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Blueprints for a Collaborative Classroom by Child Development
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On the Water: Discovering America in a Row Boat
Nathaniel Stone - 2002
The hull glides in silence and with such perfect balance as to report no motion. I sit up for another stroke, now looking down as the blades ignite swirling pairs of white constellations of phosphorescent plankton. Two opposing heavens. ‘Remember this,’ I think to myself.”Few people have ever considered the eastern United States to be an island, but when Nat Stone began tracing waterways in his new atlas at the age of ten he discovered that if one had a boat it was possible to use a combination of waterways to travel up the Hudson River, west across the barge canals and the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, and back up the eastern seaboard. Years later, still fascinated by the idea of the island, Stone read a biography of Howard Blackburn, a nineteenth-century Gloucester fisherman who had attempted to sail the same route a century before. Stone decided he would row rather than sail, and in April 1999 he launched a scull beneath the Brooklyn Bridge to see how far he could get. After ten months and some six thousand miles he arrived back at the Brooklyn Bridge, and continued rowing on to Eastport, Maine. Retracing Stone’s extraordinary voyage, On the Water is a marvelous portrait of the vibrant cultures inhabiting American shores and the magic of a traveler’s chance encounters. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a rower at the local boathouse bequeaths him a pair of fabled oars, to Vanceburg, Kentucky, where he spends a day fishing with Ed Taylor -- a man whose efficient simplicity recalls The Old Man and the Sea -- Stone makes his way, stroke by stroke, chatting with tugboat operators and sleeping in his boat under the stars. He listens to the live strains of Dwight Yoakum on the banks of the Ohio while the world’s largest Superman statue guards the nearby town square, and winds his way through the Louisiana bayous, where he befriends Scoober, an old man who reminds him that the happiest people are those who’ve “got nothin’.” He briefly adopts a rowing companion -- a kitten -- along the west coast of Florida, and finds himself stuck in the tidal mudflats of Georgia. Along the way, he flavors his narrative with local history and lore and records the evolution of what started out as an adventure but became a lifestyle. An extraordinary literary debut in the lyrical, timeless style of William Least Heat-Moon and Henry David Thoreau, On the Water is a mariner’s tribute to childhood dreams, solitary journeys, and the transformative powers of America’s rivers, lakes, and coastlines.From the Hardcover edition.
Grading from the Inside Out: Bringing Accuracy to Student Assessment Through a Standards-Based Mindset
Tom Schimmer - 2016
While the transition to standards-based practices may be challenging, it is essential for effective instruction and assessment. In this practical guide, the author outlines specific steps your team can take to transform grading and reporting schoolwide. Each chapter includes examples of grading dilemmas, vignettes from teachers and administrators, and ideas for bringing parents on board with change.
Twenty Poems That Could Save America and Other Essays
Tony Hoagland - 2014
The teaching of poetry languishes, and that region of youthful neurological terrain capable of being ignited only by poetry is largely dark, unpopulated, and silent, like a classroom whose shades are drawn. This is more than a shame, for poetry is our common treasure-house, and we need its vitality, its respect for the subconscious, its willingness to entertain ambiguity, its plaintive truth-telling, and its imaginative exhibitions of linguistic freedom, which confront the general culture's more grotesque manipulations. We need the emotional training sessions poetry conducts us through. We need its previews of coming attractions: heartbreak, survival, failure, endurance, understanding, more heartbreak.—from "Twenty Poems That Could Save America"Twenty Poems That Could Save America presents insightful essays on the craft of poetry and a bold conversation about the role of poetry in contemporary culture. Essays on the "vertigo" effects of new poetry give way to appraisals of Robert Bly, Sharon Olds, and Dean Young. At the heart of this book is an honesty and curiosity about the ways poetry can influence America at both the private and public levels. Tony Hoagland is already one of this country's most provocative poets, and this book confirms his role as a restless and perceptive literary and cultural critic.
America: A Concise History, Volume 2: Since 1865
James A. Henretta - 1986
History survey because of the uncommon value it offers instructors and students alike. The authors' own abridgement preserves the analytical power of the parent text, America's History, while offering all the flexibility of a brief book. The latest scholarship, hallmark global perspective, and handy format combine with the best full-color art and map program of any brief text to create a book that students read and enjoy.
