News Release: Texas Chess Association, January 8, 2007
Contact: Dr. Alexey Root, 940-484-2265, [email protected]

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The Texas Chess Association (TCA) http://www.texaschess.org/news.php is sponsoring a one-day TCA Chess in Education workshop from 10:30-4:30 on the Saturday (March 17, 2007) of the State Scholastic chess tournament at the Adam's Mark Hotel Dallas http://www.adamsmark.com/dallas/. The workshop has a lunch break from 12:00-1:00, and refreshments from 3-3:30. The workshop registration fee is $15 in advance; $20 at the door. Send advance registration fee to:

TCA Treasurer Barb Swafford
2709 Longhorn Trl
Crowley, TX 76036-4719
214-533-0061
[email protected]

The workshop fee includes refreshments from 3-3:30, but participants are on their own for lunch.

The TCA workshop will highlight current thinking in chess in education to encourage the growth of chess in K-12 schools. Participants will learn about the TCA and about the benefits of chess in the classroom, especially for gifted-and-talented students. The workshop will offer professional development clock hours from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) http://www.txgifted.org/.

PRESENTERS:

10:30-11:00 a.m. Dr. Alexey Root, author of Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators http://lu.com/showbook.cfm?isbn=1591583586, will discuss her book and the online courses for educators http://www.telecampus.utsystem.edu/index.cfm/4,906,82,56,html offered by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). Root will show how chess instruction tied to academic subject matter enhances the cognitive and affective functioning of gifted students. (TAGT 5.0)

11:00-11:30 a.m. Dr. Tim Redman, editor of Chess and Education: Selected Essays from the Koltanowski Conference and professor at UTD http://www.utdallas.edu/, will discuss approaches for educating and involving parents, the community, and other professionals in supporting chess instruction for all students and in particular gifted and talented students. (TAGT 3.0)

11:30-noon Former Chess Online student Leah Dagher, Houston ISD full-time teacher of chess (Briarmeadow Charter School), shares her unit for grades 5-8 The Science of Chess. This unit correlates elements of chess to basic theories introduced in classroom science studies, and includes adaptations for gifted learners. (TAGT 5.0)

1-2 p.m. Dr. Steve Lipschultz, President, Think Like a King® School Chess Software System http://www.schoolchess.com/, will demonstrate how this software allows educators to establish successful chess programs at a single school or throughout a school district. The software addresses management as well as motivational issues, and includes a fully interactive, comprehensive scholastic chess curriculum that allows anyone to successfully mentor a chess program. Think Like A King utilizes a variety of instructional strategies, and is adaptable to gifted-and-talented and regular education students. (TAGT 4.0)

2-2:30 p.m. Clemente Rendon, TCA Vice President, describes the programs and initiatives developed by TCA for K-12 students. Chess tournaments, college scholarships, and grants for talented chess players—all of interest to gifted students (and their parents and teachers)—will be emphasized. (TAGT 5.0)

2:30-3:00 p.m. Daa Mahowald (BS Math Ed, MA Ed Psych), who has taught scholastic chess for over twenty years, will present several chess mini-games and discuss how their use can enhance the cognitive and affective functioning of regular and gifted students. (TAGT 4.0)

3:30-4:00 p.m. Former Chess online student Jody Braswell, 3rd grade GT Cluster teacher for the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, TX, will explain how chess can be integrated into multiple content areas, and how it can be used to differentiate curriculum. (TAGT 5.0)

4:00-4:30 p.m. Martha Jenkinson and Jeff Ashton, of the Chess Program at the T.H. Rogers gifted-and-talented magnet school in Houston http://georgejohn.bcentralhost.com/throgers/index.htm, will discuss building a strong school-based chess program and how chess is part of the differentiated curriculum. For example, all gifted-and-talented students in grades K-3 receive chess instruction once a week during the school day. (TAGT 5.0)