Carol Ann Tomlinson,Marcia B. Imbeau
The Common Core State Standards require all students to think in complex and creative ways and apply classroom learning in new contexts. Yet many teachers already struggle with reaching all learners, who come to school with varied levels of readiness, interests, and learning profiles. What to do now that the expectations are even higher? Differentiated instruction experts Carol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia B. Imbeau offer practical, thoughtful advice on how to plan, deliver, and assess instruction that meets this new level of challenge. Combining the goals of the Common Core with the principles of differentiation, the authors present an eight-step process to help teachers make rich, intellectually rigorous curriculum accessible to a very broad range of students. With examples across grade levels and content areas and a checklist for reflection on the eight steps, this timely publication will show you how to meet high expectations with responsive instruction and help all your students grow as thinkers and problem solvers.
Thanks to initiatives like the Common Core and Race to the Top, accountability requirements continue to be a reality for educators. Yet many are still unsure of how to use data to make well-informed instructional decisions. The Data-Driven Classroom comes to the rescue with a systematic, universal process that shows teachers how to * Examine student assessment results to identify a curricular or skill area to target for individual intervention or large-group instructional revision.* Develop, implement, and assess the effectiveness of the intervention or revision.* Develop an action plan for future instructional cycles. Author Craig A. Mertler sheds light on how teachers can make sense of overwhelming standardized test reports while avoiding pitfalls like over-interpreting data. In these pages you will also find practical classroom examples and templates designed to guide teachers of all grade levels and subject areas through the comprehensive decision-making framework.
Do you want your students to take ownership of and become more independent during reading discussions? Are you looking to enhance your teaching of higher-order thinking and 21st century skills? Do you want to ensure that all students develop strong speaking and listening skills? In Student-Led Discussions , author Sandi Novak offers you the resources you need to develop meaningful student-led conversations about text and media across the content areas. In addition to providing a discussion framework that requires students to think deeply and communicate effectively, she includes advice for how to * Introduce and cultivate student-led discussions about literary and informational material at any grade.* Establish core instructional elements that students need to engage in rich discussions about content.* Recognize and evaluate effective student-led discussions.* Understand your role as the teacher when students are leading their own discussions. The skills that students acquire through discussions that they themselves facilitate—speaking and listening abilities, reading comprehension, and competency with text-based questions among them—align with established state and national standards and are necessary for all students to succeed in school and life.
With new standards emphasizing higher-order thinking skills, students will have to demonstrate their ability to do far more than simply remember facts and procedures. But what's the best way for teachers to ensure that students have such skills? In this highly accessible guide, author Susan M. Brookhart shows how to do just that, by providing specific guidelines for designing targeted questions and tasks that align with standards and assess students' ability to think at higher levels. Aided by dozens of examples across grade levels and subject areas, readers will learn how to * Take a student perspective and view assessment questions and tasks as «problems to solve.»* Design multiple-choice questions that require higher-order thinking.* Understand the difference between «open» and «closed» questions and how to use open questions effectively.* Vary and control the features of performance assessment tasks, including cognitive level and difficulty, to target different thinking skills.* Manage the assessment of higher-order thinking within the larger context of teaching and learning. Brookhart also provides an «idea bank» that teachers can use to jump-start their own thinking as they create assessments. Timely and practical, How to Design Questions and Tasks to Assess Student Thinking is essential reading for 21st century teachers who want their students to excel in the classroom and beyond. Note: This product listing is for the reflowable (ePub) version of the book.
As every educator knows all too well, teaching can be an incredibly challenging profession. Whether the challenges are rooted in district policies, colleagues’ actions, or student behaviors, the effect on teachers is always the same: frustrating and demoralizing. In The Resilient Teacher , Allen Mendler offers simple but effective strategies for dealing with a variety of thorny situations that most teachers will face in their careers. These strategies will help you to * Communicate tactfully but forthrightly with administrators, colleagues, and students whose actions interfere with your ability to do your job properly.* Confidently and convincingly express your thoughts and expectations to all stakeholders.* Increase your influence with coworkers, students, and parents. All teachers face roadblocks in their jobs that can keep them from doing what’s best for students. In these pages, you will find the solutions you need to resolve common problems quickly and neatly–and to bounce back stronger than ever.
