One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion


Shelley Moore - 2016
    Her willingness to be vulnerable and share the moments she has experienced inclusion, and exclusion, power, and need allow all of us to see the connection between our own lives and the experiences of our students. Shelley is passionate and inspirational – she will cause you to think, to cry, to laugh, and to dream.—JENNIFER KATZ, PhD, AUTHOR OF TEACHING TO DIVERSITYIn One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion, Shelley Moore explores the changing landscape of inclusive education. Presented through real stories from her own classroom experience, this passionate and creative educator tackles such things as inclusion as a philosophy and practice, the difference between integration and inclusion, and how inclusion can work with a variety of students and abilities. Explorations of differentiation, the role of special education teachers and others, and universal design for learning all illustrate the evolving discussion on special education and teaching to all learners. This book will be of interest to all educators, from special ed teachers, educational assistants and resource teachers, to classroom teachers, administrators, and superintendents.

That Workshop Book: New Systems and Structures for Classrooms That Read, Write, and Think


Samantha Bennett - 2007
     Cris Tovani Twenty-five years after Donald Graves popularized workshop teaching, the concept is widely implemented but not always deeply understood. That Workshop Book changes all that. It shows a new generation of teachers how the systems, structures, routines, and rituals that support successful workshops combine with thinking, planning, and conferring to drive students growth, inform assessment and instruction, and increase teachers professional satisfaction. And it shows those already using the workshop how to increase its instructional power by seeing its big ideas and its component parts in fresh, dynamic ways. In That Workshop Book, Samantha Bennett, a veteran instructional coach, takes you on a tour of six classrooms from first grade through eighth grade to see the techniques and thought processes master teachers use to make their workshops work. In each class she offers tangible evidence of these teachers practices, demonstrating how they listen to students and use that information to build lessons that propel children into deeper thinking. She documents these teachers moves for you with: classroom observations in the form of coaching emails from Bennett to each with commentary that highlights the important practices seen in each workshop transcripts of minilessons, worktimes, and debriefs specific, explicit reflection by each teacher about their workshop examples of student work produced in the workshop and over time student reflections on their development as readers, writers, thinkers, and learners. Youll come to understand firsthand how the setup of the workshop allows students the breathing room to think deeply about ideas, topics, and resources. Youll also see how it creates a framework within which you can not only listen in as children express what they learn but also think deeply yourself about how best to use the information you gather for subsequent instruction. Bennett even demonstrates how the workshop can be flexible enough to fit any learning situation and how to solve common problems as they arise. Benefit from the wisdom of one of the countrys foremost staff developers. Step inside workshop classrooms where teachers and students work side by sidewhere students develop literacy skills through a combination of doing what readers and writers do and purposeful, sensitive interactions with their teacher. Visit workshops where teachers learn about their students, use careful one-to-one assessment to inform their teaching, and reflect on their own practice as well. Then enter the best workshop classroom of allthe one youll be ready and excited to launch when you read That Workshop Book.

Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement


Robert J. Marzano - 2001
    A guide for educators of students in K-12, readers will find a wealth of research evidence, statistical data, and case studies. Nine categories of instructional strategies that maximize student learning are introduced, along with the pertinent information to understand and synthesize each: * Studies in effect size and percentile gain units * Guiding principles for using the strategies * Classroom examples of model instructional practice * Charts, frames, rubrics, organizers, and other tools--will help teachers to apply the strategies immediately in the classoom.

Holding on to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones: Six Literacy Principles Worth Fighting for


Thomas Newkirk - 2009
    Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is my new favorite book about how to live as a teacher. Finishing it, I experienced what I can only describe as a state of grace-moved, renewed, and grateful that a mind like Tom Newkirk's has been intrigued by classroom matters for almost forty years now. Nancie Atwell Author of In the Middle, Second EditionClassic Newkirk: direct, incisive, and brimming with wisdom. Harvey Smokey Daniels Coauthor of Comprehension & CollaborationThis book is one of the best teacher books ever. I'll be giving copies of it to lots of teacher friends as we find our way back to trusting what we know about kids, about learning, and about teaching writing. -Gretchen Bernabei Author of Reviving the EssayHolding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is for every teacher who has struggled under top-down mandates, who ever had to slavishly follow the script of a reading lesson, who ever felt that tests were driving instruction. It is for those whose good, humane, and sensitive ways of teaching literacy are threatened by rigid, mechanical programs. It is for teachers who feel they are losing control of their daily work.Hear a podcast, where Tom Newkirk and Nancie Atwell discuss teaching principles worth fighthing for.In Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones, Tom Newkirk eloquently defends teaching against the cult of efficiency that turns classrooms into assembly lines of knowledge. Newkirk goes beyond diagnosing the problem to present six ideas worth fighting for. These transformative practices gently but firmly return instructional decisions to where they belong: with you, our teachers. Newkirk shows how to:increase your instructional emphasis on writing to reflect the reality that producing text is more important than ever help students access deep knowledge and expand their thinking through time to write freely build strong connections between school learning and the real world by teaching with popular culture propel the development of reading skills by helping students discover the pleasure of reading provide the time and space for meaningful, long-lasting teaching and learning by uncluttering the curriculum spark professional growth and avoid stagnation by discussing failure and uncertainty with colleagues. Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is affirming, not argumentative. It celebrates the humanity and unpredictability of teaching with Newkirk's blend of humor, passion, and warmth. Let it inspire a search for the things in your teaching that are most worth holding on to.

