And yet it feels impossible to have that focus when you’re exhausted and overwhelmed. How can you make a difference when you’re distracted by never-ending paperwork, meetings, errands, and housework? How can you give the best of yourself when you’re bogged down with mundane tasks and unfulfilling obligations? You’ll never have enough time to do everything. But there is a way to free up time, attention, and energy for the things that really matter: the activities that truly impact student learning; the practices that make you a more effective educator; and the routines that make your home and personal life more fulfilling. Throughout this book, you’ll learn how to disrupt the status quo by challenging school and cultural norms. You’ll also discover how to create healthy boundaries, overcome feelings of self-doubt, release yourself from perfectionism, and decide what work/life balance looks like for you. "Fewer Things, Better" will help you challenge the correlation between hours worked and effectiveness. It’s not about how much you’re working; it’s what you’re using your hours to focus on. As you read, you’ll gain clarity on what’s most important in every aspect of your life and work so you can allocate time to your biggest priorities. You’ll deepen the courage it takes to live with intentionality, so you can do more of what you love and let go of habits and expectations which aren’t serving you well. It’s time to release yourself from the feeling of never having done enough. It’s time to stop giving in to the pressure to be constantly busy. It’s time to do fewer things, so what remains can be done even better.

    Chapters cover key moments in American history, beginning with exploration and colonization and ending with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

    The goal is clear. The pathway is not. -Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman The Common Core is written, but the plan for implementing the Common Core is not.Lucy Calkins and her colleagues at the Reading and Writing Project have helped thousands of educators design their own pathways to the Common Core. Now, with Pathways to the Common Core, they are ready to help you find your way.Designed for teachers, school leaders, and professional learning communities looking to navigate the gap between their current literacy practices and the ideals of the Common Core, Pathways to the Common Core will help you: * understand what the standards say, suggest, and what they don't say; * recognize the guiding principles that underpin the reading and writing standards; * identify how the Common Core's infrastructure supports a spiraling K-12 literacy curriculum; and * scrutinize the context in which the CCSS were written and are being unrolled.In addition to offering an analytical study of the standards, this guide will also help you and your colleagues implement the standards in ways that lift the level of teaching and learning throughout your school. Specifically, it will help you: * become a more critical consumer of the standards-based mandates that are flooding your desk; * craft instruction that supports students in reading more complex texts, developing higher level comprehension skills, and writing at the ambitious levels of the CCSS; * develop performance assessments and other tools to propel Common Core reforms; and * create systems of continuous improvement that are transparent, collegial, and accountable.Above all, this book will help you interpret the Common Core as a rallying cry that ignites deep, wide and lasting reforms and, most importantly, accelerates student achievement.For more information, visit UnitsofStudy.com.

    Drawing on a wide range of  great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works.

    Her approach, however, is not conventional. Miller dispenses with the more traditional reading instruction of book reports and comprehension worksheets in favor of embracing students' choices in books and independent reading. Her zeal for reading is infections and inspiring --and the results are remarkable. No matter how far behind Miller's students may be when they enter her 6th grade classroom, her students read an average of 40 books a year, achieve high scores on standardized tests, and internalize a love for books and reading that lasts long after they've left her class. Travel alongside the author as she leads her students to discover the ample rewards of reading and literature. Her secrets include: Affirming the reader in every student Supporting students' reading choices Carving out extra reading time Modeling authentic reading behaviors Discarding time-worn reading assisgnments Developing a classroom library with high-interest books Rich with classroom examples and practical advice and stitched together with the thread of Miller's passionate voice, this book will help teachers support students of all levels on their path to reading success and points a way out of the nation's literacy crisis. The book also includes an invaluable list of books that students most enjoy reading.

    It will provide scholars with a comprehensive and inclusive overview of the most important student development theories and related research, including new approaches with which they may not be familiar, particularly related to social identity development. Most importantly, it will assist student affairs professionals in designing individual, group, and institutional approaches to work more effectively with students at various developmental levels and to facilitate student growth. This second edition includes the "foundational theories" of student development found in the first edition, but also offers newer integrative social identity theories that look at student development in a more holistic way. These theories are critical for understanding the diverse student populations of the twenty-first century.TABLE OF CONTENTSPrefacePart One: Understanding and Using Student Development TheoryPart Two: Foundational TheoriesPart Three: Integrative TheoriesPart Four: Social Identity DevelopmentReferences

    The predictable results: stress and conflict, frustration and exhaustion. Parents respond by reassuring themselves that at least the benefits outweigh the costs. But what if they don't? In The Homework Myth, nationally known educator and parenting expert Alfie Kohn systematically examines the usual defenses of homework--that it promotes higher achievement, "reinforces" learning, and teaches study skills and responsibility. None of these assumptions, he shows, actually passes the test of research, logic, or experience. So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil -- or even demand a larger dose? Kohn's incisive analysis reveals how a mistrust of children, a set of misconceptions about learning, and a misguided focus on competitiveness have all left our kids with less free time and our families with more conflict. Pointing to parents who have fought back -- and schools that have proved educational excellence is possible without homework -- Kohn shows how we can rethink what happens during and after school in order to rescue our families and our children's love of learning.

