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Important Links to Information on Culturally Diverse Gifted Learners ﻿ Following is a short video that offers insight to some of the diverse needs of any gifted learner. Hope you enjoy!

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The links provided are assembled to offer access to materials for an overview of the topic: Culturally Diverse Gifted Learners

**1.** MOSAIC Sept. 2010 Retrieved from: []

In the September, 2010 edition of the newsletter of MOSAIC, you will find an excellent interview with Dr. Alexinia Baldwin, who is considered a "Champion for Diversity in the Education of the Gifted/Talented" as stated in the title. Her own story is unique. Dr. Baldwin felt her share of pain growing up, however, she feels that she was very well represented regarding her own gifts and talents through her education. She uses the phrase 'Education of the Gifted' instead of saying Gifted Education. She offers insight to the work she has done for culturally diverse gifted/talented students as well as the longevity of her career in the field.

There is also a wonderful article called "Gifted Education and Native American (Navajo) Students" by Dr. Jaime Castellano. He shares how he has given new life to the gifted program at Ganado Intermediate, the school where he serves as principal. He began several programs for students who were in need of enrichment and acceleration. He is proud to share the success his students have found in the program..﻿ 

**2.** A Challange for Culturally Diverse Families of Gifted Children: Forced Choices between Achievement or Affiliation ﻿﻿Retrieved from: [] 



This article is written by Donna Ford, PhD, an acclaimed researcher in the quest for culturally diverse gifted programs in schools. She shares her expertise with parents and teachers by offering suggestions on ways to support minority gifted students, African American and Hispanic American students in particular, both at home and at school. A great resource for ideas to help minority gifted students both achieve and become more socially accepted.

3. Gifted Education Blog Retrieved from: []

At the Gifted Education Blog (Prufrock Press Inc.) they offer RSS feeds of so many resources on gifted education, including podcasts, recent articles, lessons and ideas, etc., as well as archives of past information shared. There is a plethora of information to be found here! In fact, there is a great podcast titled: Differentiating Instruction for Gifted Students and provides strategies for differentiation for all students.<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #e000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> [|RSS]

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"><range type="comment" id="624882">rss url="http://resources.prufrock.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Rss.aspx?TabID=56&ModuleID=399&CategoryID=38" link="true" description="true" number="10" date="true" author="true" enclosure="true"

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">4. Improving Test Performance Among Culturally Diverse Gifted StudentsRetrieved From: [] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">The author of the article, Dr. Deborah Harmon, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education, College of Education, at Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Harmon centers her work around identification of, as well as providing appropriate curriculum for culturally diverse gifted students. This article focuses on standardized testing and the gifted student. Dr Harmon, first discusses the history of standardized tests and why minority students often do not perform well on them. She then takes on the topic of language and context used in standardized tests, and covers the feeling students have about them. Finally, Dr. Harmon offers strategies for improving scores of culturally diverse gifted students on these tests. The recommendations provided by Dr. Harmon are helpful in reducing anxiety and preparing students for a more positive experience in test taking. Oddly enough, I could not find one picture of Dr. Deborah Harmon.

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">5. Bright Hub: A Gifted & Exceptional Children Forum

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">Retrieved from: [] ﻿ <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">Bright Hub is a resource for many different subject areas. There is one topic in particular that offers numerous articles by professionals titled Special Education - Gifted and Exceptional Students. There is quite a bit of information from contributing editors on this site, with such topics as lesson plans for challenging gifted students, teaching tips, and special problems of gifted/exceptional students. Following is an rss feed which is updated daily with current posts. It's worth looking at! <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">rss url="http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/rss.aspx" link="true" number="10" date="true" author="true" enclosure="true"

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">6. Providing access for culturally diverse students: from deficit to dynamic thinking Retrieved from: <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> []



<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">Once again, Dr. Donna Ford, in collaboration with Dr. Tarek Grantham, provides insight as to why there is an underrepresentation of diverse students in gifted programs. Additionally, this article addresses the topic of recruiting and retaining gifted students in gifted programs. The article offers a thorough examination of the deficit thinking among educators that is taking place, directly affecting the diverse gifted student population, and ways to change this thinking to dynamic thinking.

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">7. Hoagie's Gifted Education page <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">Retrieved from: []

<span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">This site is <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: line-through;">very unique and offers a lot of information on all of the gifted student groups we have been studying this semester. It was developed by a mother of a gifted child in 1997 and has grown quite a bit over the years. <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 18px;">Of course, there are many, many more websites and links with articles and information on gifted learners. Some that are worth perusing are: <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[] <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[]



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= = <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #00ff00; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%; text-align: center;">Strategies for working with Culturally Diverse Gifted Learners

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%; text-align: center;">Now that we know more about the underrepresentation of minority gifted students, we can take action to ensure that all students' needs are identified and met. Following is a list of strategies and tips that have proven to be beneficial when working with culturally diverse gifted learners, however, they are actually best practices for teaching students in general.


 * =====<span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">﻿Welcome each student into the class as an individual of the group. =====
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Make an effort to learn about each student (his/her interests, strengths, weaknesses, and learning style preferences).
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Show an interest in, and accomodate for the cultural differences of each student.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Create a caring, safe environment where children are challenged, but are able to make mistakes without fear.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Create an environment in which clear and open communication is evident.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Provide opportunities for students to make choices in their learning.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Learn about the different cultures in your classroom.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Allow students to share their culture.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Learn about the various characteristics of gifted students.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Allow students to share their strengths with their classmates. For example, if a student is fascinated by horses, let him/her research horses and present their findings to the class.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Keep open communication with parents of your students.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Provide activities that are differentiated to better meet the needs of your students.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Consider flexible grouping for all areas of learning.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Teach students to think for themselves by using 'depth of knowledge' type questions.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">recall, skill/concept, strategic thinking, extended thinking
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">literal, inferential, and evaluative questioning
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Share with and learn form other teachers and their experiences.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Share with and learn from parents of minority, gifted, and gifted minority students.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Use formative assessments throughout your teaching in order to learn how your students are doing. This will help direct further teaching and learning.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Take surveys from time to time to see what students think about their learning, what they want to learn, and ways they would like to go about it.
 * <span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Take time to celebrate the differences we all have, the strengths we all have, and the learning we are all doing (including you, the teacher!).

<span style="background-color: #eeeeed; color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">Resources


 * <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">//I Am Gifted// video retrieved from You Tube at []


 * <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">//Tips for Teachers: Successful strategies for teaching gifted learners// []

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 * <span style="background-color: #f0f0ef; color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">//Strategies for Teaching Culturally Diverse Students// retrieved from []