Discussing Controversy Without Becoming the Controversy

  • April 20, 2021
  • 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
  • Zoom

Registration is closed

PD WEBINAR SERIES, April 20, 2021, 6:00 pm CT

Discussing Controversy Without Becoming the Controversy


Gifted learners are often motivated most by issues of fairness and justice. But in a time when adults struggle to engage in civil discussion, how can educators ensure that they can discuss controversial topics in school without it going so sideways that they become the controversy? Join thinkLaw’s Founder and CEO Colin Seale for practical tools, including: 1) Tips for helping students disagree without being disagreeable 2) Frameworks for productive group discussions 3) Tips for seamlessly integrating these strategies into standards-aligned instruction to avoid backlash, allegations of indoctrination, and other unintended consequences of making learning real for our students.

Colin Seale was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where struggles in his upbringing gave birth to his passion for educational equity. Tracked early into gifted and talented programs, Colin was afforded opportunities his neighborhood peers were not. Using lessons from his experience as a math teacher, later an attorney and now a keynote speaker, contributor to Forbes, The 74, and Education Post and author of Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students (Prufrock Press, 2020), Colin founded thinkLaw, a multi-award-winning organization to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies to close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and REACH all students, regardless of race, zip code or what side of the poverty line they are born into. When he’s not serving as the world’s most fervent critical thinking advocate, Colin proudly serves as the world’s greatest entertainer to his two young children.  colin@thinklaw.us 

Topic: PD Webinar Series-Colin Seale

Time: Apr 20, 2021 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)


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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87877214116?pwd=amxMNU5xUEkvZzBlRXJ2aG9xaGRyZz09


Meeting ID: 878 7721 4116

Passcode: 531879


PD Webinar Series

February 17, 2026

6:00pm 

Designing Math That Moves: Fluency, Acceleration, and the Courage to Explore

With Casey Warmbrand

High-ability learners don’t simply need “more”; they need mathematics that moves—fluidly, flexibly, and creatively. This session uses the Alabama Mathematics Course of Study and the Numeracy Act as anchors for designing instruction that supports acceleration, deep conceptual understanding, and mathematical risk-taking. Participants will explore how to design rich task sequences, investigations, and open problems that promote multiple strategies, multiple representations, and authentic mathematical reasoning. We will examine approaches to curriculum compacting, flexible grouping, and grading structures that reward exploration and align with the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Teachers will leave with practical tools, classroom-ready examples, and a clear framework for cultivating fluency, creativity, and productive struggle in high-ability mathematics learners.


 

Casey Warmbrand is a mathematician, curriculum architect, and national leader in gifted mathematics education. With 25 years of experience spanning middle school through university instruction, he has contributed to state standards development, redesigned mathematics pathways, and led national professional learning for NAGC, NCTM, and international organizations focused on mathematical creativity. Casey’s work centers rich-task design, curriculum compacting, mathematical creativity, and equitable assessment practices aligned with the Standards for Mathematical Practice. He currently supports mathematics program innovation for gifted learners in Arizona, advances systemic change in mathematics education nationally, and directs an initiative focused on affordable housing reform. Outside of his professional work, Casey enjoys time with his wife, Erica, and son, Zeke, and is an avid pickleball player supporting the national governing body, USA Pickleball.


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