    What's new in the Second Edition? 1. Fully compliant with the latest version of SPSS version 12 2. More coverage of advanced statistics including completely new coverage of non-parametric statistics. The book is 50 per cent longer than the First Edition. 3. Each section of each chapter now has a notation - 1,2 or 3 - referring to the intended level of study. This helps students navigate their way through the book and makes it user-friendly for students of ALL levels. 4. Has a 'how to use this book' section at the start of the text. 5. Characters in each chapter have defined roles - summarizing key points, to pose questions etc 6. Each chapter now has several examples for students to work through. Answers provided on the enclosed CD-ROM

    Written for students, pre-service and in-service teachers, it explains how to apply the principles of Visible Learning to any classroom anywhere in the world. The author offers concise and user-friendly summaries of the most successful interventions and offers practical step-by-step guidance to the successful implementation of visible learning and visible teaching in the classroom.This book:links the biggest ever research project on teaching strategies to practical classroom implementationchampions both teacher and student perspectives and contains step by step guidance including lesson preparation, interpreting learning and feedback during the lesson and post lesson follow upoffers checklists, exercises, case studies and best practice scenarios to assist in raising achievementincludes whole school checklists and advice for school leaders on facilitating visible learning in their institutionnow includes additional meta-analyses bringing the total cited within the research to over 900comprehensively covers numerous areas of learning activity including pupil motivation, curriculum, meta-cognitive strategies, behaviour, teaching strategies, and classroom management.Visible Learning for Teachers is a must read for any student or teacher who wants an evidence based answer to the question; how do we maximise achievement in our schools

    Rather, a combination of causes can create a perfect storm of failure.” —Wiley BlevinsPicture a class of kindergarteners singing the alphabet song, and teaching phonics  seems as easy as one-two, three, A, B, C, right? In a Fresh Look at Phonics, Wiley Blevins explains why it can get tricky, and then delivers a plan so geared for success, that teachers, coaches, and administrators will come to see owning this book as a before and after moment in their professional lives. In this amazing follow up to his renowned resource Phonics From A-Z, Wiley uses the data he has collected over two decades to share which approaches truly work, which have failed, and how teachers can fine-tune their daily instruction for success. You will learn to focus on the seven critical ingredients of phonics teaching that produce the greatest student learning gains— readiness skills, scope and sequence, blending, dictation, word awareness, high frequency words, and reading connected texts. Then, for each ingredient, Wiley shares:   Activities, routines, word lists, and lessons that develop solid foundations for reading Ideas for differentiation, ELL, and advanced learners to ensure adequate progress for all learners Help on decodable texts, what not to over-do, and what you can’t do enough of for your students’ achievement Interactive “Day Clinic” activities that facilitate teacher self-reflection and school wide professional learning In a final section, Wiley details the ten common reasons instruction fails and shows teachers how to correct these missteps regarding lesson pacing, transitions, decodable texts, writing activities, assessment and more. A Fresh Look at Phonics is the evidence-based solution you have been seeking. Wiley Blevins, Ph.D., is a world-renowned expert on early reading, and author of the seminal book Phonics From A-Z among many other works. He has taught in both the United States and South America, and regularly trains teachers throughout Asia. He holds a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University, and has worked with numerous educational scholars, including Jeanne Chall, Isabel Beck, Marilyn Adams, Louisa Moats, and Dianne August, and others.

    You know how the standards emerged, what they cover, and how they are organized. But how do you translate the new standards into practice?Enter the Core Six: six research-based, classroom-proven strategies that will help you and your students respond to the demands of the Common Core. Thanks to more than 40 years of research and hands-on classroom testing, the authors know the best strategies to increase student engagement and achievement and prepare students for college and career. Best of all, these strategies can be used across all grade levels and subject areas.The Core Six include1. Reading for Meaning.2. Compare & Contrast.3. Inductive Learning.4. Circle of Knowledge.5. Write to Learn.6. Vocabulary's CODE.For each strategy, this practical book provides* Reasons for using the strategy to address the goals of the Common Core.* The research behind the strategy.* A checklist for implementing the strategy in the classroom.* Multiple sample lessons that illustrate the strategy in action.* Planning considerations to ensure your effective use of the strategy.Any strategy can fall flat in the classroom. By offering tips on how to capture students' interest, deepen students' understanding of each strategy, use discussion and questioning techniques to extend student thinking, and ask students to synthesize and transfer their learning, The Core Six will ensure that your instruction is inspired rather than tired.

