| Mrs. Exline-Byrd's Collins-Maxwell Talented and Gifted Showcase |
| Welcome to the Collins-Maxwell talented and gifted program website. I plan to use this site to keep readers up-to-date on our activities and schedules. I will also include information on gifted education, and provide links to other websites. Please contact me with questions, or to pass along information you would like to share with others. |
| Collins-Maxwell Student News |
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| Differentiation One area that our district is emphasizing this year is differentiation for students of various ability levels. There are many ways differentiation can be accomplished within the regular classroom, by differentiating content, process, or product. Using differentiated groups, everyone could be studying the same topic, but different groups could be working at levels appropriate to their ability. In this setting, some students are working on an assignment that asks comprehension level questions, while the TAG students could be working on an assignment that asks questions at a higher level of complexity, such as analysis or synthesis. One group may be naming parts of a volcano and their functions, (comprehension), while another group is reading about the impact of volcanoes on the earth's atmosphere (analysis), and another group is using several articles on related subjects to determine how people living near volcanoes can improve safe evacuation procedures (synthesis). Each group then may share their findings with the whole class, contributing to the learning of everyone. Gifted students should be appropriately challenged, not by more work, but by work that has greater depth and complexity. |
| Department of Education Site Visit next Year Each school district in Iowa has a DOE site visit every five years. Collins-Maxwell comes up again next year. The site visit is quite comprehensive, and the committee looks at the district from many different angles, to be sure it is providing the best possible educational program for the students. The committee will interview staff, students, parents, and community members to assess what is going well, and what needs attention. Our last site visit was very positive: the DOE committee was impressed by many of our programs and practices. The gifted program is one of the many areas that will be assessed. Mrs. Goering, Mr. Cakerick and I will be meeting throughout this year to look at our program to decide what we like, what we want to improve, and write a five-year plan. |
| Click on the link below to contact me: l[email protected] |
| Click on the link below to view websites we use in class, and ones that have good information for parents. |
| Twenty-seven elementary, middle and high school TAG students took a combined field trip to Iowa State University and University of Iowa Hygience Lab on February 13. The purpose of the field trip was to visit area science labs, and encourage students to consider careers in science fields. The students showed dedication from the start, because we had to be on the bus to leave by 7:00 a.m. We split into two groups at ISU. The 3th-6th graders went to the Biotechnology Outreach Education Center first. They extracted DNA from bananas, and made fruit smoothies, which they got to drink. They also made figures from marshmallows and toothpicks that represented molecules. The 6th-12th graders went to the Veterinary Medicine building first. We toured the anatomy lab, the horse and cattle barn, the lecture halls, and the animal physical rehabilitation area. For the second session, the 3rd-6th graders hiked over to Howe Hall, to a session on Toying with Technology. They built Lego cars with computer controls on them. The 7th-12th graders' second session was in the BOEC lab. They learned how to use a pipettor, and learned how DNA could be used to help solve a crime. They also discussed some ethical questions that come with advances in technology, like the use of cloning in meat production and human organ transplanting. They also discussed how vaccines can be developed and stored in corn, for use with fighting disease and bioterrorism. Mike Zeller, our instructor, was very enthusiastic about his work, and encouraged the students to consider careers in science and research. In the afternoon, we went to Ankeny, to the University of Iowa Hygienic Lab. We were again divided into groups by age. They had several hands-on demonstrations, so the students had a chance to use some sophisticated lab equipment. In the limnology department, the students used high-powered microscopes to look at insects |