QUEST PARENT MEETING

About Ms. Schram

BA from Michigan State University

M.Ed from Ferris State University

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• 3 years IA in Michigan
• 6 years at Giddens Elementary (2nd & 3rd Grades)
• 11th year at Westside (8 in 3rd Grade)

WHAT DOES QUEST MEAN?

QUEST is an acronym and it means:

• Quality
• Utilization and
• Enrichment of
• Student
• Talents

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What is Giftedness?

1. Areas Recognized by the State of Texas
2. Renzulli’s Definition (3 Circles of GT)
3. Continuum and Array: Serving the Needs of Gifted Students in LISD

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Areas of Giftedness �as�Recognized by the State of Texas

• Creative and productive thinking
• General intellectual ability
• Specific subject matter aptitude
• Leadership ability

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“Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits” �Joseph Renzulli, May, 1979�

Serving the Needs of the Gifted and Talented Learners in LISD�

Continuum of Services

Elementary School

QUEST pullout classes

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Middle School

QUEST/QUEST English class

STEM

Advanced Placement Classes

(AVID in some schools)

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High School

QUEST

QUEST lab

QUEST independent study/ Mentorship

QUEST Class

IB ( International Baccalaureate)

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Array of Learning Opportunities

Elementary School

• Accelerated Math Program
• Differentiation
• Cluster Classrooms
• Art, Music, Theater Arts
• Campus Special Activities (e.g.
• Destination Imagination

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Array of Learning Opportunities

Middle School

• Accelerated Math at 6^th, 7^th
• Differentiation
• History Alive! At 6^th ,8^th
• Algebra I/Geometry
• Foreign Language
• Advanced Language Arts at 8^th
• Band Choir, Art, Theater Arts, Sports etc
• Leadership opportunities (Student Council, PALS, etc)
• Destination Imagination
• Credit by Exam

High School

• Advanced classes
• AP ( Advanced Placement ) classes
• IB (International Baccalaureate) classes
• Foreign Language
• Computer Science
• Special Interest Activities (e.g., JETS, Academic Decathlon, Destination Imagination, clubs, etc.)
• Band, Choir, Drama, Drill Team, Dance, Art, Sports, etc.
• Leadership Opportunities (Student Council, PALS, Leadership classes, etc.)
• Dual Credit
• Early Graduation
• Credit by Exam

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Who is a QUEST Student?

1. Characteristics of a QUEST student
2. How they are identified: creative thinking and general intellectual measures
3. High Achiever…Gifted Learner… Creative Thinker

Characteristics of a QUEST Student

A creative and productive thinker is

• Fluent
• Flexible
• Original
• Elaborate
• Imaginative
• A risk taker
• A complex thinker
• A curious thinker

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A student with high general intellectual ability:

• Reads early, often widely, quickly
• Has a larger vocabulary than age-group peers
• Is able to construct and handle abstractions
• Can draw inferences
• Picks up and interprets nonverbal cues
• Seeks the how and why
• Can work independently for long periods of time
• Has interests that are often wildly eclectic and intensely focused
• Takes pleasure in intellectual activity
• Has insight into cause and effect relationships
• Are often skeptical, critical, and evaluative
• Has a large storehouse of information

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“No column is intended to be mutually exclusive. For example, a high achiever might also be a creative thinker, and a gifted learner might also be a creative thinker; a creative thinker might also be a high achiever, and a gifted learner might also be a high achiever.”�Bertie Kingore

QUEST PURPOSE

The purpose of the LISD QUEST program is two-fold:

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• To foster the gifts and talents of students who excel or show potential to excel in creative and productive thinking and in general intellectual ability through focused and differentiated learning experiences.
• To impact the capacity of all students to apply creative and critical thinking skills to their learning experience.

QUEST SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

The QUEST program consists of a spiraling curriculum through which the following skills are taught:

• Creative Thinking Skills

Creative Awareness and Creative Process

• Critical Thinking Skills

Bloom’s Taxonomy, Problem Solving, Decision Making

• Research

Group and Independent Study

Students experience these skills on an increasingly sophisticated level at each succeeding grade.

From learning the basic concepts applied in simulated learning activities in the primary grades,

students progress to direct application and synthesis of skills in student initiated learning projects.

Other instructional theories and strategies incorporated throughout the curriculum include:

• Continuous improvement tools and processes
• Multiple Intelligences (based on recent brain research)
• Technology as a research and communication tool

Units of Study

• Affective Unit-Who am I as a learner?
• Creative Thinking
• Critical Thinking
• Decision Making
• Independent Study (this year 3-5th will choose their own topics of study while K-2 will be given broad topics to stick within (insects, penguins, states/countries)

Social Skills and Depth and Complexity

• GOAL: 2-3 days a month, I try to teach a social skill or depth and complexity lessons on how to think deeper about a topic.

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Type of Projects

Musical Instruments (from recycled materials)

Robots (from recycled materials)

Mystery Historical Figure

Rube Goldberg/Arcade Games

QUESTlandia/Shark Tank

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QUEST Schedule

Kinder

• October-December: In class lessons
• December-January: Screen every Kinder student
• February: Test kids with indicators
• March-April: Pulled from ELA 4x/week for 30 minutes each session

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1st-4th

Pulled from ELA 4x/week for 30 minutes each session

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5th

Pulled from ELA 3x/week for 45 minutes each session

“Crisis” Intervention

Communication

• Google Classroom (2nd-5th)
• Emails
• QUEST newsletters on Fridays
• Website

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Email/phone: christine.schram@leanderisd.org

512-570-7000 ext. 47027

Thank you for coming!