November 2017 PD Books: Home

A cutting-edge model for 21st century curriculum and instruction. Looking for that one transformative moment when a student's eyes light up, signaling he or she has finally grasped that big idea behind critical academic content? Concept-based curriculum and instruction is a way to make those moments many. H. Lynn Erickson and Lois Lanning offer new insight on: How to design and implement concept-based curriculum and instruction across all subjects and grade levels Why content and process are two equally important aspects of any effective concept-based curriculum How to ensure students develop the all-important skill of synergistic thinking.

Give math students the connections between what they learn and how they do math--and suddenly math makes sense. If your secondary-school students are fearful of or frustrated by math, it's time for a new approach. When you teach concepts rather than rote processes, you help students discover their own natural mathematical abilities. This book is a road map to retooling how you teach math in a deep, clear, and meaningful way to help students achieve higher-order thinking skills. Jennifer Wathall shows you how to plan units, engage students, assess understanding, incorporate technology, and there's even a companion website with additional resources.

This book serves as a road map for Concept-Based teaching. Teachers will discover how to help students uncover conceptual relationships and transfer them to new situations. This includes strategies for introducing conceptual learning to students, how to assess conceptual understanding and how to differentiate concept-based instruction. For deep learning and innovative thinking, this book is the place to start.

This indispensable guide combines proven curriculum design with teaching methods that encourage students to learn concepts as well as content and skills for deep understanding across all subject areas.

An updated guide to combining curriculum design with teaching methods that encourage students to learn concepts and well as content and skills in all subject areas that offers teachers practical tips for designing curriculum and instruction that foster the continuous growth and development of students' key skills.

This updated edition of the best-selling guide to curriculum design for quality teaching, provides practical structure, planning tools, and specific classroom examples of effective curriculum strategies. This resource covers a wide range of topics, including: - Concept-based instruction - Aligning local curriculum with state and national content standards - Brain-based teaching methods - Higher-ordering thinking skills - Assessing and reporting student progress - Creating a life-long love of learning.

Schools that have adopted the ancient principles of restorative justice in their approach to disciplinary matters are reporting better relationships with young people, greater engagement in learning, and a greater development of social and emotional competence among learners. This title provides an introduction to restorative practice in schools.

Classroom management is traditionally a matter of encouraging good behavior and discouraging bad by doling out rewards and punishments. But studies show that when educators empower students to address and correct misbehavior among themselves, positive results are longer lasting and more wide reaching. In Better Than Carrots or Sticks longtime educators and best-selling authors Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey provide a practical blueprint for creating a cooperative and respectful classroom climate in which students and teachers work through behavioral issues together. After a comprehensive overview of the roots of the restorative practices movement in schools, the authors explain how to* Establish procedures and expectations for student behavior that encourage the development of positive interpersonal skills;* Develop a nonconfrontational rapport with even the most challenging students; and* Implement conflict resolution strategies that prioritize relationship building and mutual understanding over finger-pointing and retribution.Rewards and punishments may help to maintain order in the short term, but they're at best superficially effective and at worst counterproductive. This book will prepare teachers at all levels to ensure that their classrooms are welcoming, enriching, and constructive environments built on collective respect and focused on student achievement.

Moody. Reckless. Impractical. Insecure. Distracted. These are all words commonly used to describe adolescents. But what if we recast these traits in a positive light? Teens possess insight, passion, idealism, sensitivity, and creativity in abundance--all qualities that can make a significant positive contribution to society.In this thought-provoking book, Thomas Armstrong looks at the power and promise of the teenage brain from an empathetic, strength-based perspective--and describes what middle and high school educators can do to make the most of their students' potential.Thoroughly grounded in current neuroscience research, the book explains what we know about how the adolescent brain works and proposes eight essential instructional elements that will help students develop the ability to think, make healthy choices, regulate their emotions, handle social conflict, consolidate their identities, and learn enough about the world to move into adulthood with dignity and grace.Armstrong provides practical strategies and real-life examples from schools that illustrate these eight key practices in action.

Most of us have no idea what's really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know--like the need for physical activity to get your brain working its best. How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget--and so important to repeat new knowledge? Is it true that men and women have different brains? In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule--what scientists know for sure about how our brains work--and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives. Medina's fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You'll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You'll peer over a surgeon's shoulder as he proves that most of us have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You'll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can't tie his own shoes. You will discover how: Every brain is wired differently - Exercise improves cognition - We are designed to never stop learning and exploring - Memories are volatile - Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn - Vision trumps all of the other senses - Stress changes the way we learn. In the end, you'll understand how your brain really works--and how to get the most out of it.

Neurologist Dr. Frances E. Jensen offers a revolutionary look at the brains of teenagers, dispelling myths and offering practical advice for teens, parents, and teachers.

Discusses how exercise improves one's capacity to learn and handle stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction, hormonal changes, and aging.

Raise the bar with the best of what is known about how the brain/mind learns higher-order skills such as critical thinking, planning, decision-making and persistence are the key to success for today's students. Fully revised to respond to the Common Core and other timely developments, this indispensable guide builds the bridge from brain research to classroom practice. The updated third edition offers More strategies to deeply engage students and build foundational learning skills Guidance on peer-based professional development through Process Learning Circles Reflective questions and checklists for assessing progress  Updated, real-life examples  Bridge research to practice through these innovative strategies to create a school environment where students and faculty learn and thrive.

Reading comes easily to some students, but many struggle with some part of this complex process that requires many areas of the brain to operate together through an intricate network of neurons. As a classroom teacher who has also worked as a neurologist, Judy Willis offers a unique perspective on how to help students not only learn the mechanics of reading and comprehension, but also develop a love of reading. She shows the importance of establishing a nonthreatening environment and provides teaching strategies that truly engage students and help them * Build phonemic awareness * Manipulate patterns to improve reading skills * Improve reading fluency * Combat the stress and anxiety that can inhibit reading fluency * Increase vocabulary *Overcome reading difficulties that can interfere with comprehension By enriching your understanding of how the brain processes language, emotion, and other stimuli, this book will change the way you understand and teach reading skills--and help all your students become successful readers.