In Building Teachers Capacity for Success, authors Pete Hall (winner of the 2004 ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award) and Alisa Simeral offer a straightforward plan to help site-based administrators and instructional coaches collaborate to bring out the best in every teacher, build a stronger and more cohesive staff, and achieve greater academic success. Their model of Strength-Based School Improvement is an alternative to a negative, deficit-approach focused on fixing what s wrong. Instead, they show school leaders how to achieve their goals by working together to maximize what s right. Filled with clear, proven strategies and organized around two easy-to-use tools the innovative Continuum of Self-Reflection and a feedback-focused walk-through model this book offers a differentiated approach to coaching and supervision centered on identifying and nurturing teachers individual strengths and helping them reach new levels of professional success and satisfaction. Here, you ll find front-line advice from the authors, one a principal and the other an instructional coach, on just what to look for, do, and say in order to start seeing positive results right now.

    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

    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

    Each "Unit of Study" lays out four to six weeks of instruction. Together the units provide the teaching points, minilessons, strategies, and tools you'll need to jump in and teach writing to your students. Presented sequentially, these units help you teach narrative and expository writing with increasing sophistication.1. Launching the Writing WorkshopThis unit jumpstarts your year by reviewing and teaching the essentials of writingcollecting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. In addition to introducing practical strategies for finding topics and generating writing, this unit also helps you foster a community of writers in your classroom and teach students how to work with partners constructively .2. Raising the Quality of Narrative WritingIn this unit students learn how to use emblematic details, images, dialogue, and carefully-chosen words to make a small moment into a compelling story. While developing a personal narrative students learn to create suspense, align story elements into a cohesive whole, and use timelines to link internal thoughts with external plots.3. Breathing Life Into EssaysThis unit guides you in teaching students howto craft thesis-driven essays drawn from their own personal experiences and expertise. Throughout this unit students learn how to develop a thought, organize their thinking with boxes and bullets, and use writing conventions to strengthen their work.4. Story Arcs: Writing Short FictionThis unit helps you expand students' previous learning by helping them use story arcs to create rising action, a conflict, and a resolution. Students learn to use character development, symbolism, and their knowledge of the elements of a story to develop powerful, realistic fiction.5. Writing About LiteratureIn this unit students draw on what they have learned about writing stories to read stories well. They use what they've learned about essays to help them craft essays that analyze and respond to literature.6. Memoir: Putting It All TogetherThis introspective unit on memoir writing is designed to help students draw on all they have learned about the structure and craft of writing. From their experience writing essays, students learn to make points about their lives. From their understandings about personal narratives, students learn to write about memories that illustrate their points in compelling ways.These 6 Units of Study are reinforced by two resources that offer everyday support. A Guide to the Writing Workshop, Grades 35This overview volume equips you to teach a productive, well-managed writing workshop, introduces you to the methods that underlie writing instruction, and helps you plan a yearlong writing curriculum.Resources for Teaching Writing, Grades 35This CD-ROM supports your writing program with samples of student writing, video clips of the authors teaching, and a range of printable reproducibles organized unit-by-unit.In total "Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3-5" contains 7 books and 1 CD-ROM.

    Marzano shows how a carefully structured combination of two approaches--sustained silent reading and instruction in subject-specific vocabulary terms--can help overcome the deficiencies in background knowledge that hamper the achievement of many children.Readers will learn* The principles that underlie an effective sustained silent reading program* A five-step process for using sustained silent reading to enhance background knowledge* The defining characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction * A six-step process for direct instruction in vocabulary in each discipline* The vocabulary terms critical to students' success in every academic subjectVignettes suggest how the recommended reading and vocabulary instruction programs might be implemented in elementary schools, middle and junior high schools, and high schools. The book also includes a list of 7,923 vocabulary terms culled from the national standards documents and other publications, organized into 11 subject areas and 4 grade-level categories.With its research-based recommendations and step-by-step approach, Building Background Knowledge equips educators with the tools they need to help close the achievement gap and enable all students to succeed.

