Colorado Gifted/2e School Hiring

Colorado Springs, CO - The Academy for Advanced and Creative Learning (AACL) seeks highly qualified, caring, and professional personnel who are committed to supporting the unique vision and mission of AACL. AACL seeks individuals from among the most qualified, who want to make a difference in educating all children, and who want to specialize in gifted education. Job descriptions for Academy Director, faculty and staff positions and an online, printable application have been posted at http://www.academyacl.org/jobs/employ.html. The Academy Director (AD) position will be filled first. The deadline for applying for the AD position is February 10th.

AACL is a new K-8 charter school scheduled to open in Colorado Springs District 11 for the 2010-2011 school year. AACL is designed to meet the needs of gifted, advanced, creative, twice-exceptional, and typical learners who want to excel with a non-traditional, innovative, and open-enrollment program. For more information, interested applicants should review the website link, http://www.academyacl.org/jobs/employ.html, or may email AACL at

employment@academyacl.org.

TEMPLE GRANDIN BIOPIC. An HBO movie about autistic achiever Temple Grandin airs for the first time this Saturday night. Grandin frequently speaks at conferences where twice-exceptionality is a topic. Her "real" job is animal behavioralist and livestock consultant. The New York Times says this about the movie: "Hers is a tale that could be easily be played up for drama, intrigue and weepy reconciliations, but this narrative is loyal to Ms. Grandin’s credo: emotions are secondary to tangible results. And the result is a movie that is funny, instructive and also intangibly charming." Read the Times article. Hear a recent NPR interview with Grandin.

AP FAILURE RATES. USA Today notes that even while the number of students taking Advanced Placement exams is rising, the rate of failure among those taking the exams is also rising. In some states, more than 50 percent of AP test-takers fail. Read more. Jay Matthews, education writer for the Washington Post, also commented on the problem.

VISION, DYSLEXIA, AND LEARNING is the subject of a recent article at LD Online. The article notes a joint statement between the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on Children with Disabilities, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology on visual problems and dyslexia, along with possible treatments. Read the LD Online piece; read the full statement.

TEACHING THE GIFTED is a topic of an article from the San Diego News Network. The article offers strategies that can positively affect learning in high-ability young people. Read it.

EDUTOPIA EVOLVES. The organization Edutopia, here-to-fore the publisher of a print magazine of the same name, has announced it will no longer publish the print edition, instead using the Internet "to deliver deeper, more relevant stories, especially with video, about innovation in teaching and learning. New community and content-sharing tools make it possible for educators to find and exchange tips and solutions with each other whenever they wish." Find out more.

CEC COMMENTS ON THE NEW EDUCATION BUDGET. The Council for Exceptional Children offers its opinions on a couple things the federal government is proposing that involve IDEA and the Javits act, and the Council is not happy. Read why.

TIDBITS. ScienceDaily offers three news items for those of you with an interest in certain exceptionalities in that gifted child you raise or teach. One article describes how children with AD/HD may have differences in the brain's reward system. Another article covers a study on similarities between symptoms of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and AD/HD. And a third study links excessive Internet use to depression, although the population in question uses the Internet so much that the article uses the word "addicts" to describe them.

AD/HD VERSUS GIFTEDNESS. Mom and blogger Kelly Burns recently posted a long piece offering information and advice to parents in regard to giftedness being misdiagnosed as AD/HD. One of her main suggestions: find a qualified psychologist for an assessment. Read the blog.

REFORMING EDUCATION. An opinion piece in Monday's New York Times contained the following language: "Our current educational approach — and the testing that is driving it — is completely at odds with what scientists understand about how children develop during the elementary school years and has led to a curriculum that is strangling children and teachers alike." To read the suggestions for ways to reform the typical school day, go here.

ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. Got a gifted kid with AD/HD and sleep problems? Check out the most-recently posted issue of Attention Research Update, in which David Rabiner reviews a study comparing sleep disturbances in non-medicated children with AD/HD to "controls." The basic conclusion: AD/HD children who are non-medicated are more sleep-impaired than other children. Read more.

"FRONT OF THE CLASS," a Hallmark movie inspired by Brad Cohen, the award-winning teacher who has Tourette Syndrome, is re-airing on CBS on Friday, February 5th, according to a good friend of 2e Newsletter. She urges all of us to "check your local listings." More information here.

