With the COVID-19 pandemic placing a spotlight on existing inequities in education, issues of racial justice rising to the top of public consciousness at level unseen in generations, and massive budget cuts likely in K-12 education, there are serious questions about the will to support the needs of gifted and talented learners. At the same time, our society’s need for critical thinking has never been stronger. Colin Seale, education advocate Founder and CEO of thinkLaw, and author of Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Practical Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students, will share powerful, but practical arguments for prioritizing and expanding the benefits of gifted education as a key pathway for achieving educational equity.

Links:

Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Practical Framework to Teach Critical Thinking to All Students: Buy on Amazon

Request a quote for thinkLaw’s curriculum, or to book Colin Seale for your school’s teacher, or parent workshops: https://www.thinklaw.us/quote-request/

Much has been written about underrepresentation by income and race in gifted education during the past 40 years. Additional literature exists concerning gifted students in locales including city, suburban, town, and rural school settings. Sadly, little has changed. This report seeks to refine what is known about underrepresentation in gifted education by conducting more detailed analyses than have previously been done. Because of inequity in identification and services, many scholars and practitioners outside the field of gifted education raise concerns about racism, classism, and elitism within the field. Other scholars in the field of gifted education work to understand and solve inequity and some continue to defend inequity as it exists.

Join Marcia as she dives into Arizona’s report card of this study and how we can identify inequity and thoughts on how it can be addressed.

Additional Links

Dr. Gentry’s Presentation Slides

Full Gifted Education Report

Arizona’s Report Card

Our gifted students process information differently and may react to uncertainty in many ways. This discussion with Dr. Beljan will identify what responses may look like for your gifted child and how to implement successful tools to keep the calm during chaos.  This presentation will be done interview style, please submit any questions you may have for Dr. Beljan during registration.

Meet Dr. Paul Beljan

Dr. Paul Beljan is the past president of the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. He holds child and adult diplomate qualifications with the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology and the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology. Dr. Beljan’s professional focus is on Gifted Intelligence, Traumatic Brain Injury, Alcohol/Drug Related Neurodevelopmental Deficit (A/DRND), Learning Disorders, and Attention and Executive Functioning Deficit diagnosis and interventions. Dr. Beljan co-wrote Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults and co-authored Large Scale Brain Systems and Neuropsychological Assessment: An Effort to Move Forward.

Resources:

Teachers: Dr. Beljan is offering 100 free assessments for children you feel may not be identified due to social inequities or perhaps a child you feel who would work better in a one on one setting, but perhaps the family cannot afford it. Reach out via his website and inquire about his pro bono offer.

www.paulbeljan.com

Book: Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults

Book: Large-Scale Brain Systems and Neuropsychological Testing: An Effort to Move Forward

Being gifted is not a diagnosis, fixed with a prescription.  It is a composite of characteristics and behaviors that are unique to each person.  Connie and Donna will discuss common traits and individual attributes of gifted students with anecdotal examples of how giftedness often reveals itself in unexpected ways. Strategies to respond to gifted students’ learning differences will be shared.

Resources

Helpful Documents and Presentation Slides

Saxon Placement Tests

One size does not fit all! Join Peter Laing and Scott Hagerman for a dialogue regarding programs, service delivery models and strategies and systems of support will be shared to support both gifted and advanced learner access and success within rigorous curricula. Attendees will leave empowered with new understanding and practical tools to help support their local school efforts to expand accelerated and advanced learning opportunities for the students and families they serve.

Resources

Slide Deck for Presentation

The Pandemic has forced the educational community to consider all possible options for delivery of curriculum and instruction in the near future.  With the sudden onset of school closure in the spring, it was clear there is no one way for schools to meet the learning needs of all their students and expect them to thrive in an environment of anxiety and uncertainty.  And yet, “if there ever was a time to let gifted students flourish, it would be now.” (Paula Prober) Marianne will discuss how the options being considered for students can be successful for gifted students when using curriculum and instruction that peak their curiosity and creativity, and provide appropriate challenges

Resources

As parents you might have been going through almost 150 days of diverse emotional experiences with your bright and sensitive children at home. Anxiety and frustration may have been frequent companions on this journey with very limited social contact. How ready are you to explore practical exercise tools and physical techniques to minimize or even PREVENT anxiety and frustration on a daily basis? These tools are based on brain physiology, easy to learn and fun to apply daily. They work with children, adults and everyone with a nervous system. You have full control over your body 24/7. Watch this conversation with Genius Coach, Otto Siegel, and AAGT Executive Director, Heather Long (Plus kids!) in learning how to benefit from increased biological awareness and applying unusual practical tools.

