Distinguished Lecture Series 2009-10
Click here for a Registration form.
Date |
Lecture, Content Area, Grades, & Cost |
Presenter |
| September 30, 2009 |
Write On: Moving Gifted Students From Basics to Beyond |
Dr. Patti Drapeau, Educational Consultant |
| November 11, 2009 |
Curricular and Instructional Strategies for Gifted Learners: A Practical
Approach |
Dr. Catherine Brighton, University of Virginia |
| November 12, 2009 |
Administrators Conference 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $150 This Conference will be held at the SMU-in-Legacy campus. Lunch is included |
Dr. Catherine Brighton, University of Virginia |
| December 10, 2009 |
Constructionist
Inquiry Learning through Science for GT 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $125 This Conference will be held at the SMU-in-Legacy campus. |
Dr. Sandy
McLemore, Educational Consultant |
| January 12, 2010 |
Growing Young Gifted Readers 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $125 This Conference will be held at the SMU-in-Legacy campus. |
Dr. Patti Wood, Samford University |
| February 10, 2009 |
Student Philosophy
Workshop (for high school students and their teachers) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. This Conference will be held at the main SMU campus. Parking rules and regulations for main campus. |
Dr. Robert Howell, SMU |
| February 16, 2010 |
Practical Strategies for the Differentiation of Curriculum and Instruction
for ALL Exceptional Learners in Mixed-Ability Classrooms 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $125 This Conference will be held at the SMU-in-Legacy campus. |
Dr. Mary Slade, James Madison University |
| April 14, 2010 |
Social/Emotional 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $125 This Conference will be held at the SMU-in-Legacy campus. |
Ms. Marlo Payne Thurman, Educational Consultant |
The Administrators Conference is from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., lunch included.
All student conferences/workshops are from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., lunch included.
All other workshops/lectures are from 8:30 a. m. - 3:00 p.m. with Continental
Breakfast beginning at 8:00 a.m., lunch is on your own.
Click on these links to download a map to the SMU-in-Legacy Campus or to the Main Campus.
Parking on the SMU-in-Legacy Campus is free.
Click here for rules and regulations
applying to parking on the Main Campus.
Click here for a Registration form.
Write on: Moving Gifted Students From the Basics to Beynd
September 30, 2009
Patti Drapeau
Can academic rigor and cognitive complexity be targeted in a systematic approach to differentiation through the writing process? Absolutely! A first level in differentiating for gifted students is often to accelerate the skills of writing and accommodate the gifted learner by adjusting the pace of learning. This first level includes the basic writing skills applied to expository, narrative, descriptive, and persuasive writing. The second level in differentiating the writing process utilizes intellectual standards to promote sophisticated writing. This level emphasizes strategies that gifted learners use to build supporting ideas, apply connections, provide reasons, and utilize vivid language. It is the third level that moves students into a new vision of curriculum for gifted students. This vision focuses on the creative process and emphasizes wisdom. At this level, students learn the difference between the significance of ambiguity over precision, the value of webbing over layering information, and the emotional connection of writing as story rather than argument in order to create intellectual play. It is here that students begin to relate the elements of richness, recursion, relations, and rigor in the writing piece. Richness requires students to create writing pieces that are significant and are of high quality. Recursion demands that students write with the intent to create new thinking. Students are expected to demonstrate relations as they connect their words to their world. Finally, rigor is fostered not only in the demands of the writing process but also in the demand to create messages that move beyond a right answer. This type of writing inspires thought provoking messages and demands that the writer writes in a way that the reader must apply creative thinking to make sense of the written message.
This workshop emphasizes specific writing techniques and strategies that can be used to promote the three levels of differentiation. The workshop includes some usual and unusual instructional strategies that can also be used to promote a love for writing. How do we get students fired up about writing and love writing? Come see student examples and hear some tried and tested ideas that can turn those groans, when it’s time to write, into expressions of joy. This session is conducted through a hands on approach to the writing process where participants will actually try the ideas and leave with strategies they can use immediately in their classrooms. Write on!
Patti Drapeau has worked in the field of education for 30 years and is currently an educational consultant. She presents keynotes, workshops, and trainings on a variety of topics such as differentiation, critical and creative thinking, instructional strategies, graphic organizers, and meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. She serves as adjunct faculty in the Department of Special Education at the University of Southern Maine. She is also a consultant for the Maine Department of Education in Gifted Education. She is a past president of Maine Educators of the Gifted and Talented and received the New England Region of Gifted and Talented Educators award and the Maine Educators of the Gifted and Talented award for exemplary service in Gifted Education. She is the author of the books Great Teaching with Graphic Organizers and Differentiated Instruction: Making it Work which are both published by Scholastic Professional Books. Her newly released book is Differentiating with Graphic Organizers Tools to Foster Critical and Creative Thinking (Corwin Press).
