Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life


Thomas Armstrong - 2012
    Just as we celebrate diversity in nature and cultures, so too do we need to honor the diversity of brains among our students who learn, think, and behave differently. In Neurodiversity in the Classroom, best-selling author Thomas Armstrong argues that we should embrace the strengths of such neurodiverse students to help them and their neurotypical peers thrive in school and beyond.This innovative book focuses on five categories of special needs: learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders. For each category, Armstrong provides an in-depth discussion of * The positive attributes associated with that category, * Acclaimed neurodiverse adults who have excelled in their chosen fields, * Computer programs and applications that allow students with special needs to overcome obstacles and achieve success, * Rich networks of human resources both inside and outside of school that educators can draw upon to support the social and emotional lives of neurodiverse students, * Innovative learning strategies that are tailored to each student's unique strengths, * Future career paths for which a student's particular gifts might be a good fit, * Modifications in the school environment that allow for seamless inclusion of neurodiverse students in the regular classroom, and * Timely information about how to integrate the strategies and assessments for each category with the Common Core State Standards.It's time that we focused on celebrating rather than pathologizing our students with special needs so that they can fully realize their potential in school and life. This practical and thought-provoking book will inspire teachers and administrators everywhere to make sure that all students with special needs get the support and strength-based instruction they deserve.

Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop


Ellin Oliver Keene - 1997
    "Mosaic of Thought "chronicles that journey, which ultimately led the authors to elaborate on eight cognitive processes identified in comprehension research and used by successful readers. These serve as models for the strategies offered in this book - strategies intended to help children become more flexible, adaptive, independent, and engaged readers."Mosaic" proposes a new instructional paradigm focused on in-depth, explicit instruction in the strategies used by proficient readers. The authors take us beyond the traditional classroom into the literature based, workshop-oriented classrooms. Through vivid portraits of these remarkable environments (all participants in the Denver-based Reading Project of the Public Education & Business Coalition), we see how explicit instruction looks in dynamic, literature-rich readers' workshops. As the students connect to background knowledge, create sensory images, ask questions, draw inferences, determine what's important, synthesize ideas, and solve problems at the word and text level, they are able to construct a rich mosaic of meaning.Straightforward and jargon-free, "Mosaic of Thought" has relevance to all literature-based classrooms, regardless of level. It offers practical tools for inservice teachers, as well as essential methods instruction for preservice teachers at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Indeed, anyone interested in literacy will benefit from the authors' challenge to rediscover the thought processes that inform our own comprehension.

Good-Bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies


Michael F. Opitz - 1998
    This title shows you how to get up and running fast with complete coverage of this useful scripting tool. The author covers ActionScript from a designer's viewpoint, showing you how to make the most of it without having to be a programmer.

Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning


José Antonio Bowen - 2012
    If students are going to continue to pay enormous sums for campus classes, colleges will need to provide more than what can be found online and maximize "naked" face-to-face contact with faculty. "Teaching Naked" shows how technology is most powerfully used "outside "the classroom and when used effectively, how it can ensure that students arrive to class more prepared for meaningful interaction with faculty. Jose Bowen introduces a new way to think about learning and technology that prioritizes the benefits of the human dimension in education. Here he offers practical advice for faculty and administrators on how to engage students with new technology, while restructuring classes into more active learning environments.

School Culture Rewired: How to Define Assess and Transform It


Steve Gruenert - 2015
    In this groundbreaking book, education experts Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer tools, strategies, and advice for defining, assessing, and ultimately transforming your school's culture into one that is positive, forward-looking, and actively working to enrich students’ lives. Drawing from decades of research on organizational cultures and school leadership, the authors provide everything you need to optimize both the culture and climate of your school, including:"Culture-busting" strategies to help teachers adopt positive attitudes, outlooks, and behaviors;A framework for pinpointing the type of culture you have, the type that you want, and the actions you need to take to bridge the two;Tips for hiring, training, and retaining teachers who will actively work to improve your school's culture; andInstructions on how to create and implement a successful School Culture Rewiring Team.Though often invisible to the naked eye, a school's culture influences everything that takes place under its roof. Whether your school is urban or rural, prosperous or struggling, School Culture Rewired is the ultimate guide to making sure that the culture in your school is guided first and foremost by what's best for your students

