A fun and functional guide for school leaders who want to encourage and inspire student achievement, this book offers 101 "stunts" to copy, accompanied by case studies that will make the stunts come to life. Frank Sennett guides the teacher through choosing a stunt, involving the whole school in the process, and finally, carrying out the stunt successfully. He scores each "stunt" in a variety of ways so that teachers can easily see what fits in with what they want their students to achieve. In addition, he ties "stunts" to specific discipline areas. 101 Stunts for Principals to Inspire Student Achievement is a great reference and a kick-start for teachers looking for creative ways to be a part of the achievement process.
81 Research-Based Strategies for New Teacher Induction, Training, and Support
Bridging the gap between theory and practice, What Successful Mentors Do synthesizes current educational research and extends its application to in-service settings. Using a consistent and reader-friendly format, the authors present specific mentoring strategies accompanied by summaries of the research background validating the strategies, mentoring applications for the strategies, precautions and pitfalls helpful for implementation, and source citations for further reference. Strategies are organized into convenient categories that include developing teaching styles; time management strategies; classroom management policies; managing curriculum, instruction, and assessment; working with at-risk, special needs, and diverse populations; working with educational technologies; interacting with students, parents, and community; and more.
This is a book for tutors, lecturers and teachers in further and higher education, who need to teach their students how to study, learn and communicate effectively. Based around the same techniques and contents as the tutors' earlier book Essential Study Skills (SAGE 2003) which is itself based on many years experience of teaching and mentoring students in higher education, this book is intended to work with traditional and non-traditional students. The material will be suitable for institutions concerned with widening participation; with student retention; with quality enhancement; with equal opportunities and with professional / staff development.
Updated Edition of Bestseller! How do you deal with high-maintenance parents who never seem happy with the job you are doing? Emotionally charged, often disgruntled, and occasionally abusive parents--sound familiar? The second edition of Elaine McEwan's bestselling classic will help you manage your most difficult audience, adding several new features and examples that will give you the confidence and skills you need to handle such situations, including: Over two dozen strategies-enhanced and updated-to defuse emotionally charged parents An updated, easy-to-administer Healthy School Checklist to determine if your school's culture encourages parents or pushes them over the edge Fifty Ways to build parental support for your school Ten Goals-at-a-Glance to help keep your school-community relations on target A built-in facilitator guide--ideal for book groups and staff development, including energizers, suggestions for role-playing, think-alouds, and questions for reflection and discussion Every educator will find invaluable strategies for handling angry and unresponsive parents and the critical issues that cause misunderstandings. Following McEwan's seven steps of effective problem-solving will help with quick solutions while creating a nurturing, healthy school environment. And in today's schools and a NCLB environment, developing a supportive parent-community relationship is essential to everyone's success.
Working With Teachers, Parents, Students, and the Community
"Educational administrators will find the book to be an easily applicable tool for solving many of the dilemmas they face in their schools." Theron Schutte, Middle School Principal Boone Community School District, IA "The book provides a theoretical base for practical application of strategies that will strengthen beliefs and attitudes that support behaviors that can move a school toward the fulfillment of its educational mission." David Erlandson, Professor Texas A&M University "This book keeps its promises: it is truly a guide for action that will be used by educators, especially educational change agents. Each of the authors comes out of an unusual blend of theoretical sophistication and practical experience that make this book a stimulating intellectual read and a solid manual for practice." Steven Tozer, Professor of Education University of Illinois Why do people behave as they do? What makes them take a stand on a specific issue? Solving school problems and making policy decisions require that we anticipate how people will feel about an issue or how they will behave. School leaders must understand the values, attitudes, and beliefs brought to different situations. The School Leader's Guide to Understanding Attitude and Influencing Behavior makes it possible for educators to scientifically understand and influence the attitudes and behaviors of diverse constituencies, both inside and outside the school. Using the Model of Reasoned Action (MORA) enables readers to understand how people form attitudes and make decisions about a wide variety of future behaviors. Armed with this information, educators can change attitudes and influence behavior of teachers, staff, parents, and the community. This excellent resource includes: Examples of attitude scales A sample questionnaire A checklist of steps through an attitude-behavior study Tables to organize and report data Data analysis presented in an easily-applied manner When you must know how best to influence the attitudes or behaviors of others, this remarkable book will show you. Make a positive difference in your school or district!