Curricular and Instructional Strategies for Gifted Learners: A Practical Approach
November 11, 2009
Catherine Brighton
Participants in this course will investigate, analyze, and experience a variety of curricular and instructional strategies appropriate for challenging gifted and talented learners in either self-contained or mixed-ability settings.
Additionally, participants will consider ways to differentiate the learning tasks for the diverse needs of gifted learners within each type of setting and school level. At key intervals, the instructor will collect data about participants’ needs, interests, and preferred learning modes and will use that information to model flexible grouping configurations during the day-long session. The course will emphasize practical implementation of these strategies and approaches, so participants should come prepared to participate actively.
Catherine Brighton, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia, Curry School of Education and a Principal Investigator for the Javits-funded Project Parallax, a project aimed at increasing gifted identification of under-represented groups in STEM areas as well as advancing teachers’ content knowledge in these areas. She is a former elementary and middle school classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator, and Assistant Principal. She is the current Vice President of the Virginia Association for Gifted and received the Early Leader Award from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in 2005.
13th Annual Administrators Conference
November 12, 2009
SMU's 13th annual conference for coordinators, principals, and counselors fulfills the mandate for 6 hours of initial training as well as the 6-hour update requirement for administrators in districts seeking an "exemplary" rating from TEA.
Keynote
Learned
from Two Decades of Research on Differentiation
Dr. Catherine Brighton
Research suggests that teachers in contemporary public school classrooms are as diverse as the students they teach. Consequently, training these diverse teachers to differentiate instruction is much more than a matter of simply familiarizing them with the practices associated with DI. Practical lessons learned from two decades of focused, systematic research on differentiated instruction in K-12 settings indicates that professional development must involve gaining teachers’ buy-in, changing teachers’ beliefs about what teaching looks like, encouraging teachers to recognize diverse expressions of talent, ensuring teachers possess deep understanding of content, and modeling the types of teaching approaches they are being asked to implement. Participants in the session will investigate these key findings and explore practical approaches to incorporate these lessons in staff development experiences designed to maximize transfer into classroom practice.
Differentiated
Leadership: Share the Joy and the Pain,
Dr. Lee Alvoid, Senior Lecturer, SMU
No Administrator
Left Behind: An Update on the State Plan, Legislation, and More
Tracy Weinberg, TAGT
Associate Director
What’s new? Quite a bit! Come learn more about the new Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students, new legislation that will have an impact on gifted education, and what to expect in the months ahead. Change is coming and you don’t want to be left behind!
Staff Development in an Age of Budget Cuts,
Debra Midkiff, Director of Advanced
Academics, Grand Prairie ISD
Dr. Loranine Morazzano, Director of Staff Development,
Grand Prairie ISD
Cathy Shaver, Facilitator of Advanced Academics
Constructionist Inquiry Learning through Science for GT
December 10, 2009
Sandy McLemore
Students today require teaching and learning that focus on 21st Century outcomes and skills. Science lends itself to learning innovation, creative thinking, and problem solving. Many science resources promote products that use inquiry based differentiation to create hands-on-experiences for diverse student groups. Come explore the Constructivist theory of learning through hands-on activities from FOSS (Full Option Science Systems), STC (Science and Technology for Children), and GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science). Review the modules for rigor and relevance for real world application, research, experimentation, peer review opportunities, student created products, and media usage. Compare direct and inquiry based instruction applications for the gifted and talent student using the 5 E Instructional model. Participants will be asked to examine their own perception of what inquiry GT teaching and learning across the core subjects should look like in the classroom. Join in the fun to ‘work the work’ of science for our 21st Century students.
Sandy McLemore, Ed.D. is an educator consultant for Ez2Do®™ (Educators Zest to Decipher Options). Dr. McLemore’s thirty-one year career with Houston ISD provided numerous teaching, coaching, training, curriculum designing, and professional development opportunities. Her experiences of a K-5 science laboratory specialist, an Urban Systemic science specialist with the Houston ISD National Science Foundation Grant, HU-LINC (Houston Urban Initiative in a Networked Community), and as a professional development science coordinator with Houston ISD Professional Development Services, have provided her the opportunity to present various science, leadership, and parent involvement presentations at district, city, state, and national levels.
She currently serves as a Texas NSTA Key Lead Science Matters network, a member of TAGT (Texas Association of Gifted and Talented), STAT (Science Teachers Association of Texas), NSTA (National Science Teacher Association), and Texas Science Education Leadership Association (TSELA). During her association with these organizations, she has served as NSTA’s Chair of the Life Time Member’s Advisory Board, TSELA’s secretary, and STAT’s Conference for Advancement of Science Teachers Co-Program Chair.
Dr. McLemore earned her bachelor of science in education, master of education in science, and doctorate in administration and supervision from the University of Houston.
