Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Need of All Learners


Carol Ann Tomlinson - 1998
    She looks to the latest research on learning, education, and change for the theoretical basis of differentiated instruction and why it's so important to today's children. Yet she offers much more than theory, filling the pages with real-life examples of teachers and students using-and benefitting from-differentiated instruction.

Better Than Carrots or Sticks: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Management


Dominique Smith - 2015
    But studies show that when educators empower students to address and correct misbehavior among themselves, positive results are longer lasting and more wide reaching. In Better Than Carrots or Sticks, longtime educators and best-selling authors Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey provide a practical blueprint for creating a cooperative and respectful classroom climate in which students and teachers work through behavioral issues together. After a comprehensive overview of the roots of the restorative practices movement in schools, the authors explain how to * Establish procedures and expectations for student behavior that encourage the development of positive interpersonal skills; * Develop a nonconfrontational rapport with even the most challenging students; and * Implement conflict resolution strategies that prioritize relationship building and mutual understanding over finger-pointing and retribution.Rewards and punishments may help to maintain order in the short term, but they're at best superficially effective and at worst counterproductive. This book will prepare teachers at all levels to ensure that their classrooms are welcoming, enriching, and constructive environments built on collective respect and focused on student achievement.

A Novel Approach: Whole-Class Novels, Student-Centered Teaching, and Choice


Kate Roberts - 2018
    But she's also seen too many kids struggle too much to read them--and consequently, check out of reading altogether. Kate's had better success getting kids to actually read - and enjoy it-when they choose their own books within a workshop model. And yet, she says, I missed my whole-class novels.In A Novel Approach, Kate takes a deep dive into the troubles and triumphs of both whole-class novels and independent reading and arrives at a persuasive conclusion: we can find a student-centered, balanced approach to teaching reading. Kate offers a practical framework for creating units that join both teaching methods together and helps you: - Identify the skills your students need to learn - Choose whole-class texts that will be most relevant to your kids - Map out the timing of a unit and the strategies you'll teach - Meet individual needs while teaching whole novels - Guide students to choice books and book clubs that build on the skills being taught. Above all, Kate's plan emphasizes teaching reading skills and strategies over the books themselves. By making sure that our classes are structured in a way that really sees students and strives to meet their needs, she argues, we can keep reaching for the dream of a class where no student is unmoved, no reader unchanged by the end of the year. Video clips of Kate working with students in diverse classrooms bring the content to life throughout the book.

Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level


Sally E. Shaywitz - 2003
    Now a world-renowned expert gives us a substantially updated and augmented edition of her classic work: drawing on an additional fifteen years of cutting-edge research, offering new information on all aspects of dyslexia and reading problems, and providing the tools that parents, teachers, and all dyslexic individuals need. This new edition also offers:- New material on the challenges faced by dyslexic individuals across all ages - Rich information on ongoing advances in digital technology that have dramatically increased dyslexics' ability to help themselves - New chapters on diagnosing dyslexia, choosing schools and colleges for dyslexic students, the co-implications of anxiety, ADHD, and dyslexia, and dyslexia in post-menopausal women - Extensively updated information on helping both dyslexic children and adults become better readers, with a detailed home program to enhance reading - Evidence-based universal screening for dyslexia as early as kindergarten and first grade - why and how - New information on how to identify dyslexia in all age ranges - Exercises to help children strengthen the brain areas that control reading - Ways to raise a child's self-esteem and reveal her strengths - Stories of successful men, women, and young adults who are dyslexic

A Framework for Understanding Poverty


Ruby K. Payne - 1995
    The reality of being poor brings out a survival mentality, and turns attention away from opportunities taken for granted by everyone else. If you work with people from poverty, some understanding of how different their world is from yours will be invaluable. Whether you're an educator--or a social, health, or legal services professional--this breakthrough book gives you practical, real-world support and guidance to improve your effectiveness in working with people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Since 1995 A Framework for Understanding Poverty has guided hundreds of thousands of educators and other professionals through the pitfalls and barriers faced by all classes, especially the poor. Carefully researched and packed with charts, tables, and questionnaires, Framework not only documents the facts of poverty, it provides practical yet compassionate strategies for addressing its impact on people's lives.

Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism


Colin Baker - 1993
    Written as an introductory text from a cross-disciplinary perspective, 19 chapters cover individual and societal issues in minority and majority languages.

Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works


Howard Pitler - 2007
    This book shows you how and gives you hundreds of lesson-planning ideas and strategies for every grade level and subject. Discover new educational tools that support research-based instruction, and learn ways to use technologies you already know to * Create and use advance organizers and nonlinguistic representations * Help students take notes, summarize content, and make comparisons * Engage students in cooperative learning * Help students generate and test hypotheses * Support students in practicing new skills and doing homework * Reinforce students? efforts through formative assessment and feedback Getting this guide ensures you always know when to use educational technologies, which ones are best for a learning task, and how they help students use new learning strategies.

Lenses on Reading: An Introduction to Theories and Models


Diane H. Tracey - 2006
    Readers learn why theory matters in designing and implementing high-quality instruction; how to critically evaluate the assumptions and beliefs that guide their own work with students; and the benefits of approaching everyday teaching situations from multiple theoretical perspectives. Every chapter features classroom application activities and illuminating teaching vignettes. Of particular utility to graduate students, the book also addresses research applications, including descriptions of exemplary studies informed by each theoretical model.

