This indispensable book is filled with no-nonsense advice, checklists, and handouts as well asA step-by-step plan to make the first week of school a success Approaches for creating a positive discipline plan Methods for motivating students, especially reluctant readers Strategies for successful classroom management Suggestions for creating and grading student portfolios

    

    Inundated with seemingly insurmountable piles of papers to read, respond to, and grade, many teachers often find themselves struggling to balance differentiated, individualized feedback with the one resource they are already overextended on--time.Flash Feedback seeks to alleviate these struggles by taking teachers to the next level of strategic feedback by sharing:How to craft effective, efficient, and more memorable feedback Strategies for scaffolding students through the meta-cognitive work necessary for real revision A plan for how to create a culture of feedback, including lessons for how to train students in meaningful peer response Downloadable online tools for teacher and student use

    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.

    Expertly designed in a vibrant, full-color format, this streamlined text not only serves as a valuable resource by providing the most current reference lists and examples from which to select texts from all genres, but it also emphasizes the critical skills needed to search for and select literature--researching, evaluating, and implementing quality books in the pre-K-to-8 classroom--to give readers the tools they need to evaluate books, create curriculum, and share the love of literature. It includes unique features that spur critical thinking and direct application in the classroom and curriculum.

    He tells jokes with the kind of mocking humor that gets a laugh, yet can be safely shared in school. After all, even great schools have bad days -- when lesson plans fall through, disgruntled parents complain, kids throw temper tantrums because they have to use the same spoon for their applesauce and mashed potatoes, and of course, dealing with...The Horror! The Horror!...dreaded assessments. Ranging from practical topics like social media use in the class­room and parent-teacher conferences to more lighthearted sections such as "Pickup and Dropoff: An Exercise in Humanity" and "School Supplies: Yes, We Really Need All That Stuff," Go See the Principal offers comic relief, inspiration, and advice to those who need it the most.

    When done right, though, PBL and Inquiry are challenging, inspiring and fun for students. Best of all, when project-based learning is done right, it actually makes the teacher's job easier.Now, you can demystify project-based learningAs questions and mysteries around PBL and inquiry continue to swirl, experienced classroom teachers and school administrators Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy have written a book that will empower those intimidated by PBL to cry, "I can do this!" while at the same time providing added value for those who are already familiar with the process. Hacking Project Based Learning demystifies what PBL is all about with 10 hacks that construct a simple path that educators and students can easily follow to achieve success.Hacking Project Based Learning provides a simple blueprint for PBL that helps you: Establish a culture of inquiry and creativity in your classroom Teach the kind of collaboration skills that harness dissonance Turn High Impact Takeaways (HITs) into a project based plan Create Umbrella questions that drive the project Build a Progress Assessment Tool (PAT) that helps students inform and assess their learning Use formative assessment throughout the entire PBL experience Seamlessly integrate direct instruction to enhances the process, rather than interfere with it Practice the patience that inspires a productive struggle, which leads to better understandingTeach and embrace reflection during and at the end of the project Publish work the right way, so all stakeholders can see it Experts rave about Hacking Project Based Learning"HACKING PROJECT BASED LEARNING is a classroom essential. Its ten simple "hacks" will guide you through the process of setting up a learning environment in which students will thrive from start to finish."-Daniel H. Pink, New York Times Bestselling author of DRIVE"Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy have researched PBL from every angle and offer practical steps to make the PBL experience highly beneficial to students because they are practitioners who use it. This book is a very important "How-to" for every teacher and leader who is interested in PBL. -Peter DeWitt, author/consultant, Finding Common Ground blog (Education Week)"The challenge for educators with project and inquiry based learning is finding the time and having the knowledge to implement effectively. Cooper and Murphy provide a much-needed resource that addresses both of these pain points in a concise, clear manner.-Eric Sheninger, Senior Fellow, International Center for Leadership in EducationAre you ready for an amazing productive struggle in your classroom?Start Hacking Project Based Learning today.

