ANDI MCNAIR MEDIA KIT

Andi in a Tweet.

Andi in three sentences.

Andi McNair is a nationally recognized gifted education consultant, speaker, and author with more than two decades of experience in education. Drawing on her background as a classroom teacher, she has developed innovative, classroom-tested frameworks now used by educators and districts across the globe. Her work helps educators design learning experiences that are meaningful, engaging, and achievable for gifted learners and those who support them.

Andi in 80 words.

Andi McNair is a gifted education consultant, keynote speaker, and author. After years in the classroom, she realized something was missing for her gifted learners and set out to create a better way forward. That journey led to the development of Genius Hour, Gifted OnBoarding, and Designing for Depth. Andi is the author of four books and has partnered with districts around the world. Today, she helps educators design learning experiences that are meaningful for gifted learners and manageable for the people who support them.

Andi in 30 seconds.

Andi McNair is a gifted education consultant, bestselling author, and internationally sought keynote speaker. Before founding A Meaningful Mess, she was a classroom teacher doing everything right and still watching her gifted learners coast. When she couldn't find a roadmap for meaningful gifted learning, she built one. That work led to three classroom-tested frameworks—Genius Hour, Gifted OnBoarding, and Designing for Depth—along with four books, a thriving educator community, and partnerships with schools and districts around the world. Known for combining inspiration with practical strategies, Andi helps educators create learning experiences that are meaningful for gifted learners and manageable for the people who serve them.

Intro Script

Our next speaker started as a classroom teacher with a simple question:

Why were so many gifted learners succeeding without truly being challenged?

When she couldn't find a roadmap for deeper, more meaningful learning, she created one.

Today, her frameworks—Genius Hour, Gifted OnBoarding, and Designing for Depth—are used by educators around the world. She is the author of four books on gifted education, a sought-after keynote speaker, and a trusted partner to schools and districts committed to doing better for gifted learners.

What educators appreciate most about Andi is that she doesn't just inspire new thinking—she provides practical ways to make it happen.

And, fair warning: if you've ever heard her speak, you know she has a gifted education analogy for just about everything.

Please join me in giving a warm {Event Name} welcome to Andi McNair!

The Meaningful M.E.S.S. Method: Meaningful Experiences for Student Scholars
Keynote • Breakout • Half-Day • Full-Day • Two-Day Academy

Genius Hour: Utilizing Passion Projects to Make Learning Meaningful
Keynote • Breakout • Half-Day • Full-Day • Two-Day Academy

Designing for Depth: Meaningful Differentiation for Gifted Learners
Keynote • Breakout • Half-Day • Full-Day • Two-Day Academy

Gifted Onboarding: Providing Clarity for Gifted Learners and Their Families
Keynote • Breakout • Half-Day • Full-Day • Two-Day Academy

The Meaningful M.E.S.S. Method

Meaningful Experiences for Student Scholars

What if the goal wasn’t simply to give gifted learners more, but to intentionally design learning experiences that mean more within gifted services?

The Meaningful M.E.S.S. Method brings together Andi’s approaches to gifted education into a cohesive way of thinking about how we design services and experiences for advanced learners. Rather than relying on isolated strategies, activities, or programs, educators consider how Gifted Onboarding (The Identity to Try), Designing for Depth (The Skills to Think Deeply), and Genius Hour (The Agency to Create) can work together to create meaningful experiences that provide clarity, appropriate challenge, opportunities for depth, and space for learner ownership.

Participants will explore what it means to move beyond simply providing gifted services toward intentionally designing experiences that respond to who gifted learners are, what they need, and what they are capable of becoming.

Available as: Keynote • Breakout Session • Half-Day Workshop • Full-Day Workshop

Genius Hour

Utilizing Passion Projects to Make Learning Meaningful

What happens when learners are given the opportunity to pursue questions, problems, and possibilities that genuinely matter to them?

Genius Hour provides a structure for transforming student interests into meaningful learning experiences. Using Andi’s 6 Ps of Genius Hour — Passion, Plan, Pitch, Project, Product, and Presentation — educators learn how to guide learners through the passion-project process while intentionally developing skills such as questioning, research, planning, problem solving, creativity, communication, and reflection.

Rather than treating Genius Hour as “free time” or an extra activity for learners who finish early, participants discover how passion projects can become powerful opportunities for meaningful learning, productive struggle, learner agency, and authentic application.

Available as: Keynote • Breakout Session • Half-Day Workshop • Full-Day Workshop

Designing for Depth

Meaningful Differentiation for Gifted Learners

Gifted learners don’t always need something different. Sometimes they need the opportunity to go deeper.

Designing for Depth helps educators rethink differentiation by shifting the focus from adding more work or creating entirely separate lessons to intentionally increasing the depth of thinking within learning that is already happening. Using Andi’s Directions of Depth — Explore, Examine, Expand, and Evolve — participants learn how to recognize opportunities for depth and design experiences that invite gifted learners to investigate ideas, analyze complexity, make connections, consider new possibilities, and develop thinking over time.