Well Spoken: Teaching Speaking to All Students


Erik Palmer - 2011
    In his new book, Well Spoken, veteran teacher and education consultant Erik Palmer shares the art of teaching speaking in any classroom. Teachers will find thoughtful and engaging strategies for integrating speaking skills throughout the curriculum. Palmer stresses the essential elements of all effective oral communication, including: • Building a Speech: Audience, Content, Organization, Visual Aids, and Appearance • Performing a Speech: Poise, Voice, Life, Eye Contact, Gestures, and Speed • Evaluating a Speech: Creating Effective Rubrics,  Guiding Students to ExcellenceWell Spoken contains a framework for understanding the skills involved in all effective oral communication, offers practical steps and lesson ideas that any teacher needs to successfully teach speaking in a variety of situations—from classroom discussions to  formal presentations—and includes a set of tools for students—from how to grab the audience’s attention to how to use emphatic hand gestures and adjust speed for effect.Discover why, year after year, students returned to Palmer’s classroom to thank him for teaching them how to be well spoken. You may find, after reading this book, that you have become a better speaker, too.

Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning


Mike Schmoker - 2011
    Best-selling author Mike Schmoker boils down solutions for improved schools to the most powerful, simple actions and structures that ensure you prepare all students for college, careers, and citizenship.

Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction


Paul Bambrick-Santoyo - 2010
    Through a CD-ROM, this guidebook provides all the tools needed to launch data-driven instruction effectively, such as an implementation rubric, meeting agendas, calendars, assessment templates, and more. Written by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, who has worked with over 1,000 schools across the nation, the book clearly shows how to maneuver through assessments and statistics. Bambrick-Santoyo offers vital tips, such as: how to create a data culture, how to run a successful data analysis meeting, how to write quality assessments, and how to deal with resistance from your teachers. The book also includes twenty case studies of high-performing schools. School leaders will find this resource useful for achieving remarkable results and immense gains, regardless of the school's background, leader, or demographic. Reviews Paul Bambrick-Santoyo is the master of data driven instruction. I am a principal at a charter school in Washington, D.C. and Paul's workshops have been enormously influential. Over the last three years our student achievement results have sky-rocketed. I attribute much of our gains to the data cycle that Paul describes in this book. Under Paul's guidance, our teachers have become experts at using interim assessments to pinpoint student misunderstandings and re-teach critical concepts. I am thrilled to see that Paul has synthesized his wisdom in a book. Whether you're a principal or a teacher, I highly recommend you buy a copy for your school desk and another for your nightstand. If you're going to read one book about data-driven instruction, this should be it. "Data-driven" instruction is a hot topic in education, but rarely is it implemented well. Paul Bambrick-Santoyo has helped schools achieve tremendous gains by sharing his clear and practical approach. His ideas are compelling and his results are

Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing Grading in the Differentiated Classroom


Rick Wormeli - 2006
    Rick Wormeli offers the latest research and common sense thinking that teachers and administrators seek when it comes to assessment and grading in differentiated classes. Filled with real examples and “gray” areas that middle and high school educators will easily recognize, Rick tackles important and sometimes controversial assessment and grading issues constructively. The book covers high-level concepts, ranging from “rationale for differentiating assessment and grading” to “understanding mastery” as well as the nitty-gritty details of grading and assessment, such as:whether to incorporate effort, attendance, and behavior into academic grades;whether to grade homework;setting up grade books and report cards to reflect differentiated practices;principles of successful assessment;how to create useful and fair test questions, including how to grade such prompts efficiently;whether to allow students to re-do assessments for full credit.This thorough and practical guide also includes a special section for teacher leaders that explores ways to support colleagues as they move toward successful assessment and grading practices for differentiated classrooms.

Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching


Anita L. Archer - 2010
    This highly practical and accessible resource gives special and general education teachers the tools to implement explicit instruction in any grade level or content area. The authors are leading experts who provide clear guidelines for identifying key concepts, skills, and routines to teach; designing and delivering effective lessons; and giving students opportunities to practice and master new material. Sample lesson plans, lively examples, and reproducible checklists and teacher worksheets enhance the utility of the volume. Purchasers can also download and print the reproducible materials for repeated use. Video clips demonstrating the approach in real classrooms are available at the authors' website: www.explicitinstruction.org. See also related DVDs from Anita Archer: Golden Principles of Explicit Instruction; Active Participation: Getting Them All Engaged, Elementary Level; and Active Participation: Getting Them All Engaged, Secondary Level

Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters


Robert Probst - 2017
    Now, in Disrupting Thinking they take teachers a step further and discuss an on-going problem: lack of engagement with reading. They explain that all too often, no matter the strategy shared with students, too many students remain disengaged and reluctant readers. The problem, they suggest, is that we have misrepresented to students why we read and how we ought to approach any text - fiction or nonfiction. With their hallmark humor and their appreciated practicality, Beers and Probst present a vision of what reading and what education across all the grades could be. Hands-on-strategies make it applicable right away for the classroom teacher, and turn-and-talk discussion points make it a guidebook for school-wide conversations. In particular, they share new strategies and ideas for helping classroom teachers:–Create engagement and relevance–Encourage responsive and responsible reading–Deepen comprehension–Develop lifelong reading habits“We think it’s time we finally do become a nation of readers, and we know it’s time students learn to tell fake news from real news. It’s time we help students understand why how they read is so important,” explain Beers and Probst. “Disrupting Thinking is, at its heart, an exploration of how we help students become the reader who does so much more than decode, recall, or choose the correct answer from a multiple-choice list. This book shows us how to help students become the critical thinkers our nation needs them to be." Includes online resource bank.

Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals


Diane Sweeney - 2010
    Shifting the focus from "fixing" teachers to collaborating with them in designing instruction that targets for student achievement makes coaching more respectful and results-based. The book also underscores the critical role of the principal in fostering a culture of learning. Each chapter includes:A model for designing and implementing student-centered coaching Data-driven coaching tools and techniques focused on student learning Specific practices for leading a student-centered coaching effort