Resources:

Genius Blog: https://www.geniuscoaching.com/blog

Text ‘Genius’ to 42828 to sign up for my weekly genius tip

Parent Roundtable with Otto every Monday from 5 – 6 pm on Zoom

• Share your best practices to navigate through uncertainty and daily challenges
• Connect with other passionate parents to learn and inspire
• Receive valuable tips for emotional and behavior challenges
• Register Here: https://www.geniuscoaching.com/contact and receive your link

Instruction for gifted students should be qualitatively different from the regular classroom. One tried and true method of accomplishing this is through the use of rigorous problem-based learning tasks/units. Research shows that students taught through problem-based learning acquire the content knowledge they need just as effectively as they would if taught through traditional methods, but also see great increases in critical thinking and motivation to learn. Join Jason as he reveals the step by step process he uses to develop high-quality problem-based learning scenarios and units of study. You never know! This could be the cure for the common classroom you’ve been looking for!

Resources:

Join Dr. McIntosh for a Self-Paced Online Professional Development course on Problem Based Learning for teachers – Download Flyer or register for this course on his website.

The powerpoint presentation is also available on Dr. McIntosh’s website: www.notmoreofthesame.com

Twice Exceptional, or 2e kids, have exceptional ability but also disability. They may have ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or another learning disorder. Join Julie and Cherrie, who both are moms of 2e kids with amazing gifts, as they share experience and tools they use when raising their children.

Cherrie will also navigate us through CARES Act, pointing out resources and tools that are written in this legislation that we may not have known are available for our exceptional children!

Resources:

Branching out Family Services: https://www.facebook.com/BranchingOutFamilyServices

ALTCS Insurance: https://www.azahcccs.gov/members/ALTCSlocations.html

Here you will learn how to advocate for gifted students and programs in a time of limited budgetary resources. Practical ideas for implementing and supporting program and services models within K-12 schools, to include a review of potential funding sources, will be shared and discussed. Our shared goal is to encourage schools to raise expectations for achievement and future outcomes for all learners, become talent scouts for identifying talent and potential in all learners and to become champions for providing equitable access to rigorous, challenging, & relevant curriculum for all learners.

Meet Peter Laing

Peter serves as Policy Advisor for the Arizona Department of Education, providing leadership for Arizona’s implementation of the CARES Act.  Peter also provides leadership for Gifted Education and Advanced Placement programs and initiatives. Peter has served as Chair-Elect of the Council of State Directors of Program for the Gifted (CSDPG), was a member of the national expert advisory board for the 2015 “Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities: A Report Card on State Support for Academically Talented Low-Income Students” report from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and has served as the Chair for the Special Populations Network of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). Peter’s focus has been on designing, implementing and supporting systems to equitably identify and develop talents and potential in all learners – particularly culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse learners.

Resources:

AAGT Advocacy Page (with links to NAGC Advocacy Information) Be sure to also sign up for our CAN Email List – https://arizonagifted.org/about-us/advocacy/ 

AAGT Parent Affiliate Page: https://arizonagifted.org/about-us/affiliates/

PDF of Peter’s Presentation

What makes a good gift for a gifted child? Want to find something unique and different? Need ideas to share with friends and relatives? Dr. Carolyn Ragatz has over 30 years of experience teaching gifted students and is a mother of two gifted sons. She has done research and written about the power of games with children. Join her as she discusses games and other exciting ideas to keep gifted children engaged. Hear about the latest and greatest games and activities to inspire young minds.

Resources:

Gifts for the Gifted Presentation Deck

NAGC – Toy and Game List 2020

Ready to shop for the items in this list AND make a donation to AAGT? Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/86-0310052 and AmazonSmile will donate to Arizona Association For The Gifted & Talented, at no cost to you.

What does Equity Mean – “fairness or justice in the way people are treated.”

Equity is giving everyone what they need to succeed, including gifted education, despite their race, culture, gender, sexuality, religion or economic status.

Join Liberty Elementary School District gifted teacher, Connie Crowley and her students in this socratic discussion of what equity means to them and why, now more than ever, it is imperative to fund gifted education in Arizona.

Join Ms. Westen as she talks about how she teaches the power of productive failure with a growth mindset. Gifted students need the opportunity to experience short term failures in order to achieve long term successes, but how do we teach the power of “yet” and maintain positivity in the classroom. Nadia shares her real life experiences as well as her Imagination Zone website in the era of virtual learning.

Resources:

Slide Deck: Growth Mindset in the Power of Productive Failure by Nadia Westen