“Whenever I give a presentation on my Mathematical Nights books, there’s one name that I always mention: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. You may know him better by his pen name: Lewis Carroll. As a writer, he often blended his mathematical skills with his whimsical style—sometimes in obvious ways and other times in ways that are harder to find.” – Robert Black

“For more than thirty years, I’ve written and spoken about the difficulties gifted kids and their families face in a world that doesn’t recognize their differences or, if it does, offers little to help them accept and cope with, let alone take joy in, those differences. It can still be difficult for such a child to believe, ‘It’s okay to be me.'” – Stephanie Tolan

“I want philosophy to be a lifelong friend for my children—and for all of their friends, and for all of their friends’ friends, and for the whole next generation. As they venture into civilization, philosophy will be their defense against me and all of the teachers, role models, bosses, and societal influences who, well-meaning or not, give too many suggestions and with too heavy a hand.” – Dr. Sharon Kaye

“We must advocate for real reading. There is nothing else in education—nothing—that is as educational as reading. By reading serious literature, both fiction and nonfiction, students experience the full range of intellectual experience. They grow in their reading power and can read better and deeper, with more comprehension and enthusiasm for important stories and ideas.” – Michael Clay Thompson

“In my life, no teacher had ever told me that I could write—not in elementary or middle or high school, not in college or university. It took Julie Long—with her immovable, fierce brain—to push me in a direction that would make me happy. She believed in me years before I did.” – Michael Clay Thompson

“For many people, learning math mostly involved working a seemingly endless set of exercise problems. Such drills have their place, but if that’s all students do, they’re missing a big part of what math is about. In fact, they’re missing the most important part: the opportunity to see math as a creative, collaborative experience, full of possibilities for exploration and discovery.” – Robert Black

“Black History Month is a celebration of important people and events in the history of African-Americans and is commemorated in the United States in February. But both black and white critics raise the question: Is Black History Month still needed?” – Richard Beck

“A teacher of high school honors English, I had always enjoyed the lively discussions related to my students’ reading of Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Walden.’ Everything about Thoreau’s life intrigued them. But there was one big downside: Thoreau’s layered, dense, nineteenth-century language, with all its subtleties, was hard for them to penetrate. They ‘got’ him, but his writing was quite another matter.” – Anne Faigen

“As a classroom teacher, I always tended to have high standards, and to give enormous assignments and challenges, but to be generous about grading. I think, deep down, the generosity was based partly on appreciation and admiration of the work the students were doing, but also on deep concerns about the reliability and validity of evaluation. And yet—here’s the thing—we have to do it.” – Michael Clay Thompson

“Between 2% and 20% of schoolchildren have some type of reading problem. Educators are starting to recognize the importance of the visual system and eye-tracking skills for reading, but these skills must be trained before a child with reading problems can be successful..” – Dr. Kenneth A. Lane

Being a parent of a gifted child can be stressful. You have to cope with constant questioning all day long, unusual behavior that is difficult to understand, and negative comments from other people, including relatives. Here is some advice from the mother of a profoundly gifted boy.

“In my language arts classrooms, I did not teach reading; I taught literature. I assumed that students knew how to read the literature we tackled, and for some students, that assumption was true. But for others, it was not. Teaching sound literacy skills not only will create successful language arts students, but it will create successful science, social studies, and math students, and it will create successful employees in all industries.” – Steve Loe

“If we are to have something truly worthwhile to offer children, it seems to me that it needs to be not just child-centered but life-centered. We humans have vast individual differences, which is, arguably, how we have survived on this planet as long we have. Life here operates on the principle of biodiversity. Every difference has a place. Every life has meaning. EVERY life.” – Stephanie Tolan

“Having taught about and written a novel on genocide, I have often wrestled with the ‘why’ of teaching about genocide. Yes, students need to know the history of genocides to understand where unchecked discrimination and prejudice can lead. But more importantly, they need to be able to act when they recognize warning signs. What we can all do is to call out smaller injustices when we see them.” – Brian Crawford