Gifted and Talented

Just took the Texes test for GT certification and I was a little surprised by the amount of questions on recent research and Texas state guidelines from the 2000 statute. There is no real text for GT study, just an outdated handbook and recent articles from professional journals in GT education and research with which to try to scour an understanding of what GT education is today. Thank goodness Winebrenner's "orange bible" gives practical ideas for application and differentiation. Education is just so subjective, personal...there are no real working definitions or just one formula that works. Much to my dismay, there is no consistent definition for school culture either.

Success for All

Due to the situation my school finds itself in, I have been exploring the net, teacher blogs and any other educational commentary to find ideas about creating a school culture and climate that is nurturing and fosters high achievement. This is one of the places that I have ended up. Of course, in Texas, schools could be more successful if the Legislature actually equitably funded the districts or really, just stopped changing their funding formulas after school district budgets have been approved for the year. SSI funding changes this late? Come on!!!! Here is one sites....http://www.successforall.net/

Stadium High School, Mabry Middle School

I am not sure what exactly attracts me to this school, the historic main building that is built to appear as a castle, the stadium that overlooks Pugent Sound or just an itching desire to move up to high school. I have bookmarked the school site and visit it occasionally. My wife and I have talked about moving to Seattle before, but....I first saw this school as it was used to film 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. It was a good adaptation of Shakespeare's Kiss Me Kate. There is also a middle school in Marietta Georgia that is named after my family!!! It has an excellent website, podcasts, etc. Check it out!!!
http://www0.tacoma.k12.wa.us/schools/hsx/stadium/
http://mabryonline.org/