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In Inside PLCs at Work, authors Craig Dougherty and Casey Reason take the readers on a journey to Sheridan County School District 2, a school network that has implemented the Professional Learning Community at Work process to great success, to provide an in-depth view of the vast benefits successful implementation can have. F-12 teachers and administrators will develop a thorough understanding of the PLC process by exploring its foundational concepts and qualities; learn about the successful implementation at Sheridan County School District 2; understand how to implement the PLC process in their own schools in a nuanced and meaningful fashion; utilise real-world examples to garner further insight into the PLC process; and gain helpful tools to guide their work during the PLC journey.

Starting a movement helps to sustain and support the energy and purpose of schools as they transform into professional learning communities (PLCs). The authentic alignment model helps bridge the gulf between principles and practice to cultivate an environment where a PLC soars rather than stalls. Educators will learn to express, clarify and align their beliefs so that they are meaningful to teachers, staff and other stakeholders; create a maximum buy-in among all members of the school community; use the authors' authentic alignment model to help keep their actions aligned to their schools' mission and vision; and reinforce the researched, results-proven PLC within their school culture.

You may be able to design creative, compelling lessons. But if your classroom is chaotic or its inhabitants are disrespectful, your students will not be learning well. And you will be anywhere from dissatisfied to miserable! Kim Campbell knows the ins and outs of classroom management. She's a real, live, practising middle years teacher with a great gift of humour, a straight-talking approach and a parade of 12- to 15-year-old culturally mixed students to keep her honest. This is her story of what works, what doesn’t and what she’s learned from her students, parents and colleagues. In the manner of a teacher having a chat with another teacher, Kim shares strategies, stories and ideas for how to stop creating behaviour and management problems yourself, and more.

Get past the knowing-doing gap with the practical tools and actionable steps in Standards-Based Learning in Action: Moving from Theory to Practice. Authors Tom Schimmer, Garnet Hillman and Mandy Stalets offer implementation practices and processes that rightly compare students' comprehension to performance standards instead of comparing them to each other. The approach also gives explicit guidance for separating behaviours from academics. Delve into the research or go directly to the action plans and effective communication strategies for talking to students and parents about the classroom changes that occur while transitioning to standards-based learning.

How do teachers and schools create meaningful learning experiences for students with diverse skills, abilities and cultures? How can teachers authentically assess the learning of their students and build n their strengths and interests in ways that enrich the larger community? How can schools become places where everyone is learning from each other? These are the questions that guide the work of teachers at the well-known Mission Hill School and that are addressed in this book. Teaching in Themes will help schools incorporate a whole-school, theme-based curriculum that engages students across years F-8.

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. 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.

You’ve probably heard that teaching is a journey. So . . . where are you on yours?

That all depends on which challenges you’re currently facing. Trying to solve them all at once would lead to disorientation and burnout, so where to start? For guidance, join five of America’s leading thinkers, consultants and writers on teaching and learning as they demonstrate the power of self-reflection to achieve ever-deeper insights into your own strengths – and ever-better results from your students.

Educators know engagement when they see it, but can they articulate how it forms? In Loving What They Learn: Research-Based Strategies to Increase Student Engagement, Alexander McNeece explains how competence, autonomy, relatedness and relevance are the keys to engagement, and from those connections, a cycle of self-efficacy emerges. Knowing the science behind behaviours and how to increase student competence and autonomy, foster healthy relationships and connect content to real life means F-12 teachers and administrators can create a culture where all students dive deep into their learning.

Whether students are outgoing or withdrawn, are defiant or inattentive, have developmental disabilities or suffer from mental illness, connecting with them is the key to teaching them. This remarkable book shows you how to connect with students, get to know what makes them tick and discover what makes them behave and learn the way they do (or don't). Reaching & Teaching Them All shows you how to use body language, humour, shared experiences and curriculum to engage students, manage the classroom and support learning. This comprehensive approach to improving your students' learning environment in your classroom is full of fresh strategies for F-12. New and experienced teachers will find valuable insights, checklists and tools for reaching individual students, small groups and a whole class.

Powerful Understanding explores effective ways to build social-emotional skills and help students make connections, question what they read and transform their thinking as they develop into stronger readers and learners. It offers insightful lessons that integrate strategic and critical thinking to deepen student understanding, and introduces a model to use for exploring, interacting with and reflecting on everything you teach. Hands-on activities and student samples illustrate this unique and comprehensive approach to inquiry-based learning. Ideal for new and experienced teachers, this remarkable book features the tools teachers need to help students think more deeply, learn more widely and develop a more powerful understanding of what it means to be responsible and compassionate.

How Do I Get Them to Write? Investigates the vital connection between reading and writing. This remarkable book argues that reading, writing and the inevitable discussions that follow lead students to appreciate the experiences of others, open their minds to new possibilities, gain a glimpse into unknown worlds, make connections to their own live and reflect on their own choices and learning. How Do I Get Them to Write? is committed to helping teachers get all students writing regardless of their attitudes or their current abilities. Based on the premise that all students can learn to write with appropriate teaching, modelling and practice, this is an ideal resource for teachers who love writing as well as for those who find it a challenging process.

Students discuss an issue, then read and interact with a story about it. They connect the story to their own experiences, reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours and recommend solutions. Learn More