I’m in the mood for tiny steps when it comes to finding my next teaching assignment. Yesterday, I filled out the paperwork to attend the Texas Association for Gifted and Talented’s yearly conference in November. I was surprised to see that the attendance at this conference is somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 individuals. It includes teachers, administrators, and parents. I’m very excited to see what the breakout sessions are. Jim Delisle is one of the main speakers. In all my gifted courses, we talked about his writings and studies on the gifted individual.
Seeing a person’s name in print associated with an article or study tends to put them on some type of ‘shelf’. Demi-gods, of a sort. It’s amazing because first you realize that they are, in fact, still alive. They are focusing their life’s work on the topic that you just have passing interest in. Ok, my interest is a bit more than ‘passing’ but you do begin to realize how little you really know.
Learning more is the reason for going to this conference. That’s the reason that educators of the gifted in Texas need additional hours of instruction in the gifted field every year. Perhaps I will feel more ready to take the Gifted Supplemental test here after the conference. I just completed the same type of a test at Southeastern to complete Louisiana’s requirements. Every state will have its slight differences. I’m hoping this conference will enlighten me on the differences, the actual focus here. Austin, here I come!!
I think that sometimes we may over-value “experts” at the expense of our own common sense and experience. The challenge, as I see it, is to weigh their words against what we see every day in the classroom. But you are right: there is always so much to learn!
Have a great time at the conference! I hope you will blog about it.