    The book features ready-to-use, interactive tools for students, teachers, parents, administrators, and professional development educators. Parent resources include a sample parent webpage and several growth mindset parent education tools. Other resources include: mindset observation forms, student and teacher “look fors," lists of books that contribute to growth mindset thinking, critical thinking strategy write-ups and samples, and a unique study guide for the original book that includes book study models from various schools around the country. This book is perfect for schools looking to implement the ideas in Mindsets in the Classroom so that they can build a growth mindset learning environment. When students believe that dedication and hard work can change their performance in school, they grow to become resilient, successful students. This book contains many of the things that schools need to create a growth mindset school culture in which perseverance can lead to success!

    Yet the staff who set up and administer these programs often lack skills for the very task that is so critical to the success of their efforts--the planning of the programs themselves. Drawing on the tremendous success of the first edition, Planning Programs for Adult Learners, Second Edition covers the development of adult education programs in clear, specific detail. This popular guide contains information on every area of program planning for adult learners, from understanding the purpose of educational programs to obtaining suitable facilities. Thoroughly expanded and revised, the book contains a wealth of new material and examples, and features new information on incorporating technology into the development and practice of adult education programs. Educators and practitioners alike will find this guide to be an essential tool.

    To truly thrive, students need to develop attributes that aren't typically measured on standardized tests. In this lively, engaging book by veteran school leader Thomas R. Hoerr, educators will learn how to foster the "Formative Five" success skills that today's students need, includingEmpathy: learning to see the world through others' perspectives.Self-control: cultivating the abilities to focus and delay self-gratification.Integrity: recognizing right from wrong and practicing ethical behavior.Embracing diversity: recognizing and appreciating human differences.Grit: persevering in the face of challenge.When educators engage students in understanding and developing these five skills, they change mindsets and raise expectations for student learning. As an added benefit, they see significant improvements in school and classroom culture. With specific suggestions and strategies, The Formative Five will help teachers, principals, and anyone else who has a stake in education prepare their students--and themselves--for a future in which the only constant will be change.

    This complex, contested intersection has led to censorship and worse-alarm, irrationality, and a failure to examine our ways of teaching, particularly teaching literacy to boys. In this book Tom Newkirk takes an up-close and personal look at elementary boys and their relationship to sports, movies, video games, and other venues of popular culture. Unlike the alarmists, he sees these media not as enemies of literacy, but as resources for literacy.Through a series of extraordinary interviews, Newkirk listens to young boys, and girls, who describe the pleasure they take in popular culture. They explain the ways in which they use visual narratives in their writing. They even defend their use of violence in their work. Newkirk disproves the simplistic stereotype of boys who are primed to imitate the violence they see. He shows that, rather than mimic, boys most often transform, recombine, and participate in story lines, and resist, mock, and discern the unreality of icons of popular culture.Using a mixture of memoir, research project, cultural analysis, and critique of published findings, Newkirk encourages schools to ask questions about what counts as literacy in boys and what doesn't, to allow in their literacy programs boys' diverse tastes, values, and learning styles. In other words, if we want boys to join the literacy club, then we have to invite them in with genres of their own choosing.

