Any and all students are welcome and encouraged to submit an interest form and participate in a seminar. Seminars are designed to provide enrichment opportunities for students to pursue their passions and extend their learning in areas of interest. A student does not need to be enrolled in a G/T content class in order to participate in an instructional seminar at OMMS!
Each seminars offers a unique focus. However, all seminars have four universal components. They all (1) develop critical and creative thinking skills, (2) involve conducting research, (3) involve working collaboratively to produce an authentic product or creative production, and (4) utilize technology to create and communicate.
Participation in seminars is open to all students and is scheduled to not conflict with any synchronous class time. In addition, some seminars will be scheduled for a single semester (fall or spring) or they could be scheduled across both semesters.
Our sign ups this year will be online! Fill out the interest form for up to sign up for 1 or 2 seminars (available starting 9/21)
Permission Forms are due no later than Wednesday, September 30th for all year-long and fall semester seminars.
Spring Semester Seminar offerings and due dates : coming soon!
Seminar Expectations
Please consider your class load when signing up for seminars, since you are expected to attend and participate in scheduled weekly/biweekly seminar sessions. To help keep a balanced schedule, students should select no more than two seminars to participate in each year.
By signing up for an instructional seminar, students understand that there will be both synchronous (Google Meets) and asynchronous activities, and participation is expected in both. In addition, at times, work for the seminar might need to be completed outside of the regularly scheduled times.
Students are expected to use their Canvas calendar and let the teacher know if they will be unable to attend a seminar meeting.
If a student has an instrumental sectional scheduled at the same time their seminar is scheduled to meet, they should notify the GT Resource teacher ahead of time so that they can discuss options.
Students are expected to exhibit proper behavior to include, but not limited to, the HCPSS Code of Conduct and expectations established by our school.
Students are expected to maintain at least a "C" average in their classes in order to participate in seminars.
All creative work should be original student work and be free from copyright violations.
When and where do seminars meet?
While our classes are virtual, all seminars will also meet virtually! They will not be scheduled during virtual classes, but rather in some of the asynchronous work time throughout the week. Seminars will meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis with some asynchronous work and some synchronous meetings. Some seminars may require you to work on projects outside of those times.
Students may join up to two exploratory seminars at once. Students who are in the Band or Orchestra program should consider joining just one seminar so that they don't overload their schedule.
Seminar Descriptions
African American History
Just one voice can change a community, including yours! There is power in the spoken word. So, come ready to interact as we explore some of the most powerful speeches in American history as we look to our past to build hope for our future. This seminar is designed to integrate African American History with the history, development, and practice of oratory and declamation. Through participation in this seminar, you will have an opportunity to develop an understanding of the African American experience through the use of primary documents and speeches. You will also utilize research skills to investigate the various historical time periods in order to understand the global perspective and influences of the time period. Throughout the seminar, you will develop your public speaking skills through participation in seminar activities and the delivery of historical speeches.
Book Club
Do you love to read for pleasure? Are you one of those kids who can’t put a book down? Well, this is the seminar to you. You will read high interest and challenging books, discuss them with other students from school, then discuss them with other students from other Howard County middle schools. This seminar provides an opportunity for you to engage in meaningful discussions around a variety of literary works with different genres, authors, and subject matter. You will strengthen critical reading and leadership skills, hear insightful peer perspectives, and have fun. Each year, a new list of books are selected and both school and countywide discussions are made available to students. All of the titles will be available in Actively Learn, so you can read online for free!
Debate
Are you good at arguing your point and persuading others? In debate, students research current issues, write argumentative speeches, and organize arguments. They use public speaking skills and etiquette to refute and close their arguments. Join this seminar to engage in meaningful, persuasive discourse about contemporary issues, thereby strengthening your leadership, critical thinking, and presentation skills. This seminar prepares participating students for high school, and potentially collegiate, debate teams in later years. Depending on interest, this seminar may split into beginners and advanced.
Future City (STEM)
Future City is your chance to dream about your future. What kind of city do you want to live in, what can be done better in your future city? You and your teammates are in charge of coming up with ideas and making them happen. You’ll have support from your teacher and mentor, but ultimately it is all about your ideas, vision, and work. Working as part of a team you will design and build a city of the future centered around this year's theme - living on the moon! This seminar will run through the first semester.
National History Day (NHD)
Welcome to a truly inspirational academic opportunity that will allow you to conduct authentic research on a historical topic of your choice: National History Day - or NHD for short. Students who participate in NHD build many crucial skills, including conducting historical research utilizing primary and secondary sources; critical thinking; developing an annotated bibliography; communication and public speaking; time management and much more. NHD will take you on a historical adventure on which you will learn about the past and about yourself. This year's NHD theme is "Communication in History: The Key to Understanding." Please note that this seminar requires a significant amount of outside work in addition to seminar times.
Photography 1
Are you ready to go beyond words on paper and tell a story through a photograph? In this seminar, learn how to capture the power of emotion and someone’s story in a single frame or a series of images. You will learn about how to express yourself through photographic composition and form. Whether you’re a new photographer or consider yourself an expert, you’ll have fun expressing yourself in a snap. Through this seminar, you will complete hands-on visual exercises in which you weave 21st century technology skills with art and the creative process. You will learn how to effectively use digital media to tell a story, elicit a reaction, or communicate an idea. This seminar will run through the first semester.
TV Production
Are you excited to learn about what happens in your school and community in fun and engaging ways? Being a part of the school television crew might be just what you need. Join this seminar to work as part of a team to write, film, and produce a weekly news program. You will experience producing a news story from script to screen! You will develop "behind the scenes" skills like technology, research, and production along with on "on air" skills like public speaking. The school-based television show gives a public “voice” to the students in our school and serves as an example of a high-quality product wherein students emulate practicing professionals in the broadcasting field.
**Only open to current 7th and 8th graders this fall - 6th graders, stay tuned for opportunities in the spring!
Writer's Workshop
Do you like to write stories? Poetry? Writers' Workshop provides creative writers with the opportunity to produce authentic writing based on your interests. Everyone has a story to tell! Creative writing provides different ways to share your feelings and views in a variety of forms ranging from poems to short stories. Be creative and have fun playing with words and saying what you want to say because everyone has a story. In this seminar, we will focus on areas like story elements, figurative language, generating ideas, and diction. This seminar will help you prepare your works for publication.
Coming This Spring!
Photography 1
Photography 2
Future City
TV Productions for 6th grade
.....and more!
Look out for more information on Semester 2 seminars in January 2021