NAGC asked its 2024 Teachers Summit (held online February 13-14, 2024) speakers to share additional information about their presentations via the NAGC Blog. Jeanne Paynter will be presenting on the topic of Metacognition: Empower Your Students’ Super Thinking on February 13 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

“Stop, look, and listen before you cross the street.” This is an early example of how we teach children metacognition: literally, thinking about (our) thinking. Metacognition is that “above and beyond” analytical thinking we use to set goals, plan, select appropriate problem-solving strategies, modify/control our behavior, reflect on our progress (or lack), and make effective changes. We use metacognition when we ponder: “What is the best way to solve this problem? Am I being successful with this strategy, or do I need to make modifications? What goals motivate and engage me? What are my strengths and weaknesses as a learner?” 

Effective metacognitive skills empower learners to become more confident and successful, and a lack of these competencies is a risk factor in the underachievement of gifted students, particularly as they approach adolescence and begin developing their talent in a domain. 

The good news is that metacognitive competencies can be taught. In fact, you are probably teaching some right now: different approaches for planning tasks, solving math problems, decoding, interpreting, or self-control. That’s great! But do you wonder why it seems that these strategies just don’t stick? 

I know I did, and I think I’ve found a solution. We need to teach the concept of metacognition itself. Our brains are meaning-making machines: They work best when they can “connect the dots” and form relationships between new knowledge and old. That’s concept-building, forming neural pathways.

Metacognition is “expert thinking,” and I have identified it as one of what I call the “seven aptitudes of innovators”: curiosity, logical reasoning, creativity, insight, metacognition, persistence, and leadership. I believe that for today’s learners, developing these long-term aims are as important as acquiring content and skills.

However, I know you have content to teach and curriculum to cover! So, my solution is that we teach the aptitudes of innovators, including metacognition, in the context of our current curriculum. I’m going to share five steps you can use to do this, starting tomorrow! 

STEP 1. EXPLAIN. Let’s define metacognition explicitly. This gives us a shared understanding, so everyone is aware of the goals we want to achieve. The Teacher Goal becomes a lens through which to observe student behaviors. The Student-Directed Goal does just that, providing learners with explicit targets, supporting student agency and efficacy.

• Teacher Goal: The metacognitive student understands own thought processes, self-selects appropriate problem-solving strategies; plans, self-monitors, reflects, self-assesses, and corrects; learns from mistakes.

• Student-Directed Goal: I use metacognition to understand how I think, learn, and solve problems. I use that knowledge to complete tasks, improve my work, and learn from my mistakes.  

STEP 2. EXPLORE:  Learners are going to “search out” the attributes of metacognition as they are occurring in your classroom. Start concept-building by explicitly pointing out the attributes every time they arise in daily instruction.  I call these pointers “think alouds,” which is metacognition in action. Soon your students will be “talking metacognition” to themselves to each other.

Which of these metacognition Think-Alouds can you use or modify for your lesson tomorrow?

• Use your metacognition to choose which of these three projects interest you most.
• The reasons you gave for choosing that project, strategy, etc. show that you use metacognition to understand how you learn best.
• I’m returning yesterday’s quiz. Use your metacognition to think of three strategies to improve.
• Here is the experiment. Use your metacognition to decide the best order of the steps.
• Turn and Talk: Use your metacognition to tell your neighbor your greatest strength in this class. Then tell them the area you need to improve.
• A test is coming up next week. Use your metacognition to determine how you should prepare.

 

STEP 3: EMBED. Your students are familiar with the attributes of metacognition, now go deeper! Embed metacognition into your regular instructional goals. It’s easy when you use what I call an “aptitude action statement” to give a personal purpose (the why) for learning content and skills. Your new talent-targeted goal requires students to demonstrate the aptitude as they apply their content knowledge. Here are a few examples. Create your own goals with tasks from your curriculum. 

• Use your metacognition to . . . role play the different character’s perspectives on (a conflict).
  
• Use your metacognition to . . . analyze the ethical choices made by (historical/political figure)
• Use your metacognition to . . . choose an effective problem-solving strategy for (specific task)

 

STEP 4. ENGAGE:  Learners need to apply metacognition to critically think about content. One of my favorite strategies that works across content areas is Kohlberg’s Discussions of Moral Dilemmas. These engage metacognition by examining the ethical thinking/reasoning used in making decisions about dilemmas, situations with two defensible courses of action. What are some moral/ethical dilemmas in your content area? Click the link to this sample plan and start the discussion tomorrow!