How Languages are Learned


Patsy M. Lightbown - 1993
    This makes it especially suitable if you are a trainee teacher or a practising teacher working independently to develop your professional knowledge. It is written in a clear, readable style without unnecessary technical jargon - this has helped to make it a standard text for trainee teachers throughout the world.There are evaluations and case studies throughout the book so that you can see a practical context for the research ideas you are reading about. Many of these examples are taken directly from real first and second language classrooms. There are also a number of opportunities for you to practise some of the observation and analysis techniques which are used in the research described in the book.The book is organized into seven chapters:Chapter 1: 'Language Learning in early childhood' (Includes a new section on childhood bilingualism.)Chapter 2: 'Explaining second language learning' (Includes new material for the 3rd edition on skill learning, connectionism, and the 'noticing hypothesis'.)Chapter 3: 'Individual differences in second language learning' (Topics covered include: intelligence, aptitude, learning styles, personality, motivation and attitudes, identity and ethic group affiliation, and learner beliefs.)Chapter 4: 'Learner language' (Describes the features and sequence of language development and includes discussion of how second language learning is affected by the student's first language)Chapter 5: 'Observing learning and teaching in the second language' (Looks at different learning environments and then discusses ways of observing and reporting on them.)Chapter 6: 'Second language learning in the classroom' (Contains six practical proposals for classroom teaching based on research findings and insights.)Chapter 7: 'Popular ideas about language learning revisited' (The authors list and give their personal perspective on some commonly held beliefs about language learning.)There is a Glossary to explain new and technical terms used in the book. There is also a list of suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, as well as a full bibliography at the end of the book.

Meet Me in the Middle: Becoming an Accomplished Middle Level Teacher


Rick Wormeli - 2001
    He effectively demonstrates theory with rich examples from his own teaching. Teacher educators and staff developers will find Meet Me in the Middle to be a wonderful handbook of best practices and insights to share with new teachers, including second-career individuals coming from other professions.

Collective Efficacy: How Educators' Beliefs Impact Student Learning


Jenni Donohoo - 2016
    The solution? Collective efficacy (CE)--the belief that, through collective actions, educators can influence student outcomes and increase achievement. Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, willingness to try new teaching approaches, and attend more closely to struggling students' needs. This book presents practical strategies and tools for increasing student achievement by sharing:Rationale and sources for establishing CE Conditions and leadership practices for CE to flourish Professional learning structures/protocols

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.

Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences


Leonard Sax - 2005
    Back then, most experts believed that differences in how girls and boys behave are mainly due to differences in how they were treated by their parents, teachers, and friends.It's hard to cling to that belief today. An avalanche of research over the past twenty years has shown that sex differences are more significant and profound than anybody guessed. Sex differences are real, biologically programmed, and important to how children are raised, disciplined, and educated. In Why Gender Matters, psychologist and family physician Dr. Leonard Sax leads parents through the mystifying world of gender differences by explaining the biologically different ways in which children think, feel, and act. He addresses a host of issues, including discipline, learning, risk taking, aggression, sex, and drugs, and shows how boys and girls react in predictable ways to different situations. For example, girls are born with more sensitive hearing than boys, and those differences increase as kids grow up. So when a grown man speaks to a girl in what he thinks is a normal voice, she may hear it as yelling. Conversely, boys who appear to be inattentive in class may just be sitting too far away to hear the teacher—especially if the teacher is female. Likewise, negative emotions are seated in an ancient structure of the brain called the amygdala. Girls develop an early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex, enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later. So if you ask a troubled adolescent boy to tell you what his feelings are, he often literally cannot say.Dr. Sax offers fresh approaches to disciplining children, as well as gender-specific ways to help girls and boys avoid drugs and early sexual activity. He wants parents to understand and work with hardwired differences in children, but he also encourages them to push beyond gender-based stereotypes. A leading proponent of single-sex education, Dr. Sax points out specific instances where keeping boys and girls separate in the classroom has yielded striking educational, social, and interpersonal benefits. Despite the view of many educators and experts on child-rearing that sex differences should be ignored or overcome, parents and teachers would do better to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.

