Book picks similar to
Educational Wastelands: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools by Arthur Eugene Bestor
education
teaching
nonfiction
recommended
In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization
Deborah Meier - 2002
Increasingly, we turn to standardized tests and standardized curricula-now adopted by all fifty states-as our national surrogates for trust.Legendary school founder and reformer Deborah Meier believes fiercely that schools have to win our faith by showing they can do their job. But she argues just as fiercely that standardized testing is precisely the wrong way to that end. The tests themselves, she argues, cannot give the results they claim. And in the meantime, they undermine the kind of education we actually want.In this multilayered exploration of trust and schools, Meier critiques the ideology of testing and puts forward a different vision, forged in the success stories of small public schools she and her colleagues have created in Boston and New York. These nationally acclaimed schools are built, famously, around trusting teachers-and students and parents-to use their own judgment.Meier traces the enormous educational value of trust; the crucial and complicated trust between parents and teachers; how teachers need to become better judges of each others' work; how race and class complicate trust at all levels; and how we can begin to 'scale up' from the kinds of successes she has created.
Prepared: What Kids Need for a Fulfilled Life
Diane Tavenner - 2019
The school developed a personalized learning plan for every student. They engaged the students by engaging them in interdisciplinary, real-world projects, rather than passively learning and memorizing in a classroom environment. They created mentorship groups, where students would talk through their goals and help each other solve problems, as well as meet one on one with their mentor, weekly. By internalizing a sense of purpose, self-direction, self-sufficiency, collaboration, students learn the cognitive and life skills needed to navigate the next phases of their lives. Virtually 100% of Summit's original 400 students went on to attend four year colleges. In the years that followed, Summit opened 10 more charter schools in California and Washington, to similar success, and national recognition.Today, Tavenner, and Summit Public Schools, are partnering with 400 public schools, across 40 states, and over 3500 teachers and 80,000 students, to bring the Summit Learning Program and teaching practices to school systems everywhere. With generous support from Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg's nonprofit organization, which calls Summit "the future of education," and over one hundred million dollars in contributions from the Gates Foundation, Summit is revolutionizing how our children are educated.
Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul
Stuart M. Brown Jr. - 2009
Or the blissful abandon of a golden retriever racing with glee across a lawn. This is the joy of play. By definition, play is purposeless and all-consuming. And, most important, it’s fun. As we become adults, taking time to play feels like a guilty pleasure—a distraction from “real” work and life. But as Dr. Stuart Brown illustrates, play is anything but trivial. It is a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. In fact, our ability to play throughout life is the single most important factor in determining our success and happiness. Dr. Brown has spent his career studying animal behavior and conducting more than six thousand “play histories” of humans from all walks of life—from serial murderers to Nobel Prize winners. Backed by the latest research, Play explains why play is essential to our social skills, adaptability, intelligence, creativity, ability to problem solve, and more. Play is hardwired into our brains—it is the mechanism by which we become resilient, smart, and adaptable people. Beyond play’s role in our personal fulfillment, its benefits have profound implications for child development and the way we parent, education and social policy, business innovation, productivity, and even the future of our society. From new research suggesting the direct role of three-dimensional-object play in shaping our brains to animal studies showing the startling effects of the lack of play, Brown provides a sweeping look at the latest breakthroughs in our understanding of the importance of this behavior. A fascinating blend of cutting-edge neuroscience, biology, psychology, social science, and inspiring human stories of the transformative power of play, this book proves why play just might be the most important work we can ever do.
A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century
Oliver DeMille - 2000
Is American education preparing the future leaders our nation needs, or merely struggling to teach basic literacy and job skills? Without leadership education, are we settling for an inadequate system that delivers educational, industrial, governmental and societal mediocrity? In A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century, Oliver DeMille presents a new educational vision based on proven methods that really work! Teachers, students, parents, educators, legislators, leaders and everyone who cares about America's future must read this compelling book.
Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There Are No Bad Schools in Raleigh
Gerald Grant - 2009
Supreme Court handed down a 5–4 verdict in Milliken v. Bradley, thereby blocking the state of Michigan from merging the Detroit public school system with those of the surrounding suburbs. This decision effectively walled off underprivileged students in many American cities, condemning them to a system of racial and class segregation and destroying their chances of obtaining a decent education.In Hope and Despair in the American City, Gerald Grant compares two cities—his hometown of Syracuse, New York, and Raleigh, North Carolina—in order to examine the consequences of the nation’s ongoing educational inequities. The school system in Syracuse is a slough of despair, the one in Raleigh a beacon of hope. Grant argues that the chief reason for Raleigh’s educational success is the integration by social class that occurred when the city voluntarily merged with the surrounding suburbs in 1976 to create the Wake County Public School System. By contrast, the primary cause of Syracuse’s decline has been the growing class and racial segregation of its metropolitan schools, which has left the city mired in poverty.Hope and Despair in the American City is a compelling study of urban social policy that combines field research and historical narrative in lucid and engaging prose. The result is an ambitious portrait—sometimes disturbing, often inspiring—of two cities that exemplify our nation’s greatest educational challenges, as well as a passionate exploration of the potential for school reform that exists for our urban schools today.
The Well-Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and Out
Mike Anderson - 2010
This is true both in airplanes and in classrooms--you have to take care of yourself before you can help someone else. If teachers are stressed out and exhausted, how can they have the patience, positive energy, and enthusiasm to provide the best instruction for students? Author Mike Anderson asked that question as a teacher himself, and the answers he found form the basis of The Well-Balanced Teacher. He found that teachers need to take care of themselves in five key areas to keep themselves in shape to care for their students.In addition to paying proper attention to their basic needs for nutrition, hydration, sleep, exercise, and emotional and spiritual refreshment, teachers also needBelonging: Teachers need to feel positive connections with other people, both in school and outside school. Significance: Teachers want to know that they make a positive difference through the work they do.Positive engagement: When teachers enjoy their work, they have great energy and passion for their teaching.Balance: Healthy teachers set boundaries and create routines so that they can have rich lives both in the classroom and at home.Anderson devotes a chapter to each of these needs, describing in frank detail his own struggles and offering a multitude of practical tips to help readers find solutions that will work for them. When teachers find ways to take care of their own needs, they will be healthier and happier, and they will have the positive energy and stamina needed to help their students learn and grow into healthy adults themselves.
Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching
Margaret D. Roblyer - 1996
It shows teachers how to create an environment in which technology can effectively enhance learning. It contains a technology integration framework that builds on research and the TIP model.
Teaching Students Who are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom [with MyEducationLab Code]
Sharon R. Vaughn - 1996
From students with disabilities, culturally diverse students, and students with limited English proficiency to economically disadvantaged students this text provides teachers with the tools they need in their diverse classrooms. Revised to reflect the most current research, terminology and teaching practices, the strength of this text continues to be its numerous learning activities and sample lessons addressing both elementary and secondary classrooms. This edition continues its very popular multi- chapter unit on curriculum adaptations with specific strategies and activities for teaching reading, writing, and mathematics. With a new chapter on Response to Intervention and Progress Monitoring and full integration of the RTI framework, and the increase emphasis on middle and secondary students, this text continues its reign as an outstanding resource for all general education teachers. 0131381253 / 9780131381254 Teaching Students Who are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom (with MyEducationLab) Package consists of 0135140870 / 9780135140871 MyEducationLab -- Access Card 0137151799 / 9780137151790 Teaching Students Who are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom
Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900 - 1985
James A. Berlin - 1987
He makes clear that these categories are not tied to a chronology but instead are to be found in the English department in one form or another during each decade of the century. His historical treatment includes an examination of the formation of the English department, the founding of the NCTE and its role in writing instruction, the training of teachers of writing, the effects of progressive education on writing instruction, the General Education Movement, the appearance of the CCCC, the impact of Sputnik, and today’s “literacy crisis.”
Number Sense Routines: Building Numerical Literacy Every Day in Grades K-3
Jessica F. Shumway - 2011
Shumway created a series of math routines designed to help young students strengthen and build their facility with numbers. These quick 5, 10, or 15 minute exercises are easy to implement as an add-on to any elementary math curriculum. Understanding Number Sense: Students with strong number sense understand numbers, how to subitize, relationships among numbers, and number systems. They make reasonable estimates, compute fluently, use reasoning strategies, and use visual models to solve problems.