Participants leave with a practical approach for creating meaningful differentiation that increases cognitive demand without simply increasing workload.

Available as: Keynote • Breakout Session • Half-Day Workshop • Full-Day Workshop

Gifted Onboarding

Providing Clarity for Gifted Learners and Their Families

Identification shouldn't be the end of the gifted education conversation. It should be the beginning.

Gifted Onboarding helps educators and leaders intentionally design what happens after identification so gifted learners and their families understand, experience, and engage with gifted services in meaningful ways. Using Andi’s Gifted Onboarding Framework — Clarity, Community, Content, and Challenge — participants explore how each pillar contributes to an experience where learners understand their giftedness, families feel informed and connected, and services provide the meaningful learning and appropriate challenge gifted learners need.

Rather than treating onboarding as a one-time orientation, participants discover how these four pillars can shape the gifted experience from identification forward.

Available as: Keynote • Breakout Session • Half-Day Workshop • Full-Day Workshop

The Meaningful M.E.S.S. Method: Meaningful Experiences for Student Scholars

What if the best learning is a little messy? Gifted learners need more than advanced assignments and extra work, they need experiences intentionally designed around curiosity, challenge, ownership, and meaning. The Meaningful M.E.S.S. Method brings together Gifted Onboarding, Designing for Depth, and Genius Hour to create a cohesive approach to serving gifted learners. Explore how these ideas work together to help educators move beyond a collection of gifted strategies toward designing experiences that truly respond to what gifted learners need. Expect fresh thinking, practical ideas you can use right away, and plenty of opportunities to rethink what meaningful gifted services can look like. Come ready to make a little M.E.S.S.!

Genius Hour: Utilizing Passion Projects to Make Learning Meaningful

What happens when we stop asking gifted learners to complete our ideas and give them the tools to pursue their own? Genius Hour turns curiosity and interest into meaningful learning through the 6 Ps — Passion, Plan, Pitch, Project, Product, and Presentation. Explore how to help learners discover meaningful topics, develop questions, create a plan, navigate productive struggle, and turn their ideas into authentic products and presentations. You’ll experience practical strategies for facilitating passion projects without having to manage 25 completely different lesson plans. Come ready to rethink student choice, nurture curiosity, and discover how Genius Hour can move learners from “What am I supposed to do?” to “Can I keep working on this?”

Designing for Depth: Meaningful Differentiation for Gifted Learners

Your gifted learners probably don’t need another worksheet, an extra assignment, or simply more. They need opportunities to go deeper. Discover how the Directions of Depth — Explore, Examine, Expand, and Evolve — provide a practical way to increase complexity and cognitive demand without creating an entirely separate lesson plan. You’ll experience strategies for helping learners investigate possibilities, examine ideas more closely, make meaningful connections, and allow their thinking to change and grow. Bring a lesson, question, or learning experience you already use and begin seeing where opportunities for depth might already exist. Leave ready to trade more work for more thinking and design differentiation that feels meaningful for learners—and manageable for teachers.

Gifted Onboarding: Providing Clarity for Gifted Learners and Their Families

We identify gifted learners...then what? Too often, identification is followed by a letter, a meeting, or a packet without helping learners and families truly understand what comes next. Gifted Onboarding reimagines that experience through four essential pillars: Clarity, Community, Content, and Challenge. Explore practical ways to help learners understand their giftedness, create stronger connections with families, communicate what meaningful gifted services should look like, and ensure learners experience the challenge they need to grow. You’ll have opportunities to examine your own onboarding practices and identify simple shifts that can make a meaningful difference. Because identification shouldn’t be the end of the conversation—it should be the beginning.

Let’s Chat

Ask Me Anything with Andi

Join me for a lively, anything-goes Q&A where curiosity leads the way and no question is too big, too small, or too “I’ve been wondering this for a while but haven’t asked it out loud yet.”

This is your space to ask about giftedness, Genius Hour, Gifted Onboarding, Designing for Depth, or anything in between. Whether you’re wrestling with a classroom challenge, exploring how to better support gifted learners, or wondering how to create more meaningful learning experiences, bring it.

Think of this as a conversation, not a presentation—part idea lab, part problem-solving session, and part “what if we tried this?” space. Come with your questions, wonderings, and even the things that just aren’t working. Leave with new perspectives, practical ideas, and hopefully a few “I’m definitely trying that tomorrow” moments.

Parents as Partners

Navigating the Gifted Journey Together

Having a gifted learner can come with plenty of questions. What does giftedness really mean? What should gifted services look like? How do I know if my child is being appropriately challenged? And how can I partner with the school without feeling like I have to have all the answers?

Using the Gifted Onboarding Framework — Clarity, Community, Content, and Challenge — this interactive session helps families better understand giftedness, gifted services, and the important role they play in their child’s journey. We’ll explore what meaningful gifted experiences can look like, questions families can ask, and practical ways to build a strong partnership with educators.

Come with your questions, concerns, and curiosity. Leave feeling more informed, more connected, and better equipped to partner with your child and their school throughout the gifted journey.