The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child At a Time


Stephen R. Covey - 2008
    Stephen R. Covey illustrates how his principles of leadership can be applied to children of all ages. In today’s world, we are inundated with information about who to be, what to do, and how to live. But what if there was a way to learn not just what to think about, but how to think? A program that taught young people how to manage priorities, focus on goals, and be a positive influence in their schools?The Leader in Me is that program. In this bestseller, Stephen R. Covey took the 7 Habits that have already changed the lives of millions of readers and showed that even young children can use them as they develop. These habits are being adapted by schools around the country in leadership programs, most famously at the A.B Combs Elementary school in Raleigh. Not only do the programs work, but they work better than anyone could have imagined. This book is full of examples of how the students blossom under the program—from the classroom that decided to form a support group for one of their classmates who had behavioral problems to the fourth grader who overcame his fear of public speaking and took his class to see him compete in a national story telling competition.Perfect for individuals and corporations alike, The Leader in Me shows how easy it is to incorporate these skills into daily life so kids of all ages can be more effective, goal-oriented, and successful.

Blended Learning in Grades 4-12: Leveraging the Power of Technology to Create Student-Centered Classrooms


Catlin R. Tucker - 2012
    Use technology to focus on your students!In this step-by-step guide, teacher and education blogger Catlin Tucker outlines the process for integrating online discussion with face-to-face instruction in a way that empowers teach

Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success


Arthur L. Costa - 2008
    Costa and Bena Kallick present a comprehensive guide to shaping schools around Habits of Mind. The habits are a repertoire of behaviors that help both students and teachers successfully navigate the various challenges and problems they encounter in the classroom and in everyday life. The Habits of Mind include* Persisting* Managing impulsivity* Listening with understanding and empathy* Thinking flexibly* Thinking about thinking (metacognition)* Striving for accuracy* Questioning and posing problems* Applying past knowledge to new situations* Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision* Gathering data through all senses* Creating, imagining, innovating* Responding with wonderment and awe* Taking responsible risks* Finding humor* Thinking interdependently* Remaining open to continuous learningThis volume brings together--in a revised and expanded format--concepts from the four books in Costa and Kallick's earlier work Habits of Mind: A Developmental Series. Along with other highly respected scholars and practitioners, the authors explain how the 16 Habits of Mind dovetail with up-to-date concepts of what constitutes intelligence; present instructional strategies for activating the habits and creating a thought-full classroom environment; offer assessment and reporting strategies that incorporate the habits; and provide real-life examples of how communities, school districts, building administrators, and teachers can integrate the habits into their school culture. Drawing upon their research and work over many years, in many countries, Costa and Kallick present a compelling rationale for using the Habits of Mind as a foundation for leading, teaching, learning, and living well in a complex world.

Loose Parts: Inspiring Play in Young Children


Lisa Daly - 2014
    Alluring and captivating, they capture children's curiosity, give free reign to their imagination, and motivate learning.The hundreds of inspiring photographs showcase an array of loose parts in real early childhood settings. And the overviews of concepts children can learn when using loose parts provide the foundation for incorporating loose parts into your teaching to enhance play and empower children. The possibilities are truly endless.

