Peer through the eyes of students. See school their way. When we act on what students show us, valued outcomes follow. Students know best what engages and bores them and can offer dynamic insight into how to pique their best. When we know how to listen, we learn to increase interest, motivation, and overall achievement through academic press and a supportive culture. This book shows readers how to tap into student insight and adjust thinking to see education and learning through their eyes. Experience new levels of engagement and growth as you learn to: Build a culture of support, safety, and membership through academic excellence Nurture the growth of engaged teaching See things their way and transform your learning environment into a challenging, cohesive, and satisfying model for growth and outcome. "Missing far too long from the school improvement literature is the students' perspective. Joe Murphy demands that leaders learn to look through students' eyes to better understand the gaps and opportunities for school improvement and creating positive relationships in which students can flourish. This book lays out the theory and research that undergirds developing a student perspective, and provides strategies and approaches for leaders that should become essential to their preparation and practice." Terry Orr, Director of Future School Leaders Academy Bank Street College of Education "For 40 years educators have sought answers to the question: how do school leaders 'make a difference'? This quest has taken us in many directions, but few scholars thought to look through the 'eyes of students'. In this book Murphy provides a missing piece to this important puzzle." Philip Hallinger, Professor Chulalongkorn University
"Just what the educational doctor ordered. Written in an easy-to-understand format, this guide contains excellent explanations and valuable models, guidelines, checklists, unit designs, and lesson designs to help teachers implement standards-based education in their classrooms." -Vaughn G. Rhudy, Teacher Shady Spring High School, WV "Zagranski, Whigham, and Dardenne tame the beast of accountability for principals, teachers, and parents by articulately defining what is really expected. A real guide for demystifying the complex world of standards-based education." -Erica Ann Faginski, Principal Michael E. Smith Middle School, South Hadley, MA Transforming your curriculum into a standards-based model: What every educator needs to know! This comprehensive handbook offers a data-driven curriculum design process to help educators meet today's standards of performance and assessment. Based on decades of hands-on experience, Richard Zagranski, William T. Whigham, and Patrice L. Dardenne provide a clear set of expectations and responsibilities for stakeholders at all three levels of the educational pyramid: teachers, teacher leaders/coordinators, and administrators. Their user-friendly approach, which both incorporates and looks beyond NCLB, shows readers how to take a standard, transform it into a performance objective, and design a corresponding assessment piece. The text includes: Standards-based guidelines and action plans Ready-to-use charts, rubrics, and templates Real-world examples and assessment methods Step-by-step instructions to ensure sustainability Chapter summaries and a glossary for easy reference Understanding Standards-Based Education leads educators through a well-defined course of curriculum revision and presents all participants with specific, need-to-know information for accomplishing mandated goals.
This comprehensive guide to standards-based education takes a collaborative and respectful stance toward teaching, learning, and accountability that both incorporates and looks beyond No Child Left Behind. Grounded in the authors' pyramid of responsibility, Understanding Standards-Based Education identifies what everyone needs to know about standards-based education, what 'most' stakeholders need to know, and what only 'some' stakeholders need to know. The authors focuses on clarifying role responsibilities and then invites effective participation by all. Among the core stakeholder-participants in the authors' system of standards-based education and accountability are students, parents, and teachers (level 1); team leaders, department chairs, and facilitators of standards-based curriculum (level 2); and principals, superintendents, and school boards/oversight committees (level 3). This invaluable resource includes: - An overview of NCLB legislation highlighting current areas of concern for all three stakeholder levels - A data-driven plan of action and assessment for transforming the traditional educational curriculum into a standards-based curriculum - Clear step-by-step instructions in every chapter to ensure sustainability of the standards-based system - The book's instructional approach incorporates best practices from direct instruction (Madeline Hunter), brain-based learning, differentiated instruction, and other core teaching methods as well as formative and summative student assessment techniques. - Each chapter features ready-to-use templates, charts, rubrics, and checklists for stakeholders at each of the three levels of responsibility. Filled with the authors' wealth of hands-on experience, this teacher-friendly text is ideal for teachers, curriculum planners, and instructional leaders.
Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape
Inspiring thoughtful discussion that leads to change, this provocative resource for teachers and administrators examines how the new digital landscape is transforming learners and learning. It makes the case for rethinking teaching processes in the face of these emerging developments within an environment of standards, accountability, and high stakes testing, and for providing informed leadership that supports 21st-century learning. The book provides strategies, ideas, and compelling viewpoints to help leaders deepen their understanding of how educational thinking and instructional approaches must translate into relevant classroom experiences for today's learners. Understanding the Digital Generation describes implementing educational approaches that build critical thinking skills, and discusses the role of digital media and technology used by students and how that fosters the crucial development of new 21st-century fluency skills. In reader-friendly terms, the authors provide: - A comprehensive profile of digital learners' attributes - An exploration of the concepts of "neuroplasticity" and the "hyperlinked mind" - An approach to educational models that support traditional literacy skills alongside essential 21st-century fluencies - An examination of appropriate methods of evaluation that encompass how digital generation students process new information For staff developers leading study groups, this text provides powerful chapter-opening quotes, built-in questions, and additional tools to generate reflective dialogue and an open exchange of ideas.
