Effective science teaching requires creativity, imagination, and innovation. In light of concerns about American science literacy, scientists and educators have struggled to teach this discipline more effectively. Science Teaching Reconsidered provides undergraduate science educators with a path to understanding students, accommodating their individual differences, and helping them grasp the methodsâ€"and the wonderâ€"of science. What impact does teaching style have? How do I plan a course curriculum? How do I make lectures, classes, and laboratories more effective? How can I tell what students are thinking? Why don't they understand? This handbook provides productive approaches to these and other questions. Written by scientists who are also educators, the handbook offers suggestions for having a greater impact in the classroom and provides resources for further research.

Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions: What am I doing? Why am I doing it that way? Are there other ways? Which way is best for my family? Where do I get the resources I need to make it happen? How do I avoid over-spending on curriculum? This book is a wealth of information! Topics and chapters include: Comparison of reading programs Comparison of math programs Developing written expression Adapting materials for special situations. General homeschooling resources Resources for blind, deaf and speech language Curriculum types and styles How to take a snapshot of your child's progress This book is a two-hour read that will provide you with direction, comfort and the means to make your homeschool some together in the ways you dream of. It will help you clear your brain and know your mind and then find the resources you need to carry out your newly discovered vision. You don't want to start homeschooling without it!

This is an invaluable resource (sold as part of a kit) for developing a curriculum which aligns teaching and testing

A critical volume for the homeschooling community that helps parents make informed choices regarding learning styles and curriculum

Choosing & Using Sources presents a process for academic research and writing, from formulating your research question to selecting good information and using it effectively in your research assignments. Additional chapters cover understanding types of sources, searching for information, and avoiding plagiarism. Each chapter includes self-quizzes and activities to reinforce core concepts and help you apply them. There are also appendices for quick reference on search tools, copyright basics, and fair use.

Today, educators often find themselves facing a dizzying array of materials and resources, whether they are a box of dusty skills cards handed down from a retiring teacher, a professional book passed on by a colleague, a procedure recommended by a supervisor, a program required by a district, a book reviewed on a blog, a unit downloaded from a website, or a strategy highlighted in a brochure. But how do we know which of these will help the children in our classrooms? How do we find helpful resources without squandering funding or instructional time-not to mention our students' potential? In The Right Tools, Towanda Harris lays out a path that teachers and administrators can use to make informed decisions about what resources and practices they need for the students they teach. Rather than telling you what to buy or use, Towanda offers tools and guidance to help you to make that decision as you identify what you and your students need match resources with your goals for your students use the resource with a focus on your students assess how well the resource is working adjust how you are using the resource as necessary utilize one of the most powerful resources available to you as a teacher-your colleagues. Resources are only a piece of your teaching, alongside knowledge of best practices, and a deep understanding of your students. Yet each of these pieces can have powerful effects. By finding and using resources that are well matched to your students and their academic goals, you can keep working to help students reach their full potential.

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

102 Top Picks makes it easy for home educators to select the right curriculum for each family situation and each child's learning style. Widely-recognized curriculum expert Cathy Duffy walks you through the curriculum selection process. This is an updated and extensively revised edition of 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2014! Sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), this one-of-a-kind book demonstrates the best tools, resources, and techniques for discovering, selecting, and integrating interactive open educational resources (OERs) into the teaching and learning process. The author examines many of the best repositories and digital library websites for finding high quality materials, explaining in depth the best practices for effectively searching these repositories and the various methods for evaluating, selecting, and integrating the resources into the instructor’s curriculum and course assignments, as well as the institution’s learning management system.

Friendly Biology opens the world of biology to high school students in a gentle, non-intimidating manner. Students are led through meaningful, well-written lessons and lab activities with the goal of attaining a greater respect for the beauty and complexity of living things.Topics covered include:Characteristics common to all living things;Basic chemistry as it pertains to living things;The roles of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids in living systems;Cytology;Mitosis and meiosis;Chromosome duplication and protein synthesis;The importance of pH in living systems;Methods of reproduction;Mendelian genetics;Taxonomy;A survey of members of each kingdom of living things with emphasis placed on various classes and orders of importance;An overview of all body systems of humans andEcology of living things.28 lessons with lab activities included.Worksheet pages sold separately in Student Workbook. Tests sold separately in Tests and Answer Keys Booklet.