Online Resources

These are a few online resources that we have found to be helpful to both teachers and parents of gifted children.

Resources

Differentiation

A Different Place
http://www.adifferentplace.org/

  • Excellent source of differentiated activities and lessons

Differentiation (on Kristen Swanson’s Trailblazer’s Wiki)
http://trailblazers.wikispaces.com/differentiation

Differentiation Starter Kit
http://differentiationkit.wikispaces.com

  • A wiki that I am developing with and for teachers as a resource and repository of differentiation activity ideas.

Differentiated Instruction in Wilmette
http://www.wilmette39.org/DI39/default.html

  • A school district dedicated to using differentiation in every classroom. Outstanding reference materials and resources.

Diigo in Education Group: Links tagged with “differentiation”
http://groups.diigo.com/diigoineducation/bookmark/tag/differentiation

  • This is a growing collection of online resources related to differentiated instruction

The Differentiator

http://www.byrdseed.com/differentiator/

  • A great resource for quickly coming up with ideas for creating differentiated assignments

Teaching Every Student
http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/

  • Introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and related resources

The Whole Child
http://www.wholechildeducation.org/

  • ASCD site dedicated to promoting the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

Gifted

Curriculum compacting
http://www.teachersourcebook.org/tsb/articles/2008/09/10/01gifted.h02.html

  • A good introduction to the rationale and approach to curriculum compacting

PAGE-PSEA Booklet on Gifted Education in PA
http://www.penngifted.org/page-psea-booklet.pdf

  • Very readable explanation of the regulations pertaining to gifted education in Pennsylvania

Hoagie’s Gifted
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/educators.htm

  • Exhaustive collection of articles, links, and other material on every topic imaginable related to giftedness and gifted education. This site can be overwhelming–I recommend focusing on the “Gifted 101″ and “Gifted 102″ sections at first.

Organizations

National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
http://www.nagc.org

  • Advocacy group promoting best practices in gifted education and parenting

Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE)
http://www.penngifted.org

  • State affiliate of the NAGC. It is a varied group of parents, teachers, administrators, and other gifted education advocates with excellent resources and information

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG)
http://www.sengifted.org

  • A group focusing on educating people about emotional, rather than academic, needs of gifted students.

Blogs

Education Blogs by Discipline
http://movingforward.wikispaces.com/Education+Blogs+by+Discipline

  • A growing list of blogs categorized by discipline. The special education category is particularly full of good listings.

EdTech Solutions: Teaching Every Student
http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com/

  • Articles about making the curriculum accessible to all learners and providing opportunities for struggling learners to demonstrate what they know using principles of universal design.

Keeping Kids First
http://keepingkidsfirst.wordpress.com/

  • Excellent articles about how to keep students at the center of your planning and instruction. Many practical how-to suggestions as well.

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/

  • A blog aimed at ELL/ESL/EFL teachers with many excellent activities and resources.

Byrdseed Gifted Lessons
http://www.byrdseed.com/

  • A blog with frequent activity ideas and differentiation resources. Geared towards gifted classrooms, but many ideas are adaptable to other needs as well.

Unwrapping the Gifted

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/

  • A blog by Tamara Fisher, a K-12 gifted specialist, sharing news and developments in the gifted education community and offering advice for teachers on working with gifted students

Gifted Exchange
http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com/

  • A blog about gifted children, schooling, parenting, education news and changing American education for the better by Laura Vanderkam, co-author of Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds.