Professional Development in 2020

Oprah Winfrey is one of the many notables that have contributed thoughts for the new year, saying, “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”

At the Belin-Blank Center, we have been getting professional development right for four decades!  We invite you to join us through the gifted-teachers listserv (belinblank.org/listserv), through our Facebook (facebook.com/BelinBlank), and Twitter (@belinblank) accounts, through our blog (belinblank.wordpress.com), and through our professional development opportunities coming up (belinblank.org/educators/courses).  We know that you are committed to understanding the varied needs of gifted/talented children, and learning about ways that parents, teachers, and friends can meet those needs. 

To participate in our classes, you must register with Distance and Online Education as a non-degree seeking student; for the State of Iowa Endorsement in Talented and Gifted Education, you may register as either a graduate or undergraduate student, regardless of your professional status; if you won’t benefit in other ways from the graduate credit, you can save tuition dollars.  Once you have your HawkID and password, you can follow the directions to register for the courses that interest you the most; follow belinblank.org/educators/reg.  All of our classes fulfill strands required for endorsement.

Here is a list of what’s coming up, organized in chronological order. All of these are online and asynchronous. Courses with no instructor listed are facilitated by Dr. Laurie Croft):

• Current Readings & Research in Gifted Education (EDTL:4085:0WKA – 1 semester hour), winter session class shaped to your needs, December 30, 2019 – January 17, 2020.
• Practicum in Gifted Education (various start dates for different populations—EDTL:4188:0001 is for full-time students in the College of Education and spans the entire semester; EDTL:4188:0EXW is for educators who want to earn more than one hour of practicum, March 24 – May 9; and EDTL:4188:0WKA is for educators who want to earn the one required hour of practicum, April 14 – May 4.  One ICON site that opens in January.).
• Program Models in Gifted Education (EDTL:4199:0EXA – 3 semester hours), first spring class offered in an accelerated format from January 21 – March 14.
• Identification of Students for Gifted Programs (PSQF:4121:0EXW – 3 semester hours), offered in an accelerated format from January 28 – March 27. (Dr. Susan Assouline)
• Administration and Policy in Gifted Education (EPLS:4110:0EXW – 2 semester hours), offered from February 4 – May 1. (Dr. Randy Lange)
• Math Programming for High Ability Students (EDTL:4067:0EXW – 1 semester hour), February 26 – March 24. (Dr. Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik)
• Gender Issues and Giftedness (RCE:4123:0WKA – 1 semester hour), March 23 – April 11. (Dr. Jolene Teske)
• Curriculum Concepts in Gifted Education (EDTL:4066:0EXW – 3 semester hours), offered in an accelerated format from March 23 – May 15.
• Differentiated Instruction for the Gifted (EDTL:4025:0WKA – 1 semester hour), April 13 – May 1. (Debra “Debbie” Judge)

The one-semester-hour classes included in the list above are offered in the three-week workshop (0WKA) format.  These classes have no additional technology fees and focus for three weeks on one topic.

Questions?  Email educators@belinblank.org.

Professional Learning Continues

Neil Gaiman, listed as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, is quoted as saying, “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”

Professional learning is one of the things that educators are always doing, independently, with their professional learning communities, and with the Belin-Blank Center!  We invite you to join us through the gifted-teachers listserv (belinblank.org/listserv), through our Facebook account (facebook.com/belinblank), through our blog (belinblank.wordpress.com), and through our professional development opportunities coming up (belinblank.org/educators/courses).  The varied classes we plan throughout the year provide you with tools to better support the needs of gifted and talented learners. 

To participate in our classes, you must register with Distance and Online Education as a non-degree seeking student; for the State of Iowa Endorsement in Talented and Gifted Education, you may register as either a graduate or undergraduate student, regardless of your professional status; if you won’t benefit in other ways from the graduate credit, you can save tuition dollars.  Once you have your HawkID and password, you can follow the directions to register for the courses that interest you the most; follow belinblank.org/educators/reg.  All of our classes fulfill strands required for endorsement.

