Educators

Gifted Institute GFED 686 - "Gearing Up for Gifted"

Schedule and Speakers

Nationally recognized practitioners in the field of gifted will guide administrators and teachers in methods to evaluate, blend and improve gifted services efficiently to. Topics will include the revised Chapter 16 Guidelines, compliance monitoring, effective programming and due process issues.

Day One – Monday, June 23

Speaker: Brenda Wilson

Bio: Brenda Wilson, Pennsylvania Partner Relations with NWEA, is a former G/T teacher who has used the Measures of Academic Progress data to identify, inform and improve learning of gifted students in Indiana.

Discover how educators use the growth and achievement data from MAP tests to develop identification guidelines for gifted programming, target instructional strategies for challenging, appropriate content and plan school improvement. MAP test results help educators make student-focused, data driven decisions. Learn how NWEA partner districts use their data to meet the needs of gifted students.

Day Two– Tuesday, June 24

Speaker: Dr. Catherine Little

Bio: Catherine Little is an Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut in the US. She teaches courses in gifted and talented education and in the undergraduate honors program in education, and she serves as program advisor to UConn Mentor Connection, a summer program for talented teenagers. She previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and as Curriculum Coordinator at the Center for Gifted Education there. Catherine received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership with emphasis in Gifted Education Administration from the College of William and Mary. Her research interests include professional development in gifted education, talent development in teachers, curriculum differentiation, and perfectionism in gifted students. She presents regularly at state and national conferences and in local school districts, and she has written or co-written several curriculum units as well as book chapters and journal articles related to curriculum implementation and other issues in gifted education.

Description:

Day Three– Wednesday, June 25

Participants will spend the entire day using technology to enhance the education of gifted students. A variety of speakers will present options in global learning, cyber-education, communication, computer programming and real time on-line explorations. Speakers may include information about the NOAA Teacher at Sea program, the Iditerod experience, Blended Schools, use of Smart Boards, students who design their own programming, ebooks and other technology options.

Day Four– Thursday, June 26

Speaker: Dr. Elissa Brown

Dr. Elissa Brown is the N.C. State Consultant for Gifted Education with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Prior to her recent appointment in North Carolina, she was the Director of the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary where she also taught graduate courses in gifted education at the Master's and Doctoral levels. She received her Ph.D in Educational Planning, Policy, and Leadership with an emphasis in gifted education from the College of William and Mary. She has served as Director of the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School for Marine and Environmental Science, been a gifted program coordinator and her teaching experiences include over eleven years in a multitude of educational settings. Elissa has served on the executive board of two state gifted associations; the Virginia Association of the Gifted and the North Carolina Association for Gifted and Talented. She is a published author in the gifted field and she is the recipient of the National Association of Gifted Children's 2004 Early Leader award.

Description: Dr. Brown will help guide a teachers and administrators step by step through a training session on gifted program evaluation and help to plan improvements to implement in the coming school year for each district.

Day Five– Friday, June 27

Speaker: Andrew Mahoney

For more than 20 years, Mahoney, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Family Therapist, has explored and developed frameworks for the counseling and psychotherapy of gifted and talented people. In his Pittsburgh and Bedford , PA , offices, he works with clients individually, in groups and with their families. He has done post graduate work and completed his Masters at Western Illinois University . Nationally, he often presents his work at conferences, symposiums, consultations and training workshops for fellow counselors, educators and parents. His focus on identity offers a new and original perspective. In addition he is a professional Pastel Artist.

He has developed ideas for working with gifted through his Gifted Identity Formation Model that uses a very complete framework for understanding and accounting for many of the unique characteristics of gifted. He addresses how to serve these individuals and their needs with in depth.

Morning Session:

Understanding the Social/Emotional, Developmental and Identity Issues of the Gifted and Talented using the Gifted Identity Formation Model (GIFM)

Understanding the gifted and talented can be an exceptional challenge. This workshop will provide an in-depth look at the social/emotional, developmental and identity issues of this population. Through the use of the Gifted Identity Formation Model (GIFM),
the presenter offers a framework for managing this exceptional challenge and a means to intervene. The workshop will also include a demonstration of the GIFM and instruction on how the model works. Parents, teachers and counselors will find this presentation useful.

Afternoon Session: Reclaiming Your Genius

Many of us have gone through the process of cutting off our talents, only to find them reappearing superficially in our lives as we become bystanders, consumers of other's talent or just undeniably envious. Learn to rediscover those talents and cultivate your whole self. Discover the marvel of your own gifted complexity and how to express your unique identity .