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A blueprint for improving the American public school system cites the inherent flaws of progress-based systems, recommending practices that tap the talents, motivational instincts, and potential of students and teachers.
Make your lessons interesting, interactive, and engaging Successful lessons are explicit, yet also inspire active learning and opportunities to respond. As the one shaping lessons, can you do better? Probably, and you’re not alone. Research shows teachers consistently offer students far fewer than the recommended opportunities to respond, leaving all students—including those with special needs and behavior challenges—less than engaged and falling short of their best chance for success. With this book, you’ll discover 14 strategies you can translate directly to your classroom, complete with descriptions, advantages and disadvantages of each, and how and when best to use them. Divided into three parts, you will be guided through Verbal engagement strategies, such as whip around, choral responding, quick polls, and individual questioning Non-verbal engagement strategies, such as stop and jot, guided notes, response cards, and hand signals Partner and teaming strategies, such as turn & talk, cued retell, four corners, and classroom mingle Dive into these strategies and transform your classroom into a rich and interactive environment—no matter the subject, context, or age of your students.
From EL Education comes a proven approach to student assessment Leaders of Their Own Learning offers a new way of thinking about assessment based on the celebrated work of EL Education schools across the country. Student-Engaged Assessment is not a single practice but an approach to teaching and learning that equips and compels students to understand goals for their learning and growth, track their progress toward those goals, and take responsibility for reaching them. This requires a set of interrelated strategies and structures and a whole-school culture in which students are given the respect and responsibility to be meaningfully engaged in their own learning. Includes everything teachers and school leaders need to implement a successful Student-Engaged Assessment system in their schools Outlines the practices that will engage students in making academic progress, improve achievement, and involve families and communities in the life of the school Describes each of the book's eight key practices, gives advice on how to begin, and explains what teachers and school leaders need to put into practice in their own classrooms Ron Berger is Chief Program Officer for EL Education and a former public school teacher Leaders of Their Own Learning shows educators how to ignite the capacity of students to take responsibility for their own learning, meet Common Core and state standards, and reach higher levels of achievement. DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase.
Ninety-five propositions for creating more relevant, more caring schools There is a growing desire to reexamine education and learning. Educators use the phrase "school 2.0" to think about what schools will look like in the future. Moving beyond a basic examination of using technology for classroom instruction, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need is a larger discussion of how education, learning, and our physical school spaces can—and should—change because of the changing nature of our lives brought on by these technologies. Well known for their work in creating Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a technology-rich, collaborative, learner-centric school in Philadelphia, founding principal Chris Lehmann and former SLA teacher Zac Chase are uniquely qualified to write about changing how we educate. The best strategies, they contend, enable networked learning that allows research, creativity, communication, and collaboration to help prepare students to be functional citizens within a modern society. Their model includes discussions of the following key concepts: Technology must be ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible Classrooms must be learner-centric and use backwards design principles Good technology can be better than new technology Teachers must serve as mentors and bring real-world experiences to students Each section of Building School 2.0 presents a thesis designed to help educators and administrators to examine specific practices in their schools, and to then take their conclusions from theory to practice. Collectively, the theses represent a new vision of school, built off of the best of what has come before us, but with an eye toward a future we cannot fully imagine.
"Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools is a practical, accessible guide to building learning environments that ensure safety, develop regulation skills, and grow caring relationships for all students, including those who have experienced trauma"--
The focus of this book is to provide teachers with the tools to cultivate engaged learners, which includes developing healthy relationships with their students, based on research suggesting that positive teacher-student relationships improve achievement.
Student engagement happens as a result of a teacher’s careful planning and execution of specific strategies. This self-study text provides in-depth understanding of how to generate high levels of student attention and engagement. Using the suggestions in this book, every teacher can create a classroom environment where engagement is the norm, not the exception.
Reading for pleasure urgently requires a higher profile to raise attainment and increase children’s engagement as self-motivated and socially interactive readers. Building Communities of Engaged Readers highlights the concept of ‘Reading Teachers’ who are not only knowledgeable about texts for children, but are aware of their own reading identities and prepared to share their enthusiasm and understanding of what being a reader means. Sharing the processes of reading with young readers is an innovative approach to developing new generations of readers. Examining the interplay between the ‘will and the skill’ to read, the book distinctively details a reading for pleasure pedagogy and demonstrates that reader engagement is strongly influenced by relationships between children, teachers, families and communities. Importantly it provides compelling evidence that reciprocal reading communities in school encompass: a shared concept of what it means to be a reader in the 21st century; considerable teacher and child knowledge of children’s literature and other texts; pedagogic practices which acknowledge and develop diverse reader identities; spontaneous ‘inside-text talk’ on the part of all members; a shift in the focus of control and new social spaces that encourage choice and children’s rights as readers. Written by experts in the literacy field and illustrated throughout with examples from the project schools, it is essential reading for all those concerned with improving young people’s enjoyment of and attainment in reading.
According to the National School Public Relations Association, it is not the teachers, administration, or local press that are the primary source of information about schools. The most important source of information and "feel" about a school is the support staff - the custodians, bus drivers, nurses, secretaries, and teacher's aides! If you are one of these hidden heroes, this book is for you. Learn how to build upon the universal principles of engagement to become a critical link in your school's success. Discover how to become a frontline ambassador, applying the principles of customer service to deal with families, students, and staff. You will even have your boss eating out of your hand! This book, co-authored by 4Sight Learning's CEO Sam Bartlett and school administrator Vie Herlocker, builds upon the 4Sight's work with schools, implementing research-based family engagement strategies to create measurable increases in student achievement. Chapters include professionalism, goal setting, communicating effectively, being a team player, and dealing constructively with conflict and change. Included are powerful stories of twenty-one Engaged Ambassadors who share how they make a difference in their schools and communities every day.
Wherever you are in your family engagement journey, the values, research, testimonials, and perspectives collected here can provide invaluable guidance and inspiration as you continue to dig deep into engaging every family. You'll find examples of successes and challenges from families and educators, as well as reflection questions to support your own journey in evaluating and developing new strategies. This Parents as Teachers publication provides a framework for staff and administration in home-visiting, early care and education, and schools to examine and build family engagement initiatives based on 10 foundational values that drive authentic partnership.
