This training is based on the Professional Development Expectations for Gifted instruction provided by the Florida Department of Education. The class supports the Instructional Framework by focusing on how to provide students with the opportunity to experience learning within Design Question 4 - Generating and Testing Hypothesis. 

• Describe holistic developmental characteristics of a gifted child and be able to assume the gifted child’s perspective.  

• Analyze strengths and vulnerabilities that distinguish students who are gifted from their similarly aged peers. 

• Describe personality variances of individuals who are gifted and exceptionally gifted. 

• Differentiate the needs and concerns of students who are gifted and members of various special populations, including gender, culturally different, ethnically different, twice- exceptional and of low socio-economic status. 

• Thoroughly describe the risk factors and resiliency related to students who are gifted. 

• Identify numerous educational opportunities available for students who are gifted and discuss the strengths and limitations of each. 

• Identify counseling and guidance activities and resources to assist students who are gifted (K-12 and postsecondary) to plan for coursework, college, career, and life choices. 

• Use knowledge of social skills training to assist students who are gifted in developing healthy relationships and demonstrating leadership capability. 

• Acquire and refine the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to advocate as a teacher, parent or supporter of gifted learners. 

• Understand the special needs of parenting a gifted child and the family dynamics. 

• Understand and support children who are emotionally and/or spiritually gifted. 

• Apply knowledge and skills necessary to assist students, their families, and educators in understanding the psychology of giftedness and access community, state, and national support resources. 

• Become competent in identifying and navigating websites that extensively address personal and educational topics specifically related to giftedness 

The participants will be evaluated based on the written portfolio. Quality indicators include empathy and understanding, explanation of typical social/emotional needs, and available resources.  
 
When used effectively, the competencies learned in this class will be incorporated into gifted instruction, resulting in an increase in student performance and assignments and assessments. 

Participants will be enrolled for the duration of the time the professional development activity is offered and must participate in all training activities. This is a blended course that consists of three face to face sessions (9 hours) and an additional 51 hours of on-line activities and portfolio development. Required assignments and final portfolio are utilized to determine successful completion of the course. 

• Develop an understanding of the unique needs and characteristics of gifted students. 

• Identify and describe cognitive and affective behaviors, which lead to referrals to screening and testing for giftedness. 

• Identify characteristics of giftedness and discuss the needs and problems associated with these characteristics. 

• Discuss the role that creative thinking/process/products play in the identification of giftedness. 

• Demonstrate awareness of how factors such as family dynamics, culture integration of self, and education influence the development of giftedness. 

• Develop an awareness of existence of special populations. 

• Demonstrate knowledge of normal and advanced child development. 

• Illustrate the relationship between high academic achievement and giftedness. 

• Demonstrate understanding of the difference between potential vs. performance as it relates to giftedness. 

• Compare and contrast the theories of intelligence that pertain to gifted education. 

• Identify the incidence of identified gifted students at the local, state, and national levels.  

• Discuss how the prevalence of gifted students varies based on various definitions of  gifted students varies based on various definitions of giftedness in terms of culture, socio-economic level, locations and other factors.             

Gifted students that belong to special populations will be served by teachers based on the needs associated with their expectionabilities. Student performance on summative and formative assessments as well as teacher observation checklists will be utilized to measure student progress based on teacher implementation of learned strategies. 

Staff members will actively identify and plan differential learning activities that address the needs of gifted students belonging to special populations. Results will be assessed through observation and feedback from trainers and/or Gifted Resource Teachers. 

This training is based on the Professional Development Expectations for Gifted instruction provided by the Florida Department of Education. The class supports the Instructional Framework by focusing on how to provide students with the opportunity to experience learning within Design Question 4 - Generating and Testing Hypothesis. 

• Discuss the nature of innovation and the process of change relative to creative outcomes 

• Identify examples of how creative thinking can be used to address problems 

• Identify the role of assessment of creativity and the use of tests and inventories 

• Analyze why a universally accepted definition of creativity has not been attained 

• Identify the specific personal, socio-cultural, and educational experiences and opportunities that facilitate the development of creativity 

• Identify myths and misunderstandings about creativity 

• Identify critical points in the development of human creativity from early childhood through adulthood. 

• Identify major components of creativity according to research 

• Discuss the value of creativity in an era of educational accountability 

• Promote the use of student portfolios as an authentic way of assessing creative processes 

•  Design and implement a personal plan for establishing a classroom environment to nurture and develop creativity.     

Evaluation Activities: 

Student portfolios will be utilized to determine growth and understanding of the theory of creativity as it applies to education.  Impact will be assessed through formative assessments as they apply to portfolio assignment submissions.  An application component of acquired knowledge is included within the course with student reflection required to assess understanding. 
 
Staff members will actively identify and plan differentiated learning activities that address the development and encouragement in the creativity of gifted students.  The impact will be measured through logged teaching activities submitted through the portfolio process and student achievement data collected over time. 

Description: This training is based on the Professional Development Expectations for Gifted instruction provided by the Florida Department of Education. The class supports the Instructional Framework by focusing on how to provide students with the opportunity to experience learning within Design Question 4 - Generating and Testing Hypothesis. 

Objective: Teachers will develop an understanding of how to identify the unique student populations that are contained within gifted education. 

Participants will complete all assignments and submit a completed portfolio of all required assignments to the trainer(s). Feedback will be given to participants by the trainer(s). 

This training is based on the Professional Development Expectations for Gifted instruction provided by the Florida Department of Education. The class supports the Instructional Framework by focusing on how to provide students with the opportunity to experience learning within Design Question 4 - Generating and Testing Hypothesis. 

This training is based on the Professional Development Expectations for Gifted instruction provided by the Florida Department of Education. The class supports the Instructional Framework by focusing on how to provide students with the opportunity to experience learning within Design Question 4 - Generating and Testing Hypothesis. 

• Define the role of state standards and how they apply to gifted students. 

• Identify the components of Maker's Principles of Differentiated Curriculum. Provide specific examples for each area of modification. 

• Identify three to five criteria, with rationale, to evaluate gifted curricula and instructional strategies. 

• Identify six key considerations when selecting resources and materials for use with gifted students. 

• List several specific instructional strategies appropriate for use with gifted learners. Specify how such strategies would meet the needs of individual students. 

• List the curricular components of a differentiated unit of instruction designed to meet the cognitive and affective needs of gifted learners. 

• Define the most critical components of effective communication between students, families, and school personnel. 

• Identify five to seven key tools for evaluating student progress. 

As a result of this training, instructional practices in classrooms that include gifted students will be differentiated and address higher order thinking skills.  Student performance on formative and summative assessments administered at the school level will be monitored for improvement of student achievement. 
 
Changes in teacher practices will be measured through formal and informal evaluation results at the school level as well as walk through by district level gifted resource teachers.