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#1 - Administrators Leadership Academy:
Building Expertise in gifted education using the Professional Development Continuum
Steve Schroder-Davis, St Mary's University of MN
Explore the relationship between best practices in professional development for staff based on standards for gifted education. Experts in the field also share insights about levels of implementation, effective goal setting, and staff development partnerships. In addition, participants form small groups with those of similar interests and expertise to engage in discussions and problem solving with regard to the usage of the various best formats of professional development to address the learning needs of gifted students. Opportunities for continued group discussions, reflection, and interaction are provided throughout the subsequent conversation.
Sponsored by the Professional Development Division
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#2 - Getting Students Connected: Integrating Technology to expand learning in the classroom
Kevin Besnoy, Nothern Kentucky University; Christine Briggs, University of Louisiana
Gifted education programs often rely on Instructional Technology (IT) tools to help engage students in challenging learning experiences. Students have many technology skills so it is critical for teachers of the gifted to know how to utilize and integrate IT tools to encourage students to apply these tools to develop novel solutions to problems. Participants will learn why and how to integrate Instructional Technology tools (including digital story telling, electronic pen-pals, and web-based reflective journaling) into lessons. Participants will have time to collaborate and apply session information into learning experiences to support the creative and critical thinking in students.
Participant Outcomes
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Explain why integrating technology into the curriculum is important to serving GT students
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Identify how integrating technology can help students develop solutions to problems and provide challenging learning opportunities
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Examine ways to integrate technology to support challenge for students, including, digital story telling, E-Pals, and Web-based reflective journalling
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Collaborate to apply session information to learning experiences that sustain creative and critical thinking
Sponsored by the Curriculum Studies and Computers and Technology Divisions
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#3 - Choosing and Using Children's Literature for young Gifted readers
Laura Beltchenko, National-Louis University, KImberly Chandler, College of William and Mary; Nancy Hertzog, University of Illinois
Join reading and gifted education specialists as we explore the world of children's literature. This session, designed for pre kindergartern to 3rd grade educators, provides the means to recognize the attributes of quality as they prepare to enhance the curious minds of early readers.
Participants examine
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Rigorous and age appropriate views of learning to read and reading to learn
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Books representing the affective needs of children
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Activities to inpsire research projects and learning center/workstations
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A selection of books, both fiction and non-fiction for use with this age group
Come and explore this 'fun'damental aspect of early literacy development and books that take our young readers on a learning adventure
Sponsored by the Early Childhood Division
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#4 - Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM): "Integrated, relevant, Challenging and Exploratory Curriculum" for the middle grades
Susan Rakow, Cleveland State University
Looking for curriculum that is relevant, integrated, challenging, and exploratory and supports the NMSA/NAGC Position Statement on Middle Grades gifted learners? The Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM) is all of these and more! Blend content standards with philosophy and best practice of both middle school and gifted education by using PCM to create engaging and rigorous instructional units.
Participants in this academy
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develop an understanding of PCM through a user friendly overview
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explore examples of PCM applications in middle school settings
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apply PCM guidelines to create an individual themed unit
This session combines theory and practice for optimum impact on middle school students and teachers.
Sponsored by the Middle Grades Division
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#5 - How do you know you have a good program? Making sense of evaluation data
Catherine Brighton, Tonya Moon, University of Virginia; Marcia Gentry, Purdue University
Many school districts collect large amounts of evaluation information. Oftentimes, these data are not effectively organized, analyzed, and summarized. This full day institute focuses on working with existing evaluation data to document a gifted program's strengths and weaknesses, and turning this data into usable and information on a gifted program's impact. To participate fully in the activities participants should bring a laptop computer, with EXCEL and a CD-ROM drive.
Participants learn how to use
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a systematic process to organize data
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readily available software to analyze data to answer posed evaluation questions
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interpret the results of analyses to document the effects of a gifted program
Sponsored by the Research and Evaluation Division
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#6 - Gifted at risk: Meeting the social-emotional needs of low-income, diverse students
Jaime Castellano, Arizona State University; Dina Brulles, Paradise Valley USD
Day-to-day realities of gifted students who live in poverty are often obstacles to our attempts to challenge their potential. The students are often ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse, but by focusing on their students' social and emotional needs, these at-risk children can be encouraged to perform up to and beyond their potential. Explore how to help these children use their innate perseverance, resiliency, and intelligence to build their confidence and improve their classroom performance. Share ideas and strategies to help overcome risk factors, and discover how to address their unique social and emotional needs during the school day.
Sponsored by the Special Populations Division
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#7 - Current Issues in secondary gifted education: a synthesis of educational practice
While in high school gifted adolescents simultaneously progress through significant developmental changes and finish their preparation for college or work. How are we doing in our efforts to help them along? This day-long academy focuses on issues and opportunities in the education of secondary gifted students.
Starting with current data on the attributes and achievements of gifted adolescents, participants learn how current practices assist pr impede their growth, with a close look at popular program models, sucessful innovations,summer programs, and competitions. Throughout, recommendations will help direct successful, supportive structures for classrooms and programs.
Presenters: Felicia Dixon, Shelagh Gallagher, Kathy Gavin, Marcia Gentry, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Bill Stepien, and Susannah Wood
Sponsored by the NAGC Secondary Schools Taskforce
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