2024 IAGC Conference: Full Schedule

10:15am CDT

Puzzlemania: 12 Great Puzzles to Challenge and Team-Build

Friday November 1, 2024 10:15am - 11:00am CDT

Join us for a fun, interactive session jam-packed with engaging, challenging puzzles you can take home and use right away with your gifted students of almost any age. These complex puzzles, combined with proven strategies for developing students’ metacognitive skills, will fully engage your students, getting them to think in new ways. Plus, you'll learn why puzzles are so unique and effective at building both academic and social/emotional skills in gifted students.

Presenters

Leslie Kerner

Co-Founder, COO, Silverquicken Education, Inc.

Educator, curriculum designer, parent, and community builder, Leslie Kerner is the COO and co-founder of Silverquicken. She’s spent 20 years developing K-12 education products and services. At Amplify, she worked closely with teachers and administrators around the country to bring... Read More →

Friday November 1, 2024 10:15am - 11:00am CDT
Room 166

Evidence-Based Curriculum and Instruction

11:15am CDT

Thinking on Your Feet: Using BTC to Strengthen Mathematical Reasoning

Friday November 1, 2024 11:15am - 12:00pm CDT

Room 166

Participants will learn how implementing the Building Thinking Classrooms teaching approach has transformed learning for all students in a sixth grade gifted math classroom. Through a culture of collaboration and inquiry, students learn to be resilient and adaptable learners. Come hear what students say about how their learning and understanding of math changed by collaborating and communicating with others in their classroom.BTC: Changing mathematical mindsets two feet at a time.

Presenters

Rita Laskonis

6th Grade Mathematics Teacher at Thurgood Marshall Gifted Academy, Rockford Public Schools

Friday November 1, 2024 11:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Room 166

Evidence-Based Curriculum and Instruction

12:15pm CDT

Gifted Ed Navigator: Charting Excellence with the Gifted Framework Continuum

Friday November 1, 2024 12:15pm - 1:00pm CDT

Room 166

Discover the Gifted Framework Continuum, a tool designed by Chicago Public Schools in collaboration with the National Association for Gifted Children Standards to organize best practices in gifted education. Learn how it empowers educators with indicators for success, ensuring equitable implementation across a school or district. Explore its applications, from guiding goal-setting to informing professional development priorities. Gain insights into its creation process, impact, and utilization, and use time to consider its application to your role.

Presenters

Molly Feeney

Gifted Program Specialist, Chicago Public Schools

Friday November 1, 2024 12:15pm - 1:00pm CDT
Room 166

Effective Program Leadership

1:30pm CDT

Success in Cluster Grouping: How to Make it Work!

Friday November 1, 2024 1:30pm - 2:15pm CDT

Room 166

Many schools say they cluster group for gifted services, but few say they do it successfully. Dr. Brulles will address the inherent challenges and suggest ways schools can overcome common obstacles when cluster grouping. Participants will learn how to create a fair and equitable system for serving gifted students by incorporating cluster grouping into school and district initiatives. She will discuss methods for making student placements, supporting cluster teachers, monitoring success, and building community support.

Presenters

Dr. Dina Brulles

Academic Associate, MLF Teacher's College, Arizona State University

Dina Brulles, Ph.D., is the Gifted Masters Program Coordinator at Arizona State University and the former Director of Gifted Education at Paradise Valley USD in Arizona. Dina has served as NAGC’s Governance Secretary and the board’s School District Representative. She received... Read More →

Friday November 1, 2024 1:30pm - 2:15pm CDT
Room 166

Effective Program Leadership

2:30pm CDT

Achieving Equity in Gifted Identification: A New, Promising Approach

Friday November 1, 2024 2:30pm - 3:15pm CDT

Room 166

Increasing diversity and equity is a longstanding goal of gifted education. The fact remains that Brown and Black students and those living in poverty are glaringly missing, partly because most ability tests demand fluency in English and advanced academic knowledge. Learn an innovative method for identifying gifted students more equitably using tests that include verbal, quantitative and nonverbal measures with test items that can be solved in any language and require minimal academic knowledge.