    Substitute Teaching from A to Z is a one-stop resource, whether you're a full-timer, just breaking in, or starting out as a career educator. Reinforced with true life tales from real substitute teachers and the stories of how they solved their biggest challenges, this book is a comprehensive guide written by a veteran teaching expert who specializes in training subs.You'll learn insider tricks on how to:Show school administrators you have the right stuff for the jobChoose the most appropriate grades, subjects, and school districts for youForge great relationships with everyone you work withLand the best classroom assignmentsFace a new class with confidenceMaintain discipline, work without a lesson plan, and much more

    Students will receive a grounding in areas that vary from treatment to organizational and community settings. This edition also includes of new case studies, practice examples and guiding principles.

    Written by award-winning educators from successful PLC schools, this book demonstrates how to create three tiers of interventions from basic to intensive to address student learning gaps. You will understand what a successful program looks like, and the many reproducible forms and activities will help your team understand how to make RTI work in your school."

    This professional resource will help to maximize the impact of instruction through the use of whole-class instruction, small-group instruction, and Math Workshop. Incorporate ideas for using ongoing assessment to guide your instruction and increase student learning, and use hands-on, problem-solving experiences with small groups to encourage mathematical communication and discussion. Guided Math supports the College and Career Readiness and other state standards.

    Whatever It Takes: How PLCs Respond When Kids Don't Learn examines the question, "What happens when, despite our best efforts in the classroom, a student does not learn?" In traditional schools, the response to this question has been left to the discretion of individual classroom teachers who are free to respond in very different ways. A Professional Learning Community will not leave this critical question to each teacher to resolve. A PLC will, instead, create a school-wide system of interventions that provides all students with additional time and support when they experience difficulty in their learning. The authors describe in detail the systems of intervention, including Adlai E. Stevenson High School's "Pyramid of Interventions," created by four different schools: a high school, a middle school, and two elementary schools. In addition to these systems, the authors discuss the logistical barriers these schools faced and their strategies for overcoming those barriers.Chapter 1 examines the current mandate that all students learn at high levels and places that mandate in a historical context by examining the assumptions that have guided public education. The chapter extends the popular rallying cry that "all children can learn" by re-examining the three critical questions with which all PLCs grapple in order to give that phrase relevance.Chapter 2 describes how schools have traditionally responded when students do not learn and provides a case study to examine that response. The chapter also presents some caveats readers must keep in mind as they consider creating a system of interventions for students in their own schools.Chapter 3 describes in detail the system of interventions created by Adlai Stevenson High School in suburban Chicago, one of three schools in the nation to receive the United States Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Award on four occasions.This system, the Pyramid of Interventions, represents a conscious attempt by the Stevenson staff to give students additional time and support when they experience difficulty in their learning.Chapter 4 discusses some of the logistical barriers Stevenson faced in building the Pyramid and strategies for overcoming those barriers. It acknowledges that other schools in other settings will face their own unique barriers but contends that if staff members clarify their priority and focus on the right questions, they too can overcome the obstacles posed by their local context.Chapter 5 examines the unique aspects of the middle school and explains how one of America's most celebrated middle schools has raised student performance by focusing on student achievement, building a collaborative culture, and creating systems to provide students with additional time and support. Chapters 6 and 7 describe how a system of interventions works for students in two very different elementary schools-one in a rural setting in south-central Virginia and another in an ethnically diverse Title One school in southern California.Chapter 8 identifies the commonalities between the four very different schools explored in the earlier chapters. It discusses how all of the characteristics of a PLC came to thrive in each school and describes some of the common approaches to leadership that characterized the principals of these four schools.Chapter 9 examines some of the philosophical concerns that have been raised regarding the proposal to provide students with additional time and support for learning when students fail to make the effort necessary to be successful. The chapter then attempts to address each of these concerns. Chapter 10 identifies some of the cultural shifts a school must make on the journey to becoming a Professional Learning Community. It contends that a PLC creates a "stretch culture" that leads both students and staff to embrace high expectations and to develop a sense of self-efficacy. It suggests strategies to promote such a culture.The appendix provides artifacts from the four schools described in this book that practitioners may find helpful-mission and vision statements, job descriptions, sample correspondence, program descriptions, and graphics to illustrate intervention plans. The appendix also contains a graphic representation of Adlai Stevenson's Pyramid of Interventions.

