The Ottawa, Muskegon, and Kent Intermediate School Districts;
Grand Valley State University's College of Education;
and
the Michigan Association for Gifted Children
present
EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS AND ACHIEVES...
INCLUDING GIFTED!
DATE: Saturday, April 29, 2017
TIME: Registration 8:00 a.m.
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m
LOCATION: GVSU Allendale Campus - Kirkhof Center
COST: $35/person - Includes lunch
$10 - Special registration fee for undergraduate students
Topics Covered Include:
- Challenging All Learners: A System to Differentiate Instruction So Gifted Students Will Thrive
- Keeping Gifted Learners Engaged: Instructional Strategies That Add Breadth, Depth, and Complexity
- Creating a Culture of Thinking
- GVSU Honors College Student Panel: What Gifted Students Have to Say About Their K-12 Experience
- A School District's School-wide Cluster Grouping Model
- Recognizing and Nurturing Gifted Visual Spatial Learners
- ESSA and Gifted/Talented
- Characteristics: Another Way to Look at Types of Gifted Learners
- Sharing Best Practices
- Parent Panel Discussion
Key Note Speaker: Dr. Christie McWilliams provides professional development for educators and
speaks at conferences and other engagements. She is a veteran educator with over a decade of experience teaching gifted and high-achieving students in both mixed-ability and homogeneous English/Language Arts classrooms. While teaching, Christie also led several student groups on immersive field trips to Europe and Central America. In addition to teaching, she has served as the Director of Programs and Student Admissions at the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts, college and university instructor, and Michigan Association for Gifted Children board member holding the positions of Education Committee Chair and Membership Representative.
Christie holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston with a gifted education focus. She also holds a M.Ed. in English Education, a BA in English, a Gifted and Talented Texas State Supplemental Certificate, and School Administrator Certificates in both Michigan and Texas. She has made over 75 professional presentations at the international, national, state, and local levels; has published over 15 articles, columns, and other media; and has secured over $20,000 in grants for special projects. She has also received several prestigious honors including but not limited to being named an ASCD Emerging Leader, Phi Delta Kappa International Emerging Leader, Sam Houston State University Distinguished Educator, H-E-B Excellence in Education (Leadership) State Finalist, and Crystal Teaching Award recipient. Her ongoing, quantitative research focuses on teachers' differentiated practices with gifted students in mixed-ability classrooms.
