In October I had the privilege of speaking at the Colorado Association of Gifted and Talented (CAGT) Annual Conference. Hundreds of educators, administrators and parents gathered to share thoughts related to CAGT’s mission of assuring “gifted children grow socially, emotionally and academically to become well-adjusted, contributing members of society…”
I presented two talks, the first being “Corral the Chaos: An Organizational System That Actually Works” which describes my 10 Steps to effective use of a planner. I have found these steps to be extremely successful in assisting students to use their planners/assignment notebooks as an effective learning tool. I hope to have the full program published in early 2014.
My second session was entitled “Encourage, Enhance and Expand Executive Functions in Your Child.” Opportunities are everywhere for adults to support the development of Executive Functions. I highlighted simple activities and modeling strategies that fit easily into daily interactions with children. Contact me about presenting these ideas to your group.
A high point of the conference for me was a keynote speech by P. Susan Jackson*. Jackson is the Founder and Therapeutic Director at the Daimon Institute for the Highly Gifted located in British Columbia, Canada. She spoke eloquently about the value of play in our lives and emphasized the balance between play and rigor.
The relevance to Executive Functions skills stood out to me. How frequently is “play” the Goal? My suspicion is often. But most of the time a Plan to meet this goal is nonexistent. The ability to balance the necessary rigor with play requires Time management. Homework, appointments and organized activities make up the time involved with rigor and students must learn how gain an awareness of the time these tasks consume. The remaining time equates to free time. Free time should occur daily and Jackson convinced me this free time should often be used for play.
In addition to heightening my attention to the value of play, this lecture reaffirmed my commitment to GOSTRONG as an effective tool for Executive Functions. Opportunity for play should be a goal and GOSTRONG can help students structure their rigor and their free time to achieve this goal.
*P. Susan Jackson, MA, RCC is the Founder and Therapeutic Director of “The Daimon Institute for the Highly Gifted” in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. The Daimon Institute offers service to highly and profoundly gifted children and adults supporting the educational needs and overall development of this special population.