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FUTURA
Developing the Intellect through Inquiry and Investigation
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Systems - Fall 2017

2. Meet Mr. Charlish This is me!
My name is Steven Charlish and I am so excited to be joining the Forest Grove Team this year!
I have been a teacher in the county for the past ten years, and have been teaching in various places around the world for the past twenty!
I was born in England, just outside of London and then moved to the west of England to study education. Before coming to the United States in 2006 I had been teaching third through fifth grade at schools in the city of Bristol in the west of England. I was also lucky enough to teach in New Zealand and Nicaragua.
I graduated with honors from Bath Spa University earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative English and Studies of Childhood with Qualified Teacher Status. Since then I have earned my Masters in Education from Shenandoah University, and my endorsement in gifted education. I am currently studying to earn my certificate in educational leadership. What can I say, I love learning!
Outside of school I am an avid football (soccer) and I am beginning to understand many American sports, such as baseball. I enjoy playing golf, traveling and generally anything that can help me be outside!

3. Meet the Administration
Principal:
Mr. Andrew Stevens
Assistant Principal: Dr. Lindsay Orme
Dean: Ms. Meghan Doherty

4. Arcola FUTURA Center Schedule
Serving:
Monday- Arcola 4th
Tuesday- Liberty 4th and Aldie
Wednesday- Liberty 5th
Thursday- Pinebrook
Friday- Arcola 5th

5. FUTURA Goals Facilitating Understanding Through Utilizing Real-life Application 
#1 To become divergent creative
thinkers who recognize
problems and solve them.
#2 To construct personal meaning and
understanding of others
and of the world around them.
The FUTURA program seeks to enhance and to develop the intellect of 4th and 5th grade students who have been formally identified in need of gifted services. FUTURA is a pull out program where identified students receive enrichment and challenges one day a week in a center at another school. Some students receive services in their own school through the in-house model. Students are immersed in lessons that correlate the themes Structures and Systems to the Virginia Standards of Learning Objectives for the core content areas. FUTURA offers a stimulating environment focusing on higher level thinking skills and activities including:
Problem Solving
Critical Thinking
Creative Thinking
Evaluative Thinking
FUTURA Goals:
#1 To become divergent creative thinkers who recognize problems and solve them.
#2 To construct personal meaning and understanding of others and of the world around them.
#3 To develop the capacity for self assessment. (ownership of the learning)
Main Skills
Complex Thinking Skills
Research Skills
Independent Learning Skills
Interactive Skills
Additional Skills
Creative Expression
Affective Education and Leadership
THINKING & ACADEMIC RIGOR:
Experiences Qualitatively Different Academic Environments (More In-Depth, Complex and Abstract Concepts and Ideas)
Builds Upon Interests, Strengths, and Personal Goals
Engages Consistently in Sophisticated Investigations of Materials, Texts, Interactive Technologies and Learning Activities
Employs Advanced Critical and Creative Processes
Investigative and Open-Ended Learning Processes
#3 To develop the capacity for self
assessment. (ownership of the learning)

6. Expectations Involvement Collaboration Ownership Problem Solving
Involvement in active learning
Development and use of planning strategies
Utilization of problem solving techniques
Application of core content learning to projects and products
Flexibility and critical thinking
Collaboration with fellow students
Perseverance and task commitment
Maintenance of proper classroom decorum
Students will sign the FUTURA honor code, which we go back to time and time again
Passion: Feeling very strongly about a subject
I will find a new passion for some of the topics we study, and become excited to learn more about them. Being an active participant in all we do will open up some new interests for me.
Faith: A belief in the trustworthiness of an idea
I will have faith in my abilities. Things in FUTURA will be challenging, but if I set my mind to it, I can do it! It is important to persevere at difficult tasks.
Work Ethic: A set of values based on the virtues of hard work and diligence
I am expected to work hard in FUTURA all the time, giving my best effort no matter what I am working on.
Sportsmanship: Conformance to the rules, spirit, and etiquette of sport
In FUTURA I will work with many different people. I am expected to cooperate and collaborate with fellow students and teachers, maintaining a positive attitude.

7. Take risks, make mistakes..
Growth Mindset – Carol Dweck
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

8. Who had a fabulous struggle today?
Mistakes are a natural part of learning, they happen when you take on challenges.
Children often say “I haven’t ever tried something I can’t do.” They say it so often that it becomes part of the personality. When they are finally challenged and fail this experience can be devastating. In FUTURA this year we are going to be encouraging mistakes and celebrating them, we want to use them and our failures to help us learn.

9. 2017-18 is a Systems Year! sys·tem ˈsistəm/ noun
1. a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole.
2. a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.

10. Possible Topics Under Systems
How can we categorize a system?
Natural and man –made
Culture
Language
Numbers
Advertisement
Communication
Transportation
Human body
Solar system
Inventions

11. Here you can see the breakdown in a little more detail regarding the categorizing of systems.

12. Systems: The Essential Understandings
Systems have a design
Systems have a function
Systems have boundaries
Systems can change
Systems have parts that interact

13. Independent Interest Centers / Passion Projects
Satisfy curiosities
Develop tenacity
Foster independence
Goals:
To provide FUTURA students with opportunities to both satisfy and elicit their intense curiosity.
Provide real world application of knowledge and interactions with the thinking of professionals within the field of interest or topic.
FUTURA students have the opportunity to choose activities based on interest and learning style while working at their own individual pace.
Encourage independent thinking, risk-taking, creative and critical thinking.
Students learn task commitment and time management skills.
Reflect on individual accomplishments and set goals.
Some possible center topics: Art, Strategy Games, Geometry, Medieval Times, Immigration, Titanic, Wordplay, Newspapers, and more…. Yet with passion projects the door is wide open. One of the forms you will see in their binder concerns projects and different ways they can show what you know. The children will highlight projects once they have tried to use it and are encouraged to try new ways on the menu of choices. It is like a balanced diet of projects and presentations.

