Pathway to Teaching


Book Description

Pursuing a teaching career is noble, rewarding, and challenging. Yet, few books focus on the process of becoming an educator, with the majority of available education resources geared towards in-service teachers, especially first-year teachers. This book, Pathway to Teaching, uses a holistic approach to demystify the journey of becoming an educator. This resourceful guide provides valuable and straightforward strategies to the aspiring teachers at each crucial stage: teacher training, student teaching, and finding a job. Themes of differentiation, networking, and organization are interwoven throughout the book and aim to better prepare the soon-to-be teacher at each step. The strategies address a range of pressing topics for teacher candidates that include preparing for the edTPA™ – a nationwide teacher assessment – to providing classroom management techniques during student teaching to ideas on self-care. Pathway to Teaching also supports the aspiring teachers in finding their dream teaching job through strategies on building a professional network to preparing for that all-important job interview. In addition, several contributors – a teacher, an administrator, an university field supervisor, and a career counselor – share their insightful perspectives and advice to the readers. The curated strategies and advice will undoubtedly help guide any aspiring teacher in achieving their career and professional goals.




Preparing Teachers


Book Description

Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system. Preparing Teachers addresses the issue of teacher preparation with specific attention to reading, mathematics, and science. The book evaluates the characteristics of the candidates who enter teacher preparation programs, the sorts of instruction and experiences teacher candidates receive in preparation programs, and the extent that the required instruction and experiences are consistent with converging scientific evidence. Preparing Teachers also identifies a need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about the content knowledge, pedagogical competence, and effectiveness of graduates from the various kinds of teacher preparation programs. Federal and state policy makers need reliable, outcomes-based information to make sound decisions, and teacher educators need to know how best to contribute to the development of effective teachers. Clearer understanding of the content and character of effective teacher preparation is critical to improving it and to ensuring that the same critiques and questions are not being repeated 10 years from now.




Phonics Pathways


Book Description

Now in its ninth edition, Phonics Pathways (with help from Dewey the Bookworm™) teaches students of all ages the rudiments of phonics and spelling with an efficient, practical, and foolproof method. Written in an easy-to-use format, Phonics Pathways is organized by sounds and spelling patterns. The patterns are introduced one at a time and slowly built into syllables, words, phrases, and sentences. Printed in a large 8-1/2" x 11" lay-flat format for easy photocopying, Phonics Pathways is filled with illustrative examples, word lists, and practice readings that are 100 percent decodable. While appropriate for K-2 emergent readers, this award-winning book has also been used successfully with adolescent and adult learners, as well as second language learners and students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Dewey® and Dewey Decimal Classification® are proprietary trademarks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, and are used with permission. Dewey the Bookworm™, Dewey D. System, Bookwormus Giganticus™, and the design mark of the character Dewey are trademarks of Dolores G. Hiskes and are also used with permission.




Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy


Book Description

In this era of mandated high stakes and standardized testing, teachers and schools officials find themselves struggling to meet the demands for improved student achievement. At the same time, they are also expected to teach all subjects as required by national and state curriculum standards.




Pathways to Greatness for ELL Newcomers


Book Description

Newcomer ELLs (English language learners) face a complex and daunting set of challenges. How can educators appropriately provide support to this population? Based on research of the social, emotional, and academic needs of secondary immigrant students, this book is comprised of strategies and techniques for content-area teachers of newcomer ELLs. Additionally, campus and district leaders will gain practical advice about a systemic approach to meeting the needs of this ever-increasing population. Pathways to Greatness for ELL Newcomers: A Comprehensive Guide for Schools and Teachers will highlight several components relevant to newcomer instruction including: cultural proficiency, second language acquisition strategies, scheduling/credits, and effective content-area instruction. It includes over 30 activities for content-area and ESL teachers of newcomers.




Building a Pathway to Student Learning


Book Description

This book leads you through the process of designing a learning-centered course. It is written as a “how-to” handbook, providing step-by-step guidance on creating a pathway to student learning, including 26 workboxes (also available free online) that lead you through each element of the course design process and promote a rich reflection process akin to being in a workshop setting. The authors prompt you to (1) consider the distinctive characteristics of your students; (2) clearly articulate your course learning goals; (3) create aligned summative assessments; (4) identify the specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes students will need in order to be successful; (5) craft effective learning experiences, informed by the well-documented research on how people learn; and (6) incorporate formative assessment to ensure you and your students are staying on track. Completion of the sequence of worksheets leads to a poster as a visual display of your course design. This graphic depiction of your course ties the components together, provides a clear map of action for teaching your course, for modifying as you evaluate the success of particular strategies or want to introduce new concepts, and for developing your syllabus. A rubric for evaluating course posters is included.For faculty developers, this book provides a proven and ready-made resource and text around which to design or redesign learner-centered course design workshops or multi-day course design retreats, replicating or modifying the renowned workshop that the authors have developed at the Air Force Academy for both faculty new to teaching and those with many years of teaching experience under their belt.




