This book highlights how students learn math and the pedagogy behind it. Using vignettes based on real classroom discussions, the authors illustrate effective teaching practices to support math learning. Success from the Start: Your First Years Teaching Elementary Mathematics acts as a supportive and reassuring companion that you can return to throughout your journey as an elementary mathematics teacher. As a beginning elementary mathematics teacher you might already be asking yourself these questions: How can I differentiate my teaching to meet the diverse needs of my students? What assessments best advance student learning? How can students understand math if I do not show them different strategies and tell them about the underlying mathematical structures and properties? What advice do I give parents about how to support their children’s math learning?

The early years of any student s life, those first elementary school years, can be incredibly overwhelming and stressful, resulting in a slew of emotional, behavioral, and study problems that they rely on their teacher to help overcome. As a first year elementary school teacher, your role is more than just knowledgeable teacher; it is to become a mentor, a friend, and an older figure for young children to look up to. This can be overwhelming, and along with all of the other issues that face first year teachers, it can result in high turnover rates and problematic issues. This thorough, well research book has everything first-year teachers in elementary school need to learn how to deal with including supplies, planning, parents, overcrowded classrooms, the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, piles of paperwork, money shortages due to budget cuts, negativity from students and other staff members, at-risk students, students who are capable but choose not to work, and special needs students. You will learn how to ask principals and administrators for help, how to memorize names quickly, how to create seating charts, how to write lesson plans, how to follow a daily routine, how to help struggling readers, how to gain respect, how to get a mentor, how to develop and implement a grading system, how to discipline students, how to create assessments, how to find free things for teachers, and how to build your confidence. And of course, as a first year teacher to students learning how to interact with the world, you will learn how to converse with them on a mature level and help them overcome stresses and problems that they may face in life at school and at home. Also, you will read about where to go for support, the reality of spending your own money on classroom supplies, mandated tests, technology solutions, and behavior management skills. We spent countless hours interviewing second year teachers, as well as veteran teachers, and have provided you with their proven techniques and strategies for surviving your first year as a teacher. This book will provide everything you need to effectively start teaching students that need a mentor, a teacher, and a friend at a young age and prepare you for your second year as you start becoming the inspiring force you always dreamed of being. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

The best-selling First Year Teacher's Survival Kit gives new teachers a wide variety of tested strategies, activities, and tools for creating a positive and dynamic learning environment while meeting the challenges of each school day. Packed with valuable tips, the book helps new teachers with everything from becoming effective team players and connecting with students to handling behavior problems and working within diverse classrooms. The new edition is fully revised and updated to cover changes in the K-12 classroom over the past five years. Updates to the second edition include: • New ways teachers can meet the professional development requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act • Entirely new section on helping struggling readers, to address the declining literacy rate among today’s students • Expanded coverage of helpful technology solutions for the classroom • Expanded information on teaching English Language Learners • Greater coverage of the issues/challenges facing elementary teachers • More emphasis on how to reach and teach students of poverty • Updated study techniques that have proven successful with at-risk students • Tips on working effectively within a non-traditional school year schedule • The latest strategies for using graphic organizers • More emphasis on setting goals to help students to succeed • More information on intervening with students who are capable but choose not to work • Updated information on teachers’ rights and responsibilities regarding discipline issues • Fully revised Resources appendix including the latest educational Web sites and software

Learn all the essentials for making your first year of teaching a success! In this exciting new book, internationally renowned educator Todd Whitaker teams up with his daughters--Madeline, an elementary teacher, and Katherine, a secondary teacher--to share advice and inspiration. They offer step-by-step guidance to thriving in your new role and overcoming the challenges that many new teachers face. Topics include: Learning classroom management skills such as building relationships and maintaining high expectations and consistency Setting up your classroom and establishing procedures and rules Planning effective lessons and making your instructional time an engaging experience Managing your own emotions in the classroom and dealing effectively with misbehavior Working with peers, administrators, and parents to build support and foster collaboration The book is filled with specific examples and vignettes from elementary, middle, and high school classes, so you’ll gain helpful strategies no matter what grade level and subject area you teach. You’ll also find out how to make tweaks or hit the "reset" button when something isn’t going as planned. Things may not always go perfectly your first year, but the practical advice in this book will help you stay motivated on the path to success! Bonus: As you read the book, get even more out of it by discussing it with others. Free study guides for practicing teachers and student teachers are available as eResource downloads from our website (www.routledge.com/products/9781138126152).