14. Assessments 1st Skill 2nd 1 2 3 4 5 6 S T Goal Setting
Given the opportunity, the student does not demonstrate this skill
Attempts to set goals but unable to meet them
Sets appropriate goals and works to meet them with guidance
Independently sets appropriate goals and works to meet them
Independently sets and meets appropriate goals
Independently sets and meets appropriately challenging goals
There is an example of a report card on the table, they come home on pink paper in February , well it is valentines day time, and yellow paper at the end of the year for summer!
Formal Assessments are given at the end of each semester.
(late January and June)
Informal Assessments are ongoing. These will be in your child’s FUTURA binder with major projects/centers work.
Students are often asked to complete self-assessments prior to teacher evaluation of various products. This allows them to reflect on their learning and make comments/suggestions prior to another’s evaluation.
Children and parents often ask about grades, what is my grade? Wat grade did I get? I prefer to use the word feedback, there are now grades per se in FUTURA there are responses and feedback to a task that was undertaken. Sometimes this will be in the form of a paper rubric for your child and I to discuss together, self assessment. More often, in fact every day, the feedback is verbal and instant to guide the children to successful independence and collaboration.

15. Our Typical Day Interest Centers Systems Curriculum Lunch and Recess
Enrichment
Lunch and Recess
Arrive at center at 9:00 leave home school at around 8:45 depending on bus pick up
Recess usually at 10:30
Lunch is at 12:15
Leave arcola to return to base school at 1:45
Students are transported by bus from their home school to and from Arcola Elementary.

16. Your Attendance Is Important To Us!
Please call both
your home school and
Arcola
Students don’t get to opt in and out of FUTURA. FUTURA Attendance Policy!!! (new)
If there is an issue at the home school (special event, stressed out about work) please let us know so we can intervene
If your child is going to be late to school, please drive him or her to FUTURA center and our office will alert the base school when your child arrives but remember FUTURA starts at 9 so don’t drop them off before that. The bus probably leaves at 8:50, call the home school
Tardy? If past 9:00 bring your child directly to FUTURA, not base school.
Call base school first to see if bus has left.

18. Hungry?
Students may bring their lunches from home or buy at the FUTURA center.
The lunch account is connected to your child’s base school. Please make sure your child has money on his/her account if he/she plans to buy lunch when at FUTURA.
Please send your child with a nutritious, nut-free, mid-morning snack.
We take working snacks, I am fine with your child eating whenever they are hungry, I know that I don’t function at my best when I am thinking about eating!
Lunch Time is 12:10

19. Communication Binder FUTURA News Completed Assignments and Graded
Rubrics
FUTURA News

20. FUTURA Website

21. FUTURA Communication

22. FUTURA Communication
Please collect a bloomz form for your child’s day of FUTURA if you missed them on way in.
They are on the table for you to collect and contain the codes you need to sign up.
I also use Twitter quite a bit and you can follow to keep up to date too.

23. Required Forms at FUTURA
Emergency Form – Turn in to Home School
Media Release/Acceptable Use Policy Form
Phoenix
Emergency form (comes from the home school)
Student rights and responsibilities form also includes Internet Access Form
Permission for Video Taping and Photograph Form.
Even though you signed one with your student’s first day packet we need our own at this center.
Emergency

24. Other Forms..
Back to School Newsletter - if you did not see the one I gave to your child!
Media Release Form – again if you did not get one from your child
LCPS resources
Example of report card

25. Medicines at FUTURA Treatment Plans Medications
Please speak to the school nurse at this school or home school and mention that they will be in FUTURA. Medicine does not travel with child we need 2 sets one for here and one for home school

26. Make-Up Work Policy 2 Days to make up work Let me know…
I am here to advocate for your child.

27. Worried? At Base School I have trouble getting them to understand me.
It’s hard to get along with kids my own age.
I don’t like being labeled “gifted” by kids.
I dislike being teased about being smart.
I don’t like it when somebody gives me the brush off for doing better than they do.
I have trouble coping with the way peers act. Sometimes they seem so slow to learn.
I think I should be the leader because I know more. Sometimes, I’m bossy, and my friends don’t like it.
It can be hard for me to work in a group because I want the work to be perfect.
Sometimes I think I know more than the teacher.
I am scared to fail
At FUTURA
Status change
Too many leaders
Missing base school
Make up work
Overcoming academic challenge

28. Withdrawals or Changes in Placement
If, for any reason, a student needs to withdraw from the program, a parent conference will be scheduled. There is a form to be filled out, signed and returned to your child’s SEARCH teacher or us, and we will forward it to the GT office. Your child may choose to opt back in at any time beginning the NEXT school year.
Mention FUTURA Attendance Policy: 4 absences = possible conference

29. Parent Concerns/Conferences
Arcola Elementary
Best times to call:
7:30-8:00 am
2:00-2:20 pm
(best option)

30. Wish List
String
Toilet paper/kitchen towel tubes – PLEASE!

31. Thanks for coming out tonight!
Questions, comments, concerns?