Gifted Chat

Matthew “Dr. Matt” Zakreski, PsyD is a high energy, creative clinical psychologist and professional speaker who utilizes an eclectic approach to meet the specific needs of his neurodivergent clients.  He is proud to serve the Gifted community as a consultant, a professor, an author, and a researcher.  He has spoken over 400 times all over the world about supporting neurodivergent kids.  Dr. Zakreski is a member of Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children (NJAGC), and Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE).  Dr. Zakreski graduated from Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology (IGCP) in 2016.  He is the co-founder of The Neurodiversity Collective: https://www.theneurodiversitycollective.com/

Dr. Beghetto is an internationally recognized expert on human creativity and the possible in educational settings.  He holds the Pinnacle West Presidential Chair and serves as a Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Dr. Beghetto is Editor for Review of Research in Education, Series Editor for Creative Theory and Action in Education (Springer Books), and has served as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Creative Behavior and a Creativity advisor for LEGO Foundation and the Cartoon Network. Dr. Beghetto is one of the Top 200 University-Based Scholars in Education (#85) based on the 2024 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings by Education Week. You can read more about Dr. Beghetto at https://www.ronaldbeghetto.com/about

Dina Brulles, Ph.D., is the Gifted Program Coordinator at the Mary Lou Fulton Teacher’s College at Arizona State University and the former Director of Gifted Education at Paradise Valley Unified School District in Arizona.  She recently served as NAGC’s Governance Secretary and also as the board’s School District Representative. Dina received the prestigious 2022 NAGC Anne Isaacs Award for Distinguished Service. She was also the recipient of the 2019 and the 2020 NAGC Book of the Year Award (for practitioners), NAGC’s inaugural 2014 Gifted Coordinator Award, and the Professional Development Network Award in 2013.  Dina has actively supported and served as a mentor for the Javits Frasier Scholarship Program since 2010.   Dr. Brulles’ work emphasizes and encourages equitable and inclusive identification practices and programming in gifted education. By sharing her interests and experiences, Dr. Brulles supports others in their efforts to develop all of our gifted learners’ potential. Her books include A Teacher’s Guide to Flexible Grouping and Collaborative Learning; Designing Gifted Education Programs; Differentiated Lessons for All Learners; The Cluster Grouping Handbook; Teaching Gifted Kids in Today’s Classrooms; Helping All Gifted Children Learn;  Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests: A Call for Equity in Gifted Education and the Naglieri Ability Test – Verbal.

Joy Lawson Davis, EdD, is the award-winning author and expert scholar in Diversity & Equity in Gifted & Advanced Learner Programs. She is a leader in gifted education at the local, state, national, and international levels. Dr. Davis not only has the knowledge and wisdom, but has the experience in gifted education, as a gifted teacher. Two of her must-have books are Bright, Talented, & Black: A Guide for Families of African American Gifted Learners and Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students: Perspectives from the Field.

Join the conversation with Dr. Jaime Castellano, Professor in the Department of Special Education at Florida Atlantic University, to identify and support students with trauma, toxic stress, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Learn strategies to support and locate services to help our gifted students and their families. Also, hear about the new edition of his book, Special Populations in Gifted Education. 

Join Dr. Emily Mofield, assistant professor from Lipscomb University,  as she discusses vertical differentiation for gifted and high-potential students. She shares a few strategies from her latest book, Vertical Differentiation for Gifted, Advanced, and High-Potential Students, and how they can be applied to reveal and cultivate talent in K-12 students. Emily uses the ABC's for differentiation of A-advance the content, B-build the buy-in, and C-create the challenge. Leave this chat wanting her new book, which is now available! You can follow Dr. Mofield on twitter: @MofieldEmily.

Join the conversation with Dr. Matt Makel, Associate Research Scientist in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, as we discuss "Why do we need gifted education?". This episode is one of the longer chats as we discussed the need for gifted education and how to improve how we do gifted.

Join Dr. Joni Lakin as she discusses services for gifted students as well as sharing data with general education teachers to provide services in the general education classroom. You will learn why advanced math needs to start in middle school for students going into STEM and medical fields! Dr. Lakin shares strategies gifted specialist can use to help with talent development and talent identification. 

Join Gifted Guru, Lisa van Gemert, as we discuss the importance of teaching vocabulary to gifted students.

Join this session with Dr. Brian Housand as he talks about CONNECTIONS on many, different levels. Gifted children need connections with intellectual peers who share interests and teachers of gifted need connections with other gifted teachers. You may find other connections within the discussion and hopefully, you will make a connection!  Once you listen to the podcast, go to the Facebook page to join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/AAGCGiftedChat. You can learn more by following us at alabamagifted.org and on Instagram and Twitter-@alabamagifted. To learn more about Dr. Housand, check out his website: https://www.brianhousand.com/

Join this session with the Gifted Education Specialists at the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) as they talk about the continuum of services for gifted learners. They discuss training for general education teachers and how specialists will provide services for gifted students in Grades K-12. Once you listen to the podcast, go to the Facebook page to join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/AAGCGiftedChat. You can learn more by following us at alabamagifted.org and on Instagram and Twitter-@alabamagifted.

Gifted readers need appropriate instruction and reading level books, but we have to make sure the content is appropriate. Dr. Patti Wood explains how to teach to the gifted and High-Ability Readers. She shared her resource links below. Blendspace link for resources for gifted readers: https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/aerO28kQxqYt4w Novel Guides for Gifted Readers: https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/wvBp3rhmXIyYqg/novel-guides-for-gifted-readers-grades-2-8