A Mindset for Learning: Teaching the Traits of Joyful, Independent Growth


Kristine Mraz - 2015
    It's like sitting next to a skillful, experienced, focused teacher in a real classroom. Kristi and Christine draw on their years of teaching and their dedication to educating children to help students become more empathic and act more thoughtfully and to prepare them with the essentials for success in an uncertain future."-Arthur Costa, author of Learning and Leading with Habits of MindWe know how to teach content and skills. But can we teach the habits of mind needed for academic success, a love of learning, and agency in the world? We can, and A Mindset for Learning shows us how."We want our students to take on challenges with zeal," write Kristi Mraz and Christine Hertz, "to see themselves not as static test scores but as agents of change." Drawing on the work of Carol Dweck, Daniel Pink, Art Costa, and others, Kristi and Christine show us how to lead students to a growth mindset for school-and life-by focusing on five crucial, research-driven attitudes:optimism-putting aside fear and resistance to learn something newpersistence-keeping at it, even when a task is hardflexibility-trying different ways to find a solutionresilience-bouncing back from setbacks and learning from failureempathy-learning by putting oneself in another person's shoes.A Mindset for Learning pairs research-psychological, neurological, and pedagogical-with practical classroom help, including instructional language, charts and visuals, teaching tips, classroom vignettes, and more."This book holds our dreams for all children," write Kristi and Christine, "that they grow to be brave in the face of risk, kind in the face of challenge, joyful and curious in all things." If you want that for your students, then help them discover A Mindset for Learning.

The Highly Engaged Classroom


Robert J. Marzano - 2010
    A basic premise of The Highly Engaged Classroom is that student engagement happens as a result of a teacher's careful planning and execution of specific strategies. In other words, student engagement is not serendipitous. This book was designed as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of how to generate high levels of attention and engagement. Engagement is obviously a central aspect of effective teaching. Using the suggestions presented in this book, every teacher can create a classroom environment in which engagement is the norm instead of the exception.

Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories


E.D. Hirsch Jr. - 2016
    D. Hirsch, Jr., presents evidence from cognitive science, sociology, and education history to further the argument for a knowledge-based elementary curriculum.Influential scholar Hirsch, author of The Knowledge Deficit, asserts that a carefully planned curriculum that imparts communal knowledge is essential in achieving one of the most fundamental aims and objectives of education: preparing students for lifelong success. Hirsch examines historical and contemporary evidence from the United States and other nations, including France, and affirms that a knowledge-based approach has improved both achievement and equity in schools where it has been instituted.In contrast, educational change of the past several decades in the United States has endorsed a skills-based approach, founded on, Hirsch points out, many incorrect assumptions about child development and how children learn. He recommends new policies that are better aligned with our current understanding of neuroscience, developmental psychology, and social science.The book focuses on six persistent problems that merit the attention of contemporary education reform: the over-testing of students in the name of educational accountability; the scapegoating of teachers; the fadeout of preschool gains; the narrowing of the curriculum to crowd out history, geography, science, literature, and the arts; the achievement gap between demographic groups; and the reliance on standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, that are not linked to a rigorous curriculum.Why Knowledge Matters makes a clear case for educational innovation and introduces a new generation of American educators to Hirsch’s astute and passionate analysis.

Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves


Diane R Sweeney - 2016
    But what does this look like in practice? This book shows you the day-to-day coaching moves that build powerful coaching relationships. Readers will find:Coaching moves that can be used before, during, and after lessons An abundance of field-tested tools and practices that can be put to immediate use Original video clips that depict and unpack key moves Richly detailed anecdotes from practicing coaches

Teaching as Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher's Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap


Steven Farr - 2010
    Based on evidence from classrooms across the country, they've discovered much about effective teaching practice, and distilled these findings into the six principles presented in this book. The Teaching As Leadership framework inspires teachers to: Set Big Goals; Invest Students and Their Families; Plan Purposefully; Execute Effectively; Continuously Increase Effectiveness; Work Relentlessly. The results are better educational outcomes for our nation's children, particularly those who live in low-income communities.Inspires educators to be leaders in their classrooms and schools Demystifies what it means to be an effective teacher, describes key elements of practice and provides a clear vision of success Addresses the challenges every teacher, in every classroom, faces on a daily basis An accompanying website includes a wealth of tools, videos, sample lessons, discussion boards, and case studies.

The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills


Jon Saphier - 1997
    Designed for both the novice and the experienced educator, The Skillful Teacher is a unique synthesis of the Knowledge Base on Teaching with powerful repertoires for matching teaching strategies to student needs. Designed as a practical guide for practitioners working to broaden their teaching skills, the book focuses on 17 critical areas of classroom performance. Numerous examples illustrate teaching approaches, and chapter-by-chapter bibliographies provide additional sources for further research. This expanded fifth edition includes new chapters on Assessment, Expectations, Classroom Climate, The Importance of Teacher Beliefs, and Conditions for Teacher Learning.

Teach With Your Strengths: How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students


Rosanne Liesveld - 2005
    Now, they will be able to buy a version of this national bestseller written specifically for teachers.What do great teachers do differently? What separates the top teachers from all the rest? As educators — and American society in general — continue to struggle with how to improve schools in the U.S., these questions become more pressing than ever before. At the heart of any education system — beyond principals, administrators and school boards — is the teacher. Their role is so essential that Gallup has, for decades, directed some of the leading thinkers in education and psychology to uncover what makes a teacher great. Written by two educators with a combined 70 years of experience in both classroom teaching and consulting with leaders of America’s schools, Teach With Your Strengths reveals the essential truths Gallup’s research has uncovered. But it zeroes on these monumental findings: While their styles and approaches may differ, all great teachers make the most of their natural talents. And, great teachers don’t strive to be well-rounded. They know that “fixing their weaknesses” doesn’t work — it only produces mediocrity. Worse, it diverts time and attention from what they naturally do well. In Teach With Your Strengths, readers will hear from great teachers — what they do differently, how they handle problem students, how they battle intractable school bureaucracies, and how they break through and inspire even the most troubled young people. The book also shows that the best teachers take unorthodox approaches to education that are sure to stir controversy and attention — especially among other educators. Teach With Your Strengths includes access to Gallup’s online CliftonStrengths assessment that reveals the reader’s top five strengths, and the book explains how they can put those strengths to work in the classroom. As America’s educators read this groundbreaking book, they’ll discover their own innate talents as teachers. And they’ll learn how to liberate those talents to inspire the next generation of students.

