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Great Expectations Mean SuccessThe Mississippi State Department of Education recognizes that intellectually gifted students must be challenged in order to reach their full potential. The state has provided classes for thses students. GEMS is the name of the gifted classes in the Tishomingo County School System. It stands for Great Expectations Means Success.What are the benefits of GEMS?There are many levels of thinking. The GEMS class spends the majority of the time in the higher level thinking skills. The students learn how to implement the various thinking processes through thematic studies that are selected based on student interests. Blooms's Taxonomy, William's Model of Divergent Thinking, William's Model of Creative Feeling Behaviors, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and State Teaching Strategies are incorporated in each thematic study.What are the Outcomes of Gems?The primary outcome of GEMS is metacognition which is the abilty to understand one's own thinking processes combined with the abilty to bring together one's total learning experences to bear on a new situation. Metacognition enables one to appropriately apply that understanding and empower the new endeavor, and therfore, act responsibly to enjoy the self-motivated discovery of new ideas and/or solutions. Along with the primary outcome there are six major outcome categories. They are thinking skills, creativity, group dynamics, communication, research, and self-directed learning.Personal Note It is my belief that all children need to cultivate a regular habit of thinking for themselves. A child's thinking power can have a tremendous impact on his or her ability to learn, solve problems, and make decisions throughout life. We can have a positive influence in the life of a child that can and will make a difference in his or her future. |
