How do we better include learners and learning profiles often left behind in traditional settings? What if we could custom-fit learning experiences around their unique strengths, gifts, capabilities and needs? What if understanding the brain's intracacies and high yield therapeutic approaches helped us support and empower them in the learning process?

In this episode, Cheryl, Founder and Acting Head of Cajal Academy addresses these questions in context of a program tailor-made for what she calls 'exceptional learners.' All learners, year 1-12 have analytical/reasoning/creative thinking skills in the 'gifted' range, coupled with pronounced learning, social and emotional differences. Through our conversation, we learn how to:

Create environments that invite, excite and stimulate these 'exceptional learners'
Design scaffolds to support these learners through learning journeys and project-based experiences
Use neuroscience to help amplify their special strengths, and overcome their challenges
Include them in the process

Unravel tips, strategies and insights that pave the way for classrooms where every project is an opportunity for diverse minds to shine!

Connect with Cheryl: LinkedIn

Learn more about Cajal Academy: https://www.cajalacademy.org/

Sign up for the PBL Symposium: https://www.21c-learning.com/events/student-agency-and-pbl-symposium/

Take the 12 Shifts for 'Learner-Centered Environments' Scorecard: https://transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind

Cheryl's Bio:

Cheryl is the co-founder, President and acting Head of School for Cajal Academy, Inc.: a new, non-profit independent school that is innovating education by integrating insights from the fields of neuropsychology and neurophysiology to make them actionable in the classroom.

She is also the Founder and CEO of freedible, the social sharing platform where people with specialty diets can find and share the recipes, life hacks and community they need to thrive.

What these two ventures have in common is a passion for creating inclusive and scientifically-informed solutions at the social level to the challenges posed by individual differences and disabilities. And, they fuel my love for tackling complex problems, picking apart the details and creating from them a new whole.

I am also a passionate advocate for others; I believe that a solution that only works for people with education, resources or health is no solution at all. Her two driving passions are inclusion and empowerment; connecting with new people, whether it's one-on-one or as a public speaker, runs a close third. Cheryl 'wears her heart' on her sleeve, and believes in the responsibility of speaking her own mind- determined to leave this world a better place than it was when she found it.

Designing INCLUSIVE Learning Experiences that empower 'Exceptional Learners'

The Student-Centered Shift: Empowered International Schools and Classrooms Through Project-Based Learning