The Official SAT Study Guide with DVD
The College Board - 2012
With 1,000 pages and more than 20 chapters, it has everything you need to prepare for the SAT.The best-selling Official SAT Study Guide is now available with a companion DVD featuring:o Additional Bonus official SAT test with exclusive online access to answer explanations..o SAT Test Timer – virtual proctor and timed SAT test taking experience that allows students to hear actual instructions and take timed full length practice tests.o Exclusive video content featuring: • Math Concepts review video, educator-led step-by-step sample problem solving, with review and explanation of useful math concepts across the 4 main math topic areas covered in the test • Skills Insight Overview Video will help students learn more about the benefits of this free College Board tool o Additional practice tools and test day resources such us Math Concept Reference Guide and Test Day ChecklistIncluded in the book:o 10 official SAT practice tests with exclusive access to online answer explanationso Detailed descriptions of math, critical reading, and writing sections of the SAT o Targeted practice questions for each SAT question type o Practice essay questions, along with sample essays and annotations o Free online score reports
How to Think Clearly: A Guide to Critical Thinking
Doug Erlandson - 2012
Dr. Doug Erlandson draws on concrete examples of good and bad reasoning from the political and social realm and everyday life to make his points in a sometimes lighthearted but always meaningful way. Here's a Preview of What's in the Book
Identifying the differences between good and bad arguments
Avoiding fallacies
Creating good explanations
Assessing probabilities
Recognizing that statistics and numbers can lie
˃˃˃ Here's How You Benefit How to Think Clearly gives you the tools you need to critically assess the claims and counterclaims with which you are bombarded by politicians, pundits, commentators and editors, as well as coworkers, friends and family, and will aid you in developing skills to present your view in ways that are clear, coherent, sensible and persuasive. ˃˃˃ Suitable as a classroom text and for independent study How to Think Clearly is easy to understand and suitable for independent study. At the same time it offers the content and intellectual rigor that you would expect in a text for an introductory college-level course in critical thinking. ˃˃˃ What Others Are Saying About How to Think Clearly: A Guide to Critical Thinking Dr. Erlandson has given a wonderful introduction to good critical thinking: how to recognize good and bad arguments, helpful and non-helpful explanations, the ways that numbers can be manipulated. You can tell that he must be a good teacher. (G. Feltner)The author offers a refuge of reason within our culture of disregard for open-mindedness and rational discourse where the popular debate of serious issues or ideas is often a shouting match from the margins. (Cubs Fan)A great read for anyone who is new to logic and critical thinking, or someone who just wants to review and refresh their knowledge. (Paul D.)
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Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades: 20 Poems and Activities That Meet the Common Core Standards and Cultivate a Passion for Poetry
Paul B. Janeczko - 2011
Here's the cool thing: poetry can get you there. It is inherently turbo-charged. Poets distill a novel's worth of content and emotion in twenty lines. The literary elements and devices you need to teach are all there, powerful and miniature as a Bonsai tree. Paul B. JaneczkoYou'd like to teach poetry with confidence and passion, but let's face it: poetry can be intimidating to both you and your students. Here is the book that takes the fear factor out of poetry and shows you how to use this powerful genre to spark student engagement and meet language arts requirements. Award-winning poet Paul B. Janeczko is the master for creating anthologies for pre-teen and adolescent readers, and here he's chosen 20 contemporary and classic selections with step-by-step, detailed lessons for investigating each poem from the inside out. Kids learn to become active readers of poetry, using graphic organizer worksheets to help them jump over their fear and dive into personal, smart, analytical responses. There's no better genre than poetry for helping students gain perspective on their own identities and their own worlds, and Paul provides a space on each reproducible poem for private thoughts, questions, feelings, and ideas. Your students will discover what each poem means to them.The 20 poems in this collection were chosen for their thought-provoking topics; compelling real-world themes that lead to conversation and collaboration in middle school classrooms. And by showing you how the poems and activities address the common core standards for English Language Arts (complete with a sample chart linking the poems to the standards), Paul provides a clear understanding of how you can get there using poetry.You can cultivate a passion for poetry in your classroom. Take the journey with Paul B. Janeczko and grow in confidence with your students, meeting some standards along the way.
Building Classroom Discipline
Carol M. Charles - 1984
This classic text has been reconceptualized and restructured by the author to include * Increased emphasis on teachers and students working together cooperatively to maintain classrooms that are safe, enjoyable, and productive. * Better discussion of the behavior patterns of students from various ethnic, cultural, and societal groups. * Information for understanding and working productively with students with Neurological Based Behavior (NBB). * A clear progression of advances in classroom discipline over the past six decades, helping readers better understand the rationales and procedures featured in today's approaches to discipline. * Presentation and analysis of strategies that help students conduct themselves with greater civility, responsibility, and moral intelligence. The text analyzes 18 models of school discipline developed by educational thinkers over the past 60 years and shows how they can be applied in realistic situations. also coordinate with Professor Charles to ensure accuracy in the presentation of their models. Teachers are motivated to create a structure of positive discipline based on the most effective elements from traditional and current disciplinary approaches.
Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns
Michael Stephen Schiro - 2007
Arnold, CHOICE"The book provides readers with a clear, sympathetic and unbiased understanding of the four conflicting visions of curriculum that will enable them to more productively interact with educators who might hold different beliefs. The book stimulates readers to better understand their own beliefs and also to provide them with an understanding of alternate ways of thinking about the fundamental goals of education" --SIRREADALOT.ORG"A much needed, insightful view of alternative curriculum orientations. This is an exceptionally written book that will be useful to teachers, curriculum workers, and school administrators."--Marc Mahlios, University of Kansas"Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns is a thought provoking text that invites self-analysis."--Lars J. Helgeson, University of North DakotaCurriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns presents a clear, unbiased, and rigorous description of the major curriculum philosophies that have influenced educators and schooling over the last century. Author Michael Stephen Schiro analyzes four educational visions--Scholar Academic, Social Efficiency, Learner Centered, and Social Reconstruction--to enable readers to reflect on their own educational beliefs and allow them to more productively interact with educators who might hold different beliefs.Key FeaturesProvides a historical perspective on the origins of curriculum ideologies: The book places our current educational debates and issues in a historical context of enduring concerns.Offers a model of how educational movements can be critically analyzed: Using a post-structuralist perspective, this model enables readers to more effectively contribute to the public debate about educational issues.Pays careful attention to the way language is used by educators to give meaning to frequently unspoken assumptions: The text's examination helps readers better understand curricular disagreements that occur in schools.Highlights the complexities of curriculum work in a social context: With an understanding of the ideological pressures exerted on them by society and colleagues, readers can put these pressures in perspective and maintain their own values, beliefs, and practices.Intended AudienceThis book is designed as a supplemental text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Curriculum Theory, Introduction to Curriculum and Instruction, Curriculum Philosophy, and Curriculum Theory and Practice in the department of education.Talk to the author! schiro@bc.eduTo visit the author's web site, please visit: http: //www2.bc.edu/ schiro/sage.html.
The Battle of Franklin: When the Devil Had Full Possession of the Earth (Civil War Sesquicentennial Series)
James R. Knight - 2009
John Bell Hood and his Army of Tennessee had dreams of capturing Nashville and marching on to the Ohio River, but a small Union force under Hood's old West Point roommate stood between him and the state capital. In a desperate attempt to smash John Schofield's line at Franklin, Hood threw most of his men against the Union works, centered on the house of a family named Carter, and lost 30 percent of his attacking force in one afternoon, crippling his army and setting it up for a knockout blow at Nashville two weeks later. With firsthand accounts, letters and diary entries from the Carter House Archives, local historian James R. Knight paints a vivid picture of this gruesome conflict.
Best Practices in Literacy Instruction
Lesley Mandel Morrow - 2003
The field's leading authorities present accessible recommendations for best practices that can be tailored to fit specific classroom circumstances and student populations. Provided are strategies for helping all students succeed—including struggling readers and English language learners—and for teaching each of the major components of literacy. The book also addresses ways to organize instruction and innovative uses of technology. Chapters include concrete examples, Engagement Activities, and resources for further learning. New to This Edition*Incorporates the latest research findings and instructional practices.*Chapters on motivation, content-area teaching, new literacies, and family literacy.*Addresses timely topics such as response to intervention, the new common core standards, English language learning, and policy issues.
WordPress Websites Step-by-Step - The Complete Beginner's Guide to Building a Website or Blog With WordPress
Caimin Jones - 2013
You won't need to learn any web programming or turn yourself into a computer geek.What is WordPress?WordPress is a powerful publishing tool that's the single most popular way of publishing websites and blogs. It's used by Fortune 500 companies, startups, small businesses, bloggers and non-profits alike to build a professional presence on the web.Because WordPress lets you add and edit content through a web-based admin area, it's easier to use then you might imagine. In fact, you can build a great-looking site without being a web designer or computer geek. You can edit your website design as much as you like and add new features with a few clicks of the mouse, or you can use the default design for an equally professional-looking site.In plain English, this step-by-step book, written by a WordPress expert, helps you buy a domain name, get web hosting and set up WordPress so you can make a beautiful website or blog.Clear explanations and over 55 images of the admin screens and tools mean you can see exactly how to do all this.What you'll learn in WordPress Step-by-Step*How to choose a great domain name and get professional, reliable hosting * How to install WordPress in a few mouse clicks* How to publish posts and pages with correctly formatted text* How to give your website a professional touch by using images and videos* How to customize the design of your site without needing to be a programmer* How to extend your site even further with "plugins" * How to structure your site so you'll get found by Google* How to keep your website secure * How to solve the most common WordPress problems...and more.There's also a free bonus chapter on getting the first visitors to your site.Plus, the book is packed with links to additional resources and free design themes and plugins to help you build a website on a budget.By the time you've read the book you'll have a unique, professional and easy-to-use website to be proud of - and you'll have created it yourself!Important: This book is currently the most up-to-date WordPress book available on Amazon. Some of the older WordPress books were published more than a year ago - a lot has changed since then. This guide describes how to use the latest version of WordPress (3.5).Whether you want to build a simple website for your company or organization, make money with a blog or a full online store, this non-geek guide will get you online quickly.
Best Practices in Writing Instruction
Steve Graham - 2007
The contributors are leading authorities who demonstrate proven ways to teach different aspects of writing, with chapters on planning, revision, sentence construction, handwriting, spelling, and motivation. The use of the Internet in instruction is addressed, and exemplary approaches to teaching English-language learners and students with special needs are discussed. The book also offers best-practice guidelines for designing an effective writing program. Focusing on everyday applications of current scientific research, the book features many illustrative case examples and vignettes.
Breaking Free Leader Guide
Beth Moore - 2008
Corresponds to the video presentations and member-book units of t