Empowering Excellence inspires a revolution in teaching and assessment practices. These methods of teaching and grading represent a major step ahead in how teachers assess and interact with students. Empowering Excellence presents 12 significant “shifts” that encourage motivation, build confidence, and measure what students know and are able to do based on the Common Core State Standards or equivalent standards in a highly supportive, student-centered environment.Teachers, administ...

In the early 21st Century, a new vision for classroom practice emerged that looks very different from the teaching that existed previously. This new teaching is a synthesis of effective curriculum, big ideas, nurturing relationships, differentiated instruction, appropriate assessment, teaching to standards, use of technology, and solid understanding of the content being taught.Six core principles emerge from the new educational theory that have the power to define and organize this...

What are "essential questions," and how do they differ from other kinds of questions? What's so great about them? Why should you design and use essential questions in your classroom?Essential questions (EQs) help target standards as you organize curriculum content into coherent units that yield focused and thoughtful learning. In the classroom, EQs are used to stimulate students' discussions and promote a deeper understanding of the content.Whether you are an Understanding ...

How brain science is transforming the way we manageWhy is it so hard for managers to get the results they want? According to the latest brain science, it's because most of what they do produces the opposite of what they expect. Appeals to reason fall short, for our decisions are made emotionally, and logic is at best an after-the-fact justification for what we've already determined to do.That's just one of the many amazing discoveries that explain why manag...

Go beyond traditional paper-and-pencil tests!The Common Core State Standards clearly define the skills students need for success in college and the 21st century workplace. The question is, how can you measure student mastery of skills like creativity, problem solving, and use of technology? Laura Greenstein demonstrates how teachers can teach and assess 21st century skills using authentic learning experiences and rigorous, varied assessment strategies. Bas...

A cutting-edge model for 21st century curriculum and instructionHow can you spot a thinking child? Look at the eyes: they’ll light up, signaling that transformative moment when your student has finally grasped that big idea behind critical academic content. If experiences like this are all too rare in your school, then you need a curriculum and instruction model that’s more inquiry-driven and idea-centered. Now.H. Lynn Erickson and Lois Lanning dem...

Explore three defining challenges that school teams face when gathering, interpreting, and utilizing school data. Complete with survey questions for efficient data collection, group work structures, strategies, and tools—along with essential definitions and descriptions of data types—this compelling guide will help you confront data obstacles and turn struggling committees into powerful communities of learners.

In this comprehensive, practical, and unsettling look at computers in children's lives, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., questions whether computers are really helping or harming children's development. Once a bedazzled enthusiast of educational computing but now a troubled skeptic, Dr. Healy examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on children's health, creativity, brain development, and social and emotional growth.Today, the Fed...

Rick Wormeli's new book is sure to inspire readers to take radical responsibility for challenging conventional methods and rules that surround students in schools. Topics include professional issues, motivating and connecting with students, differentiation, literacy, teaching techniques, assessment, grading, and more. One of Rick's many fans shared: "Rick Wormeli has the singular power to motivate me and make me want to better myself. Thank you."

MUST READ FOR MANAGERS: Thinking well is important in all aspects of life, but tackling it explicitly is often overlooked in work-world training programs. Never have thinking skills been more important than now, in the 3rd Millennium, when companies worldwide competE for a competitive edge. Nowhere do you get more bang for your buck than in staff training that boosts people's abilities in the areas of analysis, reasoning, decision making, problem solving, creativity, and planning. Also se...

You don’t need a tweed jacket to be a researcher--in thousands of schools across North America, practising teachers conduct studies on best practices, alternative approaches, and effective learning strategies. Classroom teachers have experiences and opportunities unavailable to researchers in a university setting, and action research--site-based, teacher-conducted research--can have a valuable impact on the educational community. Yet many teachers don’t see their work as real research, and...

An innovative look at reshaping the educational experiences of 21st-century learners!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 provi...