"This book offers the most practical and realistic method by which to help students succeed. Period! Nothing out there now is more specifically aimed at student success." -David Scheidecker, Academic Facilitator Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville, IL Set your students on the road to academic success! The difference between students who do well in school and those who struggle usually comes down to one thing: effectiveness in their learning and studying strategies. The Study Max program provides high school teachers with a step-by-step method for helping all students capitalize on their learning strengths to become fully engaged learners. This practical, systematic program gives teachers the tools they need to empower even the most underachieving of students to succeed in school. In ten easy-to-use units, the author provides: Engaging, applicable techniques for student achievement Clear unit objectives Stimulating lesson plans More than 100 high-interest, focused activities and exercises for immediate application Study Max is divided into three sections, each targeting specific learning skills: 1. Learning Styles and Preferences, 2. Getting Organized, and 3. Turbocharging Reading and Studying. Students will learn simple strategies for reading comprehension, taking notes, time management, targeting meaningful goals, improving memory, strategic thinking, preparing for and taking tests, and much more!
An Educator's Handbook of Brain Terms and Cognitive Processes
"A delicious and nutritious alphabet soup for brain aficionados. How to Explain a Brain serves a generous portion of savory topics for the hearty neural appetite. From amygdala to emotion, from hippocampus to memory, from neurotransmitter to serotonin, the brain is explained as skillfully as one simmers a sumptuous stock." Robin Fogarty, President Robin Fogarty & Associates Unlock the mysteries of the brain with the help of this jargon-free guide! Noted author Robert Sylwester offers educators and general readers his own definitions for terms used in the cognitive neurosciences. This unique look into the marvelous brain uses language and descriptions that are accessible to readers, even those with just a limited understanding of biology. Discover how our brain is organized and develops, and how educators can use this emerging understanding of cognition to enhance student learning and the school environment. This ready-reference guide to essential concepts and terms in cognitive neurosciences includes: Nearly 300 encyclopedic entries and cross references created to help educators understand key concepts about our brain's organization, development, and learning capabilities Eleven newly created anatomic models and illustrations that focus on key brain systems and functions References and recommended print and Internet resources How to Explain a Brain celebrates the brain in all its wonder and is sure to become a reference book of choice for teachers, instructional leaders, and teacher educators.
Creating Professional Learning Communities That Target Student Learning
"This third edition from Murphy and Lick is a superb resource and a must read for all educators involved in the improvement of education. It should be in the hands of individuals from the state department of education to the classroom teacher, for it speaks to all layers of the system, and to the role that each person must play to assure successful learning for all students." -From the Foreword by Shirley Hord, Scholar Emerita Southwest Educational Development Laboratory "Planning is an important thing. What Whole-Faculty Study Groups has done for us is to ensure that we never forget that implementation is the only thing." Jack Ernst, Superintendent Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO One of the most successful and exciting approaches to staff development, school reform, and systemic change in education today! Used by hundreds of schools and school districts across the country, the Whole-Faculty Study Group (WFSG) System is a student-driven, holistic process for facilitating major staff development and schoolwide change. While providing a step-by-step methodology for the development and implementation of successful WFSGs, this newest edition of Murphy and Lick's groundbreaking bestseller incorporates the most current theoretical concepts on change, the latest refinements to change management procedures, and a wealth of new experiences from more than two thousand individual study groups. Other significant revisions to this edition include: Three additional chapters: the research foundation for WFSGs, how to recognize and understand school culture, and fourteen key findings A reorganization of chapters to make the book even more reader-friendly New material on timely topics such as "learning communities" and "learning teams" An increased focus on assessment of student results Updated sets of resources and illustrations in the appendix WFSGs are a proven way to successfully reform, improve, and transition schools to meet tomorrow's needs. Filled with real-world examples and illustrative cases, this book provides both the practical knowledge and the theoretical foundation necessary to negotiate the societal, organizational, and cultural barriers affecting education. This new edition is essential for administrators, teachers, and staff in K-12 schools, as well as district level administrators, teachers of education, and anyone interested in increasing student learning.
In a companion volume to his highly regarded Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania, William J. Switala focuses on the escaped-slave network in the eastern border states of Delaware and Maryland, as well as the region that became West Virginia in 1863.