Middle school, the formative years in which students reach puberty and start the massive, life changing alterations that will determine who they are, is one of the hardest times for any new teacher to start their career. Problem students can become harder to deal with and those who are not prepared often don t make it through their first year without a little help. This book has been written to help every teacher who is dreading rather than looking forward to that first day in front of their new classes. This heavily researched, detailed book will help first-year middle school teachers learn how to deal with supplies, planning, parents, overcrowded classrooms, the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, piles of paperwork, money shortages due to budget cuts, negativity from pubescent students and other staff members, at-risk students, students who are capable but choose not to work, and special needs students. You will learn how to ask principals and administrators for help, how to memorize names quickly, how to create seating charts, how to write lesson plans, how to follow a daily routine, how to help struggling readers, how to gain respect, how to get a mentor, how to develop and implement a grading system, how to discipline students who feel they are more mature than they are, how to create assessments, how to find free things for teachers, and how to build your confidence. The most important thing of all, you will learn how to deal with the rapidly changing emotions and hormones of new teenagers and middle school age students. In addition, you will read about where to go for support, the reality of spending your own money on classroom supplies, mandated tests, technology solutions, and behavior management skills. We spent countless hours interviewing second year middle school teachers, as well as veteran teachers, and have gathered and presented their advice for how to deal with the first year in teaching at a middle school. With this book in hand, you will not only survive you will feel empowered to go on after your first year and become a powerful motivating force for scores of young people for years to come. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

Finding Mrs. Warnecke tells the inspiring story of Cindi Rigsbee, a three-time Teacher of the Year, and Barbara Warnecke, the first-grade teacher who had a profound and lasting impact on Cindi's life. Cindi, an insecure child who craved positive attention, started her first-grade year with a teacher who was emotionally abusive and played favorites in the classroom. Two months into the school year, her principal came into the classroom and announced that half the students were being moved to another classroom--a dank, windowless basement room, with a young and inexperienced teacher. This change turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Cindi. Her new teacher, Mrs. Warnecke, made learning come alive for her students. She went overboard caring for each child, made her classroom "magical," and encouraged students to pursue their dreams. Although Cindi was reluctant to explore her creativity as a student, Mrs. Warnecke encouraged her to read and write poetry, which became a lifelong passion. The two kept in touch for several years but lost track of each other when Mrs. Warnecke moved out of state. Cindi spent many years trying to reconnect so she could thank Mrs. Warnecke for making such a difference in her life, but to no avail. Eventually Cindi became a teacher herself, and thirty years later she has taught more than 2,000 children and been named Teacher of the Year for her home state. She later came to realize that all those years she wasn't really trying to track down Barbara Warnecke, but rather, she was trying to "find Mrs. Warnecke" within herself. In Fall 2008 Cindi and Barbara were reunited on Good Morning America; the show's producers had tracked Barbara down and brought both women on-set for a tearful reunion. Barbara was floored at this attention--she had no idea she could have made such an impact on a former student's life. As Cindi travels around talking with new and veteran educators, she is always approached by audience members who are moved to tears and want to share the story of the "Mrs. Warnecke" in their own lives. Finding Mrs. Warnecke not only tells the story of this teacher who made a lifelong impact on her students, it illustrates the importance of the teacher/student relationship in the classroom, and offers principles for other teachers to follow to make a positive impact in their own classrooms.

A rabbit in a picture book is very glad when a reader turns up.

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Tips for Success: Strategies to Regain Elementary Classroom Control Is there a knot in your stomach before you step into class? Are disruptive, defiant students part of your nightmares? Is the lack of control of your classroom affecting your lesson plans, your self-confidence, and ultimately your life?

Not your typical how-to manual for new teachers, this no-nonsense, jargon-free guide offers a wide variety of tools and tactics for getting through every school day with grace and sanity. Covered in glue, glitter, orange juice—or worse? Make a quick change into the spare set of clothes you keep on hand for just this purpose. Butterflies in your stomach before your first-ever Meet the Teacher Night? Keep your cool by writing the agenda on your board—it’ll double as a crib sheet for you. These tips and hundreds more, covering virtually every aspect of teaching, have all been learned the hard way: from real-life classroom experience. Otis Kriegel’s “little black book” will be a treasured resource for teachers who want not only to survive but to thrive in any situation.