Classroom Strategies

The Power of SMART Goals shows readers how to transform their schools into places where every student is meeting and exceeding standards by shifting thinking to a focus on results. When goals are not used to prioritize efforts and resources, which in turn focuses behavior, people naturally return to the daily list of urgent problems, issues, crises, and new initiatives, ending each day feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activities. Furthermore, goal setting is rarely used at the classroom level to improve rates of learning, even though they are powerful in improving achievement. This book s premise is that by implementing SMART (Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based and Time-bound) goals, educators have the ability to transform their schools and classrooms into places where each and every student meets and exceeds standards. Before educators can embrace SMART goals, however, they must first focus their thinking on results. The authors present several frameworks for adult and student goal-setting and then discuss: the barriers to goal-setting and monitoring; how to keep goals alive through supportive systems, policies, structures, and skill-building; the role of assessment in goal-setting; the power of goals to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment; the role of professional development practices in goal-setting and improvement; how to build capacity for goal-oriented thinking; and case studies from real schools that are turning challenges into opportunities for learning and improvement.

Close-reading strategies help students develop the literacy and critical-thinking skills essential for the rest of their lives. Close Reading in the Secondary Classroom offers high school and middle school educators extensive guidance on how to introduce close-reading strategies to students and help them improve their reading comprehension skills and critical thinking. Learn how to select close-reading examples and passages, elicit deeper question formation, facilitate positive classroom discussion, and assess your students' reading comprehension skills and literacy progress. Use research-based close-reading instruction strategies to increase student literacy and critical-thinking skills: Understand the importance of close reading, prereading, and post-reading activities. Learn how to choose appropriate literary or informational texts for close reading. Pass on tools necessary for literary analysis and annotating text. Develop thought-provoking questions and discussion that deepen text analysis and reading comprehension skills. Assess students' creative- and critical-thinking skills. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Research and Theory Chapter 2: Prereading Chapter 3: Reading Twice and Annotating Chapter 4: Generating Questions and Reading Analytically Chapter 5: Discussing as a Class or Analyzing Individually, and Using Processing Activities Chapter 6: Planning and Assessing Close Reading Epilogue Appendix A: Answers to Comprehension Questions Appendix B: Extended Examples of Close Reading

Mindfulness is an effective, low-cost way for educators to help students improve their social and emotional wellness as they learn and grow. The authors share practical tools that align to the five key categories of mindfulness benefits-stress reduction, attention, emotional control, positive self-concept, and positive interactions-and offer a step-by-step process for establishing a formal school or classroom mindfulness program. Benefits: Recognize what mindfulness is and is not, in order to use mindfulness practices in the classroom, so that students know how to cope with their emotions. Consider research that presents the benefits of mindfulness practices, to help students focus their brains for extended periods of time and increase their emotional intelligence. Get student-friendly definitions of mindfulness terms, to make students more mindful of their emotions and ultimately foster better classroom cultures and higher student achievement. Answer chapter-ending comprehension questions and compare your answers to those provided in an appendix, to examine your understanding of mindfulness.

Discover the components of proactive classroom management. With this practical, step-by-step guide, teachers and school administrators will uncover five components that help improve student achievement and decrease classroom problems. Create clear expectations and rules, establish procedures and structure, reinforce expectations, actively engage students, and manage misbehavior. Learn how to develop individualized behavior plans to help students who continue to struggle.

Combine hard work and deep fun in classrooms with digital game–based learning. Students of the always-on generation gain information through different tools and learn differently than generations before them. Discover how to incorporate digital games and use them to craft engaging, academically applicable classroom activities that address content standards and revitalize learning for both teachers and students.

Are you relevant to your students? The Connected Educator examines and explores the ways educators can use their surrounding landscapes--including the landscape of technology and social media--to re-envision what happens inside schools and classrooms. You'll learn that in order to reclaim the power of your own professional learning, you must first create a connected learning community. Comprised of three different learning environments--local (professional learning community), contextual (personal learning network), and global (community of practice)--the connected learning community in total allows like-minded learners to contribute, interact, share ideas, and reflect. With the power of technology behind you, along with a community of other connected educators, you'll improve your own learning and ultimately the learning of your students.

Learn everything you need to know to implement an integrated system of assessment and grading. The author details the specific benefits of formative assessment.

