The Best Class You Never Taught


Book Description

The best classes have a life of their own, powered by student-led conversations that explore texts, ideas, and essential questions. In these classes, the teacher’s role shifts from star player to observer and coach as the students ▪ Think critically, ▪ Work collaboratively, ▪ Participate fully, ▪ Behave ethically, ▪ Ask and answer high-level questions, ▪ Support their ideas with evidence, and ▪ Evaluate and assess their own work. The Spider Web Discussion is a simple technique that puts this kind of class within every teacher’s reach. The name comes from the weblike diagram the observer makes to record interactions as students actively participate in the discussion, lead and support one another’s learning, and build community. It’s proven to work across all subject areas and with all ages, and you only need a little know-how, a rubric, and paper and pencil to get started. As students practice Spider Web Discussion, they become stronger communicators, more empathetic teammates, better problem solvers, and more independent learners—college and career ready skills that serve them well in the classroom and beyond. Educator Alexis Wiggins provides a step-by-step guide for the implementation of Spider Web Discussion, covering everything from introducing the technique to creating rubrics for discussion self-assessment to the nuts-and-bolts of charting the conversations and using the data collected for formative assessment. She also shares troubleshooting tips, ideas for assessment and group grading, and the experiences of real teachers and students who use the technique to develop and share content knowledge in a way that’s both revolutionary and truly inspiring.




Best Class You Never Had


Book Description

History teacher Kevin Lee is retiring from Seneca Falls High School, where he has worked for the past forty years. He decides to use the freedom of his pending exit to toss the state curriculum and teach the U.S. survey as the story of the alluring, inspiring, murderous concept we know as the American Dream—which, he understands, his students regard with justified, if instinctive, skepticism. Lee discusses the rise, fall, and legacy of the Dream with these smart, funny, and irreverent eleventh graders, in a narrative peppered with memos, email exchanges, text messages, student journalism, and other documents from beyond the walls of his classroom. The result is the best history class you never had. A chronological history of the United States, this compelling novel also offers a snapshot of American education, written by a veteran teacher who slices through the arid literature of pedagogy to vividly depict the life of the classroom. Finally, it offers a deeply affectionate and patriotic vision of American life—one fully aware of the nation’s limits and failures while honoring the longings so many of us have to believe in our country, even as we harbor deepening doubts about our nation.




The Best Class You Never Taught


Book Description

The best classes have a life of their own, powered by student-led conversations that explore texts, ideas, and essential questions. In these classes, the teacher’s role shifts from star player to observer and coach as the students ▪ Think critically, ▪ Work collaboratively, ▪ Participate fully, ▪ Behave ethically, ▪ Ask and answer high-level questions, ▪ Support their ideas with evidence, and ▪ Evaluate and assess their own work. The Spider Web Discussion is a simple technique that puts this kind of class within every teacher’s reach. The name comes from the weblike diagram the observer makes to record interactions as students actively participate in the discussion, lead and support one another’s learning, and build community. It’s proven to work across all subject areas and with all ages, and you only need a little know-how, a rubric, and paper and pencil to get started. As students practice Spider Web Discussion, they become stronger communicators, more empathetic teammates, better problem solvers, and more independent learners—college and career ready skills that serve them well in the classroom and beyond. Educator Alexis Wiggins provides a step-by-step guide for the implementation of Spider Web Discussion, covering everything from introducing the technique to creating rubrics for discussion self-assessment to the nuts-and-bolts of charting the conversations and using the data collected for formative assessment. She also shares troubleshooting tips, ideas for assessment and group grading, and the experiences of real teachers and students who use the technique to develop and share content knowledge in a way that’s both revolutionary and truly inspiring.




The Last Lecture


Book Description

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.




The First 20 Hours


Book Description

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.




Class


Book Description

This book describes the living-room artifacts, clothing styles, and intellectual proclivities of American classes from top to bottom.




I Love It Here


Book Description

"The greatest part about your role in leadership is that it matters. The hardest part is that it matters every day. For years, Emmy Award winning speaker Clint Pulver has been the Undercover Millennial, gathering the secrets of great management from companies of all sectors and sizes. Now, he is ready to reveal the insights he has from his undercover interviews with more than 10,000 employees across the country, and show you exactly what you can do to generate higher staff engagement and retention--and build true loyalty that lasts. I Love It Here is not another leadership book written by a self-proclaimed leadership expert; rather, it's the data-driven product of intensive research with employees who knew exactly when their leaders were getting it right--and getting it wrong. By pulling back the cover on tired, "too tried and not true" leadership strategies that just aren't cutting it anymore, Clint will open your eyes to the mentorship qualities that are earning genuine employee loyalty in the world of today, along with the behaviors that--whether you know it or not--are triggering a rush for the door. By reading this book, you'll learn what one shocking factor is the number one driver of employee turnover (spoiler: it has everything to do with you!), what you can do to stop the leak, and how you can start building a team that works, right from the moment a prospective employee walks through the door. Using real-world examples from companies he has visited as an undercover retention agent, Clint will reveal in detail the best, most proven methods he has seen for identifying talent, building a sense of ownership, and developing staff in a way that helps them recognize and realize their own individual dreams. Through thoughtful and engaging chapter-by-chapter exercises, he'll guide you through each strategy, moving you seamlessly toward building an authentic culture of valuing and empowering the individual in your own workplace. Soon, you'll be recognizing possibility where others see problems, and capturing the power of small moments to create a meaningful legacy. I Love It Here is a vision of leadership that reaches beyond career to become almost like a calling: a day-by-day, moment-to-moment journey toward becoming the best for the world. Let Clint's inspiring personal stories, deep knowledge, and unique challenges help you become that beloved Mentor Manager who is remembered forever, and who knows how to bring out true passion and commitment in the people on your team. This book is your key to the solutions-based principles behind every organization that people never want to leave. Your company can be more than simply a fancy facade. It can be a place that has an authentic core built on valuing the individual--a place where people don't just survive, but thrive. I Love It Here will show you how."--




The Physician's Guide to Personal Finance


Book Description

An outline review of personal finance for physicians.







Supergifted


Book Description

NYT bestselling author Gordon Korman's sequel toUngifted cleverly sends up our preconceived ideas about intelligence, heroism, and popularity! Donovan Curtis has never been what anyone would call "gifted." But his genius friend Noah Youkilis is actuallysupergifted, with one of the highest IQs around. After years at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, all Noah dreams of is the opportunity to fail if he wants to. And he's landed in the perfect place to do it--Donovan's school. Almost immediately, Noah finds himself on the wrong side of cheerleading captain Megan Mercury and alpha jock Hash "Hashtag" Taggart. Sticking up for Noah lands Donovan in the middle of a huge feud with Hashtag. He's told to stay away from the sports star--or else. That should be the end of it, but when a freak incident suddenly makes Donovan a hero, he can't tell anyone about it since Hashtag is involved. So Noah steps in and becomes "Superkid." Now he's gone from nerd to titan at school. And it may have gone more than a little bit to his head.