Adventures in Being Gifted

In our season finale of AIBG, we're excited to welcome two renowned experts for an insightful discussion on test-taking and visual-spatial thinking.
We delve into the complexities of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) with Dr. Joni Lakin, the esteemed lead author of the test itself. We'll explore critical themes like test equity and effective preparation strategies. Additionally, Professor Anne Flick joins the conversation, bringing groundbreaking research on visual-spatial intelligence to the forefront. Don't miss this captivating end to a fantastic season!

"I haven’t had a teacher since the fourth grade!"
We talk with Kate Liemandt, known as Austin Scholar online, a high school student in Austin, Texas, who stands out for her exceptional academic performance, consistently scoring in the 99th percentile in nationwide tests despite not having a traditional teacher since fourth grade.
Her secret? Online learning through adaptive educational apps vastly differs from the often ineffective "Zoom-school." Austin attends Alpha, an innovative school where students learn at their own pace using educational software, allowing them to grasp academic concepts twice as fast and consistently score in the 90th percentile.

Austin's concern about the state of education in the U.S. is highlighted by the startling results of the nationwide Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Test: 50th percent of high school graduates have similar language skills as 98th percentile second graders and similar math skills as top-performing fourth graders. This alarming trend underscores the urgent need for a systemic change in the educational system, a change Austin is determined to be a part of.
You can read her newsletter HERE.

An amazing conversation with the author and founder of ThinkLaw, Colin Seale. Colin talks with enormous passion about closing the critical thinking gap to ensure teachers teach and reach all students, regardless of race, zip code, or what side of the poverty line they are born into.

We have the privilege of talking with Dr. Gail Post about her book, The Gifted Parenting Journey. The book is based on research, theory, and clinical experience and talks about the emotions parents of gifted or high-ability children and teens face, and how improved self-awareness enhances parenting efforts.

In this episode, we talk with a longstanding education consultant, Allison Zmuda, about personalized learning and the habits of mind. We've found them to be amazing in our classroom and hope you'll find it that way for you too.
Personalized learning helps build student self-direction, curiosity, and impact. It helps develop opportunities for students to express their voices, co-create and design, and discover who they are as learners.
The Habits of Mind are dispositions or thinking behaviors that are desirable attributes for learning and living productively in a complex world.