT teachers are using GT kids and giving them the opportunity to teach things they know to other kids

Carol Holt

Meet N Greet as GT Game Night for kids and parents alike. GT Specialist quickly presented about the program then each GT teacher present spoke about something they are doing to challenge their GT kids in class. Parent Rep was able to introduce the parents to the GT PAC and invite questions/insight. Kids brought games and loved playing them with other GT kids, parents, teachers and admins.

Parent Rep found an opportunity to link High School students to a project in a 1st grade class. There is a huge potential to connect upper grades with lower grades. Example, AP Physics catapult projects with Elementary School GT tabletop catapult projects.

Advanced Academics Coordinator – Teresa Francis along with Instructional Coaches – Melanie Beckett, Brigette Cardenas

District required external audit is every 3 years. The most recent audit has been completed and has been presented to the Board (November 2017). If you read the minutes from the Board Meeting, please know that ‘No evidence of compliance’ means that people don’t know, not that we aren’t in compliance. At January 23, 2018 Board Meeting, Mrs. Francis will provide district response to the audit.

SENG (http://sengifted.org/) has a division for parents, SENG Connect which offers social/emotional groups (forums, conferences) for support.

- Ms. Francis will look into the District paying for a person (educator or teacher) to be trained to start parental support groups. Will also research what support services they provide for GT PAC plus how we can access their support resources for parents. Any viable possibilities will be presented to the district.

TAGT will be in Ft. Worth next year. Parents should consider attending because they have parent sessions that would be helpful for the PAC and GT parents.

Updated Testing to identify new GT kids - CogAT (cognitive abilities) is being given online instead of paper/ pencil and offered in Spanish. Reports are much more useful for teachers and parents (strength and weaknesses).

GT program improvement ideas from the group for Ms. Francis:

o ReductionofathomeprojectsforGT–Moreengagingactivitiesinclass

o ReducemisconceptionthatmanyGTkidsareself-starters–theseGTkidsneedstoseevalue and learn over the year

o How do we see the depth and complexity in MS levels? This is new and much subtler in these grades. A lot can be seen in the classroom with the types of questions asked to the learner.

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How are teachers held accountable for depth and complexity in the classroom? This is part of the Instructional Coaches’ job – to support the teachers in these areas and offer ideas.

Could we have a District ‘mandate’ that depth and complexity is not optional for teachers? First step is to get the GT plan put into the District Curriculum Management Plan (daily plan of how we do things). Then, we can move forward with bringing to the Board for approval. Once approved by Board, it becomes an expectation in the district. The campus admins would

then oversee that it is being done. To support, there will also need to be a GT curriculum developed.

o Teacherevaluations–NewprofessionalreviewincludesGTsectionforhowteachersare effectively differentiating. This allows the Instructional Coaches to provide information, when asked, about what the Admin should be looking for during the teacher’s review.

o Providingrubricatthestartofprojectssoparentsandkidsknowtheexpectation.

o SummerprogramsorotherprogramstogivekidswhodonotattendSTEMAcademy(missedit, opted out, etc.) can have a chance to get that type of experience. Possible two-week immersion classes in summer months and/or summer differentiation for GT kids. Possible for next summer for older kids.

Miscellaneous Topics/New Business

(none)
Next Meeting Jan 29, 6:30pm, RL Anderson Complex