Here is a list of what’s coming up; all of these are online and asynchronous. Some Spring classes have not been added to the schedule yet (courses with no instructor listed are facilitated by Dr. Laurie Croft):

• Topics: Competitions for Elementary and Secondary Gifted Students (EDTL:4096:0WKB – 1 semester hour), final fall class, November 12 – December 4. (Dr. Jenelle Miller)
• Current Readings & Research in Gifted Education (EDTL:4085:0WKA – 1 semester hour), winter session class shaped to your needs, December 30, 2019 – January 17, 2020.
• Program Models in Gifted Education (EDTL:4199:0EXA – 3 semester hours), first spring class offered in an accelerated format from January 21 – March 14.
• Identification of Students for Gifted Programs (PSQF:4121:0EXW – 3 semester hours), offered in an accelerated format from January 28 – March 27. (Dr. Susan Assouline)
• Administration and Policy in Gifted Education (EPLS:4110:0EXW – 2 semester hours), offered from February 4 – May 1. (Dr. Randy Lange) 
• Curriculum Concepts in Gifted Education (EDTL:4022:0WKA – 3 semester hours), offered in an accelerated format from March 23 – May 15.
• Math Programming for High Ability Students (EDTL:4067:0EXW – 1 semester hour), February 26 – March 24. (Dr. Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik)
• Gender Issues and Giftedness (RCE:4123:0WKA – 1 semester hour), March 23 – April 11. (Dr. Jolene Teske)
• Differentiated Instruction for the Gifted (EDTL:4025:0WKA – 1 semester hour), April 13 – May 1. (Debra “Debbie” Judge)

The one-semester-hour classes included in the list above are offered in the three-week workshop format.  These classes have no additional technology fees and focus on one topic over three weeks.

The practicum experience required for the Talented and Gifted Endorsement is available every semester.

Questions?  Email educators@belinblank.org.

Professional Learning in Gifted Education

The Spring semester is upon us at the University of Iowa, and the Belin-Blank Center offers classes that start in January, as well as throughout the semester.

Two of the Center’s three-semester-hour online and asynchronous classes very soon; these are scheduled over eight weeks, so you want to get enrolled ASAP:

EDTL:4199:0001/EDTL:4199:0EXW Program Models in GiftedE Education (Programming strand)

Development and refinement of preservice and inservice educators’ understanding of academic programs; needs of gifted and talented students, including diverse and often underrepresented groups of students; rationale for and implementation of a comprehensive program model for gifted students.  (3 sh)  

     Instructor: Laurie Croft, Ph.D.

     Dates & Time: Jan 14 – March 8, 2019

PSQF:4121:0EXW   Identification of Students for Gifted Programs 

Interpretation of standardized tests and other measurement instruments used to identify academic talent and program effectively for grades K-12; ability, aptitude, achievement tests; current issues in the uses of various instruments. (3 sh)

Doctoral students should enroll in PSQF:5226:0EXW Assessment of Giftedness.

     Instructor: Susan Assouline, Ph.D.

     Dates & Time: January 22, 2019 – March 15, 2019  (you’ll need to contact us to give you special permission to enroll in this class—just email laurie-croft@uiowa.edu). 

The Center also has a two-semester-hour class that fulfills the requirement for an Administrative strand class, as well as providing a much better understanding of policy, administrative, and evaluations issues in gifted education:

EPLS:4110:0EXW Administrative and Policy Issues in Gifted Ed  (this class has only three seats left)

Policy, administrative, evaluation issues in developing and maintaining gifted programs in a school setting; participants develop gifted program and policies for a school; for school executives and coordinators of gifted programs. (2 sh)

     Instructor: Randy Lange, Ph.D.

     Dates & Time: January 28 – April 26, 2018 

The Center is offering an exceptionally useful selection of one-semester-hour workshops this semester.  The FIRST of these fast-paced and focused workshops:

EDTL:4096:0WKB Topics in Teaching and Learning: Integrated Curriculum Model for Gifted Learners

The Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM) allows participants to learn more about the development of exemplary curriculum units through the study of this model, developed at the Center for Gifted Education (William & Mary).  The model is designed specifically for gifted learners and emphasizes three dimensions: advanced content, higher level processes and product development, and interdisciplinary concepts, issues, and themes.  Especially useful when paired with EDTL:4096:0WKC, Developing Gifted Curriculum for Gifted Learners, (March 12 – April 1).  (1 s.h.)

Instructor: Kimberley Chandler, Ph.D.

Dates & Time: January 22 – February 11, 2019

Dr. Chandler worked closely with Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska in the development of the Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM), as well as the development of specific units that use the ICM (which has a strong research base pointing to its effectiveness with gifted learners).

You can find the list of all current semester coursework by visiting belinblank.org/educators (follow the link to Schedule).  The Belin-Blank Center is dedicated to supporting your professional learning interests!

You can find more about Registering as a Distance Learner by visiting belinblank.org/educators/reg.

If you have questions about getting enrolled in one or more of these informative classes, please contact educators@belinblank.org.