STEP 5. EVALUATE: What does it look like when learners are developing higher-order thinking skills? I knew I needed new assessment tools, so I developed the Talent Aptitude Learning Progressions to approximate what metacognition (and the other aptitudes of innovators) look like at the emerging, developing, and advancing stages. Use these “statements of ability” to create rubrics for teacher formative feedback and student self-reflection. Click this link to see the teacher and student rubrics for metacognition.

If you use these five steps, you are sure to teach the concept of metacognition so that it “sticks.” Start today to empower your students’ “Super Thinking!” 

Dr. Jeanne L. Paynter is a writer, teacher, and consultant. She founded Educating Innovators to partner with schools to achieve the mission that all learners discover and develop their unique potential to be tomorrow’s innovators— those creative problem solvers who change our world for the better. As the state specialist for gifted and talented education at the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Jeanne directed numerous grant projects to increase the participation and success of low income and minority students in PK-12 advanced programming. Previous to her work at MSDE, she was the Coordinator for Gifted Education and Magnet Programs K–12 in Baltimore County Public Schools, a large urban-suburban district.

The new year is still fresh. Many of us entered 2024 with a desire to release the mistakes of 2023, forgive transgressions and move forward with the promise of a new day – a new chance to grow and improve. To do better. To be better. To be stronger.

Here we are in February of 2024 and the days are getting a bit longer; days full of opportunities to work on those plans and goals of January. How are you doing with that?

This year, I want to share some thoughts about how embedding specific SEL strategies into your days can help you reach your goals. Maybe even find new ones. Something that I have been drawn to in recent years is discussing the concept of mental strength (or mental toughness) when focusing on social emotional well-being. I started thinking about athletes: their training and preparation for big events and competitions. How do they prepare their bodies and minds to manage the adrenaline, maintain the required stamins, intensified focus and physicality? I found research to support these thoughts and now I find myself speaking of developing a personalized mental strength program when working with colleagues, families and students.

Mental strength, the bedrock of resilience and fortitude, transcends the confines of mental health. While mental health denotes a state of well-being, mental strength embodies the power to navigate challenges, overcome adversity, and thrive despite obstacles. It is the internal force that propels individuals forward, fostering adaptability and unwavering determination in the face of trials. Mental strength allows you to walk confidently into your life – knowing that you possess the skills and abilities for success - instead of pre-supposing failure or disaster. Developing mental strength is about your self-awareness and ability to build towards something outside of yourself. If it sounds as if developing mental strength is a better use of our time as it is more of a preventative action, you may be on to something with me. In short, I truly believe developing mental strength through targeted SEL lessons will lead to better mental health for educators and students. 

Strong self-care routines are a mainstay for developing mental strength and are priority for our educators, now more than ever. With self-care at the forefront, we are more readily available mentally and emotionally for our students, families and colleagues. We can be more present for ourselves. Self-care is highly personal and must be intentionally planned, as well. The benefits of breathing exercises, yoga and meditation are well documented and can be a cornerstone to a self-care plan. 

In the realm of education, nurturing mental strength is becoming paramount. It will equip students with the tools necessary to conquer academic hurdles, cope with stress, and cultivate a growth mindset, which leads to resiliency. Mental strength, or mental toughness, represents the robustness of one’s mind, encompassing resilience, perseverance, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. Isn’t this strength what we are looking for in our gifted learners and ourselves?

We – as gifted educators – are in unique positions to coach our students through strategic affective instruction. In our gifted classrooms, we see many students face perfectionism, anxiety, imposter syndrome, the list can go on. These can deter the greatest of minds, causing years of underachievement and frustration. What if we, as gifted educators, helped them to follow a mental strengthening regiment focused on self-care? What if we targeted strengthening the brain muscle with the same drive that we use when training for a marathon? Or preparing for an assessment? What if we talked with our gifted learners about their mental strength before they faced life changing decisions? What if we had a mental strength routine in our gifted classrooms – working on specific self-care and social-emotional skills each day or week, making connections to assist with greater resiliency when faced with adversity? Let’s imagine the benefits of a mental strength program in our gifted classrooms by instilling a sense of purpose and fostering a supportive environment that focuses on the preparation. Instead of, “Today, we have to set academic goals for the next 9 weeks”, let’s try, “Wow! We get to set our own goals for where we want to go with our learning! What is important to you?” Instead of “Here’s the rubric for your project and presentation that is due next Friday”, let’s try, “What is the most important part of your presentation that you want me to understand? How will I know it is important to you?” Let’s try tapping into their ability to care for themselves and their effort to help them find a greater purpose. How might we use our responses to our students to help them grow stronger?

