eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
With joy-filled classrooms in 150 countries, 80,000 Facebook Likes, and 8,000,000 YouTube views, Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) is one of the world's most popular instructional systems. A massive redesign of our previous books, "Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids: Fast Track" features a simplified, Funtricity charged approach to classroom management. By rewarding for improvement, rather than ability, all students, special ed to gifted, benefit from WBT's new, streamlined methods. Discover easy to implement strategies that foster growth in academic talents and social skills, creative techniques that nourish character education and our latest, most powerful games for reforming Beloved Rascals. For rich, vivid, frequently hilarious demonstrations of our methods, explore over 100 classroom videos, at YouTube/ChrisBiffle. What's Whole Brain Teaching? The only education reform movement with a sense of humor.
"With 122 hilarious games to choose from, "Whole Brain Teaching: 122 Amazing Games!" is perfect for K-12 students ranging from Special Ed to Gifted. Discover entertainments that will lift the reading, writing and speaking skills of English Language Learners, bedazzle your most challenging students and turn your classroom into a Funtricity powered dynamo"--Publisher's description.
When the first edition of Teaching with the Brain in Mind was published in 1998, it quickly became an ASCD best-seller, and it has gone on to inspire thousands of educators to apply brain research in their classroom teaching. Now, author Eric Jensen is back with a completely revised and updated edition of his classic work, featuring new research and practical strategies to enhance student comprehension and improve student achievement. In easy to understand, engaging language, Jensen provides a basic orientation to the brain and its various systems and explains how they affect learning. After discussing what parents and educators can do to get children's brains in good shape for school, Jensen goes on to explore topics such as motivation, critical thinking skills, optimal educational environments, emotions, and memory. He offers fascinating insights on a number of specific issues, including * How to tap into the brain's natural reward system. * The value of feedback. * The importance of prior knowledge and mental models. * The vital link between movement and cognition. * Why stress impedes learning. * How social interaction affects the brain. * How to boost students' ability to encode, maintain, and retrieve learning. * Ways to connect brain research to curriculum, assessment, and staff development. Jensen's repeated message to educators is simple: You have far more influence on students' brains than you realize . . . and you have an obligation to take advantage of the incredible revelations that science is providing. The revised and updated edition of Teaching with the Brain in Mind helps you do just that.
Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of practicing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct complex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the methods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard keyboard, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the simple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Figure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcomponents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accurate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chainsaws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.
Beat burnout with time-saving best practices for feedback For ELA teachers, the danger of burnout is all too real. Inundated with seemingly insurmountable piles of papers to read, respond to, and grade, many teachers often find themselves struggling to balance differentiated, individualized feedback with the one resource they are already overextended on—time. Matthew Johnson offers classroom-tested solutions that not only alleviate the feedback-burnout cycle, but also lead to significant growth for students. These time-saving strategies built on best practices for feedback help to improve relationships, ignite motivation, and increase student ownership of learning. Flash Feedback also takes teachers to the next level of strategic feedback by sharing: How to craft effective, efficient, and more memorable feedback Strategies for scaffolding students through the meta-cognitive work necessary for real revision A plan for how to create a culture of feedback, including lessons for how to train students in meaningful peer response Downloadable online tools for teacher and student use Moving beyond the theory of working smarter, not harder, Flash Feedback works deeper by developing practices for teacher efficiency that also boost effectiveness by increasing students’ self-efficacy, improving the clarity of our messages, and ultimately creating a classroom centered around meaningful feedback.
A bold, brain-based teaching approach to culturally responsive instruction To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation—until now. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. The book includes: Information on how one’s culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships Ten “key moves” to build students’ learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners Prompts for action and valuable self-reflection
Understanding how the brain learns helps teachers do their jobs more effectively. Primary researchers share the latest findings on the learning process and address their implications for educational theory and practice. Explore applications, examples, and suggestions for further thought and research; numerous charts and diagrams; strategies for all subject areas; and new ways of thinking about intelligence, academic ability, and learning disability.
Too often, students who fail a grade or a course receive remediation that ends up widening rather than closing achievement gaps. According to veteran classroom teacher and educational consultant Suzy Pepper Rollins, the true answer to supporting struggling students lies in acceleration. In Learning in the Fast Lane, she lays out a plan of action that teachers can use to immediately move underperforming students in the right direction and differentiate instruction for all learners—even those who excel academically. This essential guide identifies eight high-impact, research-based instructional approaches that will help you * Make standards and learning goals explicit to students. * Increase students' vocabulary—a key to their academic success. * Build students' motivation and self-efficacy so that they become active, optimistic participants in class. * Provide rich, timely feedback that enables students to improve when it counts. * Address skill and knowledge gaps within the context of new learning. Students deserve no less than the most effective strategies available. These hands-on, ready-to-implement practices will enable you to provide all students with compelling, rigorous, and engaging learning experiences.
In this much anticipated follow-up to their groundbreaking book, Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom, authors Jan Burkins and Kari Yates, together with co-author Katie Cunningham, extend the conversation in Shifting the Balance 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom. This new text is built in mind specifically for grades 3-5 teachers around best practices for the intermediate classroom. Shifting the Balance 3-5 introduces six more shifts across individual chapters that: Zoom in on a common (but not-as helpful-as-we-had-hoped) practice to reconsider Untangle a number of "misunderstandings" that have likely contributed to the use of the common practice Propose a more science-aligned shift to the current practice Provide solid scientific research to support the revised practice Offer a collection of high-leverage, easy-to-implement instructional routines to support the shift to more brain-friendly instruction The authors offer a refreshing approach that is respectful, accessible, and practical - grounded in an earnest commitment to building a bridge between research and classroom practice. As with the first Shifting the Balance, they aim to keep students at the forefront of reading instruction.
