Tuesday, June 9, 2026 · 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Add to calendarOVERVIEW
The Torrance Center Summer Institute (TCSI) is a unique opportunity for teaching practitioners, school administrators, and education researchers to receive state-of-the-art instruction and guidance for optimal pedagogical practice through a week of professional learning courses hosted by the UGA Torrance Center.
All courses offer CEUs.
To go directly to our registration page, please go to our TCSI Registration Form.
To learn more about the TCSI generally, please visit our TCSI Webpage.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
TTCT Figural Scoring Workshop
TTCT Figural training participants will become proficient at scoring the norms-based creativity components measured by the TTCT Figural assessment - Fluency, Originality, Elaboration, Resistance to Premature Closure, and Abstractness of Titles. Additionally, participants will learn how to score the criterion-based Checklist of Creative Strengths and use the Norms-Technical Manual to calculate the Creativity Index, assign National Percentile rank, and understand individual student performance as it compares with national norms.
Instructor: Desiree I. Sharpe, PhD
Schedule: Monday-Thursday/9am-noon/in-person
Transforming Creative Identity through Playful Collaboration
Participants will engage in Lego® Serious Play® (LSP) to transform their creative identity through playful collaboration, while being introduced to the foundations of the brick-based methodology itself. Using Lego® bricks as a socio-material technology supports transformative learning built on constructivist, constructionist, and social learning theories. As participants engage in model-making and storytelling, they reframe their understandings of creativity and creative intelligence. This reframing contributes to increased self-efficacy and demonstrated agency of creative confidence. As a result, participants are more likely to consider themselves creative and better equipped to address complex challenges in a variety of contexts through playful collaboration.
Instructor: Emmaleigh Klein, MS
Schedule: Monday & Wednesday/1-4pm/in-person
Differentiation Upward: Meeting the Needs of Advanced Learners in Heterogeneous Classrooms
A classic myth about advanced learners is that they are fine when left on their own. Research shows that when teachers differentiate in their classes, almost no differentiation occurs with advanced learners in mind. However, is this equitable? Are these students getting an appropriate education when left to their own devices? In this session, we will learn about upwards differentiation specifically tailored to meet the needs of advanced learners. Topics will include rigor, depth, complexity, curriculum compacting, enrichment, grouping strategies, and other key topics derived from gifted education. A little bit philosophical and a lot practical, this session will better equip you to help advanced learners flourish.
Instructor: Talbot S. Hook, PhD
Schedule: Monday & Wednesday/1-4pm/in-person
A Crash Course on Addiction
Almost everyone’s lives have been touched in some way by addiction. Individuals are either in recovery themselves, struggling with active addiction, serving those who have addiction, or in a relationship with someone who has experienced addiction. In this course, the presenter will provide an overview of addiction including: the neuroscience of addiction, risk factors of addiction, the relationship between addiction and trauma, the progression of addiction over time, interventions for addiction, and prevention efforts. Attendees will gain insight into the nature of various drugs of abuse and addictive behaviors, as well as treatment and peer support group options.
Instructor: Amanda Giordano, PhD
Schedule: Tuesday/1-4pm/in-person -OR- Thursday/1-4pm/online
From Anxiety to Resilience: Developmental Considerations for a Changing Generation
This workshop is inspired by The Anxious Generation*, written by Dr. Jonathan Haidt. This workshop explores the rise of the “anxious generation” and the developmental shifts influencing children and adolescents today. Through collaborative discussion, participants will examine the timelines of smartphone and social media adoption and explore reasons for the rising rates of anxiety and depression in youth. Further, participants will learn about the developmental importance of unstructured social play and how “phone‑based childhoods” disrupt essential skills, such as problem‑solving, self‑regulation, and peer connection. The session will provide practical suggestions from the author and intersect with recent literature to understand how this information can be applied to diverse groups. Participants will leave with a personalized and shared action plan to foster healthier, more resilient, learning environments.
Participants do not need to have read the book to sign up for this workshop.
Instructor: Karrah Bowman, MA
Schedule: Tuesday & Thursday/9am-noon/in-person
Bilingualism: Language, Cognition and Disorders
Most of the world's populations are bilingual speakers who have a varying degree of proficiency in more than one language, and bilingualism has become an increasingly common experience for the North American population. In addition, while bilingualism has been extensively studied as a psycholinguistic phenomenon in language development, the cognitive consequences associated with bilingualism extend across the lifespan. The course examines bilingual experience across the lifespan and evaluates research showing altered cognitive processes in bilinguals compared to monolinguals. Students will be directed to research that relates to the following questions: How is bilingualism defined? Is there a critical period of learning a second language? Does bilingualism confer cognitive advantages? If so, what kind of cognitive benefits are associated with bilingual experience? Are there differences in language developmental trajectories in bilingual children and adults? How do language and cognitive disorders manifest in bilingual populations?
Instructor: Liang Chen, PhD
Schedule: Tuesday & Thursday/1pm-4pm/in-person
COST
*DISCOUNT for additional courses for TTCT participants
**DISCOUNT for additional courses for non-TTCT participants
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Event details are sourced from Stanford’s public events feed. Times shown in Pacific time.
Aderhold Hall 110 Carlton Street, Athens, GA 30602
When
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 · 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Aderhold Hall