Reading Pathways


Book Description

Now in its fifth edition, Reading Pathways (with help from Dewey the Bookwormâ?¢) offers an easy-to-use, highly effective approach to teaching reading accuracy and fluency to students of all ages, using a unique pyramid format. Reading pyramids begins with one word, and slowly build into phrases and sentences of gradually increasing complexity. As the student moves from the pinnacle to the base of each pyramid, the phrase or sentence becomes a more interesting and expansive, and the student's confidence grows with each line completed. Progressively building up the amount of text per line increases eye span, strengthens eye tracking, and develops reading fluency. The book also features more challenging multi-syllable word pyramid exercises and games to further develop fluency and vocabulary. Learning to read long words by syllables removes the fear and mystique of multi-syllable words and helps students build the strong vocabulary so critical for success in reading and writing. Dewey® and Dewey Decimal Classification® are proprietary trademarks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, and are used with permission. Dewey the Bookworm™, Dewey D. System, Bookwormus Giganticus™, and the design mark of the character Dewey are trademarks of Dolores G. Hiskes and are also used with permission.




Early Literacy Skills Builder


Book Description

Apply the "science" of reading to students with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities, including autismThe Early Literacy Skills Builder program incorporates systematic instruction to teach both print and phonemic awareness. ELSB is a multi-year program with seven distinct levels and ongoing assessments so students progress at their own pace.Five years of solid research have been completed through the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, proving ELSB to be a highly effective literacy program and more effective than a sight-word only program. ELSB is based upon the principles of systematic and direct instruction. It incorporates scripted lessons, least-prompt strategies, teachable objectives, built-in lesson repetition, and ongoing assessments. The seven ELSB levels contain five structured lessons each. All students begin at Level 1. If a student struggles here, go back and administer Level A. Instruction is one-on-one or in small groups. Teach scripted lessons daily in two 30-minute sessions. On the completion of each level, formal assessments are given. ELSB includes everything you need to implement a multi-year literacy curriculum.




Alternative Routes to Teaching


Book Description

Over the past 20 years, alternative certification for teachers has emerged as a major avenue of teacher preparation. The proliferation of new pathways has spurred heated debate over how best to recruit, prepare, and support qualified teachers. Alternative Routes to Teaching provides a thorough and dispassionate review of the research evidence on alternative certification. It takes readers beyond the simple dichotomies that have characterized the debate over alternative certification, encourages them to look carefully at the trade-offs implicit in any route into teaching, and suggests ways to “marry” the proven strengths of both traditional and alternative approaches.




Substantial Classrooms


Book Description

Transform Your School’s Substitute Teaching Experience Just like everything else, substitute teaching is about to undergo a big change. In Substantial Classrooms: Redesigning the Substitute Teaching Experience, authors Jill Vialet and Amanda von Moos usher in a new era of innovation in substitute teaching. Threaded with concrete and actionable ways to improve the experience of substitute teaching for administrators, students, and the teachers themselves, Substantial Classrooms is a leading voice for innovation and renewal in substitute teaching. Instead of viewing substitute teachers as a placeholder in an educator’s absence, this book encourages readers to view substitute teachers as vital resources that diversify the typical classroom learning experience. While other books look only at making a bad situation bearable, this book re-examines substitute teaching with an eye towards reinventing it as a unique and valuable part of students’ educational experience. Key themes of Substantial Classrooms include: How substitute teaching works today Applying human-centered design to create change in legacy systems like substitute teaching Concrete and inspiring examples of different models for substitute teaching, for example, reimagining it as paid fieldwork for aspiring teachers. In addition to these key themes, every chapter includes stories and techniques from dynamic and innovative educational practitioners. This must-have guide to substitute teaching can improve schools everywhere and revolutionize the way educators, school and district leaders, colleges, and community partners view the experience of substitute teaching as a lever to positively impact schools.