    I use Words Their Way both in my first grade classroom and with college students as a way to implement word study. ""Kristi McNeal, CSU Fresno" Words Their Way's developmentally-driven, hands-on instructional approach has been a phenomenon in word study, providing a practical way to study words with students. The keys to this research-based approach are to know your students' literacy progress, organize for instruction, and implement word study. This streamlined book and the DVD and CD-ROM that accompany it gives you all the tools you need to carry out word study instruction that will motivate and engage your students, and help them to succeed in literacy learning. Ordered in a developmental format, Words Their Way complements the use of any existing phonics, spelling, and vocabulary curricula." ""Knowing Your Students"Streamlined Chapter 2 provides step by step guidelines for assessing students. NEW Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sorts contains computerized assessments to gauge students' developmental levels. Word Study with English Learner sections in each chapter help you organize and adapt instruction to meet the needs of students whose first language is not English. "Organizing for Instruction"NEW Words Their Way DVD Tutorial: Planning for Word Study in K-8 Classrooms reinforces and illustrates classroom organization and management, as outlined in Chapter 3. Word Study Routines and Management sections in every chapter give you practical guidance on managing and implementing word study in your classroom. NEW Tech Notes throughout chapters pinpoint opportunities for you to use the DVD and CD-ROM to prepare for instruction. "Implementing Word Study "Classroom-proven, research-driven activities end each developmental chapter, giving you the instructional practices to get your word study instruction up and running immediately. NEW Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sorts provides more than just assessments. You'll also find hundreds of additional word and picture sorts, games and templates, and an interactive Create Your Own section. The Appendix at the back of the book contains a comprehensive bank of word lists, word sorts, picture sorts, games and templates." ""The theory behind and practice for word sorts allows even the novice teacher to understand how to use the assessments to organize instruction. The organization of the last five chapters creates a useful resource for teachers. Each begins with a research-based description and moves into sound instructional practices, giving the teacher a complete understanding of how to meet the needs of students. ""Cathy Blanchfield, CSU Fresno "" ""Meet the Authors"Donald Bear is Director of the E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy at the University of Nevada, Reno, assessing and teaching students who experience difficulties learning to read and write. A former preschool and elementary teacher, Donald currently researches literacy development with a special interest in students who speak languages other than English, and he partners with schools and districts to consider assessment and literacy instruction. Marcia Invernizzi is Director of the McGuffey Reading Center at the University of Virginia exploring developmental universals in non-English orthographies. A former English and reading teacher, Marcia works with children experiencing difficulties learning to read and write in intervention programs such as Virginia's Early Intervention Reading Initiative and Book Buddies. Shane Templeton is Foundation Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. A former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels, he researches the development of orthographic and vocabulary knowledge Francine Johnston is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she teaches reading, language arts, and children's literature. A former first-grade teacher and reading specialist. Interested in extending your Words Their Way training? Learn more about the new Online Workshop at www.pearsoncourseconnect.com/wtw.

    But sometimes it's better to be unconventional. In Rethinking Rubrics in Writing Assessment, Maja Wilson offers a new perspective on rubrics and argues for a better, more responsive way to think about assessing writers' progress.Though you may sense a disconnect between student-centered teaching and rubric-based assessment, you may still use rubrics for convenience or for want of better alternatives. Rethinking Rubrics in Writing Assessment gives you the impetus to make a change, demonstrating how rubrics can hurt kids and replace professional decision making with an inauthentic pigeonholing that stamps standardization onto a notably nonstandard process. With an emphasis on thoughtful planning and teaching, Wilson shows you how to reconsider writing assessment so that it aligns more closely with high-quality instruction and avoids the potentially damaging effects of rubrics.Stop listening to the conventional wisdom, and turn instead to a compelling new voice to find out why rubrics are often replaceable. Open Rethinking Rubrics in Writing Assessment and let Maja Wilson start you down the path to more sensitive, authentic style of writing assessment.

    From one of America s most celebrated educators, an inspiring guide to transforming every child s education In a Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by guns, gangs, and drugs, there is an exceptional classroom known as Room 56. The fifth graders inside are first-generation immigrants who live in poverty and speak English as a second language. They also play Vivaldi, perform Shakespeare, score in the top 1 percent on standardized tests, and go on to attend Ivy League universities. Rafe Esquith is the teacher responsible for these accomplishments. From the man whom The New York Times calls a genius and a saint comes a revelatory program for educating today s youth. In Teach Like Your Hair s on Fire!, Rafe Esquith reveals the techniques that have made him one of the most acclaimed educators of our time. The two mottoes in Esquith s classroom are Be Nice, Work Hard, and There Are No Shortcuts. His students voluntarily come to school at 6:30 in the morning and work until 5:00 in the afternoon. They learn to handle money responsibly, tackle algebra, and travel the country to study history. They pair Hamlet with rock and roll, and read the American classics. Teach Like Your Hair s on Fire! is a brilliant and inspiring road map for parents, teachers, and anyone who cares about the future success of our nation s children. "

    Each of the 100 sharply focused, historically and culturally diverse passages from world literature targets a specific component of voice, presenting the elements in short, manageable exercises that function well as class openers. Includes teacher notes and discussion suggestions.