Connecting Practices develops a distinctive method of conceptualising significant trends and global issues including environmental sustainability and inequalities in wealth and health, arguing that these are outcomes of the ways in which social practices interact and combine across space and time. Engaging with the question of how connections are made between practices and how past and present combinations make some futures more likely than others, this book brings practice theory to bear on large problems in society. Richly illustrated with examples from the spreading of germs to the history of shipping containers, this powerful analysis of how societies hang together and how they change will appeal to scholars and students of sociology and social theory.

How difficult is it to communicate with your ancestors? We sense their presence, instinctively, and wish to communicate with them. It’s time to realize it is possible. There are numerous reasons you may want to learn how to communicate with your ancestors. For me, the main reason is for healing. To ultimately let go of old hurts and not transfer them on to the next generation. Within the pages of this short read, you will learn: • The Traditions of Ancestral Communication • Who is an Ancestor? • Spiritually Connect With Your Ancestors • How to create an ancestral shrine or altar as well as offerings and prayers. Just like any other relationship, you will need to work at it. Be consistent. Your ancestors will respond to you. By increasing your awareness, you may see the signs they are trying to show you. The best way to begin is now!

Connecting Research and Practice for Educational Improvement presents powerful arguments and richly illustrated cases for how more collaborative relationships between researchers and educators can yield more relevant research that impacts practice. This book can be useful for anyone teaching or learning about research–practice partnerships, in both school and out-of-school settings. The chapters highlight the different dispositions and skills needed to cultivate ethical relationships and promote equity through partnerships and provide rich frameworks for guiding future work.

Found in Translation: Connecting Reconceptualist Thinking with Early Childhood Education Practices highlights the relationships between reconceptualist theory and classroom practice. Each chapter in this edited collection considers a contemporary issue and explores its potential to disrupt the status quo and be meaningful in the lives of young children. The book pairs reconceptualist academics and practitioners to discuss how theories can be relevant in everyday educational contexts, working with children who are from a wide range of cultural, ethnic, gender, language, and social orientations to enable previously unimagined ways of being, thinking, and doing in contemporary times.

This volume delivers a selection of papers presented at an international teaching conference on issues of theory and practice. These key topics will be of interest to novice and veteran teachers, policy makers and all education professionals.

A comprehensive resource on what lockdown drills are, why they are necessary, and how best to conduct them. The first book to offer a comprehensive examination of lockdown drills in K–12 schools, Lockdown Drills balances research findings with practical applications and implications. Schildkraut and Nickerson, school safety experts with complementary backgrounds in criminology and school psychology, review the historical precedents for lockdown drills, distinguish school lockdowns from other emergency procedures (such as active shooter drills), explain why they are conducted, present evidence-based research on their effectiveness, and describe how to conduct them according to best practices. Proponents of lockdown drills as a life-saving necessity, the authors help to bring much-needed standardization to how these drills are studied and conducted. The authors present common arguments for and against the inclusion of lockdown drills in emergency preparedness efforts, balancing their discussion of the perceptions and psychological impacts of lockdown drills with scholarly research on the extent to which lockdown drills improve how effectively individuals respond to a potential threat. Placing lockdown drills in the larger context of school safety and preparedness, they examine the broader implications for policymakers. Finally, they emphasize that drills, of which lockdowns are only one type, are just a part of the complex school safety puzzle. Ensuring that schools are safe places for students and educators begins long before a crisis occurs and continues through the days, weeks, and years of recovery following a crisis.

Describes play workshop experiences that give educators a deeper understanding of play-based learning and illustrate the power of play.

This edited volume presents spiritual and religious perspectives and practices that can be integrated into counseling, written by experts in the field. Included are topics such as transpersonal experiences, prayer, meditation, and non-traditional spiritual approaches.

Transform classrooms and student performance with evidence-based, effective practices Two brains are better than one, as the saying goes, and this is especially true in education. Educators who employ effective collaboration and co-teaching greatly amplify student engagement, achievement, and growth, particularly for those learners needing extra support. Written by two of the nation’s top experts in co-teaching, Connecting High-Leverage Practices to Student Success is an essential, reader-friendly guide for educators and instructional leaders who are passionate about creating truly inclusive classrooms where all students thrive— academically, behaviorally, socially, and emotionally. Inside, authors Melissa Jenkins and Wendy Murawski provide: Three clearly defined steps to build a strong foundation, leverage collaboration, and support students’ growth A laser focus on high-leverage and evidence-based practices for general and special education that optimize educators’ impact, including collaboration, instruction, assessment, and social emotional/behavior skills Seamless integration of practices within MTSS and RTI processes to meet the needs of all learners Countless and concrete samples, examples, tools, reflection exercises, and supplemental materials that enable you to move from theory to immediate instructional practice Positioning collaboration as the catalyst to maximizing high-leverage and evidence-based practices for the success of all students, this easy-to-use handbook belongs on the desk of every teacher working toward a truly inclusive environment.

Since their release in 2010, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) has had a profound impact on educational reform. The adoption of these standards represents an opportunity to support teachers in the common goal of helping students achieve a high-quality education. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics will affect almost every K-12 student and the majority of the US’s teachers over the next decade. Although the CCSSM was created through a top-down approach, spearheaded by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School officers, the primary audience and the ultimate users of the standards are classroom teachers. The focus of this book is on the Standards of Mathematical Practice outlined in the CCSSM. Although the CCSSM features these standards prominently, they are not described in detail and are not integrated into CCSSM's Standards for Mathematical Content. As a result, they are easy to overlook or ignore. The ideas in the Standards for Mathematical Practice are not new but linked to previous practices and standards articulated by other groups, including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). For example, problem solving and reasoning are at the core of all practices outlined in CCSSM, just as they have been at the core of NCTM's vision for mathematics education since the publication of An Agenda for Action in 1980. Subsequent NCTM curriculum recommendations, emphasized and elaborated the role and place of mathematical processes and practices. The Standards of Mathematical Process outlined in CCSSM, and explored in greater detail in this book, reaffirm the significance of habits of mind, mathematical processes, and proficiency as crucial aspects of learning mathematics. Although the terms and emphasis may be new to teachers, the main ideas have existed a long time and remain unchanged. Intended for classroom teachers, this book makes explicit connections between these related ideas and the CCSSM Standards for Mathematical Practice. By connecting the CCSSM to previous standards and practices, the book serves as a valuable guide for teachers and administrators in implementing the CCSSM to make mathematics education the best and most effective for all students.