    For twelve years, educators have turned to Jana Echevarria, MaryEllen Vogt, and Deborah Short for an empirically validated model of sheltered instruction. In the Third Edition of this best-seller, the authors include new research findings and studies on the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP(R)) Model, which offers school administrators, teachers, teacher candidates, coaches, university faculty, and field experience supervisors a tool for observing and quantifying a teacher's implementation of quality sheltered instruction. Ringing Endorsements "A framework that will engage, support, and increase the academic achievement of our culturally and linguistically diverse students. The SIOP Model went] from good to great ""--Socorro Herrera, Kansas State University" "Readability, organization, and practicality The SIOP addresses precisely the needs that my beginning teachers face...the CD for SIOP...makes it all understandable. I love the book ""--Danny Brassell, California State University, Dominguez Hills" Take a Glimpse Inside the Third Edition: New, user-friendly format of the SIOP(R) protocol. Background Sections include descriptions of the eight components and thirty features of the SIOP(R) Model, and are updated to reflect recent research and best practices to help readers plan and prepare effective sheltered lessons. Practical Guidelines to help readers develop effective language and content objectives. Discussion Questions have been rewritten and are appropriate for portfolio development in pre-service and graduate classes, for professional development workshops, or for teacher reflection and application. A groundbreaking CD-ROM with video clips, interviews of the authors, and reproducible resources (e.g., lesson plan formats), make this the perfect professional development asset for any grade level or content area teacher

    She easily connects to them through her conversational style, empathy, case studies and a strong belief in their power to succeed. She shares strategies for learning through graphics and activities that ensure their active engagement. She fully understands the importance of readability as she fills the text with questions. This book explodes with energy and passion and should be on every student's bookshelf. -Martha E. Casazza, Educational Consultant, TRPPAssociates, CLADEA Founding Fellow"Much can be gained from this book by both students and instructors in all fields. My biggest take-away is the author's insistence, 'Now hear this: All students are capable of excelling'. This book shows how."--Reflective TeachingMaybe this is a reflection on just how big of a nerd I am, but this is the book that I wish I had when I was in college, or even in high school, to understand that I could have a little bit more control over my brain, and harness [its] power in a good direction. It would be really good for a first-year student seminar, a class that focused on study skills, or a tutoring center.--Kathryn (Katie) Linder, Research Director for Ecampus, Oregon State University

    Now, with Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6), Fountas and Pinnell support teachers on the next leg of the literacy journey, addressing the unique challenges of teaching upper elementary students. The product of many years of work with classroom teachers, Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6) is one of the most comprehensive, authoritative guides available today. It explores all the essential components of a quality literacy program in six separate sections:Breakthrough to Literacy: Fountas and Pinnell present the basic structure of the language/literacy program within a breakthrough framework that encompasses the building of community through language, word study, reading, writing, and the visual arts. The framework plays out as three blocks, which can be interpreted as conceptual units as well as segments of time within the school day. Specific information on how to structure a reading and writing workshop is provided. A practical chapter on organizing and managing the classroom will help you implement the principles in your own classroom.Independent Reading: It is essential for students to develop interests and tastes as readers, selecting books for themselves every day. Fountas and Pinnell devote four chapters to independent reading, exploring how to structure teaching, minilessons, conferences, groupshare, and ways to use response journals as part of a reading workshop.Guided Reading: The chapters in this section provide detailed information on planning for guided reading, dynamic grouping for effective teaching, and selecting, introducing, and using leveled texts. Fountas and Pinnell describe characteristics of texts related to difficulty and ways to organize texts in your classroom and school.Literature Study: This section of the book discusses how to make students experiences with literature as rich as possible. The authors offer specific suggestions for forming groups, guiding student choices, and establishing and teaching routines for literature discussion. A full chapter explores reader response and ways to help readers dig deep to uncover the meaning of texts.Teaching for Comprehension and Word Analysis: This detailed look at the reading process explores both oral and silent reading, processes and behaviors related to comprehension, and ways to help students construct meaning. Included are twelve systems for sustaining the reading process and expanding meaning, plus discussions of the important areas of phonics, spelling, and vocabulary.The Reading and Writing Connection: These chapters showcase the instructional contextspoetry, writers notebooks, writers talks, genre, content literacy, and student researchthat support students in connected reading and writing. An informative overview of the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction will help you teach students to read and write a variety of genre. Whats more, the authors suggest ways to help students learn the genre of testing and perform the kinds of reading and writing tasks that tests require. They also detail the continuous thoughtful assessment that guides all aspects of effective teaching.A special feature appears at the end of each section, in which Fountas and Pinnell provide indispensable suggestions for working with struggling readers and writers.

    The Passionate Teacher draws on voices, stories, and successes of teachers in urban, suburban, and rural classrooms to help you become, and remain, a passionate teacher despite the obstacles. This edition includes a new chapter for teachers beginning their careers