This book takes you on a fun journey through the eyes of an elementary school teacher. The many daily laughs and challenges that the everyday teacher goes through may go unnoticed, until now. From classroom cursing, parent conferences, and even dealing with the "B" word (bullying), the author takes you on a laugh-out-loud look at teachers today and the struggles and joys that the classroom can bring. It brings a sincere amount of appreciation for all that teachers do while giving everyone a much needed laugh at the end of their work day.

Take a peek! What kinds of things really happen inside an elementary school? The stories in Confessions of an Elementary School Principal will make you laugh. A few may make you cry. Other stories will provide insight into children and teaching. Many will give you pause and something to ponder. Stories span the career of Meril Smith. He is one of the lucky people who never went to work. He loved almost every ten-hour day he spent with students, teachers, and parents. All the stories are true. Only some of the names in the stories have been changed to "protect the guilty."

Eddie the Electron introduces children to basic concept of atoms. --

A student standing on a wall threatening to moon the school, while simultaneously flipping the bird to approaching police officers. A boy who quotes verbatim "R" rated films while running around the room half-naked. Back-and-forth banter where kids insult each other (on purpose) for the sake of memorizing good "comebacks". A loner whose mom locked him out of the house to teach him a lesson, and his attempt to jump off a roof to teach her one. On that first, innocent, and fateful day, as he stepped into the mire of public education, these were not the stories that Derek Stooks imagined he would eventually tell. What he discovered was that it was the student's words, actions, tears and yes, their craziness that would ultimately impact his life in profound ways. Take a front row seat on this hilarious journey through the beginnings of a career in Special Education, where the stories are too unbelievable to be anything but true. Then join him as he makes the transition into teaching General Education, learning the "ups and downs" of dealing with a system in which the cards are inevitably stacked against you.

"How can we meet today's elevated goals and engage middle school kids-but not simply replicate our winner-take-all society? How can our students achieve a higher standard-the commitment to bend the world towards justice? In a word, inquiry. Welcome to the classroom of Sara Ahmed. With Smokey Daniels as your guide you'll see exactly how Sara turns required topics into questions young adolescents can't resist investigating and units that help them become thoughtful, compassionate, and action-oriented. Smokey and Sara share everything you need: a developmental look at middle school kids, lessons for collaboration, self-awareness, and compassion, a toolbox of strategies, structures, and handouts, commentary from Smokey that highlights key teaching moves, Game-Time Decisions from Sara that reveal instructional choices, documentation of the incredible work that inquiry allows kids to do, engaging units on commonly taught middle school themes. Give kids all the complexity the standards could ever expect, and something they don't: the chance to grow from bystanders into Upstanders." -- pages (4) of cover.

Jack's hilarious online videos might get thousands of views . . . but is fame worth the price of friendship? Now in paperback, the humor of I Funny meets the multiple perspectives of Because of Mr. Terupt. Meet Jack Reynolds. Making people laugh is his life's work. Jack's wacky MyTube channel is really starting to take off. The only problem is, for the truly epic posts, he needs a collaborator. And, well, he doesn't exactly have any friends. So Jack has to swallow his pride and join the new after-school club Speed Friendshipping. But who would make the best partner in comedy? Brielle, Miss Perfect candidate for student body president? Mario, whose mom won't even let him have a smart phone? Or Tasha, the quiet, mysterious girl with a shaved head and a crocheted hat for every day of the week? One of these kids could help catapult Jack to internet fame . . . or even become a true friend. But what will it cost him to go viral? With an unfailing knack for the middle-grade voice, Arianne Costner, author of My Life as a Potato, explores themes of friendship, belonging, and the ways social media can put pressure on today's kids.

Fans of Harriet the Spy and Mean Girls will cheer when they meet Charlie C. Cooper, reformed bully, gifted hacker, slightly misguided fashionista, and so-called middle child! This debut tween novel stars the hilariously fresh Charlie Cooper as she tries to ditch her middle-child reputation and make cool friends at her new school in Los Angeles. But being cool isn't as easy as it looks—especially when her dandruff-ridden psychologist tasks Charlie with finding the biggest loser in school and becoming her friend. In public. As Charlie says, "Just kill me now, please."

After Katie gets caught teasing a schoolmate, she's told to meet with Mrs. Petrowski, the school counselor, so she can make right her wrong and learn to be a better friend. Bothered at first, it doesn't take long before Katie realizes that bullying has hurt not only the people around her, but her, too. Told from the unusual point of view of the bullier rather than the bullied, Confessions of a Former Bully provides kids with real life tools they can use to identify and stop relational aggression.

During the school day, fifth-grader Allie West is an outsider. Everyone knows the principal's kid might tattle to her mom! But after school, Allie is an insider. She's friendly with the janitor, knows the shortest routes around the building, and hangs out with the Afters, a group of misfits whose parents are teachers at their school. Although Allie secretly loves her insider life, she's sick of being an outsider—so she vows to join the Pentagon, the popular math team led by her ex–best friend. But can Allie change her status without betraying where she really belongs?