A few SEL resources I regularly use with gifted learners to do just this include:

1. Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension-Affective Lessons – These resources are a great starting place and can be found for all grade levels. These lessons offer poetry, short stories, and biographies as a few of the avenues to engage in rich discussions with gifted learners.
2. Overcomingobstacles.org – All SEL lessons are free; however, you can set up an account and have greater access. I especially appreciate that the lessons are tiered for primary, intermediate, middle and high school age students and many are available in a variety of languages. There are also cross-curricular extensions available. I usually strengthen these by adding in specific Thinking Routines or Depth and Complexity questions that align with the lesson objective.
3. Project Zero Thinking Routines – Many of these are routines are used within the gifted classroom for content lessons. Consider utilizing the routines specific to “Considering Controversies, Dilemmas, and Perspectives” and “Perspective Taking” to embed SEL components into designed lessons.
4. Mindfulness Moments Cards – These beautifully illustrated cards provide all you need to build students’ ability to quiet their mind, focus on their breathing and strengthen their capacity for increased mental strength. 

As we continue to move through the year, we do indeed have opportunities to develop and increase our mental strength, as well as that of our gifted learners. With the current need for increased attention on the social and emotional needs of our students, developing a purposeful plan to build mental strength through targeted affective instruction – similar to that of a gym workout plan – has the potential to create a direct, positive impact that is desperately needed. We will surely continue to have disappointments and failures that will test us. But we will also have successes. How are we preparing? It is in the preparation that we find the success. Set the course. Make the plan.

Our gifted learners will experience all of this and more, as well. We must coach them through their challenges by first strengthening their ability to prioritize their self-care, utilize their strengths, set achievable goals, persevere and learn from their experiences. Fostering mental strength in education is an investment in the holistic development of individuals, empowering our gifted learners not only to excel academically but also to navigate the complexities of life with courage, resilience, and an unyielding spirit. As gifted educators, nurturing these traits in our students will ensure that they find success – academically, socially and emotionally – on their terms, charting a new path in to this still new year. 

 

Researched article:

Lin Y, Mutz J, Clough PJ, Papageorgiou KA. Mental Toughness and Individual Differences in Learning, Educational and Work Performance, Psychological Well-being, and Personality: A Systematic Review. Front Psychol. 2017 Aug 11;8:1345. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01345. PMID: 28848466; PMCID: PMC5554528.

 

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Bonnie Taylor is the chair of the Social & Emotional Development Network. Learn more about all NAGC networks and special interest groups.

NAGC asked its 2024 Teachers Summit (held online February 13-14, 2024) speakers to share additional information about their presentations via the NAGC Blog. Michelle Hock and copresenter Leighann Pennington will be presenting on the topic of Rigorous Literature Instruction: Pairing Texts to Amplify Learning for Gifted Secondary Students on February 14 at 1:15 p.m. ET.

It doesn’t take much imagination to envision a secondary English language arts (ELA) classroom full of students with glazed-over eyes, listening halfheartedly to their teacher explain symbolism in The Great Gatsby in a way that the students could have otherwise discovered by consulting SparkNotes. This scene, unfortunately, paints a common picture of secondary ELA classrooms, where gifted learners are often underchallenged by curriculum and instruction that are devoid of engagement and rigor. So how can we fix this? How can teachers ensure that diverse gifted learners – who have varied interests, identities, backgrounds, and experiences – are engaged by what they read? How can teachers challenge students to undertake rigorous literary analysis when, through basic Internet searches or the use of AI, students can access an overview or analysis of any assigned text? 