TOO MUCH PRAISE for that high-ability kid? A UK commentator recently wrote this: "American authors Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson have sparked fierce debate in child psychology circles with their book NurtureShock, which suggests, among other things, that too much "positive reinforcement" can stunt a child's development." We've mentioned in past postings the negative effect praise can have; read the commentary.

THE RISE OF NEUROSCIENCE. You certainly read the word "neuroscience" frequently in this blog. The discipline has had a tremendous effect on the amount of information available to us as we raise, teach, and counsel our gifted and twice-exceptional kids. If it seems as if the discipline came from nowhere, well, maybe it has. An article at io9.com shows "how neuroscience went from a hodgepodge of unconnected scientific disciplines to a unified science that's one of the most important today, in just under 10 years." The best part is a creative graphic showing the interrelationship of disciplines contributing to neuroscience. See the article.

PBS ENCOURAGES INNOVATIVE TEACHERS. Through March 12th, innovative teachers may enter a PBS Teachers contest. If you are a teacher and making a difference, check out the site for prizes and rules. If you know an innovative teacher -- hopefully one who has made a difference with your gifted child -- you might want to encourage that teacher to enter the contest.

SCIENCE COMPETITION FOR K5-8. Discovery Education and 3M have announced their 2010 Young Scientist Challenge. For the competition, middle school students residing in the United States are asked to create a one- to two-minute video communicating the science behind a possible solution for one of a list of safety and security issues that are present in everyday life. Deadline is May 27th. Find out more.

KNOW A GIFTED TEENAGE WRITER? That person might be interested in inkpop.com, an interactive writing platform for teens. Here's how the website describes itself: "inkpop is an online community that connects rising stars in teen lit with talent-spotting readers and publishing professionals. Our social networking forum spotlights aspiring authors and the readers who provide the positive springboard for feedback. inkpop members play a critical role in deciding who will land a publishing contract with HarperCollins." The site includes access to popular projects, blogs, and personal profiles by the writers. Find it.

UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Tamarra Fisher blogs about gifted webinars coming up, including events from NAGC, SENG, the University of California, Belin-Bank, and the Center for Talented Youth. Read the blog.

NEW EDUCATION BLOG. Education Week has launched a new blog called "Teacher in a Strange Land." In one of her first posts, "Stuff I Used to Think," Nancy Flanagan, a 30-year teacher and one-time Michigan Teacher of the Year, provides a somewhat jaded view on educational issues such as FAPE, the teacher's role, equity, and the mission of public schooling. Find out if your views mesh with hers.

EDUTOPIA VIDEOS ON iTUNES U. We've mentioned iTunes U as a source for educational material. Edutopia is now offering free downloadable video content through the site. Some of the topics include social and emotional learning, case studies of particular schools, and teacher training. Find out more.

AID FOR DYSLEXIC READERS. A professor of digital design has developed a toolkit to to help educators more effectively assist children with dyslexia, The online tool employs sight, sound, and physical movement to increase the reading and retention abilities of children aged 9 to 11 who have dyslexia, according to ScienceDaily. The researcher says, "I want to deemphasize the 26 letters of the alphabet and emphasize the 44 common sounds of the English language. I do so by helping educators employ children's senses, from the visual to the kinesthetic." Find out more.

PROBLEMS FOR THE MIXED-HANDED. Research reported in the journal Pediatrics indicates that children who are mixed-handed, or ambidextrous, are more likely to have mental health, language and scholastic problems in childhood than right- or left-handed children. About 1 in 100 people are mixed-handed. Among the risks: twice the incidence of AD/HD. Read more.

NOT MUCH NEWS so far this week...

SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE addresses dysgraphia in its newly-distributed issue. Included: a piece on understanding dysgraphia and what it might mean for your high-ability child's problems with spelling, handwriting, or written expression; getting help for dysgraphia; and how, as a child, Pete Wright of Wrightslaw was labeled as borderline mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed because of his problems with reading and writing. Find the newsletter.

A MENTOR FOR YOUR GIFTED CHILD. The Davidson Institute has several resources on its site about mentoring your high-ability, highly-motivated child. One is an article titled "Tips for Parents"; you can also find a PDF guidebook on mentorships; and there's a pointer to a site for a Girls E-Mentoring program.