If students are not engaged, there is little, if any, chance that they will learn what is being addressed in class. A basic premise of The Highly Engaged Classroom is that student engagement happens as a result of a teacher s careful planning and execution of specific strategies. In other words, student engagement is not serendipitous. This book was designed as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of how to generate high levels of attention and engagement. Engagement is obviously a central aspect of effective teaching. Using the suggestions presented in this book, every teacher can create a classroom environment in which engagement is the norm instead of the exception. Part of the Classroom Strategies That Work library, this clear, highly practical guide follows the series format, first summarizing key research and then translating it into recommendations for classroom practice. In addition to the explanations and examples of engagement strategies, each chapter includes helpful exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the content. Because research and theory can provide only a general direction for classroom practice, The Highly Engaged Classroom (and each book in the series) goes one step further to translate that research into applications for the classroom. Specifically, it addresses four emblematic questions students ask themselves, the answers to which determine how involved students are in classroom activities: How do I feel?, Am I interested?, Is this important?, and Can I do this? For each of these four emblematic questions, specific classroom strategies are provided in chapters 2 through 5.

In many classrooms, teachers assign homework out of habit. Learn to design quality, purposeful homework instead. The author urges educators to reflect on the purpose of student assignments to determine if and when homework is valuable. Prepare students and measure their comprehension by assigning purposeful work, setting clear expectations, and providing feedback as the unit of study unfolds.

Teachers can cultivate a positive mindset, and choose productive actions by examining their emotions and interpretations in the classroom. By investigating three management phases (awareness, analysis, and choice), teachers can become mindful of factors that influence their interactions with students and learn a process for ensuring positive outcomes. They will gain concrete strategies and activities that enhance classroom practice and impact student learning.

Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading offers teachers everything they need to know to implement an integrated system of assessment and grading that will enhance both their own teaching and their students learning. Much has been written about the benefits of formative assessment that is, assessment that is used while instruction is occurring rather than at the end of a course or unit but most descriptions of the practice have been general. Dr. Robert Marzano provides the specifics. He explains how to design and interpret three different types of formative assessments, how to track student progress, and how to assign meaningful grades, even if a school or district continues to use a traditional grading system. He brings each concept to life with detailed examples of teachers from different subject areas applying it in their classrooms. The second book in the Classroom Strategies That Work library, this clear, highly practical guide follows the series format, first summarizing key research and then translating it into recommendations for classroom practice. In addition to the explanations and examples of assessment and grading strategies, each chapter includes helpful exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the content.

A teacher's first year in the classroom is crucial. New teachers require time and professional guidance to become successful expert teachers. However, initially they often feel isolated and unequipped to take on new-teacher responsibilities. Without support, new teachers may not gain the confidence and knowledge necessary to continue teaching. In Supporting Beginning Teachers, author Tina H. Boogren outlines four types of support (1) physical, (2) emotional, (3) instructional, and (4) institutional and provides essential strategies for K-12 mentors, coaches, and school leaders to develop an effective mentoring program schoolwide.

Motivating Students: 25 Strategies to Light the Fire of Engagement is a practical, hands-on guide to help teachers get all students excited about learning. Authors Carolyn Chapman and Nicole Vagle realize the importance of motivation in the classroom and the repercussions when students are unmotivated and unengaged. Their motivational framework, five core areas to light the fire of engagement in every classroom, structures the chapters: build a classroom learning community, describe and plan learning, find adventure, promote choice and control, and ensure learning. Chapter 1 lays the groundwork by defining motivation, exploring the research, explaining influential factors, describing common unmotivated learners, and providing a self-assessment for teachers to reflect on their current motivational practice. Chapters 2 through 6 the book s foundation discuss in detail each aspect of the motivation framework and outline twenty-five strategies to employ based on the root causes of particular unmotivated behaviors. The authors describe each strategy, identify tips and traps to be aware of during planning and implementation, and provide detailed, specific activities to put the strategy into practice. They explore how to create a classroom community with diverse and challenging learning opportunities so each student is motivated to succeed. Not only do students learn through challenging, appealing, and rewarding experiences, but they also continue trying when they can see where they are going and how to get there. Effective motivation creates an internal desire to grow academically, cognitively, and emotionally. Finally, chapter 7 looks at the big picture and explores how teachers, administrators, school staff, parents, and others contribute to student motivation. The authors answer some of the most frequently asked questions about motivation and engagement, including suggestions for common problems. Each chapter closes with a campfire talk, in which key questions guide the reader in professional learning conversations with colleagues; these talks can be used by individual readers or through group professional development. Motivating Students also includes an abundance of reproducibles to help teachers implement the strategies.