Although the answers to these questions may be complex, we can begin addressing them by leveraging the power of gifted learners’ natural inquisitiveness and desire to better understand themselves, others, and the world around them. We can also leverage best practices in ELA pedagogies to develop educational experiences that promote both engagement and rigor. To do this, we must start with several premises about literature instruction for gifted learners:

1. Students should have opportunities to see themselves represented in literature, which can involve identifying with characters, cultures, or other narrative elements. Identifying with texts helps students cultivate their sense of self, understand their place in the world, and become more invested in reading.
2. Students should be exposed to identities, cultures, experiences, eras, and ideas that are different from their own, providing them with windows into others’ worlds. This helps students develop perspective-taking skills needed for expanding their worldviews or critically analyzing their own ideas or assumptions. Exposure to new concepts can pique gifted learners’ curiosity and spark connection-making or deep engagement with topics of interest.
3. Students must be challenged to read texts that are within their zones of proximal development, both in terms of content and linguistic difficulty/complexity.
4. Students should be encouraged to make cross-disciplinary and cross-textual connections. Literature does not exist in a bubble; rather, texts are artifacts borne of a specific time, place, and culture, and may serve some greater historical, ideological, or sociopolitical agenda (either implicitly or explicitly). Texts, therefore, are in conversation with the world around them, and gifted learners should be encouraged to make these connections. 

With these premises in mind, teachers can begin designing engaging and rigorous learning experiences. One way to do this involves strategically pairing canonical texts and young adult literature (YAL). Although using a curriculum composed entirely of canonical texts has largely fallen out of favor, there are still compelling reasons to explore them with gifted children. Canonical works have endured for their exploration of universal and timeless themes, as well as for their powerful, unique, or innovative uses of language and text structure. To deny students access to these exemplary works of literature would be to deny them the opportunity to engage with sophisticated and complex works that have left indelible marks on society/culture at the global level. Further, as the field’s conception of “canonical works” expands as a result of the long-overdue recognition of literary brilliance among historically marginalized group (e.g., women, people of color, etc.), it is important to show students how the canon has diversified to include writers such as Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf, and Jorge Luis Borges (to name a few). 

Complementing canonical works with YAL, however, opens even more opportunities to increase engagement and rigor. YAL often features adolescent protagonists who are grappling with coming-of-age experiences, which can resonate with secondary students. Additionally, as a contemporary genre, YAL may speak more directly about issues that are of immediate interest to students. Further, it may be easier to find YAL texts that represent a range of identities, which can help teachers develop multicultural curricula. 

Despite the tremendous benefits of YAL, when read alone these texts may not provide gifted learners with the “stretch” that they need to further their learning. This isn’t to say that the content of YAL is not complex, nor that it can’t be taught in ways that challenge gifted children; rather, it’s an acknowledgement that these texts are designed to be more accessible (a huge benefit for reader engagement!), which means that not all YAL texts may adequately push gifted learners to build their capacity for reading and understanding more complex language. 

Text pairings, then, can provide “the best of all worlds,” where students are both engaged and challenged by literature. To plan for effective pairings, teachers should first identify a canonical work and YAL text that are “in conversation” with one another. For example, teachers could look for texts that address similar themes, take different approaches to examining the same topic, arrive at different conclusions about ideological or philosophical questions, etc. Then, teachers can design instructional units that challenge gifted learners to grapple with thought-provoking and complex content – not just a regurgitation of “traditional” readings of texts that students could find through an Internet search. (To get ideas for YAL texts to teach, consider visiting Dr. Bickmore’s YAL Wednesday blog or Southern Connecticut State University’s repository of YAL text information.)

Designing this type of unit could involve the synthesis of various approaches to framing instruction, including the use of cognitive rigor frameworks and critical literacy pedagogies. A commonly used cognitive rigor framework is Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK). Our aim for gifted students is to have them work towards analyzing literature at DOK levels 3 and 4 (the two most rigorous levels), which focus on strategic thinking and extended thinking, respectively. If we were to pair F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, for example, with Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street, we might give prompts such as:

• Critique Fitzgerald’s and Cisneros’s approaches to text structure. Justify your response with textual evidence. (DOK 3)
• Write a creative narrative depicting what a conversation about social class between Gatsby and Esperanza would look like. (DOK 4)

 

