MAGC Fall Conference
Dr. Susan Rakow
Gifted Students in Difficult Times (Morning Keynote)
Someone would have to have their head buried deeply in the sand for the last few years to not realize we are living in difficult times. Gifted individuals, with their heightened sensitivities, may be experiencing these challenges even more intensely than their typical peers. How can we help them thrive at school and at home, not just academically, but socially, emotionally, and physically. We will reflect on these challenges and explore how we can step up and help our kids build resilience, patience, hope, and confidence as they move through their lives.
SOS: Scaffolding, Observation, and Self-Care
There are multiple specific tools we can use to help our gifted young people, their parents, and their teachers to grow and change in response to current circumstances. This breakout session will describe these tools and how we might use them to help develop and support balanced joyful lives. None of us can do this alone - not the kids, not their parents, not their teachers. But together, we can build bridges and find a way.
Mark Talaga
Identity and Intervene: Avoiding the
College Meltdown (Afternoon Keynote)
The inability for bright kids to meet the academic and developmental challenges of higher education is not brought on by the onset of attending college. These issues are deeply rooted early on in gifted kids and here is what you need to look for.
This presentation is designed to help parents, educators, and counselors better understand the lifecycle of a "dropout". We explore how learning issues, executive functioning, risk-avoidance, emotional sensitivity and high levels of intelligence all work in tandem to make the college experience especially difficult for gifted/2E kids. These issues are not created overnight and can be identified early on in a child's life so as to better develop more timely interventions.
Dr. Michele Kane
Many Paths, Many Decisions: Life Design for Contemporary Gifted Kids
Finding a career path continues to be a challenge for gifted children, especially when considering a post-pandemic workplace that demands adaptive approaches. Join in a discussion about the myriad career possibilities facing today's gifted youth and leave with resources that provide clear direction.
Dr. Valeria Jackson
Helping Black and Brown Gifted Learners Navigate Social Upheaval Through Global Connections
Historically, gifted black& brown children have had to navigate personal and societal trauma in the U.S. The presenter will share stories of her ancestors coping with social trauma while gifted and black, and how she helps her gifted, urban students navigate troubled times through global connections.
Dr. Kelly Schultz and Nan Janecke
Beyond the Textbook: Ten Hands-On Assignments that Promote Critical Thinking
Discover project-based assignments crafted to help students develop problem-solving skills, think beyond the formula or text, and reach for deeper meaning and understanding. Assignments come from both a language arts and mathematics focus, but can be adapted for most any class with any age group.
Kimberly Phillips Solomon
Supporting Diverse Gifted Learners by Leveraging Culturally Responsive
Teaching
This presentation is designed to help classroom practitioners develop an understanding and awareness of culturally responsive teaching strategies that promote equity, student achievement and inclusive practices. This presentation will discuss the need for culturally responsive teaching, how to use brain research in lesson design and review ways to create educational partnerships and effective diverse learning communities.
Dr. Kat Lewitzke
Parenting Gifted Children
​Gifted children often come with their own challenges. This can be in the form of behavioral difficulties, anxiety, or the identification of 2E. Dr. Lewitzke is a clinical psychologist specializing in giftedness evaluations. This presentation will cover tools for parents to help maximize potential.
Laura Citino
Conspiracies, Curation, and Critical Reading: Creating an Ethical
Reading Roadmap
In today’s world of information overload and clickbait polarization, knowing how to read critically and curate your sources—whether for a research paper or your own personal enlightenment—is an increasingly important, and nebulous, task. In this talk, we’ll go straight to the belly of the beast: conspiracy theories! We will walk through a sample student research project on the wildly entertaining and fascinating world of conspiracy theories, including skills development in source evaluation, rhetorical analysis, and cultural criticism. We will discuss how to form our own personal “ethical reading roadmaps” as we navigate the modern communication landscape and its overwhelming abundance of news.
Stacy Holloman
Help! I Don’t Know What to do With This (My) Kid
What do you do when you have gifted kids and no resources? Every teacher has
had that student whose thirst for knowledge is insatiable. But when you have limited time and resources, what can you do to accommodate those kids? During this session, we will focus on some strategies that provide opportunities for the gifted learners. This session is also useful for parents of gifted learners.