Gifted 101 is our FREE introductory course to working with high potential neurodiverse learners in your classroom and school.
About Gifted 101
We’ve designed Gifted 101 to be FUN and playful, to highlight the voices of our high potential neurodivergent young people and their teachers, and to reflect how rewarding and stimulating it is to work with these learners.
We’ve made sure Gifted 101 is PRACTICAL and realistic and helps you with actionable ideas you can get going on right away.
We’ve drawn on our 20 years of experience of helping teachers and schools support their gifted and neurodivergent learners, as well as the most up-to-date research, to give you the key insights that make a difference on the ground.
Get started!
You must be a member of the Building A Neuroinclusive School Community to access this course. The community is free to join and is funded by the Ministry of Education as a network of expertise for New Zealand teachers and others working in education.
If you are not yet a member, you can join by clicking the button below.
When you join, you will be sent a confirmation email which includes a link to our learning platform on LearnWorlds, and your log-in details.
If you joined prior to May 2024, you were sent these details by email during May. If you can’t find this or are having any other difficulties, please contact bns@neurodiversity.org.nz.
How does the course work?
There are three parts to the Gifted 101 course, with three modules in each one, making 9 altogether.
Each module should take about one hour to complete, including review, discussion and workbook time.
We suggest that you work through the course for one hour a week over a 9 week period, preferably with a buddy or a group of teachers at your school or kahui ako, face-to-face or online. This gives you a chance to learn, practice, reflect and iterate in between sessions - the best way of learning!
As you work through the course, you will be using a workbook to record your ideas, things to try, and questions as you go. It will also be a resource for you to refer back to once you’ve finished the course.
You will finish up with your own personalised Gifted Learner Action Plan, a check-in date for a Reflect & Review session to see how you’ve gone, and a course completion certificate.
You can look through the whole course before you start to see how it works and what’s involved.
Who will you meet?
We are delighted to introduce you to the wonderful presenters and students who will share their insights with you.
Our video presenters
Meet Anne and Lance, two passionate teachers with experience running NZCGE’s MindPlus programme for gifted learners.
Anne
Anne Fifita Collins is a Pasifika Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) with a Masters degree in Education focusing on success for Pasifika boys. Her mission is to support systemic shifts for marginalised learners including neurodiverse, Māori and Pasifika learners.
Lance
Lance is a specialist teacher of gifted and neurodiverse learners at MindPlus. Capitalising on his varied experiences in education, he is committed to striving for excellence, with warmth, humour and personalisation.
Our students
Our MindPlus Auckland East and Central classes feature in our images and videos. We’re so grateful to them and their teachers, Diana Hayman and Ryan Abbott, for welcoming us into their classrooms.
The Young Neurodiversity Champions
We're also grateful to Young Neurodiversity Champions Annabelle March, Maria Walker-Kinnell and Katie-Rose Pemberton for sharing their perspectives.
What do you do in each module?
We’ve structured each module in the same way to make it super simple to work it through.
We’ve also used a number of ways to present the ideas - reading, watching, playing, writing and discussing - so you can access them from many different angles. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll find in each module.
To get you thinking
Each module starts with some big questions for you to discuss with your group or reflect on yourself. Take the time to loosen up your thinking and get ready for new ideas!
Read
We start in with some key ideas for you to read through and reflect on, individually and as a group. Don't worry - they’ll be short and sharp!
Watch
We invite you to watch a short video (3 minutes or less). You'll get to hear both from our awesome presenters, Anne and Lance, and to hear the voices of some of our high-potential learners, across a range of ages. You'll also get to see some of our classes in action!
DId you notice?
We help reinforce the key ideas with a fun game or quiz.
Do
We give you some practical ideas for how to test out these ideas with your students right away. Take the opportunity to discuss how you might do this with your group or buddy if you have one.
Want more
Keen to go a bit deeper? We offer suggestions for reading or watching.
Capture your thoughts
Have a look at the workbook and use the activities in there to record your thoughts, ideas and action plan for the week ahead.
Up next
We help reinforce the key ideas with a fun game or quiz.
Feedback
How was this module for you? Take one minute to give us an exit card!