By challenging gifted students to make cross-text analyses, these upper-level DOK prompts provide them with increased instructional rigor. The pairing of these texts also promotes greater multicultural representation, which may bolster student engagement.
Critical literacy pedagogies can also be used to increase rigor, as this approach calls for students to problematize and interrogate elements of a text (e.g., ideological power structures undergirding the author’s purposes, absent voices/perspectives, etc.) that might otherwise go unexamined through “traditional” readings. For example, developing students’ critical literacies might involve posing questions such as:

•  Given the authors’ varied identities/experiences/historical eras, are you surprised that they’re tackling similar themes? Why might this be the case?
• How do the intersections of race/gender/class manifest in these texts, and what do they reveal about power?

 

Pairing texts has the power to amplify learning by increasing opportunities for engaging and complex literary analysis. Well-chosen pairings can broaden multicultural representation in curricula and have the power to maximize instructional rigor – all of which may help to make those scenes of English class boredom no longer a reality. To help you get started with strategic pairings of the canon and YAL, consider exploring the following resources:

• For information on how to differentiate YAL instruction, consider reading this sample book chapter from Teaching YA Lit Through Differentiation (Groenke & Scherff, 2010). 
• For an example of how you might “modernize” the teaching of a canonical text, refer to this article from Duke University’s TIP program. 

 

Reference
Groenke, S. L., & Scherff, L. (2010). Teaching YA lit through differentiated instruction. National Council of Teachers of English.

Michelle Hock is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Virginia's School of Education in the department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education. She holds both an Ed.D. and M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on gifted education from the University of Virginia, as well as an M.A. from Middlebury College in English Literature. Her teaching and research interests include preservice teacher education, gifted education, classroom assessment, and secondary English/language arts. Prior to her work at the University of Virginia, she served as a secondary English teacher in Pennsylvania.

In schools across the country, educators like myself are looking forward to the holiday break, which brings much-needed time and distance from the daily classroom’s activities. It will be a time for celebration, rest, and relaxation. It will also be a time for reflection. As you sit at home and ponder the New Year ahead, consider submitting a proposal for NAGC24, the 71st Annual NAGC Convention, which will be held November 21-24, 2024 in Seattle, WA.

Perhaps you have thought about submitting before or have already contemplated doing so this year. Maybe you are a bit apprehensive about doing it altogether. Let this writing be your motivation to submit a proposal to present at NAGC24!

I can clearly recall the first time I submitted, the first time my session was accepted, and the first time I presented at the NAGC convention. It was exhilarating! To stand before a group of students and teach one thing, but nothing can prepare you for the excitement you feel standing in front of an audience of professional educators sharing curricular ideas and materials. Looking back on it now, I realize it was the catalyst for years of presentations to come.  

As educators, we certainly have firsthand knowledge of student needs, what works and what doesn’t—All valuable information, activities, ideas, and lessons to share with an audience.

Educators make up the majority of the NAGC audience and they are hungry for practical information that they can take back to their schools and apply immediately. Consider what learning activities you use. Think about those lessons that the students, administrators, and other faculty rave about. What are your methods? Have you been involved in developing a new program? Is there a unit of instruction you enjoy delivering? What are your favorite resources? These are just a few questions that can shape an excellent submission.

Have I persuaded you yet? If so, read on.

The first step is to register for our information meeting to be held on Thursday, December 14, at 4 p.m. ET. Don't worry if you can't make this meeting--the meeting will be recorded and a link to the video posted here once it's done.

Next, visit and register on the NAGC24 submission site. It is easy to create an account. Simply scroll past the submission information (which you should read!) and click Join Now to begin. Once you are logged in, click Begin a New Proposal. There are now some items to fill out and some decisions to make. You might want to read on to see everything you'll need to have on hand and ready to submit. For example, NAGC has 16 networks, and you will need to choose to which one you will submit your proposal. You can read about their specifics for submissions here, and can see Washington State specific requests here. NAGC also provides the scoring rubric reviewers will use. 

