FOR GIFTED MINDS (Teachers)
This page is for those sites that I’ve visited and found useful or interesting in staying abreast of education issues, especially those related to teaching gifted. There will be the tried and true, but also a few new ones. Check back often to see what has changed. (Please feel free to suggest sites for this page. Send suggestions to teachagiftedkid@gmail.com.)
Here’s another teacher of the gifted website/log. Her teacher are well worth the visit: http://adifferentplace.org/teachers.htm
I have come back to this site several times for current research and methods on teaching. They have an excellent resource page for gifted learners. (I love that term!) The site is called New Horizons. This would be a good site for you to explore further.
I used to get the paper delivered everyday when I lived in LA. Spreading it out every morning on my countertop alongside my cup of coffee was how I started my day. Now, with having two places (one downtown Houston and one out in the country), it doesn’t make sense to leave the paper laying in the driveway. So, I read the paper online. Houston Chronicle’s website has been full of surprises. First, you can set up your own personal set of comics to read daily. Everyone needs humor. Second, the Annenburg Internet Channel. This is an excellent site for teachers. Not only does it have content based programming, it also has teacher informational programming. I set my laptop up on the counter and listen while I cook or clean. (I wonder if I can download the programming onto my new iPod? Enjoy! http://www.learner.org/index.html
My son happened upon this talk at the TED website. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66 The speaker is talking about schools and creativity. The talk is only 20 minutes long and the speaker is humorous and knowledgeable. On top of that, the entire TED site looks very interesting. Take some time to explore and listen to the other talks on the website.
Visit this site for a great example of a teacher/speaker who loves words. http://www.rfwp.com/mct.php. I saw this man speak at the TGAT Conference in November 2006. He was knowledgeable, humorous, well prepared and had one of the BEST presentations. (He uses Apple’s version of Powerpoint - it was smooth!) Visit his site to download some of his free materials. All of his work is very useable in the Language Arts classroom at all grade levels. I had begun a study with my students last year using the Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes. This man took what I started and made it a thousand times better. I will be ordering his curriculum when I do finally have a permanent teaching job with the gifted. The Davidsons have created an excellent resource for gifted students and parents. Their online information looks at statistical data about the gifted programs across the nation, plus it provides parents and educators with a wealth of other information.
The Davidsons have also written the book, “Genius Denied” which outlines how, we as a nation, are depriving out best minds of the education and experiences they need to reach their unlimited possibilities. The Davidsons also provide a school for the profoundly gifted in Nevada. Scholarships and other monetary resources are available to families as well. If you are looking for information about the gifted, here is the place to start: http://www.ditd.org/
The website of Carolyn K (a parents of a gifted child) has become a fantastic source for all things related to gifted. This site has information for parents and educators. Be sure to visit it for a primer on everything related to being gifted but as a student and a parent. http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/
Teachers need to direct their children towards the SEED site sponsored by Schlumberger. There are Science interactive experiments on all sorts of cool Science concepts. I used the Bouyancy Explorer with my 3rd-6th graders and they loved it! At the same time, they learned about density and bouyancy. http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/index.htm
The Smithsonian has excellent resources for teachers: http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/
Suite 101: This site covers aspects of educating the gifted from contracted writers. http://giftededucation.suite101.com/