This practical resource shows teachers and administrators how to better understand the Individual Education Program (IEP), create effective IEPs, as well as write and evaluate an IEP to benefit every student with a disability. Using a 15-step plan, Understanding, Developing, and Writing Effective IEPs: A Step-by-Step Guide for Educators provides techniques, suggestions, and information for every component of the IEP process. The authors include authentic IEP samples and multiple checklists to help educators prepare for an IEP meeting where all stakeholders are actively involved in the process. Frequently asked questions and a glossary of special education terminology enable every member of the IEP team to participate in this program, helping to ensure that every student receives the most appropriate interventions, services, and educational resources for academic success.
Practical Teaching Strategies for 21st Century Students
Written by two dynamic educational leaders, this book provides elementary school teachers with strategies to unleash the learning superpowers of students that foster inquiry-based, student-driven classrooms. The student learning superpowers Swanson describes are: Wondering Developing Designing Digital Inking Seeking Advising Swanson provides easy to use frameworks and examples that are aligned to the Common Core Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, the Next Generation Science Standards and the National Curriculum Standards for Social Standards. The book is filled with practical instructional frameworks about 2-3 weeks long that teachers can use to promote student superpowers. The superpowers and frameworks help students see connections between ideas and disciplines and lead to student-driven success.
Move from entrenched differences to common goals! All too often, key education initiatives collapse because leaders fail to anticipate and learn from the concerns of those charged with implementation. This illuminating book shows how education leaders can bring opposing groups to common ground, resulting in a solid plan built on diverse wisdom. Acclaimed education coach Jane Kise demonstrates how polarity thinking-a powerful tool for bridging differences developed by Barry Johnson of Polarity Partnerships-provides an alternative to endless debates and either/or thinking. Rather than seeing conflicting forces, the tools help us view them as equally important-even interdependent-concepts, approaches, or models. Readers will find: Ways to recognize polarities, map the positive and negative aspects, and channel energy wasted on disagreement toward a greater common purpose Tools for introducing and working with polarities Polarity mapping to help leaders improve processes for leading change and creating buy-in Ways to use polarity with students as a framework for higher-level thinking "Jane Kise provides guidance for educators engaged in deep change and implementation of initiatives in which stakeholders have opposing perspectives. Through authentic examples of significant changes educators face today, Kise guides educators to leverage polarity thinking to promote commitment, engagement, and investment." - Joellen Killion, Senior Advisor Learning Forward "The mind, entrenched in the rigidity of either/or thinking, dwells on the divisions and ignores the connections of both/and. This engaging and practical book helps our students (and their teachers) transcend those divisions in a journey toward enriched enlightenment and greater flexibility." -Arthur L. Costa, Emeritus Professor California State University, Sacramento
This volume offers the latest in neuroscientific research about the teenage brain and explores what it means for the socio-emotional and intellectual development of teenagers. The book is designed to help teachers create and utilize more effective learning experiences for their adolescent students. Using ten powerful ideas that will help teachers create more effective brain compatible classrooms, the author draws the ideas from what we presently know about the teenage brain and its development, and integrates them with current ideas and theories on intelligence and learning. Each of the 10 powerful ideas includes: - case studies and numerous examples of teaching strategies and activities designed to show teachers how to translate the theory of the ten ideas into workable classroom practice - descriptions of the changing and differing roles and expectations for both teachers and students in the brain-compatible classroom - extensive explanations of the kind of learning environment we need to establish and how teachers ought to go about establishing this desired learning environment. This is an ideal resource for teachers, teacher educators, and parents of teenagers.
This volume offers the latest in neuroscientific research about the teenage brain and explores what it means for the socio-emotional and intellectual development of teenagers. The book is designed to help teachers create and utilize more effective learning experiences for their adolescent students. Using ten powerful ideas that will help teachers create more effective brain compatible classrooms, the author draws the ideas from what we presently know about the teenage brain and its development, and integrates them with current ideas and theories on intelligence and learning. Each of the 10 powerful ideas includes: - case studies and numerous examples of teaching strategies and activities designed to show teachers how to translate the theory of the ten ideas into workable classroom practice - descriptions of the changing and differing roles and expectations for both teachers and students in the brain-compatible classroom - extensive explanations of the kind of learning environment we need to establish and how teachers ought to go about establishing this desired learning environment. This is an ideal resource for teachers, teacher educators, and parents of teenagers.
