Gifted 2025 2e Summer Institute

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2025 2e (Twice Exceptional) Summer Institute Information

2e Summer Institute offers an invaluable opportunity for anyone interested in better understanding and supporting 2e learners.  

Leave with empathy for 2e learners, tangible strategies for classroom implementation, and an understanding of how to apply assistive technology, AI, and game-based learning to support these students.

Institute Goals:

1. Educate a diverse audience about the needs of 2e learners, including their unique challenges and strengths.
2. Provide professional development by offering 12 clock hours that fulfill the special education Educator Professional Development Requirements.
3. Leverage assistive technology and AI to enhance the learning experiences of 2e students.
4. Create awareness of social-emotional development, the neuroscience behind emotions, and strategies to support students' emotional and cognitive growth.
5. Introduce innovative strategies such as game-based learning to help identify strengths and implement equitable gifted identification practices.
6. Equip participants with actionable, real-world strategies that can be immediately applied in classrooms, schools, and homes.​

Featured Workshops!

Workshop Description:

This workshop takes three different aspects of social-emotional development, explains them, and then gives tangible, practical advice on how to implement interventions that address these concerns. Participants leave with information about the neuroscience of emotions, how the limbic system impacts behavior, how to gamify social-emotional development, and cognitive flexibility including how to push back against cognitive rigidity in the classroom and the community.

Workshop Description:

In this interactive workshop, simulation stations give participants a taste of what it is like to be a student with learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, auditory processing challenges, sensory processing challenges, autism, and ADHD. Participants leave with a new and/or deeper understanding of the lived experiences of students with learning differences, as well as some fresh ideas to try in their classrooms.

 

AI for Good:  Empowering Twice-Exceptional Learners by Amy Spicer, Ed.D. and Gin Randolph

Contact Amy Spicer  

Amy, Vice President of Implementation Design, leads the implementation of diverse projects in CEI’s portfolio, including work-based learning and social-emotional development initiatives. Amy brings expertise in program design, implementation, and evaluation and has extensive experience working with local and national partners to achieve programmatic goals and objectives. Amy started her career in the classroom, teaching special education for 11 years in both elementary and middle school settings in Baltimore, MD, and Jeffco Public Schools. Amy has a master of arts in teaching from Johns Hopkins University, a special education endorsement from the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) and graduated from UCD’s Leadership for Educational Equity program with a Doctor of Education in Spring 2022. Her dissertation is focused on implementation of the graduation guidelines policy in Colorado.

Gin Randolph is a career educator and Gifted Specialist with 30 years of experience in teaching and educational leadership. With advanced degrees in Gifted Education and Curriculum & Instruction, she specializes in Gifted Programming, STEAM, CTE, online learning, and artificial intelligence, creating and leading innovative, personalized learning experiences.

Workshop Description:

Twice-exceptional (2e) students thrive when learning is both personalized and empowering. Educators have limited time, widely varying student needs, and competing demands. Starting with a foundation of how to use AI safely and responsibly, this session will explore how AI can be a supportive tool for both educators and students, providing insight into AI literacy, as well as practical strategies, use cases, and resources. Learn how AI can more deeply engage and support your most complex learners.

Find and Support 2e Learners with Board Games by Heather Groff and Michelle Lewis

Heather Groff and Michelle Lewis each bring over 20 years of experience in supporting gifted and twice-exceptional students at both the school and district levels. With a deep understanding of the academic and social-emotional needs of these unique learners, they have worked extensively to develop and implement effective strategies that foster success across diverse backgrounds.

Workshop Description:

In this interactive workshop, discover one Colorado district’s journey as they increase 2e identification by leveraging board games. Games are powerful tools for recognizing and honing (hidden) strengths, implementing equitable gifted identification, and fostering affective development. Walk away with research-backed strategies, real-world applications, and ready-to-use resources to integrate game-based learning into classrooms and homes.

For More Information Contact:

Connolly Sherwood
Twice Exceptional Gifted Education Consultant
720-215-8842
sherwood_c@cde.state.co.us