Full Day Seminar

Developing a Program for Gifted and High Ability Learners Unique to School

Understanding Gifted and High Ability Learners (90 Minutes)

Participants in this seminar will take a closer look at the definitions, characteristics and psychology of gifted and high ability learners. From attending this seminar educators should be able to identify a range of common characteristics in this student group and have a greater ability to understand and communicate effectively with these students.

Assessing Gifted and High Ability Learners (90 Minutes)

Through this seminar educators will examine the different types of assessments and observations suitable for determining student potential and ability. The focus will include academic testing, psychometric testing measures, anecdotal observation and note taking, and practical tasks as tools which enable students to demonstrate their ways of knowing.

Identifying Gifted and High Ability Learners (90 Minutes)

This workshop helps schools to use a wide range of methods including behavioural indicators and performance indicators to identify students in need of gifted programming or support. Tools will include academic and psychometric assessments as well as measures of practical ability through targeted teaching and observations.

Supporting Gifted and High Ability Learners – In the Mainstream Classroom (90 Minutes)

The key focus of this seminar will be to provide participants with a wide range of practical resources which enable educators to differentiate for the varying skills and abilities of their students. Using Tomlinson and Moon as an example, participants will explore different ways that they can present diverse skills and knowledge whilst teaching their core curriculum and reaching their key performance indicators.

Supporting Gifted and High Ability Learners – School Program Development (90 Minutes)

Suitable for school leadership and talent development leaders, this workshop will analyse the development of a school program for gifted and high ability learners from the ground up. It will take into account the teaching and learning philosophy of the school, the school culture and values, the needs of students, available resources and goals for the future. Every school is unique, so too are the talent development programs that can be created in each.

Perfectionism in Gifted and High Ability Learners (90 Minutes)

Healthy perfectionists possess a need for order, self-acceptance of mistakes, and positive ways of coping. They likely had helpful role models that emphasized personal effort over perfect outcomes. Dysfunctional perfectionists live in a state of anxiety, have extremely high standards and excessive expectations. They question their judgements and need constant approval. This workshop will explore the challenges of perfectionism. It will provide practical suggestions in directing perfectionists as they work to establish healthy perfectionism.

Supporting Gifted Twice Exceptional and High Ability Learners (90 Minutes)

Some gifted students also have learning difficulties, or a disability that effects their ability to engage in the classroom. The disabilities may be linked to speech, emotions, behavior or physical challenges. They may be due to autism spectrum or attention deficit, or they might be due to a specific learning challenge. This workshop will dissect the range of challenges and highlight some key priorities for working with these students in classrooms and schools. In most cases the support of these students should start with the gifts they possess.

A STEAM Based Program for Gifted and High Ability Learners (90 Minutes)

Student engagement is key to being a successful teacher of gifted and high ability learners. Quality teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics is becoming the quintessential ingredient to high ability students with a passion in these areas. In addition to the theory, students are craving the practice in such disciplines. Practice provided through practical inquiries and tasks which teach the essential concepts but allow the student to dig much deeper and build on the ideas of experts through suitable collaborations. Come and hear some practical examples and have a go at a STEAM based task yourself.

Problem Finding in Mathematics (90 Minutes)

Many of the tasks that we use in mathematics teaching are closed with single, correct answers. This workshop is focused on exposing students to open-ended problems that lead to further explorations as their curiosity is piqued. Skill in pattern recognition, creating generalisations, proof and justification is a focus. Open-ended problems encourage higher order thinking skills. Students will not only be “recognizing”, “identifying”, or “describing” their thinking; they’ll be “justifying”, “defending”, and “evaluating” their problem solving skills and how they arrived at their answers. Problem finding often takes us in unexpected directions as there is no limit to our gifted students’ imagination. Teachers are welcome to bring their own problems or work on some examples to design tasks suitable for their classes.