Your students may recognize words like determine, analyze, and distinguish, but do they understand these words well enough to quickly and completely answer a standardized test question? For example, can they respond to a question that says “determine the point of view of John Adams in his ‘Letter on Thomas Jefferson’ and analyze how he distinguishes his position from an alternative approach articulated by Thomas Jefferson”? Students from kinder ...
In this essential new book, best-selling author and researcher Robert J. Marzano and teacher-effectiveness expert Michael D. Toth lay out a framework for the “next generation” of teacher evaluation: a model focused primarily on helping educators develop and improve their practice. By taking into account multiple accurate, data-rich measures of teacher performance and student growth, the model ensures that all teachers receive fair, meaningful, a ...
Checklists help us work better. They help us manage complex tasks more effectively and ensure we apply what we know correctly and consistently. They've become indispensable for airline pilots and doctors, but can this low-tech approach to planning and problem solving demand a place in the teacher's toolkit? Teaching is complicated, with challenging decisions and important consequences, but it's in the most complex situations that ...
In this galvanizing follow-up to the best-selling Teaching with Poverty in Mind , renowned educator and learning expert Eric Jensen digs deeper into engagement as the key factor in the academic success of economically disadvantaged students. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind reveals * Smart, purposeful engagement strategies that all teachers can use to expand students ...
Whether students leave the classroom confident and goal-directed or frustrated and aimless depends on our ability to do two things: diagnose their needs and deliver support. This challenge can be daunting when students come to school with weak vocabulary, poor planning and organization skills, and problems with memory, impulse control, and attention span. Causes & Cures reveals new neurological research about the root causes of these obst ...
Just as all teachers know what it's like to teach students who struggle to set goals, follow rules, stay on task, and stay motivated, all teachers can recognize students who are able to self-regulate. They are the ones who approach challenge with confidence, plan their learning tactics, maintain focus, work well with peers, monitor their progress, seek help when they need it, and adjust their approach for next time. They are the ones who su ...
Every school relies on teachers who informally and voluntarily lead various efforts in the school. These teachers may not be appointed leaders or paid leaders, but they are committed leaders: they see a need and they respond to it. What do these teacher leaders do that is different from the work of excellent teachers who are not teacher leaders? If we can articulate those skills, says Charlotte Danielson, then we can take steps to enable m ...
How can teachers help students develop the literacy skills that are necessary for learning and retaining information in any subject? Traditional memory tricks, mnemonic devices, graphic organizers, and role playing do little to turn bored or reluctant students into enthusiastic learners. In A Teacher's Guide to Multisensory Learning: Improving Literacy by Engaging the Senses, Lawrence Baines shows teachers how to engage students through h ...