Presenters

Dr. Dina Brulles

Academic Associate, MLF Teacher's College, Arizona State University

Friday November 1, 2024 2:30pm - 3:15pm CDT
Room 166

Addressing Opportunity Gaps

10:15am CDT

Perfectionism is Not a Dirty Word

Saturday November 2, 2024 10:15am - 11:00am CDT

Room 166

The Gifted population has long been synonymous with the term perfectionism, but what does that word really mean? Perfectionism has long been described as problematic, but what if it's not? This presentation will dive into the myths and misunderstandings surrounding perfectionism as well as how to identify it in individuals who may not present in the "typical" way. Let's get down to the root of the meaning behind the word so we don't have to fear it.

Presenters

Jenny Nilsen

Clinical Director and Counselor, The Center for Identity Potential

Through her warmth and kindness as well as her extraordinary powers of observation, Jenny seeks to create healthy and productive working relationships with her clients. She is highly skilled at the evaluation process, which allows her to diligently assess the needs and desires of... Read More →

Saturday November 2, 2024 10:15am - 11:00am CDT
Room 166

Social-Emotional Learning and Support, Parent-Focused

11:15am CDT

Empowering Educators: Nurturing K-2 Gifted Learners' Social-Emotional and Academic Needs

Saturday November 2, 2024 11:15am - 12:00pm CDT

Room 166

Discover a comprehensive toolkit tailored for kindergarten to second-grade gifted students, addressing their social-emotional and academic needs. Crafted with a focus on holistic development, it supports educators in prioritizing emotional well-being and academic advancement. Equipping teachers with practical strategies, from emotion recognition to differentiated instruction, fosters inclusive classrooms where gifted learners feel understood and challenged. Empowered educators nurture the full potential of gifted students, creating supportive environments where every child thrives.

Presenters

Nelly Musso

Sarah Kampbell, PhD

The Avery Coonley School

Saturday November 2, 2024 11:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Room 166

Social-Emotional Learning and Support

12:15pm CDT

Talent Development Profile: Responsive Identification Practices in a Continuum of Services

Saturday November 2, 2024 12:15pm - 1:00pm CDT

Room 166

Implementing an inclusive and well aligned identification practice for advanced learner services can be challenging. Through case study, this session will explore best practices that include use of a student “talent profile” approach to identify students in need of advanced learner placement and instruction at all tiers in a continuum of services.

Presenters

Melissa Hinshaw

Assessment Director, Northwestern University

Melissa Hinshaw is the Assessment Coordinator at Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development. Throughout her thirty-year career as an education professional, she has served as a classroom teacher, administrator, consultant and Account Manager for NWEA. You can find recent... Read More →

Saturday November 2, 2024 12:15pm - 1:00pm CDT
Room 166

Acceleration and Identification

1:30pm CDT

Measuring Growth for Advanced Learners

Saturday November 2, 2024 1:30pm - 2:15pm CDT

Room 166

How do you know if advanced learners are growing academically? How much growth is enough? What are growth norms? Measuring growth for advanced learners can be difficult. This session will define growth of grade-level and above-grade-level assessments, review data practices using NAGC standards, and discuss the most useful approaches and nuances of measuring growth.

Presenters

Melissa Hinshaw

Assessment Director, Northwestern University

Saturday November 2, 2024 1:30pm - 2:15pm CDT
Room 166

Evidence-Based Curriculum and Instruction

2:30pm CDT

Using Learning Readiness to Guide Tier-one Responsive Planning

Saturday November 2, 2024 2:30pm - 3:15pm CDT

Room 166

Learning readiness is imperative for “right-sized” instruction and programming for advanced students. This session explores best assessment practices to inform academic readiness and plan responsive, tiered lessons across a continuum of learning needs. Focus includes extended enrichments, tier-one instruction strategies and extending the “readiness-runway” by front-loading essential readiness skills. Attendees will walk away with strategies to implement tomorrow!

Presenters

Jennifer Kendall

Assistant Coordinator, Advanced Enrichment Programs, Northwestern University Center for Talent Development

Teacher preparation and support, particularly in the area of gifted education, are of high interest to me. I enjoyed being an elementary for seventeen years and love to share my enthusiasm for teaching with all teachers.Currently, as a program coordinator at the Center for Talent... Read More →

Saturday November 2, 2024 2:30pm - 3:15pm CDT
Room 166

Evidence-Based Curriculum and Instruction