Tuesday Talks for Teachers

Many gifted individuals who undergo intellectual and neuropsychological assessment find that processing speeds are lagging behind in their overall development. This presentation serves as a primer to understand how better to support the development of processing speeds in real-life contexts with functional application.

Mark has been counseling gifted individuals for over 10 years and is the owner and director of the Center for Identity Potential. Mark's experience with gifted counseling began in 2012 under the mentorship of Andy Mahoney, a pioneer and expert in the field of counseling the gifted. Mark is highly respected in the field of gifted counseling and has published numerous articles on topics related to giftedness and counseling. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant, and has provided training and consultation services to schools, universities, and mental health organizations throughout the United States.

A former video game professional, Mark utilizes his knowledge of gaming and technology to create a strong relationship with many of the kids with whom he works. Through his own personal struggle with executive functioning, validating his giftedness, and finding purpose and meaning in this world, Mark has developed an expertise in the education and skills necessary to help gifted children activate their potential and live more authentic, fulfilling lives.

Mathematics has a vibrant, human story—one shaped by cultures across the globe, each contributing unique strategies, symbols, and ways of understanding the world through numbers. Yet, in many classrooms today, this richness is overshadowed by an overwhelming focus on standardized notations and traditional algorithms. While these conventions have their place, relying on them alone can make math feel rigid, mechanical, and disconnected from the creative human minds that built it.

Join us as we reawaken the culture, creativity, and joy that have always been at the heart of mathematics. Discover how empowering students to develop their own strategies—alongside conventional ones—invites them into the true art of doing mathematics and transforms classrooms into places of curiosity, connection, and authentic learning.

Dan Krill is a father, educator, and songwriter. He double-majored in math education and philosophy (BS, L&S, UW Madison), then earned his master’s in math education with an emphasis in learning sciences (MS, C&I, UW Madison). He has taught secondary and post-secondary math for over 20 years and currently works as a 5-12 instructional coach in south-eastern Wisconsin.

Thus far, Dan has published a dozen articles and blogs related to maintaining teacher autonomy, fostering creativity, and recognizing opportunities to learn in day to day experiences. He has also presented at the SLATE conference on project-based learning in math and the WATG conference on math programming that supports gifted learners.

Haidt’s book, about how smartphones and social media have transformed childhood and adolescence, is scary but convincing. Its premise states that starting in the early 2010s, there was a “great rewiring” of an entire generation’s social and intellectual development. 

What makes The Anxious Generation different from other books on similar topics is Haidt’s deduces that we’re actually facing two distinct crises: digital under-parenting (giving kids unlimited and unsupervised access to devices and social media) and real-world over-parenting (protecting kids from every possible harm in the real world). The result is young people who are suffering from addiction-like behaviors, while struggling to handle challenges and setbacks that are part of everyday life. 

Participants need not have read the book to attend. 
 

With a rich and diverse background spanning various roles in education, I bring a wealth of experience to our work. From my beginnings as an elementary teacher to serving as a reading specialist, advanced learner coordinator, principal, director of instruction, CESA consultant, and adjunct university instructor, I've cultivated a unique expertise that informs my approach to diverse instructional challenges.