Growing the Heart of the
AIG Educator: Knowledge,
Development and Change
Rebecca McKnight Academically Gifted Coordinator,
Guilford County Schools March 5, 2015
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Session Questions • How is GCS currently providing AIG PD
to teachers?
• What lessons have we learned?
• What are our state priorities for AIG professional development?
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Write into the session… Think about the best professional development that you have ever
attended. What made it so great? How has it impacted you as an
educator?
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State expectations for teachers Standard 3: Personnel and Professional Development
• The LEA recruits and retains highly qualified professionals and provides relevant and effective professional development concerning the needs of gifted learners that is on-going and comprehensive.
Practice C
• Establishes specific and appropriate professional development requirements for all personnel involved in AIG programs and services, including classroom teachers, exceptional children's personnel, counselors, and school administrators.
Practice D
• Places AIG students in general education classrooms with teachers who have earned and AIG add-on license or who have met the LEA's professional development requirements for that position.
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What is happening in GCS? • Established our priorities
–Characteristics of Gifted Learners
• Academic
• Social/Emotional
–Introduction to Differentiation
–Tools/strategies for Differentiation
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• Organized sessions
• Sessions offered
–18 hour course to meet local requirement
–Specialized differentiation sessions for Core Content Areas
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What is happening in GCS?
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Our PD Philosophy • Interactive
• Content-rich
• Thought-provoking
• Aligned with district initiatives and goals
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Defining barriers for underrepresented groups
• For your category, brainstorm: – Internal
challenges/barriers
– External challenges/barriers
– What might make a difference in their success?
Underserved Groups • Highly gifted
• Dual exceptional students
• ESL
• Students of poverty
• Students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds
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So, now that you have identified the barriers, what do you do about
them? • Read the article “Barriers to Participation” and
complete the graphic organizer.
• Share your thoughts with your table group.
• Based on your conversations about potential barriers, select a barrier and create a plan to address it. Be prepared to share the plan with the group.
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Next steps…… • Continue to grow our professional
development so that it meets teachers’ needs for working with AIG students
–Provide authenticity in our training
– Look for ways to differentiate the sessions for teachers by readiness, content and level
–Provide opportunities for teachers to connect with each other
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Next steps……
• Widen access to courses for teachers
–Further develop on-line options
–Work with schools to bring the training directly to schools
–Continue to offer our face-to-face trainings for teachers
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What are you doing in your district?
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What do you think that general education
teachers working with AIG students need to
know? What topics should be our priority?
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Questions……….
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Contact me at
or
(336)279-4930
Questions later on?
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