6 hours Differentiation
Growing Young Gifted Readers
January 12,2010
Patti Wood, Ph.D.
Reading First and NCLB have changed reading instructional practices in K-3 classrooms. Teachers are encumbered with what many feel is an inflexible and prescribed reading curriculum, geared toward struggling readers using extreme phonics instruction. The inevitable has occurred: young gifted readers left out of classroom reading instruction. What are the unique needs of early readers who have demonstrated proficiency? How can gifted specialists collaborate with classroom teachers in differentiating reading instruction for their students who have moved beyond the basal? In this workshop, participants will learn: (1) the cognitive and affective needs of young gifted readers; (2) ways gifted specialists can collaborate with classroom teachers in differentiating their reading instruction for students who have demonstrated reading competence, and (3) specific reading instructional strategies and best practices for young gifted readers. Topics will include the importance of incorporating choice and challenge in the reading program, using picture books to enhance cognitive and affective development, and how to adapt basal texts for use with young gifted readers. The presenter will offer examples of literacy stations, questioning strategies to elicit higher-order thinking, and novel guides for popular children’s books.
Dr. Patti Wood is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Gifted Education at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She received her doctorate in special education with emphasis in gifted education from The University of Alabama. Patti is on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Association for Gifted children and is President-elect of the Alabama Federation Council for Exceptional Children. Her research interests include reading instruction for advanced readers, twice exceptional learners, collaboration, and differentiated curriculum and instruction.
Student Philosophy Workshop
Dr. Robert Howell is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at SMU. He earned his Ph.D. at Brown University and his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Iowa. His work concerns the nature of subjectivity, the self and the mind. As a result, he winds up working in metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. Most recently, he has been developing a view called "Subjective Physicalism", which maintains that while everything is physical, some physical states cannot be fully grasped unless they are occupied. Dr. Howell is a recipient of the Altschuler Distinguished Teaching Professor award (2009).
Practical Strategies for the Differentiation of Curriculum and Instruction for ALL Exceptional Learners in Mixed-Ability Classrooms
February 16, 2010
Mary L. Slade, Ph. D.
The purpose of this workshop is to develop an initial understanding of the concept of differentiated curriculum in any mixed ability classroom (gifted, ESL, and students with disabilities). Along the course of the session, participants are guided through multiple stages of planning and implementation of a differentiated curriculum and instructional practice in a mixed-ability classroom. Assessment will be addressed as well. Practical classroom settings include all general education classrooms, most if not all, gifted education and advanced courses as well. Even AP and IB classrooms contain mixed-ability learners. Therefore, K-12 teachers in any subject area, including honors, AP, and dual-enrollment courses will find the workshop material applicable to their classrooms. First, a practical definition of differentiation is presented and discussed. Second, an easy method of differentiating educational experiences by modifying minimum standards for all levels of learning will all be presented. Third, the remainder of the presentation includes practical strategies for pre-assessment, tiered lessons, management strategies, and using differentiated assessment. The day is mixed with presentation of material, group discussion, and hands-on activities.
Dr. Mary Slade is a Professor in the Department of Exceptional Education at the College of Education at James Madison University. Mary received her B.S. in Elementary Education with an emphasis in secondary English from Longwood College and her Masters and Doctorate from University of Virginia. Mary directs the gifted education coursework and the Pre-K-12 Add-On Gifted Education Endorsement Program at JMU, including the online coursework in this area. Dr. Slade is a member of the JMU chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Most recently Mary has led five groups of faculty and students around the east coast to conduct disaster relief work.
Mary has taught in higher education since 1990; teaching in teacher education, special education, and gifted education. Previously, she taught in elementary, middle, and high schools as a fourth-grade, gifted education, and English teacher. Dr. Slade is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children and won the Early Leader Award from that organization in 1997. Over the past 15 years, Mary has presented over 200 in-service sessions to educators in pre-K-12 education, as well as more than 175 professional papers. Mary has been published widely, including more than 40 articles, book chapters, and reports, as well as three books. Mary is co-author of a staff development book in gifted education and co-editor of Aiming for Excellence: The NAGC Pre-K-12 Gifted Program Standards both published collaboratively by Prufrock Press and NAGC. Mary is author of a book on consultation and gifted education published by Creative Learning Press.
Dr. Slade’s current scholarship includes professional development, advanced studies, differentiation, consultation and collaboration, and web-based distribution of personnel preparation. Mary consults with individual schools and districts in the areas of consultation and collaboration in gifted education, differentiation, and online learning.
6 hours Differentiation
For More Information
The Gifted Students Institute
PO Box 750383
Dallas, TX 75275-0383
Phone: 214-768-4383
Fax: 214-768-3147
gifted@smu.edu
The Gifted Students Institute office is located at 6060 N. Central Expressway Suite 642, Dallas, TX 75206. The mailing address is P O Box 750383, Dallas TX 75275-0383.