REQUIRED FOR SUCCESS: IQ OR WORKING MEMORY? An article at SharpBrains.com describes a study indicating that working memory is required for school success, no matter what the IQ. According to the article, "..working memory at the start of formal education is a more powerful predictor of subsequent academic success than IQ in the early years." Find the article.

DOES YOUR SCHOOL SUPPORT YOUR CHILD? The University of Michigan polled parents across the U.S. to see what parents thought of the way their children's public schools provided children with support for behavioral, emotional, or family problems. In the poll results, thirty-seven percent of parents gave primary schools an A for supporting for children with issues ranging from AD/HDHD to depression to bullying. Parents were less satisfied with behavioral/emotional support than with educational services. Find the report.

MEDIA USE AND GRADES. A Kaiser Family Foundation study shows that young people are now engaged with media almost 8 hours a day. About grades and media use, the Foundation news release says, "While the study cannot establish a cause and effect relationship between media use and grades, there are differences between heavy and light media users in this regard. About half (47%) of heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades (mostly Cs or lower), compared to about a quarter (23%) of light users. These differences may or may not be influenced by their media use patterns." Find more information.

REMEDIATING READING BUT ATTRACTING THE GIFTED. Jay Mathews of the Washington Post published a letter from a teacher who describes how she "disguised" her remedial reading class. Some students with reading problems had to come to her resource room, an adjunct of the media center; for others, it was voluntary. The teacher writes, "I found that the kids released from regular class most often were the really bright and those with great difficulties. And they worked well together." Mathews calls her venture "a free-form gifted non-program." Read the letter.

GOT A KID IN AN AP COURSE? The Post's Jay Mathews shares a secret: you can request an Advanced Placement Grade Report for your high school, a report showing student scores on spring AP exams. So what? According to Mathews, "The reports take you beyond the school course guide. They suggest which courses might be best for you and your family members. They are puzzles that, for the first time, everyone has a chance to solve." Read more.

SOMETHING ELSE FOR PARENTS TO WORRY ABOUT. Parents of all kids, including gifted kids, have all sorts of things to worry about as their offspring grow up. The New York Times on January 19th added a new worry to the list with a story about a seven-year-old who suffered a stroke. The author of the article is the boy's father, presumably a Times writer. Of his son right after the stroke, he wrote: "Two days before, he had been a happy, athletic second grader, a beautiful boy who loved playing baseball and basketball in the park. Now he couldn't walk; he had to struggle to remember the color of a barn." Read about the family's harrowing ordeal.

CHILDHOOD STRESS. Spanish researchers have compiled a 25-point list of daily situations which are stressors to children. According to ScienceDaily, some of the most influential factors are worries about physical appearance, too many activities, or being alone. Read more.

WEBINAR ON GIFTED KIDS AND SPORTS. Our Gifted and Talented Online Conferences is offering an early-February webinar titled "Cartesian Splits and Chinese Splits: Gifted Kids and Sports," to be presented by Steve Balzac. Find more information.

EVALUATING WRITTEN EXPRESSION. If you raise or teach a gifted child who has problems with written expression, you might be interested in the the Wrightslaw Special Ed Advocate from the week of January 17th. It covers what evaluations should cover, myths and misconceptions about written language testing, common tests, and additional information about evaluating written expression. Find Special Ed Advocate.

GIFTED IN FRANCE. If you happen to be an English-speaking person residing in the environs of Paris, France, who has concerns or information needs that bring you to this blog, then check out "Gifted in France," billed as a support group for English-speaking parents of gifted children in Paris. Currently on the site is notice of a speaking event sponsored by the group titled "Gifted Third Culture Children." Find the blog.

GOOD BOOKS FOR KIDS. The American Library Association has announced its literary award winners for 2010 -- the Newberry Medal, Caldecott Medal, Printz Award, and many others. To see if any of these books might be of interest to your gifted young person on any age, check the site. (And wait to see if 2e Newsletter's columnist Bob Seney makes any pronouncements over the winners in future newsletter issues.)

INTERACTIVE SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL GAME. A press release alerted us to a new website from PBS Kids Go! The site features a multi-level game called "Lifeboat to Mars" where players work to rebuild a virtual ecosystem in outer space, supposedly learning standards-based biology concepts. The game is set in the year 2041 on a supply ship to Mars. Check out the game.