All the talk of closing the achievement gap in schools obscures a more fundamental issue: do the grades we assign to students truly reflect the extent of their learning? In this lively and eye-opening book, educator Myron Dueck reveals how many of the assessment policies that teachers adopt can actually prove detrimental to student motivation and achievement and shows how we can tailor policies to address what really matters: student understanding of content. In sharing lessons, anecdotes, and cautionary tales from his own experiences revamping assessment procedures in the classroom, Dueck offers a variety of practical strategies for ensuring that grades measure what students know without punishing them for factors outside their control; critically examining the fairness and effectiveness of grading homework assignments; designing and distributing unit plans that make assessment criteria crystal-clear to students; creating a flexible and modular retesting system so that students can improve their scores on individual sections of important tests. Grading Smarter, Not Harder is brimming with reproducible forms, templates, and real-life examples of grading solutions developed to allow students every opportunity to demonstrate their learning. Written with abundant humor and heart, this book is a must-read for all teachers who want their grades to contribute to, rather than hinder, their students' success.
This book provides 3rd through 12th grade teachers with more than 50 teacher-tested tools and techniques for helping their students read independently and critically. Authors Pérsida and William Himmele and National Board Certified teacher Keely Potter present literacy as an interconnected process that involves emotions, cognition, and multiple opportunities for developing higher-order thinking. With this in mind, they present tools for helping students develop academic language, become avid and analytical readers, engage with literature and informational texts, discuss texts, and write about texts in clear and cogent ways. Each chapter includes reflections from real teachers and students who share their own literary practices and journeys, bringing the practices to life. With a focus on engaging students as thinkers, readers and writers, Total Literacy Techniques provides practical and effective ways for teachers to help students develop the critical reading habits that open up new ways of understanding and contributing to their worlds. Pérsida Himmele and William Himmele are the authors of the best-selling ASCD book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner .
Literacy is a skill for all time, for all people. It is an integral part of our lives, whether we are students or adult professionals. Giving all educators the breadth of knowledge and practical tools that help students strengthen their literacy skills is the focus of Read, Write, Lead . Drawing on her experience as a mentor teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and staff developer, author Regie Routman offers time-tested advice on how to develop a schoolwide learning culture that leads to more effective reading and writing across the curriculum. She explains how every school—including yours—can * Implement instructional practices that lead to better engagement and achievement in reading and writing for all students, from kindergarten through high school, including second-language and struggling learners.* Build Professional Literacy Communities of educators working together to create sustainable school change through professional learning based on shared beliefs.* Reduce the need for intervention through daily practices that ensure success, even for our most vulnerable learners.* Embed the language of productive feedback in responsive instruction, conferences, and observations in order to accelerate learning for students, teachers, and leaders. In their own voices, teachers, principals, literacy specialists, and students offer real-life examples of changes that led to dramatic improvement in literacy skills and—perhaps just as important—increased joy in teaching and learning. Scattered throughout the book are “Quick Wins”—ideas and actions that can yield positive, affirming results while tackling the tough work of long-term change.
Every day, new research and technology influence what are considered to be best practices in the classroom. Despite limited time, resources, and support, teachers are expected to implement new standards and practices with expertise. A coach can be a much-needed partner in navigating changes and challenges, helping teachers handle a variety of instructional issues. In Learning From Coaching, educator and instructional coach Nina Morel addresses the benefits of coaching along with common questions and concerns teachers have about entering into coaching relationships. Readers will discover practical strategies for working with a coach, including how to
* Construct and strengthen a coaching relationship. * Make time in the school day for coaching. * Set goals, document and evaluate success. * Troubleshoot potential pitfalls.
Coaching relationships can enhance school culture, teacher satisfaction, professional growth, and student achievement. Through working with a coach, teachers can find support as they think more deeply about their work, set goals, and develop plans to meet those goals.
The most important factor affecting student learning isn’t standards, textbooks, or testing–it’s teachers. And when it comes to improving learning, research has shown teachers what works. But the real challenge comes when it’s time to do what works and do it well. In this book, Jane E. Pollock explains how making the right adjustments in four critical areas of practice—curriculum, instruction, assessment, and feedback—can help any teacher improve student learning significantly. Here, you’ll find out how to – Create a classroom curriculum document that’s truly useful and incorporates robust concepts, generalizations, and procedures. – Plan instruction that’s focused on helping students become master learners who can apply information and skills, not just do schoolwork. – Design varied classroom assessments that yield evidence of mastery and pinpoint where further instruction is required. – Use criterion-based feedback to improve individual student achievement and refine instruction. Along with step-by-step procedures, practical guidelines, and specific models, this book features the voices of individual teachers who share their experience using the author’s “Big Four” approach. Like them, you may find it’s the missing link you need to transform your pedagogy and achieve unprecedented levels of both student success and professional satisfaction.