This book combines cognitive learning theory, constructivist learning theory, brain-based learning theory with chaos theory to create an entirely new theory of learning. It shows how the four theories share mutual principles that explain many of the gaps in our understanding of the learning process. The authors take the reader through each of the theories and explain their overlapping principles. Using examples from actual classrooms from elementary school to graduate school, they show how an understanding of the new learning theory helps create the conditions necessary for critical thinking and deep understanding of content. The last chapter is a play-by-play set of instructions for creating chaos in your own classroom.

When Abi walks into her dorm room on her first day at a new boarding school, she is immediately picked to be the school bully’s target for the year. Lucky for her, Flame has just transported himself to the human world and they become fast friends. Flame uses his magic spells to take on the school bully and help Abi make new friends along the way!

Fed up with students who talk over you and ignore instructions? Drained and worn out by disruption, disobedience, and defiance? Does the thought of facing some groups fill you with utter dread? Drawing on 20+ years experience in special education and mainstream settings, teacher-trainer Rob Plevin explains a proven, step-by-step plan for successfully managing the most challenging individuals and groups in today’s toughest classrooms. Packed with powerful, fast-acting techniques – including a novel routine to get any class quiet in 15 seconds or less – this book helps teachers across all age groups connect and succeed with hard-to-reach, reluctant learners. You’ll discover: The simple six-step plan to minimise & deal with classroom behaviour problems How to gain trust & respect from tough, hard-to-reach students How to put an end to power struggles & confrontation How to have students follow your instructions… with no need to repeat yourself The crucial importance of consistency (and how to achieve it) Quick and easy ways to raise engagement and enjoyment in your lessons The ‘Clean Slate’ – a step by step method you can use to ‘start over’ with that particularly difficult group of students who won’t do anything you say. Take Control of the Noisy Class provides hundreds of practical ideas and interventions to end your classroom management struggles & create a thoroughly enjoyable lesson climate for all concerned.

Fractals for the Classroom breaks new ground as it brings an exciting branch of mathematics into the classroom. The book is a collection of independent chapters on the major concepts related to the science and mathematics of fractals. Written at the mathematical level of an advanced secondary student, Fractals for the Classroom includes many fascinating insights for the classroom teacher and integrates illustrations from a wide variety of applications with an enjoyable text to help bring the concepts alive and make them understandable to the average reader. This book will have a tremendous impact upon teachers, students, and the mathematics education of the general public. With the forthcoming companion materials, including four books on strategic classroom activities and lessons with interactive computer software, this package will be unparalleled.

Responding to current debates on the place of play in schools, the authors have extensively revised their groundbreaking book. They explain how and why play is a critical part of children’s development, as well as the central role adults have to promote it. This classic textbook and popular practitioner resource offers systematic descriptions and analyses of the different roles a teacher adopts to support play, including those of stage manager, mediator, player, scribe, assessor, communicator, and planner. This new edition has been expanded to include significant developments in the broadening landscape of early learning and care, such as assessment, diversity and culture, intentional teaching, inquiry, and the construction of knowledge. New for the Second Edition of The Play’s the Thing! Additional theories on the relationship of teachers and children’s play, e.g., Vygotsky and the role of imaginary play and Reggio Emilia’s image of the competent child.Current issues from media content, consumer culture, and environmental concerns.Standards and testing in preschool and kindergarten.Bridging the cultural gap between home and school.Using digital technology to make children’s play visible.Recent brain development research.And much more! Elizabeth Jones is faculty emerita in human development at Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California. Gretchen Reynolds is on the faculty in the early childhood education program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada. Their other books on play include Master Players (Reynolds & Jones) and Playing to Get Smart (Jones & Cooper). “The Play’s the Thing provides an excellent summary of theories related to the importance of children's play and illustrates the six roles teachers can use to put these theories into practice.” —Harvard Educational Review “This book describes the knowledge that is required to foster play and to use it as a solid foundation on which to build learning.” —From the Foreword to the First Edition by Elizabeth Prescott, Faculty Emerita, Pacific Oaks College “Playful learning offers educators a plan for creating fun and engaging pedagogies that support rich curricula. . . . And this book offers magnificent descriptions and evidence-based examples of how teachers can pave this new road and create a climate for learning via play.” —From the Foreword to the Second Edition by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, University of Delaware

Running into the school to escape a hungry owl was easy. But with the door locked and an angry dog chasing him, how will Twitch the squirrel get back out? He'll need a hand, of course. . . . and maybe a paw, a fin, and a wing, too. Can the classroom pets—including Sweetie the library rat, a snake named Angel, and the first graders' Green Eggs and Hamster—help Twitch get back to his cozy home in the trees? Each chapter is told in the voice of a different animal as the squirrel works his way through the school, visiting each classroom and trying to stay one step ahead of the principal's menacing dog, Cuddles. The different perspectives make this a perfect introduction to narrative point-of-view—and an extra-funny read-aloud. Lively black and white illustrations add to the humor, depicting Twitch's mad dash through the school and the chaos created by a band of class pets on the loose. With short, funny chapters, young readers will race through this novel to find out what the pets do next. For more of Twitch's adventures, check out Squirrel in the House and Squirrel in the Museum.

Has teaching left you stressed, frustrated, or even discouraged? In Teach Uplifted you'll discover how to... Renew your passion for teaching by finding joy and peace in Christ Teach with joy even in difficult circumstances Banish anxiety and learn to trust God instead But be warned: This is not a collection of light, fluffy, feel-good stories. These powerful devotions will completely transform the way you view your life, your classroom, and your relationship with God.

As a field of mathematical study, chaos and complexity theory analyzes the state of dynamical systems by evaluating how they interact, evolve, and adapt. Though this theory impacts a variety of disciplines, it also has significant influence on educational systems and settings. Applied Chaos and Complexity Theory in Education examines the application of the theories of chaos and complexity in relation to educational systems and institutions. Featuring emergent research and perspectives on mathematical patterns in educational settings and instructional practices, this book is a comprehensive reference source for researchers, scholars, mathematicians, and graduate students.

The fifth Magic Kitten title in this charming new series. Flame is prince and heir to the Lion throne but he is not yet strong enough to stand up to the evil uncle who killed his parents and is trying to claim Flame's throne for his own. Flame must hide in the human world as a kitten but can't stay in any place for too long for fear of his uncle finding him. So Flame travels from family to family in various kitten guises using his, often chaotic, magic spells to help those who need it along the way. Eve really doesn't want to spend half-term away from home helping at her parent's friend's cattery. Not only is she away from all her friends but Alison the girl who lives there, doesn't seem to like her at all! But then a tiny kitten with silky sandy-coloured fur turns up who is VERY different from all the cats in the cattery and Eve's half-term suddenly becomes a magical one...

This book will help teachers understand the theory that underlies what is happening in the process-writing classroom.