Cindy Sheets

Cindy Sheets is a gifted facilitator in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Working at the elementary level, she has been teaching gifted students in the resource classroom since receiving her gifted certification from the University of Kansas in 1989.  As adjunct professor in gifted education, she taught online courses through Emporia University for undergraduates and graduate students in the area of gifted education.

She has served on the Board of Directors of Kansas Association for Gifted, Talented, and Creative (KGTC), an NAGC Affiliate, for fourteen years and has served two terms on the NAGC Board of Directors.

Her interests include developing quality curriculum, technology tools and integration (including robotics), affective needs of gifted learners, best practices for gifted learners, meeting the needs of young gifted learners, using Response to Intervention with high ability learners, and she is also a certified trainer of the Autonomous Learner Model. She has presented at meetings and conferences for many years and has been an invited speaker at the local, state and national level.

Speaker Topics:

• Technology: Gifted and 21st Century Learners; Useful tools for student and teachers and Technology Integration
• The Problem with Praise: how types of praise make a difference in leading to student resilience and success – based on research by Dr. Carol S. Dweck)
• Curriculum: Creating and modifying curriculum for gifted learners, problem-based, concept-based using the Autonomous Learner Model to differentiate curriculum,
• RtI and Gifted: Modifications for the High Ability Student
• Young Gifted Students (primary & intermediate – elementary level): Using the Research Process with primary and intermediate students
• Choices and Challenges (providing opportunities for student choice and rigorous challenges)