Rethinking Grading: Meaningful Assessment for Standards-Based Learning


Cathy Vatterott - 2015
    Despite our best intentions, grades seem to reflect student compliance more than student learning and engagement. In the process, we inadvertently subvert the learning process. After careful research and years of experiences with grading as a teacher and a parent, Cathy Vatterott examines and debunks traditional practices and policies of grading in K -12 schools. She offers a new paradigm for standards-based grading that focuses on student mastery of content and gives concrete examples from elementary, middle, and high schools. Rethinking Grading will show all educators how standards-based grading can authentically reflect student progress and learning--and significantly improve both teaching and learning.

One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories


Kevin Jennings - 1994
    He lives in New York City.

In Pictures and in Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study


Katie Wood Ray - 2010
    Katie Wood RayKatie (beloved author of About the Authors and Already Ready) begins with a strong, classroom-based research foundation for this powerful, intuitive idea. She then suggests 50 ways you might use illustrations to help students internalize key aspects of craft through their love of picture books.In Pictures and in Words is filled with sample student work that documents how children's thinking deepens as they explore illustrations. Katie even includes full-color pages of published illustrations with examples of sticky-notes that show the kinds of links students can make between pictures and words.Give children an engaging way to make the qualities of good writing part of everything they write, for life. Find out how Katie Ray can help you do it when you read In Pictures and In Words.

The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs


Thomas R Hoerr - 2016
    To truly thrive, students need to develop attributes that aren't typically measured on standardized tests. In this lively, engaging book by veteran school leader Thomas R. Hoerr, educators will learn how to foster the "Formative Five" success skills that today's students need, includingEmpathy: learning to see the world through others' perspectives.Self-control: cultivating the abilities to focus and delay self-gratification.Integrity: recognizing right from wrong and practicing ethical behavior.Embracing diversity: recognizing and appreciating human differences.Grit: persevering in the face of challenge.When educators engage students in understanding and developing these five skills, they change mindsets and raise expectations for student learning. As an added benefit, they see significant improvements in school and classroom culture. With specific suggestions and strategies, The Formative Five will help teachers, principals, and anyone else who has a stake in education prepare their students--and themselves--for a future in which the only constant will be change.

The Common Core Lesson Book, K-5: Working with Increasingly Complex Literature, Informational Text, and Foundational Reading Skills


Gretchen Owocki - 2012
    This book is aimed at helping teachers implement quality Common Core instruction around this principle. -Gretchen Owocki The quality of instruction is the most important factor in helping students meet the Common Core Standards. That's why Gretchen Owocki's Common Core Lesson Book empowers teachers with a comprehensive framework for implementation that enhances existing curriculum and extends it to meet Common Core goals. Children, writes Gretchen (author of The RTI Daily Planning Book), need teachers who believe in the power of meaningful reading as a context for instruction. She breaks the CCSS reading standards into manageable chunks that emphasize engaged, authentic reading and differentiated teaching. For each standard, she offers: a clear description of what it asks from students an instructional decision tree that connects assessment to planning instructional strategies that gradually release responsibility to students techniques for intensifying instruction when readers need more support. In implementing the standards, writes Gretchen, we want children to deeply engage with multiple forms of reading. I wrote this book to offer encouragement to stay grounded in meaningful instruction, and to offer a set of strategies that emphasize meaningful reading. Respond to the Common Core with The Common Core Lesson Book-you'll help students meet the standards, and so much more.

Amplify: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom


Katie Muhtaris - 2015
    "It's not the tools-it's what we do with them that counts.Katie and Kristin start with our most important educational goals-literacy, independence, and critical thinking-and helps you connect them to the technology available in your classroom or school. You'll help students dig into texts, research their questions, and create powerful learning communities by using digital tools effectively, responsibly, and in combination with trusted artifacts and print resources.Amplify does exactly what the title implies. "When introducing technological tools, we often apply the same practices and strategies we use in our daily teaching, but amplify their power with technology," write Katie and Kristin. "We model what we want students to do with the technology, guide them to try it out with us, provide time for practice, then share as a class." They help amplify your literacy curriculum with lessons and guidance for:explicitly teaching kids how to be effective digital readers and thinkers giving students practice with closely reading images, infographics, and video emphasizing student ownership and creativity Whether you are in a 1:1 school, want to squeeze everything you can out of the one device in your classroom, or your school is encouraging you to use more digital tools, read Amplify. You'll discover how to gradually release responsibility to empower students as you-and your students-make the most of any technology.