Is your child gifted?

Okay...I am going to split my blogs into two from this day forward! I have two passions in life and one blog will be devoted to gifted education and Response to Intervention...the other blog will be devoted to K-8 computer science and programming! 

Please see Intervention Corner for great Response to Intervention resources!

https://sites.google.com/a/stretchinstructor.com/intervention-corner/

I am currently working with my district on revising our "Gifted and Talented" identification and services. We are moving toward an inclusive Response to Intervention and Parent Advocacy model. The model revolves around one main question: Are my child's needs being met? 

The single most effective means of moving a student's learning path forward has to be based upon daily differentiated instruction based upon need and GROWTH! But more on that later...stay posted to this blog and follow along on the journey. 

Please forward to anyone who is interested in gifted education - both educators and parents!

RtI - Response to Intervention

In my new role as a K-12 Intervention Coach, I have seen many teachers frustrated and in tears over our jump into the proverbial RtI waters. In an effort to put the frustration into perspective, I came up with this visual of the building blocks needed in order to effectively deliver Tier 2 and 3 interventions. As you can see the 1st building block is an understanding of the CCSS - but not only at the grade level you teach. You really need to understand what comes before and after you...in order to put it into perspective. One you have a handle on the CCSS, then you need to break it down into bite sized chunks (aka: learning targets) for your students. THEN, you can move into formative assessment. How do I know when my children have achieved their learning target. Once I give the formative assessment, this will move into the 4th block of differentiation. I can then use my formative assessment to determine how I will differentiate for learners within my classroom. This is really the foundation for Level 1 of RtI. Once I have put these first four building blocks into practice, then I can work on collaborating with others around the level 2 & 3 interventions of RtI. 

Here is a website I have put together that is full of RtI resources!
https://sites.google.com/a/stretchinstructor.com/intervention-corner/