Ready-to-Use Resources for Genius Hour in the Classroom provides practical advice and a wealth of hands-on resources for teachers to implement Genius Hour, or passion projects, in the classroom. This book: Includes everything educators need to help students apply their learning and reach deep understanding. Engages the six P's of Genius Hour: passion, plan, pitch, project, product, and presentation. Features built-in opportunities to to gamify the process. Helps increase students' critical thinking, creativity, and engagement. Is a valuable standalone resource and companion to Genius Hour. Students can "level up," earning badges and points, as they create, design, and carry out projects and develop ideas that impact their classroom, school, community, and world. Through the tools and tips provided, teachers will see Genius Hour as more than an hour, more than a strategy or activity separate from the regular curriculum. When implemented effectively, Genius Hour can be a more meaningful teaching and learning experience than any other.

Promote your students’ creativity and get them excited about learning! In this practical new book, authors Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi show you how to implement Genius Hour, a time when students can develop their own inquiry-based projects around their passions and take ownership of their work. Brought to you by MiddleWeb and Routledge Eye On Education, the book takes you step-by-step through planning and teaching Genius Hour. You’ll learn how to guide your students as they: Develop inquiry questions based on their interests; Conduct research to learn more about their topic of choice; Create presentations to teach their fellow students in creative ways; and Present their finished product for a final assessment. At the end of the book, you’ll find handy FAQs and ready-made lessons and resources. In addition, a companion website, www.geniushourguide.org, offers bonus materials and regular updates to support you as you implement Genius Hour in your own classroom.

Join The Passion-Driven Classroom Summer Book Club on the Curriculum 21 Ning! Discover ways to cultivate a thriving and passionate community of learners – in your classroom! In this book, educators and consultants Angela Maiers and Amy Sandvold show you how to spark and sustain your students’ energy, excitement, and love of learning. This book presents ideas for planning and implementing a Clubhouse Classroom, where passion meets practice every day. In the Clubhouse Classroom, students learn new skills and explore their talents with the help of educators who are invigorated by the subjects they teach. Contents include: Achievement Gap or Passion Gap? A Passion-Driven Classroom: The Essentials Organizing the Clubhouse Classroom Managing the Clubhouse Classroom Learn how to move away from prescription-driven learning toward passion-driven learning, and begin to make a real difference in the lives of your students. These strategies will help teachers in Grades K-12 put the "heart" back into teaching and learning – and make a lasting impact as educators!

Careers in the 21st century are changing, but traditional education methods are not preparing students for these new jobs and demands. In this thought-provoking book, esteemed educator A.J. Juliani describes how we need to modify our classrooms to instill in students the drive for inquiry and innovation that they will need to succeed beyond school doors. Juliani reveals the ways that teachers can use Google’s 20% Time, Genius Hour, and Project-Based Learning to make students more creative, inquisitive, engaged in learning, and self-motivated—the kind of people we need to move society forward! He offers easy ways to implement these ideas while meeting the Common Core and still allowing plenty of time for content instruction. Special Features: Research on the benefits of inquiry-based learning Connections to the Common Core State Standards Stories and examples from the field Exciting ideas for using 20% Time, Genius Hour, and PBL at various grade levels Tips for preparing parents and administration for your new instruction Ideas for expanding your knowledge and continually learning in this area Classroom applications for each chapter, including sample projects and resources Bonus content with reproducible materials that you can use in your classroom right now, such as student checklists, questions, lessons, and unit plans As Juliani emphasizes, if we want our students to change the world, we must change our classrooms to foster inquiry and innovation.

In this book you'll learn how to: tap into your passion as a teacher - even when you're less than excited about the subject; develop creative presentations that capture your students' interest; establish rapport and a sense of camaraderie in your classroom; transform your class into a life-changing experience for your students. --from back cover.

There’s more to student success than standards and test scores… Integrating Social and Emotional Learning into a curriculum has been shown to increase personal and school-wide growth. With lifelong success the goal over simply meeting academic thresholds, Teaching Kids to Thrive presents strategies, activities, and stories in an approachable way to develop responsible, self-motivated learners. Uniting social, academic, and self-skills this instrumental resource offers benefits to students such as: Using mindfulness strategies to help students tap their inner strengths Learning to self-regulate and control other executive brain functions Developing growth mindsets along with perseverance and resilience Cultivating a sense of responsibility, honesty, and integrity Encouraging a capacity for empathy and gratitude

How do we educate so all can learn? What does differentiation look like when done successfully? This practical guide to differentiation answers these questions and more. Based on national and international work, McCarthy shares how educators finally understand how differentiation can work. Bridging pedagogy and practice, each chapter addresses a key understanding for how good teaching practices can include differentiation with examples and concrete methods and strategies. The book is constructed to differentiate for diverse educators: veteran of many years to the pre-service teacher, classroom teacher leader to administrator as instructional leader, and coaches for staff professional development: Presents common language for staff discussing learner needs. Provides structures for designing powerful learning experiences so all can learn. Includes chapter reflection questions and job-embedded tasks to help readers process and practice what they learn. Explore a supporting website with companion resources. All learners deserve growth. All teachers and administrators deserve methods and practices that helps them to meet learner needs in an ever challenging education environment. Take this journey so all can learn.

Textbooks are symbols of centuries-old education. They're often outdated as soon as they hit students' desks. Acting "by the textbook" implies compliance and a lack of creativity. It's time to ditch those textbooks--and those textbook assumptions about learning In Ditch That Textbook, teacher and blogger Matt Miller encourages educators to throw out meaningless, pedestrian teaching and learning practices. He empowers them to evolve and improve on old, standard, teaching methods. Ditch That Textbook is a support system, toolbox, and manifesto to help educators free their teaching and revolutionize their classrooms.

The Definitive Guide to Depth and Complexity After successfully using the framework themselves, writing about it on their websites, and facilitating hundreds of hours of training, Ian Byrd and Lisa Van Gemert are bringing you an approachable, comprehensive guide to Depth and Complexity. In it, Ian and Lisa share 27 bite-sized chapters that will help you: * Show educators exactly how the framework works in a real, live classroom * Teach you what you need to know about all aspects of the framework * Address special situations, like working with early elementary grades and planning * Take you further in your Depth and Complexity practice than you ever thought possible You will gain a deep understanding By the end of The Gifted Guild's Guide to Depth and Complexity, you will understand the framework, how it fits in your classroom, what parts you may wish to ignore, how to change what you don't like about how you're currently using it, and why it's the tool you need to blow the ceiling off of your classroom.

In A Passion for Kindness, educator Tamara Letter shares her own kindness journey and shares experiences from other kindness cultivators around the world. Through personal stories of vulnerability and vitality, you will discover unique ways you can make a positive difference in the lives of friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and even strangers.