TAG -- You're it!

Today is the first day of school after winter break for us folk here in the Dallas ISD, and I can only hope the kids come back more energized than I was yesterday at the staff development!

Today, I have the second in a long (hopefully getting longer) line of Guest Posters here at Learn Me Good in the month of January. The Guest Posting Initiative (GPI?) is a way to showcase and spotlight the writings and blogs of other people and to expose people to new things. For the writer, they may find a whole new audience. For the reader, they may discover a new enjoyable author.

Today's Guest Blogger is Jason, an 8th grade student from Louisiana. He writes about the requirements for getting into the Gifted programs in TX and LA. He just started a blog called Jason's Perspective, and I encourage everyone to go check it out.

Before I present his post though, I'd like to lay out the guest calendar so far:

Jan 8 -- Carolyn of Give Me Texas Wisdom

Jan 12 -- Kevin of Kevin's Meandering Mind

Jan 14 -- Red Priest of Intellteacher's Blog

Jan 28 -- Mr. D of I Want to Teach Forever!

So as you can see, the calendar is still wide open! Don't be shy! Step right up and pick a date to Guest Post here on Learn Me Good!

Now on with the show.

Here is what Jason writes, in a post titled, "Louisiana VS Texas: Gifted Style."

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Louisiana and Texas both have G/T Programs( according to Learn Me Good, Texas's is called TAG). Before we begin, I think I must state that this information comes from people involved in the Webster Parish, Louisiana G/T program, It comes from overhearing, questions, and a little bit of the book Learn Me Good.

Get over the unindented paragraphs you grammar nerds, I like the block format. The major differences are the admissions to the G/T program. Texas is based on teacher reccommendation and student performance. It is made of people typically called overachievers. Louisiana Gifted students go through an exam called the K-Bit2 (or a closely similar name) to see if they are eligible to take the exam. If they pass, onto the exam. If not, end of the line segment or try again. You must wait a minimum of one year to retake the exam.

The exam consists of three parts, a reading test, a math test, and a psychological evaluation. Each part is worth three matrix points, alltogether worth 9 points. You must have at least 6 points (I got 7- 1 pt psy, 3 math, 3 reading- my reading and math were in the 98th percentile) alltogether, or 3 points on the psych evaluation. 1 point on the psych evaluation is above average.

Texas is based on teacher reccommendations. Texas will easily accept a student from Louisiana in G/T, but Louisiana isn't so easy with Texas G/T. Louisiana is one of the top G/t states. It isn't good at much else.

TEACHING CERTIFICATES:

I will now briefly describe the difference between a Louisiana Teaching certificate and a Texas on. Louisiana shows your degrees (not your major, but i.e. B.S. Louisiana Tech University 1997, MS Out of State College or University 2001) and your areas of certification, and the years you obtained them. It also shows your teaching certificates you have had. Texas shows your name and areas of certification, not degrees. You can check it out online if you want.

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My thanks to Jason for his evaluation! Everybody, please be sure to stop by Jason's Perspective, and leave a comment about his Guest Post here on Learn Me Good!

Good luck to all the teachers and students out there in the year 2009! Make the next couple of months count!