Teachers Have it Easy


Book Description

Since its initial publication and multiple reprints in hardcover in 2005, Teachers Have It Easy has attracted the attention of teachers nationwide, appearing on the New York Times extended bestseller list, C-SPAN, and NPR's Marketplace, in additio...




Seven Simple Secrets


Book Description

Want to know a secret? Regardless of what classroom challenges, standards or initiatives you’re faced with from year to year, there are seven keys to great teaching that never change—and that are often overlooked! In this bestselling book, internationally-acclaimed authors Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker reveal the seven simple secrets of effective teaching that can be applied in any classroom. Whether you’re a new or experienced teacher, you’ll gain valuable insights on improving instruction, classroom management, discipline, student motivation, and much, much more! This updated Second Edition contains timely topics such as incorporating technology to enhance your lessons and using social media appropriately. Special Features: Easy-to-use format: The book is divided into seven secrets shared by highly effective teachers. Each secret is then divided into seven parts filled with practical information on why the secret matters and how to implement it effectively. Reflection questions: At the end of each section, there are seven questions to help you determine whether you have mastered each secret. Bonus lists: This special new section contains lists on the qualities of effective teaching and why these qualities matter. These lists can be copied and used during book studies, PLC meetings, or staff meetings to provoke thoughtful discussions and enhance teaching and learning. Study guide: A study guide is available to help you extend your learning independently or with colleagues. www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138783621 Companion website: For more inspiring, informative books from Todd and Annette, check out our special site, www.routledge.com/cw/breaux, going live this summer. Throughout the book, you’ll find practical examples and heartfelt advice to encourage you as you implement the seven secrets. As you improve your teaching, you profoundly influence the lives of those who matter most—your students!




Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons


Book Description

A step-by-step program that shows parents, simply and clearly, how to teach their child to read in just 20 minutes a day.




It Won't Be Easy


Book Description

Tom Rademacher wishes someone had handed him this sort of book along with his teaching degree: a clear-eyed, frank, boots-on-the ground account of what he was getting into. But first he had to write it. And as 2014’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Rademacher knows what he’s talking about. Less a how-to manual than a tribute to an impossible and impossibly rewarding profession, It Won’t Be Easy captures the experience of teaching in all its messy glory. The book follows a year of teaching, with each chapter tackling a different aspect of the job. Pulling no punches (and resisting no punch lines), he writes about establishing yourself in a new building; teaching meaningful classes, keeping students a priority; investigating how race, gender, and identity affect your work; and why it’s a good idea to keep an extra pair of pants at school. Along the way he answers the inevitable and the unanticipated questions, from what to do with Google to how to tell if you’re really a terrible teacher, to why “Keep your head down” might well be the worst advice for a new teacher. Though directed at prospective and newer teachers, It Won’t Be Easy is mercifully short on jargon and long on practical wisdom, accessible to anyone—teacher, student, parent, pundit—who is interested in a behind-the-curtain look at teaching and willing to understand that, while there are no simple answers, there is power in learning to ask the right questions.




Trusting Teachers with School Success


Book Description

Lately, our nation's strategy for improving our schools is mostly limited to "getting tough" with teachers. Blaming teachers for poor outcomes, we spend almost all of our energy trying to control teachers' behavior and school operations. But what if all of this is exactly the opposite of what is needed? What if teachers are the answer and not the problem? What if trusting teachers, and not controlling them, is the key to school success? Examining the experiences of teachers who are already trusted to call the shots, this book answers: What would teachers do if they had the autonomy not just to make classroom decisions, but to collectively--with their colleagues--make the decisions influencing whole school success? Decisions such as school curriculum, how to allocate the school budget, and whom to hire. Teachers with decision-making authority create the schools that many of us profess to want. They individualize learning. Their students are active (not passive) learners who gain academic and life skills. The teachers create school cultures that are the same as those in high-performing organizations. They accept accountability and innovate, and make efficient use of resources. These promising results suggest: it's time to trust teachers.




What Great Teachers Do Differently


Book Description

Book In the second edition of this renowned book, you will find pearls of wisdom, heartfelt advice, and inspiration from one of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness. With wit and understanding, Todd Whitaker describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions of great teachers and explains what they do differently. New features include: Meaning what you say Focusing on students first Putting yourself in their position DVD Bundle This bundle includes a DVD featuring Todd Whitaker speaking about what great teachers do differently. It runs for approximately two hours and is the perfect addition to teacher training events and professional development meetings/workshops. Filled with pearls of wisdom, humor, and practical strategies, the video will motivate your staff and inspire them to be the best they can, each and every day. The DVD comes with a free copy of What Great Teachers Do Differently as well as a Facilitator's Guide.




What Teachers Make


Book Description

In praise of the greatest job in the world... The right book at the right time: an impassioned defense of teachers and why we need them now more than ever. Teacher turned teacher’s advocate Taylor Mali inspired millions with his original poem “What Teachers Make,” a passionate and unforgettable response to a rich man at a dinner party who sneeringly asked him what teachers make. Mali’s sharp, funny, perceptive look at life in the classroom pays tribute to the joys of teaching…and explains why teachers are so vital to our society. What Teachers Make is a book that will be treasured and shared by every teacher in America—and everybody who’s ever loved or learned from one.




How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher's Salary


Book Description

Briefly presents advice to remain financially stable while receiving a teaching salary, and covers retirement, investments, budgeting, and other related topics.




Teachers Can Be Financially Fit


Book Description

This book uses relatable case studies to dispense practical financial advice to educators. Written by an expert team of four award-winning economics educators, the book provides an engaging narrative specifically designed for teachers and their unique financial needs. Educators are attracted to the teaching profession for numerous reasons. Prospective teachers enter the profession believing it offers a certain level of job security and good benefits, usually including a defined-benefit, state-funded pension. But things are changing. Pensions vary widely from state to state and even within school districts. Many private schools do not offer even basic 403(b) saving plans and, when they do, they are often not very generous. Much the same can be said of many charter schools and private colleges and universities. The book consists of fourteen chapters covering a comprehensive group of topics specifically curated for educators teaching at the K-12 and university level, including saving for retirement, managing debt, investment strategies, and real estate. Each chapter begins with a case study of an educator in a specific financial situation, which sets the scene for the introduction and explanation of key concepts. The chapters include a Q&A section to address common questions and conclude with a “Financial 911” focusing on a financial emergency related to the chapter topic.




Flash Feedback [Grades 6-12]


Book Description

Beat burnout with time-saving best practices for feedback For ELA teachers, the danger of burnout is all too real. Inundated with seemingly insurmountable piles of papers to read, respond to, and grade, many teachers often find themselves struggling to balance differentiated, individualized feedback with the one resource they are already overextended on—time. Matthew Johnson offers classroom-tested solutions that not only alleviate the feedback-burnout cycle, but also lead to significant growth for students. These time-saving strategies built on best practices for feedback help to improve relationships, ignite motivation, and increase student ownership of learning. Flash Feedback also takes teachers to the next level of strategic feedback by sharing: How to craft effective, efficient, and more memorable feedback Strategies for scaffolding students through the meta-cognitive work necessary for real revision A plan for how to create a culture of feedback, including lessons for how to train students in meaningful peer response Downloadable online tools for teacher and student use Moving beyond the theory of working smarter, not harder, Flash Feedback works deeper by developing practices for teacher efficiency that also boost effectiveness by increasing students’ self-efficacy, improving the clarity of our messages, and ultimately creating a classroom centered around meaningful feedback.