You'll love the "before and after" pictures and the step-by-step processes outlined for organizing your furniture and cabinets, setting up your room space by space, and using your walls thoughtfully. Debbie has even documented how to pack your room at the end of the year to save time next fall (so you can focus on thinking about instruction) and what to do if you must move all your belongings.Through pictures and text, this unique visual reference answers tough questions educators ask, such as:What do I really need in my room and what's the best way to set it up?How does my physical classroom impact student learning?How can I find the space I need to teach more effectively? What can I get rid of and how?Where do I put all my stuff?Charts, reproducible forms, motivating quotes, a list of shopping sources, and reflection questions are included, along with a section outlining ten specific suggestions for on-going staff development. Whether or not you implement literacy work stations in your classroom, Spaces & Places includes everything you need to look deeply at classroom space and how it supports instruction.

    In Kids Deserve It!, Todd and Adam encourage you to think big and make learning fun and meaningful for students. While you’re at it, you just might rediscover why you became an educator in the first place. - Learn why you should be calling parents to praise your students (and employees). - Discover ways to promote family interaction and improve relationships for kids at school and at home.- Be inspired to take risks, shake up the status quo, and be a champion for your students.#KidsDeserveIt"For anyone working with young people and in need of a pep talk, this is the book for you.” -Brad Montague, creator of Kid President“Kids Deserve It! provides real-life takeaways for anyone involved in making the world a better place for our kids." -Steve Mesler, Olympic Gold Medalist, co-founder and CEO of Classroom Champions"Kids Deserve It! is a brilliant—and much-needed—invitation to educators to dare to innovate.” -Peter H. Reynolds, author of The Dot “After reading this book, you will be crazy about all kids. They deserve it!” -Salome Thomas-EL, award-winning principal and author of The Immortality of Influence“It's an outstanding read for educators at any level.” -Angela Maiers, educator, author, speaker, founder of Choose2Matter“Whether you are a parent, teacher, or administrator, this powerful little collection of ideas and stories will nurture your spirit and refresh your memory about why you chose to work with kids in the first place.” -Erik Wahl, artist, author, ambassador for kids

    Author and teacher, Matt Miller shows you how to choose and incorporate teaching practices that are:   Different from what students see daily. Innovative, drawing on new ideas or modifying others' ideas. Tech-laden with the use of digital sites, tools and devices. Creative, tapping into students' original ideas as well as your own. Hands-on, encouraging students to make and try things on their own.  Packed with practical advice, specific recommendations for tools, and the encouragement you need to revolutionize your classes, Ditch That Textbook will inspire you to create relevant teaching that gets student buy-in so they'l enjoy learning. What people are saying about Ditch That Textbook: "Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook is a book that delivers sound advice, relatable anecdotes and an actionable roadmap for educators." -- Adam Bellow, 2011 ISTE Outstanding Young Educator of the Year"In an age where many schools are still training students to work in a factory, Matt Miller moves past sweeping rhetoric and shows teachers how to move their classes into the future. This is a quick, energetic read that will leave you inspired to take the next step in your classroom!" -- Don Wettrick, Innovation Specialist and Author, Pure Genius

    

    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.

    This straight-forward, affordable text provides classroom-proven strategies to improve middle and secondary students' comprehension of content area texts. Each chapter opens with a vignette from actual classrooms, offering a glimpse into a middle or secondary classroom, and presenting the chapter's instructional strategy within content area teaching. These scenarios are followed by a research-based rationale for each strategy, an in-depth look at implementing the strategy, and examples of each strategy across the curriculum. A new focus in each chapter on English learners, and new features examining struggling readers, give you insight to support these learners. New Media Notes clarify opportunities to use different technologies to enhance teaching. Together these elements provide you with the tools to support your middle and secondary students' comprehension and success.

    It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life." - Parker J. Palmer [from the Introduction] Teachers choose their vocation for reasons of the heart, because they care deeply about their students and about their subject. But the demands of teaching cause too many educators to lose heart. Is it possible to take heart in teaching once more so that we can continue to do what good teachers always do -- give heart to our students?In The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer takes teachers on an inner journey toward reconnecting with their vocation and their students -- and recovering their passion for one of the most difficult and important of human endeavors.

    Little has changed, however, since then: over half of our children still read at a basic level and few become highly proficient. Many American children and adults are not functionally literate, with serious consequences. Poor readers are more likely to drop out of the educational system and as adults are unable to fully participate in the workforce, adequately manage their own health care, or advance their children's education. In Language at the Speed of Sight, internationally renowned cognitive scientist Mark Seidenberg reveals the underexplored science of reading, which spans cognitive science, neurobiology, and linguistics. As Seidenberg shows, the disconnect between science and education is a major factor in America's chronic underachievement. How we teach reading places many children at risk of failure, discriminates against poorer kids, and discourages even those who could have become more successful readers. Children aren't taught basic print skills because educators cling to the disproved theory that good readers guess the words in texts, a strategy that encourages skimming instead of close reading. Interventions for children with reading disabilities are delayed because parents are mistakenly told their kids will catch up if they work harder. Learning to read is more difficult for children who speak a minority dialect in the home, but that is not reflected in classroom practices. By building on science's insights, we can improve how our children read, and take real steps toward solving the inequality that illiteracy breeds. Both an expert look at our relationship with the written word and a rousing call to action, Language at the Speed of Sight is essential for parents, educators, policy makers, and all others who want to understand why so many fail to read, and how to change that.

