Director and Gifted Specialist Jenelle S. Miller, Ed.D.
Jenelle S. Miller, Ed.D.
Dr. Jenelle Miller, Founder and Director of Accelerated Academics is a Leader, Consultant, Advocate, and Master Teacher in the field of Gifted and Talented Education with an innovative approach to serving the challenges of high-ability learners who have unique gifts and talents. In addition, Dr. Miller is a Certified Educator for Renzulli Learning, an interactive method of project-based learning that engages students in areas of interest.
Dr. Miller received her Doctor of Education degree in Administrator Leadership for Teaching and Learning, her Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Classical Ballet. She has been a certified teacher in both California and Iowa for more than 25 years along with a teaching endorsement in gifted education from the state of Iowa. Furthermore, Dr. Miller is a strong believer in the benefits of homeschooling, and through her Accelerated Academics Private School Satellite Program, she develops personalized curriculum and facilitates one-on-one direct instruction to gifted and talented students.
In addition to teaching and advocating for gifted children, Dr. Miller is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center in Gifted Education and Talent Development, a part of the College of Education at the University of Iowa, where she provides online professional development instruction for teachers pursuing their talented and gifted endorsement certification.
Dr. Miller is a former member of the Board of Directors of the California Association for the Gifted (CAG) and served for two years as the Parent Representative for the Palomar Region which covers much of Imperial and San Diego Counties. In addition, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Iowa Talented and Gifted Association (ITAG) for 6 years. She has been a member of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) for many years and has maintained cutting-edge knowledge regarding gifted education by attending annual conferences and networking with other specialists and colleagues.
Dr. Miller has had experience coaching a number of enrichment programs from summer gifted camps to extended learning experiences within the school day. Furthermore, in 2008, she was nominated for the Iowa Women of Innovation Award, presented by the Technology Association of Iowa, in the Academic Innovation and Leadership award category for her work with students in robotics and inventions. Over a six-year period, she was the head coach for several teams of FIRST LEGO League (FLL) robotics students, two of which won first-place victories at FLL Tournaments held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Furthermore, two of her students won substantial scholarships (the first-place awards) at the annual Invention Convention held at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.
One of Dr. Miller's passions is in the field of performing arts, and she strongly promotes the importance of including a variety of creative art forms into students' academic experiences. She believes that the Arts promote creativity, and creativity leads to innovation. Curriculum with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) promotes the development of students who are creative, innovative, and ahead of the curve.
"Great leaders communicate a vision that captures the imagination and fires the hearts and minds of those around them." --- Joseph B. Wirthlin
Renzulli Learning is an interactive online system that supports strength based personalized learning in all subjects.
As a specialist in gifted education, I do the following:
Differentiate instruction based on a student’s readiness, knowledge, and skill level, including using accelerated content, complexity, depth, challenge, creativity, and abstractness
Provide extensions or replacements of the general education curriculum to modify the learning process through a variety of strategies based on individual student needs
Understand the social and emotional needs of students who are gifted and address the impact of those needs on student learning
Use data from a variety of sources to measure and monitor the growth of students who are gifted
Use and interpret sound formal and informal assessments for the purpose of academic decision-making
Develop Personalized Education Plans
Slide Show Enrichment programs:
First Lego League, Invention Convention, National History Day
Student Publisher’s Workshop
Storyteller, Dr. Jenelle Miller, performing the Tajar Tales with puppets during a break between children's sessions at the National MENSA Conference 2016. Dr. Miller and her artist sister, Jill Kerry, republished this whimsical tale written by Jane Shaw Ward in the 1920s, and then created the puppets, plush Tajar dolls, and an audio CD to develop a complete "story kit." Dr. Miller uses the story kit in her "Student Publisher's Workshop" where she teaches children how to collaborate together to write, illustrate, and narrate stories as well as make puppets and perform puppet shows.