Um....the seminar is a joke folks, no need to drool! LOL! Actually, it's a nice compliment to the advanced course scheduling, but not really "GT education" in any way. The teacher just retired too, so who knows what'll actually happen next year?

(((Back to your regularly scheduled DOK for HG+ setups!)))

Oh, and Bianca...wouldn't that be SMET? ROFL!

It must have been a Pavlovian response. I seem to salivate whenever I hear read the word seminar.

Don't tease us, Dottie! You know how we are!

LOL! I wondered how you got a seminar and I hadn't heard about it, Dottie. I thought it was a new development. Doh!!!

Put it this way...."GT seminar" in the high school years is a very common, and possibly very cheesy approach to GT education. It pretty much replaces the "pullout" for the older kids, comes about less frequently, and has absolutely nothing to do with the regular curriculum. (I can tell my audience here is young....surely some of the posters with older kids have heard of a GT seminar, not to be confused with a parent seminar, which is much more fun and worthy of DOK, LOL!)

(Clarification: The seminar is real, its purpose in education is a joke)

Well, they named it well, since "GT Seminar" SOUNDS fabulous!!! They sure got me!

It's kind of like Accelerated Reader in that regard, .

Yes. I realized I put them in the wrong order, but was too lazy to correct. STEM is actually a acronym used by some new age educators trying to get girls more invested in those four disciplines. One of the things my dd's school is trying to do is to steer girls into that direction.

We got some of those electronic white boards already in some of the classes (I think I spoke about them earlier in the year). They are fabulous! The science teachers did a whole presentation for the parents. I think I want to go back to school

We also had a meeting with the headmaster and he talked about changes happening next year. It all sounds so exciting!!

About the electronic boards - our school also has them, but they are not able to replace good teachers. Unfortunately.
The best teacher in the school, historian, hardly ever uses them.

That is so unfortunate. They look like they would be a great tool. My dd's school is spending a lot of money in teacher training. I certainly hope they put them to good use. The teachers seem excited about them, specially since the students will be going to a one-on-one laptop by next year. But you are right, they are no replacement for good teachers but hopefully they are great tools for great teachers.

re: Gifted Seminars

Dottie, we have those in high school here, too. My son grumbles that it'll probably be extra posters and "pretty" projects, rather than good discussions and deeper study/higher thinking. We'll see next year. Basically, the district gifted teachers can get their "contact" time with gifted students if they teach a gifted seminar. It sounds good, hopefully the teachers are good, but I do have a teensy problem with the "gifted" grouping. We know at least one "gifted" kid who probably tested in 1st grade but really hasn't impressed the teachers since then (maybe underachiever?). Meanwhile there's a girl who didn't test gifted (very close, but not quite) but is valedictorian of her class, who impresses everyone, but she's not allowed to take the seminars because they're restricted to "gifted". AP classes aren't restricted.