They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing


Gerald Graff - 2006
    In addition to explaining the basic moves, this book provides writing templates that show students explicitly how to make these moves in their own writing.

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children


Gloria Ladson-Billings - 1993
    Through the stories and experiences of eight successful teacher-transmitters, The Dreamkeepers keeps hope alive for educating young African Americans. --ReverAnd Jesse L. Jackson, president and founder, National Rainbow Coalition In this beautifully written book Ladson-Billings illustrates the inspiring influence of a select group of teachers who keep the dreams alive for African American students. ?Henry M. Levin, David Jacks professor of Higher Education, Stanford University Ladson-Billing's portraits, interwoven with personal reflections, challenge readers to envision intellectually rigorous and culturally relevant classrooms that have the power to improve the lives of not just African American students but all children.

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School


John Medina - 2008
    Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know—like the need for physical activity to get your brain working its best.How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget—and so important to repeat new knowledge? Is it true that men and women have different brains?In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule—what scientists know for sure about how our brains work—and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.Medina’s fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You’ll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You’ll peer over a surgeon’s shoulder as he proves that most of us have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You’ll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can’t tie his own shoes.You will discover how:Every brain is wired differentlyExercise improves cognitionWe are designed to never stop learning and exploringMemories are volatileSleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learnVision trumps all of the other sensesStress changes the way we learnIn the end, you’ll understand how your brain really works—and how to get the most out of it.

Excellence Through Equity: Five Principles of Courageous Leadership to Guide Achievement for Every Student


Alan M. Blankstein - 2015
    Readers will find: Examples of high-leverage practices used by award-winning schools and districts System-level examples of excellence through equity including whole state and district-wide Examples of classroom level practice that lead to success for students from underserved populations as well as for their more privileged peers A powerful concluding chapter that focuses on what we can learn from  other nations that have pursued the goals of educational equity

Reading Ladders: Leading Students from Where They Are to Where We'd Like Them to Be


Teri S. Lesesne - 2010
    It is my hope to help you find those books. More importantly, I hope to help you guide students to the next great book and the one after that. That is the purpose of Reading Ladders. Because it is not sufficient to find just one book for each reader. -Teri LesesneI finished the Twilight Series-now what?With Reading Ladders, the answer to a question like this can become the first rung on a student's climb to greater engagement with books, to full independence, and beyond to a lifetime of passionate reading.The goal of reading ladders, writes Teri Lesesne, is to slowly move students from where they are to where we would like them to be. With reading ladders you start with the authors, genres, or subjects your readers like then connect them to book after book-each a little more complex or challenging than the last. Teri not only shares ready-to-go ladders, but her suggestions will help you:select books to create your own reading ladders build a classroom library that supports every student's needs use reading ladders to bolster content-area knowledge and build independence assess where students are at and how far they've climbed.If we are about creating lifetime readers and not just readers who can utilize phonological awareness and context clues to bubble in answers on a state test, writes Teri Lesesne, then we need to help our students form lasting relationships with books and authors and genres and formats. Use Reading Ladders, help your students start their climb, and guide them to new heights in reading.

Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers


Louisa Cook Moats - 2000
    Updated meticulously with the very latest research, the new edition of this bestselling text helps elementary educators grasp the structure of written and spoken English, understand how children learn to read, and apply this foundational knowledge as they deliver explicit, high-quality literacy instruction.With extensive updates and enhancements to every chapter, the new edition of Speech to Print fully prepares today's literacy educators to teach students with or without disabilities. Teachers will getin-depth explanation of how the book aligns with the findings of current scientific research on reading, language, and spellingexpanded information on the critical elements of language, including orthography, morphology, phonetics, phonology, semantics, and syntaxnew and improved exercises teachers can use to test and reinforce their own knowledge of language contentteaching activities that help teachers connect what they learn in their coursework with what they'll be doing in the classroomnew chapter objectives that make it easier to plan courses and review key conceptsmore samples of student writing to help teachers correctly interpret children's mistakesexpanded sample lesson plans that incorporate the language concepts in the booka cleaner, easier-to-navigate layoutA core textbook for every preservice course on reading instruction, this accessible text is also perfect for use in inservice professional development sessions. Educators will have the knowledge they need to recognize, understand, and resolve their students' reading and writing challenges—and improve literacy outcomes for their entire class.

Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues


Allan C. Ornstein - 2008
    Fully updated, the text engages the reader in its discussion of both technical and non-technical models of curriculum development.

Literacy Is Not Enough: 21st Century Fluencies for the Digital Age


Lee Crockett - 2011
    If students are to thrive in their academic and 21st century careers, then independent and creative thinking hold the highest currency. The authors explain in detail how to add these new components of literacy:Solution Fluency Information Fluency Creativity Fluency Collaboration Fluency Students must master a completely different set of skills to succeed in a culture of technology-driven automation, abundance, and access to global labor markets. The authors present an effective framework for integrating comprehensive literacy or fluency into the traditional curriculum.