September 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

●Director's Corner

-Denise Michele Hicks, YSBH EdS PMP

●Feature Article

-Andrea Brucella Finnegan

●SENG Author Visit

-"I Used to Be Gifted" with Mark Hess

●Introducing SENG Community Groups

●Upcoming SENG Regional Conferences

●SENGJ: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness

-Volume 2, Issue 1 now available! Free Open Access

Director's Corner

Unleashing Unrecognized Potential:

Helping Gifted Students in the Classroom Recognize Their Impact

By Denise Michele Hicks, YSBH EdS PMP

On February 19, 2023, over forty SENG members came together from places as far as Singapore and the Netherlands to meet with us here in the United States virtually via Facebook Live to accomplish the goal of creating a safe space where we could be curious and begin to ask tough questions centered around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging without judgment. Two of the biggest questions that came out of our virtual conversation were:

1. How do we begin to help our older children understand that they can make a positive impact despite the social and emotional unrest happening in the world today?

2. Where can we find additional resources to help our older children further develop their drive to take action in their communities when it comes to addressing the issues they face regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging?

READ MORE

Feature Article

Sources of Resilience for Gifted & 2e Children

By Andrea Brucella Finnegan

Twice-exceptional and gifted students often face more adversity in school than their neurotypical peers. This is often due to their complex cognitive nature. An unfavorable school environment that does not match the academic or sensory needs of a child is considered a school adversity. Additionally, pressure to unnaturally conform to school norms, unwanted social isolation, frequent, unhealthy squabbles and negative interactions with peers, gender discrimination, as well as bullying, are other examples of school adversity that gifted children may face daily. Even an exhausted student-teacher relationship falls into this category, and it can wreak havoc on a child’s wellbeing.

READ MORE

Upcoming SENG Author Visit

Proceeds Benefit SENG Outreach & Scholarships Fund to Bring SENG to Underserved Communities

Join SENG Director Dr. Sylvia Bagley as she hosts

Mark Hess - Author, SENG Director, and CAGT President.

Yes, you were gifted. You still are. There is no used to be in any definition. Giftedness does not run out; it doesn’t have a border; giftedness is a way of being. All of your life you have been thinking things other people did not typically think about, making connections others did not easily make, feeling the world more intensely than others. To you, it just seemed normal . . . because the only head you could see inside of was your own. Have you or your kids ever missed out on a challenge because you were surfing a wave of wonderfulness? Fallen victim to bomb cyclone perfectionism? Tried to win the award for “best normal?” Apologized for doing well? Do you need to slow down, stop feeling so much, stop caring so much? Do you still feel, speak, and express a poetry of the world that is beautiful and abundant? Join me for a chat about gifted kids, teaching gifted kids, gifted parenting, and ultimately ourselves.

About The Author

Mark Hess is President of the Colorado Association for Gifted Students, a board member and the editor of the SENG Library, and is the Gifted Programs Specialist in a large, urban school district in Colorado Springs. Mark has published nine books for gifted specialists including I Used to Be Gifted, formerly a #1 New Top Seller in Gifted Education on Amazon, his 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Gifted Social-Emotional Curriculums and the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Hands-on Literacy series. As Portable Gifted and Talented, Mark has shared over 33,000 free resources. You can visit his

website at www.giftedlearners.org

Introducing SENG Community Groups

Upcoming SENG Regional Conferences

SENG & Partners are hosting several regional conferences and events over the coming weeks and months! We hope to see you in a city near you!

Advocating For Your Gifted & Talented Child

Join SENG and McKinney Gifted & Talented Alliance at McKinney High School in McKinney, TX on Saturday, October 14th! Full session schedule TBA.

Featuring a Solar Eclipse at 11:50 AM

Eclipse Goggles will be provided!

*SENG Community Group (SCG) Training will be offered the day before the Regional Conference. CLICK HERE to learn more and register.

Massachusetts Association for Gifted Education

Symposium on Gifted Education

The MAGE annual meeting: the Symposium on Gifted Education will take place this year in partnership with Harvard Alumni for Education at Harvard University on October 15, 2023 starting at 9:00am. Join us for a full day of influential speakers in this space.

Innovative Transformations

Join SENG and the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL on Saturday, October 21st! Sessions are scheduled to support advanced learner students, parents of gifted and talented kids, and the SEL and 2E needs of gifted students.



Featuring Keynote Speaker Jenn Merrill!