Gifted and Talented Program
Maximizing Achievement for Gifted Students
Contact: Palmer Gifted Resource Teacher (GRT) Name: Michael Chamberlin Email: michael.chamberlin@d11.org Phone: (719)-328-5079 Address: 301 N Nevada AVE Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Office: Room 222 WebEx Meeting: Book here.
What We Believe
Vision: The Gifted and Talented will maximize achievement for all gifted students.
Mission: The Mission of the Gifted and Talented Department is to support gifted and talented students in achieving their academic, social-emotional, and creative-productive potential by providing an appropriate learning environment based on best practices in gifted education.
Guiding Principles: We, as the Gifted and Talented Department:
Promote high academic achievement for each student
Seek meaningful and challenging learning experiences
Facilitate talent development
Encourage social and emotional growth
Support future planning
Develop habits of good citizenship
Advanced Learning Plans (ALPs)
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) requires that all Gifted and Talented students have an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP), and state that communication between parents, educators, and students are essential in the goal setting, development, and review of a gifted student's Advance Learning Plan. In order to comply with the CDE rules, parents must review and approve the completed ALP.
As a gifted student you have the right to gifted programming. At Palmer High School, this entails taking honors and advanced classes, but may also involve extracurricular activities, personal and social support, and other services. The objective is to allow gifted students to learn and grow in their area(s) of strength/interest commensurate with their ability. The Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) is a Colorado state requirement aimed to address this objective by means of goal attainment. All identified gifted students need to complete an ALP yearly.
The ALP is embedded within Naviance, a school-wide management and career readiness/planning solution for students, and a system for students to complete ICAP (Individual Career and Academic Plan) graduation requirements. Since there is alignment between the ALP and the ICAP (e.g., both are state requirements, and both are utilized in planning for the future), using Naviance for the ALP reduces the redundancy of both. The ALP and the ICAP are graduation requirements.
There is one ALP task (survey) all gifted students need to complete before parent/teacher conferences in October (20-30 minutes to complete). There will be a goal progress monitoring task assigned to students in January, and a year-end summary in May. Together, this constitutes the yearly ALP - for the student. The ALP is much larger and more encompasssing than these Naviance tasks assigned to students. The two year-long ALP goals, one academic and one affective (social/emotional), need to be a collaborative effort between student, parent(s), teachers, Gifted Resource Teacher, and other adults associated with the student and his/her goals. Parents will have their own parent Naviance login where they can view and comment on their child's written ALP. In addition to the goals, the ALP is composed of gifted identification information, scholastic performance, ICAP information, and other school information which paints a comprehensive scholastic picture of the student.
Once the ALP is written, the Gifted Resource Teacher (me) will work with the student to help them reach their goals. I will meet with the student several times throughout the school year to check progress and to help with goal attainment. My focus up until parent/teacher conferences is to ensure all gifted students have written their ALP in Naviance. After parent/teacher conferences, I will focus on getting students to achieve their goals.
Quick Start to completing your ALP:
1) From the Palmer website , under the Students tab, select Student Resources.
2) Select the Naviance link . "Click HERE to login", and select the Microsoft logo link to login. Follow prompts and Naviance/Clever links to login.
3) Once logged in, select My Planner and Tasks Assigned to Me.
4) Complete ALP - "X" Grade. The due date is in October prior to parent/teacher conferences. You will need to click the survey link in the upper right corner.
5) Parents - an email with attachments (Creating Parent Naviance Account & Reviewing and Approving ALP Goals) will be emailed to you explaining how to set up a parent Naviance account, and how to view and approve your child's ALP goals. If you have questions please contact me.
If you would like to make an appointment with Mr. Chamberlin, Gifted Resource Teacher, to discuss the ALP and/or other GT related issues, please make an appointment here.
Events
Dr. Martin D. Jenkins Scholar Award - Honors the achievement of highly gifted Black students who excel academically in school. Application deadline is September 12, 2021. For information adnd application click here.
The Soefer Mathematial Olympiad - Participants compete to solve five problems and the chance to win valuable prizes including calculators, software and scholarships. October 1, UCCS Campus. https://soifermathematicalolympiad.uccs.edu/ for more information and to register.
