Session 4 - Question 1

What were your “Ah-ha” moments while reading Chapters 8 - 9? Site the page numbers for fellow participants.

Session 4 - Question 2

Select a “Sample Activity” from the Appendix and explain how you will modify it or use it with middle school gifted students. Be prepared to discuss during our face-to-face meeting.

Session 4 - Question 3

Would you recommend this book to another middle school teacher? Support your response.

Session 3 – Question 1

What were your “Ah-ha” moments while reading Chapters 6 - 7? Site the page numbers for fellow participants.

Session 3 – Question 2

After reading chapter 6, what are your thoughts on “ability grouping” for gifted learners in middle schools? Give supporting evidence by stating page numbers?

Session 3 - Question 3

Do you believe it is important to individualize or customize learning for gifted students in middle school? Why or Why not? Support your answer with pages from the reading.

Session 2 - Question 1

What were your “Ah-ha” moments while reading Chapters 4 - 5? Site the page numbers for fellow participants.

Session 2 - Question 2

There are numerous ideas in Chapter 4 to assist teachers in helping gifted students overcome barriers to learning. Which ideas would produce better learners in your classroom setting? Give page number(s).

Session 2 - Question 3

As educators, why is it important to study about how the brain functions and how one creates memory?

Session 1 - Question 1

What were your “Ah-ha” moments while reading Chapters 1 - 3? Site the page numbers for fellow participants.

Session 1 - Question 2

In Chapter 2, the author compiles a list of characteristics of what students describe as an excellent teacher. Describe a teacher who inspired, motivated, and/or guided you to reach your highest potential. Why do you think these qualities are important to middle school students?

Session 1 - Question 3

Is it important for teachers to understand about asynchrony? Why or why not?

Inspiring Middle School Minds

The subject of this GT book study is Inspiring Middle School Minds: Gifted, Creative, & Challenging by Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.. It is most appropriate for middle school teachers. This book study is specifically designed for Westchester (WAIS) teachers. The first 24 WAIS teachers who sign up on PDLC will receive a book for free. Any other SBISD teachers who sign up on PDLC are welcome to participate, but must purchase their own book. Teachers outside SBISD who wish to participate are welcome.

You can learn more about the book at the following sites:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
BellaOnline

EXPECTATIONS and INSTRUCTIONS

Expectations for the blog:

1st Session - January 31, 2011:
1) Participants need to have the first assigned reading completed BEFORE the first session. Participants who choose to attend the optional face-to-face session will post their responses to the first set of questions during the session. Those who do not choose to attend the face-to-face session are expected to post their responses by 11:59 p.m.
2) In addition; all participants are expected to comment on 2 other participant’s responses within 48 hours of the first session.

2nd Session - February 21, 2011: (by blog)
By the meeting date, participants must post their responses to the Session 2 questions. Participants must also post at least 2 comments that specifically address fellow participant’s responses.

3rd Session - March 21, 2011: (by blog)
By the meeting date, participants must post their responses to the Session 3 questions. Participants must also post at least 2 comments that specifically address fellow participant’s responses.

4th Session - April 11, 2011: (by blog & face-to-face)
This is a FACE-TO-FACE MEETING.
By the meeting date and time, all participants must post their responses to the Session 4 questions. Participants must also post at least 2 comments that specifically address fellow participant’s responses.


Instructions for the Blog:

1) Click on "comments" below the post (question) to which you want to respond. Type your comment in the box. If you write a lot, you can use the light gray bar to scroll up and down within the comment box.
2) When you finish typing your comment, click on the little black arrow beside "Select profile…"Choose "Name/URL" which is near the bottom of your choices.
3) In the box under "Name:" type in what you want to be known as in our book study. You can use your first name and last initial or last name and first initial (nicknames are fine provided we know who you are in the beginning so you will receive credit for your posts) – something that lets us know who you are. (For example, I'd probably call myself BarbaraC or BCofer.)
4) Leave the URL box blank and click on "Continue”. You’ll notice that whatever you typed in replaced "Select profile…"
5) Now click on "Post Comment". Another box will pop up for word verification. This step prevents spam from being posted by other computers on blogs. Just type the word, or combination of letters, that you are given in the box.
6) Then click "Finish". If you didn't quite get the word/letter right, it will give you a different word. It might take a minute or two, but then your comment will be posted. You'll know your comment is posted because you'll get a notice saying it was, and the comment will appear on the page, just below the other's post.
7) Hint: The blog page does not have spell check. In addition, there have been times when the blog page “hiccuped”, losing the response you typed in the comment box. To reduce frustration, protect your thoughts, and allow for spell check, we advise that you compose your response in Microsoft Word (or other word processing software) and then paste it into the comment box.