    The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension skills at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware.But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

    Now in paperback, Kathleen Cushman's groundbreaking book offers original insights into teaching teenagers in today's hard-pressed urban high schools from the point of view of the students themselves. It speaks to both new and established teachers, giving them firsthand information about who their students are and what they need to succeed.Students from across the country contributed perceptive and pragmatic answers to questions of how teachers can transcend the barriers of adolescent identity and culture to reach the diverse student body in today's urban schools. With the fresh and often surprising perspectives of youth, they tackle tough issues such as increasing engagement and motivation, teaching difficult academic material, reaching English-language learners, and creating a classroom culture where respect and success go hand in hand.

    (Just think about all those New Year’s resolutions that revert to status quo by January 5th!) But real change is possible, sustainable, and even easy when it happens little by little. In Shift This! educator and speaker Joy Kirr identifies how to make gradual shifts—in your thinking, teaching, and approach to classroom design—that will have a massive impact in your classroom. You’ll learn how to… Shift learning to make it authentic and student-led. Shift the classroom environment to make it a space in which students thrive. Shift conversations and classwork to get kids thinking rather than repeating. Shift away from homework and grades to keep the focus on learning. Shift the way you spend your time at school so you have more time to enjoy life at home. You can create the kind of classroom you’ve always dreamed of. Make the first shift today!

    It is here that students brainstorm topics, play with leads and endings, tweak a new revision strategy, or test out a genre for the first time.In Notebook Know-How, Aimee Buckner provides the tools teachers need to make writers' notebooks an integral part of their writing programs. She also addresses many of the questions teachers ask when they start using notebooks with their students, including:How do I launch the notebook?What mini-lessons can be used throughout the year to help students become more skilled in keeping notebooks?How do I help students who are stuck in writing ruts with notebooks?How do I help students use their learning from notebooks for other writing?How do I organize notebooks so that the design is flexible, yet still allows students to access information easily?How can writers' notebooks help students become better readers? How do I assess notebooks?This compact guide is packed with lessons, tips, and samples of student writing to help teachers make the most of writers' notebooks, without sacrificing time needed for the rest of the literacy curriculum. In fact, Notebook Know-How shows how smart and focused use of writers' notebooks enhances and deepens literacy learning in both reading and writing for students in grades 3–8.

    The practice of reading aloud to children may be viewed by some educators as an “extra”—a bit of fluff used solely for the purposes of enjoyment or filling a few spare minutes, but researchers and practitioners stand in solidarity: the practice of reading aloud throughout the grades is not only viable but also best practice.  In Defense of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practices, author Steven Layne reinforces readers’ confidence to continue the practice of reading aloud and presents the research base to defend the practice in grades K–12. Layne also offers significant practical insights to strengthen instructional practice—answering the questions of “Why should we?” and “How should we?”—and provides practical advice about how to use read-alouds most effectively. Leading researchers in the field of literacy provide position statements, authors of professional books share insights on books they have loved, leaders of the largest literacy organizations in the United States write about their favorite read-alouds, award-winning authors of children’s and young adult book (Katherine Paterson, Andrew Clements, Lois Lowry, to name a few) share the powerful behind-the-scenes stories of their greatest books, and real classroom teachers and librarians speak about books that have “lit up” their classrooms and libraries around the world. Last but not least, In Defense of Read-Aloud features many great recommendations of books to share with children.Read-aloud is an essential practice in teaching literacy in grades K–12. In this book, Steven Layne has provided everything needed to support, sustain, and celebrate the power of read-aloud.

    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.

    He begins by taking to task the perception of urban youth of color as unteachable, and he challenges educators to embrace and respect each student’s culture and to reimagine the classroom as a site where roles are reversed and students become the experts in their own learning.Putting forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, Emdin provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike—both of whom have been typecast and stymied by outdated modes of thinking about urban education. With this fresh and engaging new pedagogical vision, Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. Merging real stories with theory, research, and practice, Emdin demonstrates how by implementing the “Seven C’s” of reality pedagogy in their own classrooms, urban youth of color benefit from truly transformative education.Lively, accessible, and revelatory, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y’all Too is the much-needed antidote to traditional top-down pedagogy and promises to radically reframe the landscape of urban education for the better.