Hacking Engagement: 50 Tips & Tools To Engage Teachers and Learners Daily (Hack Learning Series Book 7)


James Alan Sturtevant - 2016
    Many students are bored and disengaged Teachers are handcuffed by outdated textbooks, standardized curriculum, and disinterested students. What if you could solve these problems immediately and excite even your most reluctant learners daily? Read it Today and Engage tomorrow! 33-year veteran teacher, author, presenter, and engagement guru James Alan Sturtevant makes it easy, with incredible teacher tips and tools for both the veteran and student teacher--50 engagement tools that you can begin using right now, with no special training or boring professional development. Easily rebrand your class and connect with all students Are you the teacher students "hate"? Do kids groan when they walk into your classroom? Engaging learners is all about connecting and making education fun. With Sturtevant's education tips and creative teaching tools, students will rebrand you and your class as their favorites. Best of all, they'll engage with every lesson you teach, every single day! 50 Tips and Tools Unlike other education books that weigh you down with archaic research and impossible-to-implement strategies, Hacking Engagement, the 7th book in the popular Hack Learning Series, provides 50 unique, exciting, and actionable tips and tools that you can apply right now. And there's something here for every teacher--no matter what grade or subject you teach. Try one of these amazing engagement strategies tomorrow: Engage the Enraged Create Celebrity Couple Nicknames Hash out a Hashtag Empower Students to Help You Uncover Your Biases Avoid the Great War on Yoga Pants Let Your Freak Flag Fly Become a Proponent of the Exponent Trade Blah, Blah, Blah for Zen Transform Your Class into a Focus Group Commit to Engagement Try at least one tip or tool now and witness an amazing transformation in your classroom and school. Are you ready to engage? Scroll up and grab your copy of Hacking Engagement now.

1-2-3 Magic for Teachers: Effective Classroom Discipline Pre-K through Grade 8


Thomas W. Phelan - 2004
    Clear lessons and straightforward language reveal how to measure discipline in a classroom environment, as well as how to handle difficult situations, such as transition times, assemblies, lunchtime, and field trips. A separate chapter for school administrators explains how to support classroom teachers in creating discipline and how to evaluate those teachers.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success


Carol S. Dweck - 2006
    Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset — those who believe that abilities are fixed — are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset — those who believe that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment.In this edition, Dweck offers new insights into her now famous and broadly embraced concept. She introduces a phenomenon she calls false growth mindset and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. She also expands the mindset concept beyond the individual, applying it to the cultures of groups and organizations. With the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teach, and love — to transform their lives and your own.

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.

The Revision Toolbox: Teaching Techniques That Work


Georgia Heard - 2002
    Using three main revision toolboxes - words, structure and voice - it offers dozens of specific revision tools.

Upstanders: How to Engage Middle School Hearts and Minds with Inquiry


Harvey Daniels - 2014
    Harvey Smokey Daniels and Sara Ahmed How can we meet today's elevated academic goals and engage middle school kids-but not simply replicate our competitive, winner-take-all society? How can our students achieve an even higher standard-demonstrating the capacity and the commitment to bend the world toward justice?In a word, inquiry.Welcome to the classroom of Sara Ahmed. With Smokey Daniels as your guide you'll see exactly how Sara uses inquiry to turn required curricular topics into questions so fascinating that young adolescents can't resist investigating them. Units so engaging that they provide all the complexity the standards could ever expect, while helping students grow from bystanders to Upstanders.Smokey and Sara describe precisely how to create, manage, and sustain a classroom built around choice, small-group collaboration, and critical thinking. You'll be inspired by what Sara's students accomplish, but you'll also come away from Upstanders with a can-do plan for teaching your own classes thanks to:a developmental look at what makes middle school kids special, challenging, and fun specific lessons that develop collaboration, self-awareness, and compassion a toolbox filled with teaching strategies, structures, tools, and handouts Point-Outs from Smokey that highlight key teaching moves Game-Time Decisions from Sara that reveal in-the-moment instructional choices narratives that document the incredible work that inquiry allows kids to do ambitious, engaging, and important units on commonly taught middle school themes. What kind of classroom do we want for our middle schoolers? How about one that develops the skills the standards demand and prepares kids to take action in the world right now? We can do it-if we help kids become Upstanders.