Number Sense Routines
supports the early learner by instilling the importance of daily warm-ups and explains how they benefit developing math minds for long-term learning.Real Classroom Examples: Shumway compiled her classroom observations from around the country. She includes conversations among students who practice number sense routines to illustrate them in action, how children's number sense develops with daily use, and math strategies students learn as they develop their numerical literacy through self-paced practice.Assessment Strategies:
Number Sense Routines
demonstrates the importance of listening to your students and knowing what to look for. Teachers will gain a deeper understanding of the underlying math skills and strategies students learn as they develop numerical literacy.Shumway writes, "As you read, you will step into various classrooms and listen in on students' conversations, which I hope will give you insight into the power of number sense routines and the impact they have on students' number sense development. My hope is that going into the classroom, into students' conversations, and into their thought processes, you will come away with new ideas and tools to use in your own classroom."
The EduProtocol Field Guide: 16 Student-Centered Lesson Frames for Infinite Learning Possibilities
Marlena Hebern - 2018
In The EduProtocol Field Guide, Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern outline sixteen classroom-tested protocols to break up clichéd lesson plans, build culture, and deliver content to K–12 students in a supportive, creative environment. Start Smart Smart Start activities set your students up for success by teaching them how to learn, using tools like Frayer Models and Venn Diagrams on fun subjects. In addition to preparing your students to learn, Smart Start activities help build a positive culture in your classroom. Finish Strong EduProtocols are customizable, frames that use your content to create lessons to help students master academic content, think critically, and communicate effectively while creating and working collaboratively. EduProtocols can be used with nearly all subjects and grade levels and are UDL (Universal Design for Learning)-friendly to support all learners. Simplify the process of creating engaging and personalized learning opportunities for every student. The EduProtocol Field Guide shows you how.
The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined
Salman Khan - 2012
Today millions of students, parents, and teachers use the Khan Academy's free videos and software, which have expanded to encompass nearly every conceivable subject; and Academy techniques are being employed with exciting results in a growing number of classrooms around the globe.Like many innovators, Khan rethinks existing assumptions and imagines what education could be if freed from them. And his core idea-liberating teachers from lecturing and state-mandated calendars and opening up class time for truly human interaction-has become his life's passion. Schools seek his advice about connecting to students in a digital age, and people of all ages and backgrounds flock to the site to utilize this fresh approach to learning.In THE ONE WORLD SCHOOLHOUSE, Khan presents his radical vision for the future of education, as well as his own remarkable story, for the first time. In these pages, you will discover, among other things:* How both students and teachers are being bound by a broken top-down model invented in Prussia two centuries ago* Why technology will make classrooms more human and teachers more important* How and why we can afford to pay educators the same as other professionals* How we can bring creativity and true human interactivity back to learning* Why we should be very optimistic about the future of learning.Parents and politicians routinely bemoan the state of our education system. Statistics suggest we've fallen behind the rest of the world in literacy, math, and sciences. With a shrewd reading of history, Khan explains how this crisis presented itself, and why a return to "mastery learning," abandoned in the twentieth century and ingeniously revived by tools like the Khan Academy, could offer the best opportunity to level the playing field, and to give all of our children a world-class education now.More than just a solution, THE ONE WORLD SCHOOLHOUSE serves as a call for free, universal, global education, and an explanation of how Khan's simple yet revolutionary thinking can help achieve this inspiring goal.
Teaching English in a Foreign Land: A Humorous Travel Writing Biography of a TEFL Teacher's Adventure Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Barry O'Leary - 2012
After doing a TEFL course in London, he flies to South America alone. He has no job to go to but hopes that teaching English will fund his travels – ultimately, it opens up opportunities all over the world.During Barry's two-year TEFL adventure he has several nervy encounters with local louts in Ecuador and Brazil, collapses after a trip to Machu Picchu, gets stuck next to ecstasy raving loonies and a transvestite on a Greyhound Bus across America, struggles to settle Down Under, finds himself working for strict Catholic nuns in Bangkok, and meets some sex mad Babushkas on the Trans-Mongolian railway.This book is essential for anyone who wants to see how rewarding it can be to teach English in a foreign land.
Career Theory and Practice: Learning Through Case Studies
Jane L. Swanson - 1999
Each chapter applies a different theory to case examples and - to provide continuity - to a fictitious client' constructed from many past clients of the authors.
Practice with Purpose: Literacy Work Stations for Grades 3-6
Debbie Diller - 2005
Each chapter includes:how to introduce the station;innovative ways to use materials;what to model to guarantee independence;how to troubleshoot;assessment and accountability ideas;how the station supports student achievement on state tests;reflection questions for professional development.The extensive appendix includes time-saving tools such as management board icons, graphic organizers, task cards, and recommended Web sites and children's literature.