A Guild is Born
What would happen if Ian Byrd of Byrdseed and Lisa Van Gemert of GiftedGuru got a crazy idea to make the world a better place for gifted kids by making it a better place for educators of the gifted and then…made it happen?
World, meet the Gifted Guild. Gifted Guild, welcome to the world.
What is the Gifted Guild?
Gifted Guild is an organization for teachers of the gifted who are committed to truly exceptional educational practice.
We created it to help educators grow through:
- Authentic professional development
- Connecting with other educators of the gifted
- Recognition of advanced skills and superb practice
How does it work?
Gifted Guild is based on the guild system of the middle ages. As a Gifted Guild member, you’ll progress through seven levels of mastery by taking courses and working through extension opportunities. But unlike typical professional development, you won’t just sit and listen.
Gifted Guild emphasizes practice and reflection.
Here’s how a typical, two-hour module might break down:
- Video: 10 min.
- Reading: 20 min.
- Planning: 20 min.
- Classroom practice: 40 min.
- Reflection: 30 min.
As you can see, it’s not your typical online professional development. There’s no “click-play-and-walk-away” to be found.
Connecting With Others
Since you may be the only person working with the gifted population at your school, or even your district, we offer a private Facebook group so you can connect with and support other educators, plus an email list to stay in touch with Guild opportunities and events.
Membership
The Gifted Guild is more than a set of online courses, it’s a professional organization and a community. To become a member, simply complete one course. As long as you complete one course per year, you’ll maintain your membership. As a member, you’ll have ongoing access to:
- The Gifted Guild online community
- The opportunity to progress through the level of the guild. Read more about the levels here.
- Early bird registration for live and virtual events
- Access to Guild Libris, the library of extra videos and other resources
Why Gifted Guild?
We wanted the name of the organization to reflect three things:
- Our respect for the educational profession
- The idea that progression is important and should be recognized
- That there’s always an element of fun in learning
We came upon the idea of the guild system of the Middle Ages because it was a time when artisans and craftsmen managed their craft themselves. They set the standards and monitored advancement in those crafts. They provided a community and garnered respect through high standards and training.
You belong if…
If you’re an educator of the gifted, you belong.
If you want to improve your teaching practice, you belong.
If you are looking for flexible, reasonably-priced professional development, you belong.
If you want to connect with other educators of the gifted, you belong.
Learn more…
You can read about the history of how the Gifted Guild was born, and we’d invite you to watch this short video we created about the Gifted Guild.
Thank you for letting us share our excitement about Gifted Guild with you!
Lisa & Ian
