"Revitalize the spirit of your school community and strengthen your common vision and purpose! Many of today's schools suffer from stress fractures as they struggle with challenges of achievement gaps, class sizes, differentiating instruction for diverse students, and responding to ever greater demands for accountability. Longtime facilitator R. Bruce Williams gets to the heart of the matter, emphasizing that change is not just external but also comes from within through revitalized individuals and strong culture. Williams provides administrators with essential tools to nurture the spirits of hard-working professionals and raise morale in their school communities. Each chapter ends with step-by-step activities that build on featured concepts and speed the transition from theory to practice, from struggle to success. The book focuses on seven important aspects of underlying structure that can leverage new patterns of confidence and achievement. Participative processes such as mentoring Visible achievements Common understandings Guided reflections Inspiring success stories Community-building rituals Powerful symbols In powerful, well-formed cultures, common spirit is strong. This book provides everything educators need to work together to transform their learning community into a culture of vitality, energy, vision, and purpose."--pub. desc.

The second edition provides detailed sample lesson plans and includes additional strategies for using extended time formats effectively.

"This book should make educators stop and consider exactly what they mean when they discuss curriculum integration." —Julie Prescott, Assessment Coordinator Vallivue High School, Caldwell, ID "The biggest strength of Fogarty′s work is its clear, concise organization centered on the guiding questions of each chapter." —John C. Baker, Eighth-Grade Social Studies Teacher Salem Middle School, Apex, NC Strategies for moving students towards more holistic and authentic types of learning! For both students and teachers, the mission is essential: to connect ideas, discern themes, and thread skills of various content areas into a cohesive whole. Yet, the question remains: "What does integrating the curricula really mean?" The answers are provided in this updated resource that helps teachers create brain-compatible, learner-centered classrooms and better prepare students for lifelong learning. Based on a four-pronged rationale for using an integrated curriculum—including findings from brain-based research, parental concerns, practitioner challenges, and student perspectives—Robin Fogarty offers ten models that allow teams of teachers to work together to group elements from various content areas into a coherent curriculum that effectively meets standards. The discussion of each model includes: A description of the model How the model can be applied in the classroom Benefits and challenges of the model for teaching and learning Guidelines for when and how to implement the model in the classroom A wealth of reproducibles to aid implementation How to Integrate the Curricula offers the support educators need to integrate concepts, skills, and attitudes and immerse students in content through self-selected, personally relevant learning experiences.

"As a single source of ideas for facilitators and school leaders, this book is excellent. The author very thoroughly covers the material, and the procedures are easy to follow." -Stephen H. Laub, Principal Rolla Junior High School, MO Foster committed, participative teamwork in any environment! Today′s workplace is increasingly shifting from top-down, authoritative leadership to engendering participation from all the stakeholders in a team. In response to this ever-growing trend, R. Bruce Williams provides group facilitators with insights and research about teams working together to reach consensus and accomplish their goals. This revised edition presents current brain research and its implications for team leaders and members, and explores the growing importance of participative processes in collaborative working environments. In a user-friendly format, Williams offers more than 50 practical, step-by-step activities and strategies for immediate implementation, with real-life examples to assist in the consensus-building process. The activities address the four main components of full consensus: Creating a purposeful vision Effecting participative processes Fostering individual commitment Building strong collaborative teams Use this valuable "road map" to set the stage for establishing consensus and effecting successful collaborative teamwork!

Drawing on treaties, international law, the work of other Indigenous scholars, and especially personal experiences, Marie Battiste documents the nature of Eurocentric models of education, and their devastating impacts on Indigenous knowledge. Chronicling the negative consequences of forced assimilation, racism inherent to colonial systems of education, and the failure of current educational policies for Aboriginal populations, Battiste proposes a new model of education, arguing the preservation of Aboriginal knowledge is an Aboriginal right. Central to this process is the repositioning of Indigenous humanities, sciences, and languages as vital fields of knowledge, revitalizing a knowledge system which incorporates both Indigenous and Eurocentric thinking.

This updated edition shows school leaders how to become powerful agents of school change. The author provides 55 tools to aid in the transformation and reform process, allowing all participants to develop skills that foster communication, consensus, and schoolwide support. This valuable resource outlines twelve roles based on the four main functions of effective facilitators: leading the collaboration and change process, providing skills training, acting as a resource consultant, and motivating and energizing the group.

"The format is great! Teachers will love the easy-to-access information, which can serve as a springboard for more in-depth study." —Debi Gartland, Professor of Special Education Towson University "The book is organized to help educators easily find information. There are also useful resources to help parents." —Nicole Guyon, Special Educator Westerly School Department, Cranston, RI The ideal desktop reference for specific disabilities in the inclusive classroom! This updated, detailed reference provides essential information for educators about common exceptionalities they are likely to encounter in an inclusive classroom. In easy-to-understand language, the book provides guidelines for creating safe learning environments, applying disciplinary measures, and defining parents′ and educators′ roles in developing Individualized Education Programs. Presented alphabetically, each entry includes a definition of the disability, background information, characteristics, and a list of related readings, organizations, and agencies, with contact information. The author discusses a wide range of concerns, from ADHD, dyslexia, hearing impairment, and emotional disturbances to muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, aphasia, and cerebral palsy, and includes a review of health disorders such as asthma, diabetes, heart disorders, and hemophilia . The new sections in this second edition cover A comparison of ADHD and bipolar disorder Concise legal explanations and sources, with contact information and Web sites The reauthorization of IDEA 2004, NCLB, and postsecondary transition Brief Reference of Student Disabilities, Second Edition, also provides a compilation of common disability-related acronyms and a list of children′s books dealing with disabilities to foster understanding and awareness.

This how-to handbook defines what school culture is, how it works, and why it is critically important, and helps you assess how your school measures up.

"Emphasizes the importance of matching instructional strategies to the appropriate outcomes.Thia is very important!" —Cindy Harrison, Educational Consultant "My peers would benefit from having this handbook to guide new and struggling teachers and to inspire the expert teacher on staff. Practical suggestions give educators incremental steps toward increasing the active learning level within any classroom, without giving up control of content." —Beverly C. Eidmann, Principal, Arvada Middle School, CO Make a difference in student learning with the latest and best brain-based teaching strategies! Translating brain research into best practice, Donna Walker Tileston, award-winning author, educator, and trainer, offers teachers a simple and concise Strategic Learning Model applicable to all grade levels, content areas, and instructional settings. This systematic cycle focuses on five essentials that teach learners to plug in, power up, synthesize, outsource, and reflect on their learning. Based on the latest brain and educational research, this student-centered, teacher-friendly guide includes: A carefully chosen collection of instructional strategies for promoting the active transfer of knowledge to students′ long-term memory A step-by-step process for planning powerful lessons that make a difference in student learning Sample lesson forms and reproducible templates Sample strategies such as question-and-answer profiles, technology integration, mindjogs, KNLH, group memory, making predictions, cooperative learning, six-hat thinking, collaborative retelling, graphic organizers, thinking at right angles, plus-minus-interesting, and much more This is the teaching methods book for all teachers, instructional leaders, and curriculum designers who want to build students′ motivation, confidence, self-efficacy, and achievement.