    Pat Cunningham's and Dick Allington's clear and friendly writing style emphasizes the importance of promoting the integration of phonics and literature-based process writing and reading instruction to enhance ALL students' learning and reading skills. It clarifies concepts, defines key terms, and offers just the right balance of research and practical coverage to make the content complete without being overwhelming. This affordable book helps teachers engage ALL children in meaning-centered reading by fostering powerful decoding and comprehension strategies and implementing a balanced reading program. Classrooms That Work identifies and explores five components: real reading and writing, guided reading, guided writing, decoding/spelling, and word/word knowledge. The Fourth Edition is filled with workable, practical strategies and activities to use in the classroom. offering a modern, applied approach to 'traditional' reading topics and an in-depth look at areas of reading instruction not covered by other books (e.g. Chapters 9, 10 & 11 describe a sample day in a Building Blocks kindergarten, a sample day in a Four Blocks primary classroom and a sample week in a Big Blocks intermediate classroom, respectively. Combined, these chapters show how all of the important components of a balanced literacy programs can be integrated.) The flexibility gained by using this comprehensive approach gives instructors the opportunity to tailor course coverage and topic sequence making this a perfect book to be used in reading and language arts methods courses.

    A predicament arises, and the children's response--simple and immediate--offers Paley the purest evidence of kindness she has ever seen.In subsequent encounters, "the Teddy story" draws forth other tales of impulsive goodness from Paley's listeners. Just so, it resonates through this book as one story leads to another--taking surprising turns, intersecting with the narrative unfolding before us, and illuminating the moral meanings that children may be learning to create among themselves.Paley's journey takes us into the different worlds of urban London, Chicago, Oakland, and New York City, and to a close-knit small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Her own story connects those of children from nursery school to high school, and circles back to her elderly mother, whose experiences as a frightened immigrant girl, helped through a strange school and a new language by another child, reappear in the story of a young Mexican American girl. Thus the book quietly brings together the moral life of the very young and the very old. With her characteristic unpretentious charm, Paley lets her listeners and storytellers take us down unexpected paths, where the meeting of story and real life make us wonder: Are children wiser about the nature of kindness than we think they are?

    He shows you how to create an amazing learning environment that actually makes discipline, rules and consequences obsolete, no matter if you're a new teacher or a 30-year veteran teacher. Teachers they make movies about are innovative, engaging, and beloved Hacking Classroom Management is about putting the F word--FUN--into your teaching, and Mike Roberts shows you how to do this, while meeting your standards and teaching your curriculum.  Hacking Classroom Management shows you how to Build lasting relationships with your students Maximize teaching time Reduce behavior issues Enhance student ownership Improve parental involvement Experts love the Movie Teacher philosophy "No matter what grade you teach, there’s something of great value inside. Two Big Thumbs UP!" -Alan Sitomer, CA Teacher of the Year and Author of Short Writes"Immensely fun and illuminating to read!" -Jeffery D. Wilhelm, Distinguished Professor of English Education at Boise State University"Hollywood might not make a movie about you, even if you read and apply every suggestion in this book, but you and your students are much more likely to feel like classroom stars because of it." -Chris Crowe, English Professor at BYU, Past President of ALAN, author of Death Coming Up the Hill, Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case; Mississippi Trial, 1955; and many other YA booksWave Goodbye to classroom management issuesGrab Hacking Classroom Management today, become a movie teacher tomorrow, and forget about classroom management FOREVER!

    With clear and accessible language, Carl guides you through the three main parts of a writing conference, and shows you the teaching moves and intentional language that can be used in each one. He helps you understand: - how to get started with conferring, or improve your existing conferences - how to use conferences to meet the diverse needs of your student writers - how to fit conferences into your busy writing workshop schedule. More than 25 videos bring the content to life, while Teacher Tips, Q&A's, and Recommended Reading lists provide everything you need to help you become a better writing teacher.

    Lots of actual templates, graphic organizers, black-line masters, detailed lesson plans, and student work samples are included, as well as vignettes of mini-lessons, center time, small guided math groups, and share time.This practical, hands-on guide will help you...Understand the framework of Guided Math lessons Gain an in-depth look at the role of assessment throughout the Guided Math process Develop an action plan to get started immediately This is a must-have resource for all educators looking for a structure to teach small groups in math that meet the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.