Concocting Creativity: The Secret Recipe Revealed!

By Dr. Brian Housand, Andi McNair, Stephanie Higgs, and Justin Mitchell

Hey there, NAGC family! Our team couldn’t be more excited to join you at the NAGC 2024 Annual Convention in the beautiful city of Seattle! We’ve been gearing up for the Creativity Network’s Super Sunday session, titled "Concocting Creativity: The Secret Recipe Revealed!", and trust us—it’s going to be nothing short of spectacular! Get ready for a dynamic, fun-filled, and insightful experience where we’ll dive deep into the world of gifted education, innovation, and creativity. Buckle up because we’ve packed this session with exciting takeaways, fresh ideas, and a few surprises to keep you on your toes!

This session is all about unleashing creativity and critical thinking in gifted learners. Picture curiosity simmering, critical thinking bubbling, and creativity overflowing as students face “impossibilities” with a dash of strategic brilliance. We’ll be your team of “chefs,” cooking up a menu of practical strategies and activities that meaningfully engage gifted learners in the creative process, spanning a variety of content areas. Our secret recipe for learning experiences blends some of the finest ingredients from educational research. We’ll be using high-quality creativity theories and best practice gifted instructional strategies, mixing together the Williams’ model for Thinking and Feeling with the Torrance & Safter Incubation Model and stirring in elements of Kaplan & Gould’s Depth and Complexity with a dash of Visible Thinking. This concoction is designed to help students stretch their thinking, make connections, and embrace their full creative potential.

During the session, you will experience a teacher-tested, three-course learning experience based on the stages of the Incubation Model:

1. Heightening Anticipation

2. Deepening Expectations

3. Keeping It Going

After each "course," we’ll reveal how our secret recipe nurtures the thinking and feeling process through a specific content area while incorporating Williams’ Modes of Teaching. You’ll see firsthand how these strategies are designed to engage even the most advanced learners in critical thinking and creativity.

We also recognize that gifted learners can sometimes be sensitive to frustration and anxiety when faced with setbacks. So, we’ll be serving up a side of resilience-building tools and strategies to help them embrace challenges and view learning as a journey, not just a destination.

By the end of our session, you won’t just leave with ideas—you’ll walk away with a collection of recipe cards packed with content-rich, creative learning experiences that go far beyond bland assignments and junk-food exercises. These recipe cards will provide you with practical, hands-on activities that will inspire your students to think critically and creatively. Along with these, you’ll also have a ready-to-use template for designing and sharing your own "concoctions of creativity," ensuring your classroom is always buzzing with innovation.

But that’s just the start. You’ll leave the session not only energized but armed with a menu of teacher-tested strategies specifically crafted to challenge and engage gifted learners at every level. We’ll dive deep into how setbacks can be transformed into powerful catalysts for creativity, offering resilience-building techniques that encourage students to see obstacles as opportunities for growth. You’ll explore our secret recipe, which blends creativity theories with best practices to ensure your lessons remain meaningful and engaging for even the most advanced students. We’ll show you how to personalize these strategies, so you can craft your own unique learning experiences that will motivate and inspire your students.

And this is where the true transformation happens. We’ll help you shift from the educational equivalent of fast food—those uninspired, one-size-fits-all assignments—to passion-driven learning that sparks your students’ curiosity and feeds their hunger for discovery. You’ll learn how to turn your classroom into a dynamic space where every lesson becomes a satisfying and enriching experience. By the time we’re done, you’ll be equipped to serve up your own blend of creative learning that transforms even the most routine school days into something truly extraordinary.

Now, let me introduce you to the dream team of “chefs” who’ll be guiding you through this extraordinary culinary adventure:

• Dr. Brian Housand, the tech-savvy professor from UNC Wilmington, has been revolutionizing the integration of technology in gifted education for over two decades. He’s presented in 40 states and internationally and is the co-author of Using the Schoolwide Enrichment Model with Technology. Whether you’re a Star Wars lover or a fan of all things Disney, Brian is sure to keep you entertained while delivering powerful strategies.

• Andi McNair, our innovation expert, is on a mission to change education. Author of Genius Hour and A Meaningful Mess, she brings an infectious energy to the room. Andi’s all about empowering learners to take charge of their education, and she’s ready to share how you can make that happen in your own classroom.

• Stephanie Higgs, also known as Little Miss Gifted, is an award-winning educator and instructional coach who is all about arts integration and creative teaching. Her experience in weaving arts into learning proves that education is limitless. Stephanie’s ready to show you how thinking outside the box can unlock new possibilities for your students!

• Justin Mitchell, an 8th grade Social Studies teacher and Gifted & Talented Coordinator from Kentucky, is a master at making history come alive. A 2021 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year and a leader in education policy, Justin is here to connect the dots between gifted education, history, and creativity.

So, get ready for a Super Sunday that’s going to be jam-packed with inspiration, collaboration, and a whole lot of fun! Don’t miss our session, "Concocting Creativity: The Secret Recipe Revealed!" We can’t wait to see you there and share everything we’ve been cooking up. See you soon, Seattle!