Description

“My student already knows the material in this lesson, what do I do?”

“How do I help my high ability learners reach their full potential?”

“What are the best practices for teaching gifted learners?”

These questions are common for educators when considering the needs of students with gifts and talents in their classrooms. Whether attendees are educators in a general education setting, gifted and talented education specialists, or administrators this professional development course is designed to help answer these and other essential questions. The North Dakota Association for Gifted Children (NDAGC) webinars which are a key component of this course offer a foundation for understanding the educational, psychological, and advocacy needs of these students.

Content of NDAGC’s informational webinars are focused on the following themes:  

• Curriculum
• Programming
• Identification & Assessment
• Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted
• Advocacy

Flexibility and choice will be integrated to allow learners to diversify for individual needs and interests. This course can be completed asynchronously. However, options for collaboration and discussion are provided. The goal of this course is for attendees to feel more secure in responding to students’ intellectual maturity, and in providing instruction tailored to the unique learning needs of gifted leaners.

Syllabus, Objectives, and Outcomes

Objectives:

1. Gain an understanding about best practices for curriculum, programming, assessment, identification, social and emotional, and advocacy needs for gifted and talented learners.
2. Reflect on new learning, and identify its implications on attendees’ current educational practice.
3. Craft actionable steps towards the implementation of best practices for gifted leaners into attendee’s future educational practice.

Text:

No text is required for this course as the course content is delivered via informational webinars found in NDAGC’s webinar archive. Resources are optional and are referenced in webinar presentations. Sample primary resources are listed below:

• Addressing Underachievement: Five Tips for Unlocking Your Students’ Gifts and Talents presented by Del Siegle, Ph.D.
• Siegle, Del, Ph.D. (2012). The Underachieving Gifted Child. Routledge.
• Accelerating Learning for All: Using Gifted Strategies as Tier 1 Instruction presented by Dr. Colleen Urlik and Dr. Rebecca McKinney.
• McKinney & Urlik (2024). Accelerating Learning for All: Equity in Action. Corwin Press.
• Critical Elements in a Differentiated Classroom: Tiered Assignments and Flexible Instructional Groups presented by Diane Heacox, Ed.D.
• Heacox, Diane (2014). Differentiation for Gifted Learners. Free Spirit Publishing.
• Understanding the Gifted Child: Exploring the Social-Emotional Needs of Gifted Children presented by Beth Ustanko and Emily Jones
• Webb et al. (2016). Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults. SCB Distributors.
• Curriculum Compacting presented by Alicia Schroeder-Schock
• National Research Center on Gifted and Talented Education 8 Steps to Curriculum Compacting: https://nrcgt.uconn.edu/underachievement_study/curriculumcompacting/cc_8steps/

"I FOUND IT BOTH HELPFUL AND CHALLENGING TO TAKE THE INFORMATION I LEARNED AND MAKE AN ACTION PLAN TO IMPLEMENT DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR."

"THE WEBINARS, REFLECTIONS AND FEEDBACK WERE SO VERY HELPFUL AND I LEARNED MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD. I WILL DEFINITELY BE ABLE TO APPLY WHAT I LEARNED. GAINING ACCESS TO THE NDAGC.ORG IS AN ONGOING RESOURCE THAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR."

"I APPRECIATED BEING ABLE TO CHOOSE TOPICS THAT WERE TIMELY AND RELEVANT TO ME."

"THE INSTRUCTOR WAS HELPFUL AND REFLECTIVE HERSELF IN FEEDBACK SHE GAVE IN RESPONSE TO MY THINKING. I REALLY APPRECIATED HER TIME AND EFFORTS!"

"CONTENT WAS HIGH QUALITY AND VERY APPLICABLE TO MY SPECIFIC AREA OF EDUCATION."

"THE VERY PRACTICAL WEBINARS THAT DISCUSSED HOW TO IMPROVE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIFTED CHILDREN, PARTICULARLY THE PROFESSIONS AND PASSIONS WEBINAR."

"THERE ARE SO MANY CHOICES OF WEBINARS TO WATCH. IT WAS HELPFUL TO BE REQUIRED TO TAKE NOTES; NOW I HAVE MANY NOTES TO REFER TO (I EVEN PRINTED THEM OUT TO KEEP THEM HANDY!) LEARNING HOW GIFTED/TALENTED LEARNERS ARE IDENTIFIED, HOW TO HELP THEM GROW/SUCCEED, AND HOW TO BEGIN PUTTING THESE PRACTICES INTO USE AT MY SCHOOL. THE CONNECTIONS TO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE FIELD WHO WILL CONTINUE TO GUIDE AND DIRECT ME AS I BEGIN A NEW PROGRAM. I DID LEARN A LOT ABOUT GIFTEDNESS."

"EVERY TEACHER SHOULD HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEEDS OF GIFTED CHILDREN."

"I LEARNED SO MUCH! THERE ARE SO MANY VALUABLE WEBINARS RELATED TO GIFTED EDUCATION TO CHOOSE FROM! IT SHOWED ME THAT I AM NOT MEETING THE NEEDS OF MY GIFTED STUDENTS."

"I APPRECIATED HOW BETHANY GAVE US IDEAS OF WHAT WEBINARS WOULD BE MOST BENEFICIAL TO US IN OUR CURRENT POSITION."

"I GAINED VALUABLE POINTS INSIGHT ON HOW EFFECTIVELY MEET THE NEEDS OF SOME OF THE MOST LEFT-BEHIND KIDS IN OUR SCHOOLS - THE GIFTED AND TALENTED. SO MANY IDEAS WERE SHARED BY A WIDE VARIETY OF TEACHERS WITH VARYING DEGREES OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE. I'VE ALREADY STARTED IMPLEMENTING SOME OF THEIR STRATEGIES IN MY CLASSROOM."

"I HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF NDAGC ALL SCHOOL YEAR, BUT UNTIL THIS COURSE, I HADN'T REALLY WATCHED MANY OF THE WEBINARS. THIS COURSE REQUIRED I DO THAT AND I AM SO GLAD. THERE IS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ON THE SITE! I ALSO LIKED THE IDEA OF AN ACTION PLAN AT THE END SO I'M PUTTING WHAT I LEARNED TO USE."

"IF YOU ARE WANTING TO LEARN ABOUT HOW YOU CAN BETTER REACH YOUR HIGHER STUDENTS, THIS IS A GREAT COURSE TO START!"

"WE HAVE ALL SORTS OF SERVICES IN PLACE FOR OUR NEEDIEST KIDS, BUT THROW OUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR WHEN WE HAVE KIDS WHO NEED A BIGGER/DIFFERENT CHALLENGE. TEACHERS NEED TO BE MORE PREPARED TO MAKE SURE EVERY CHILD LEARNS SOMETHING NEW IN THEIR CLASSROOM EVERY DAY."