The next step is to think of a title for your presentation, and honestly, try to be as creative as possible. Remember that your submission will be read by at least three reviewers, so pull them in right away. After submitting your presentation title, you will be taken to a page with five tasks to complete. Each task will ask you for specifics relating to your submission and will be annotated with a green checkmark when complete. Abstract Details is first. You will see your title displayed and then make a selection on the format of your presentation. There are details of each to help you decide. Following that you will be asked if you are willing to adapt your format preference, and if so, in what ways. This will help the selection committee in considering what would work best for the schedule. Next, you will comment on the level of knowledge presented and offer a 60-word short and 250-word extended description that describes your presentation. I suggest writing the 250-word description first, and then edit that version to fit the 60-word description. Be concise and get to the point. Consider the objectives and goals you have for the session. Clicking continue will take you back to the Tasks Page.  

Task 2 involves extended details for your presentation. You’ll be asked about your target audience(s), grade level(s), presentation style, and session length preference. Click continue and move on to the Learning Outcomes task, Task 3, where you will be asked to enter up to three Learning Outcomes. Consider what instructional strategies will you present and what you want the attendees to come away with? Will it be interactive? Will you provide materials? Continue on to the last 2 tasks, Proposal Presenters and Speaker Rules and Responsibilities. If you are the only presenter, simply edit your profile and click Save Presenter. If adding secondary presenters, fill in their name and email and Add Presenter. You can send an invite email to let them know they were added. Ideally, you should have already alerted your co-presenter(s) that you would be adding them. You will then complete the last task and agree to 5 items, clicking Submit Agreement when done. 

When all of your tasks are complete, click Next and if you want to preview your submission, you can. The last step is to click Submit. There will be a green box indicating it has been submitted and you will receive a confirmation email. That is all you need to do. Users can submit up to 3 proposals for 2024. 

Each moment spent in the classroom provides the opportunity to make a change in the lives of your students. Sharing what you do and what you know at an NAGC convention greatly expands your classroom beyond the four walls you are accustomed to. Your unique and creative ideas can spread far and wide. Plus, there are lots of other sessions for you to attend to enrich your own learning and teaching.

The time has come to be proud of what you have accomplished in the classroom and share it with others. Give it a shot! The NAGC24  Proposals deadline is January 26, 2024, 11:59 PM PT. Make it your New Year’s resolution, and just do it!

Recently, many NAGC Board of Directors members spent an hour in a Town Hall conversation with around 40 members. The members, representing the Black, Hispanic, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities, were concerned about their physical and psychological safety while attending NAGC23 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The conversation focused on whether, how, where, and when different safety measures could be put in place, but I came away with more than ideas. I came away with a powerful sense of gratitude. 

I'm grateful for the candor of these members, their willingness to be vulnerable in expressing their fears to us, and for the spirit of collegial problem-solving that they brought to the conversation. 

I'm grateful for their courage. As a white, straight person, I do not personally identify with the specific fears they expressed, but as a woman, I know what it is to feel endangered in places that are safe for others, and I know the accompanying sense of injustice. Connecting on that level, I am grateful that no one at the meeting is backing away; they all plan to attend the convention despite their fear. They understand that their influence comes from showing up, and they want us to make "showing up" easier.

I am grateful for the reminder of the resoluteness of advocacy and how advocacy and courage are intertwined. Courage, from the Latin for "heart," means, in part, to have the "…moral strength to venture, persevere…¹”— it means to take heart. The members at the Town Hall had the courage to ask for what they needed without knowing how we would respond. It wasn't the first, or second, or even the third conversation we've had on the topic. Their advocacy continued. It wasn't aggressive or adversarial, but it was persistent. They will show courage again when they arrive in Florida. This is a lesson in advocacy that we can all learn from as we continue to ask for what we need as a field.

To encourage means "make strong, hearten." People who encourage give heart to those who need it. The NAGC Board and staff, along with [throngs of] capable Disney personnel, will do what is in our power to create a safe and welcoming environment.  But beyond that, individually, I commit to providing encouragement to anyone who feels trepidation at the thought of being in Florida. I hope everyone attending the convention will be similarly encouraging to anyone in need.

In addition to encouraging those who need support, I'd like to encourage open-mindedness, more generally, to everyone attending the convention. NAGC is an educational advocacy organization, and we welcome anyone who shares in our mission. I hope that all who attend the convention next month feel a kinship of purpose regardless of gender identity, race, income, or political orientation. If you want to help us in our mission to help “all who support children with advanced abilities in accessing equitable opportunities that develop their gifts and talents,²" you are welcome among us.