Tools for Thoughtful Assessment


Book Description

75 easy-to-use tools that help teachers at all grade levels respond to the key challenges associated with classroom content.







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.







Math Tools, Grades 3–12


Book Description

Common Core + Differentiated Instruction + Student Engagement = Higher Student Achievement If you′re like most math teachers, this is a problem you wrestle with every day. Harvey Silver and his colleagues have updated their best-selling text to provide a solution. With new Common Core–aligned tools and strategies, this second edition of Math Tools, Grades 3–12 is an all-in-one math classroom management resource that will enable you to teach to the Common Core, differentiate instruction, and keep students engaged—all at the same time. Covering everything from lesson design to math-specific learning styles, the second edition′s 60+ tools will enable you to: Work in smarter, more efficient ways with all of your students, no matter the class size or make up Create standards-based lesson plans, tests, and formative assessments Reach every learner regardless of understanding level or learning style Integrate technology into class time for more engaging math lessons Add in a Common Core matrix, immediately useable reproducibles, and learning-style charts—and you′re fully equipped to make the ambitions of the Common Core Math Standards a reality in your classroom.




Teaching for Deeper Learning


Book Description

Far too often, our students attain only a superficial level of knowledge that fails to prepare them for deeper challenges in school and beyond. In Teaching for Deeper Learning, renowned educators and best-selling authors Jay McTighe and Harvey F. Silver propose a solution: teaching students to make meaning for themselves. Contending that the ability to "earn" understanding will equip students to thrive in school, at work, and in life, the authors highlight seven higher-order thinking skills that facilitate students' acquisition of information for greater retention, retrieval, and transfer. These skills, which cut across content areas and grade levels and are deeply embedded in current academic standards, separate high achievers from their low-performing peers. Drawing on their deep well of research and experience, the authors - Explore what kind of content is worth having students make meaning about. - Provide practical tools and strategies to help teachers target each of the seven thinking skills in the classroom. - Explain how teachers can incorporate the thinking skills and tools into lesson and unit design. - Show how teachers can build students' capacity to use the strategies independently. If our goal is to prepare students to meet the rigorous demands of school, college, and career, then we must foster their ability to respond to such challenges. This comprehensive, practical guide will enable teachers to engage students in the kind of learning that yields enduring understanding and valuable skills that they can use throughout their lives.




Essential Assessment


Book Description

While much research has revealed which assessment practices have the most positive impact on student achievement and instruction, out-of-date, unproductive practices, which students find disengaging and disheartening, still persist. Discover how to use the power of assessment to instill hope, efficacy, and achievement in your students. With this research-based resource, you'll explore six essential tenets of assessment--assessment purpose, communication of assessment results, accurate interpretation, assessment architecture, instructional agility, and student investment--that will help deepen your understanding of assessment to not only meet standards but also enhance students' academic success and self-fulfillment. Benefits Interpret the research-based tenets of assessment that are necessary to maximize all students' learning. Gain advice and strategies for immediately acting on the six essential assessment tenets, including how to communicate assessment results to give feedback that produces constructive responses. Discover why it is vital that assessment practices build students' and teachers' hope, efficacy, and achievement. Consider scenarios that illustrate traditional, outmoded assessment practices and revised scenarios that feature practices that better reflect modern assessment needs. Reflect on questions related to the content of each chapter and study next steps that teaching teams can take. Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Hope, Efficacy, and Achievement Chapter 2: Assessment Purpose Chapter 3: Communication of Assessment Results Chapter 4: Accurate Interpretation Chapter 5: Assessment Architecture Chapter 6: Instructional Agility Chapter 7: Student Investment References Index




Inside the black box


Book Description

Offers practical advice on using and improving assessment for learning in the classroom.




The Educator's Field Guide


Book Description

The Educator’s Field Guide helps teachers get off to a running start. The only book that covers all four key cornerstones of effective teaching—organization, classroom management, instruction, and assessment—this handy reference offers a bridge from college to classroom with a hearty dose of practical guidance for teachers who aspire to greatness. At a time when school leaders are pressed to hire and retain high-quality teachers, this guidebook is indispensable for defining and nurturing the qualities the qualities teachers strive for and students deserve. Helpful tools include: Step-by-step guidance on instructional organization, behavior management, lesson planning, and formative and summative assessment User-friendly taxonomic guides to help readers quickly locate topics The latest information on student diversity, special needs, and lesson differentiation Teacher testimonials and examples Explanations of education standards and initiatives Each key concept is addressed in a resource-style format with activities and reproducible that can be customized. Teachers will also find lesson plan templates, graphs, charts, quizzes, and games—all in one easy-to-use source.




Tools for Igniting Curiosity


Book Description

"As educators, we all wish for our students to become more self-motivated and to show a greater passion for learning. But how can we turn this universal wish into classroom reality? How can we help our students develop that "yearning for learning" that spurs discovery and promotes deep understanding? By tapping into the most basic and powerful learning drive of all-curiosity. Combining the research-based insights of curiosity expert Bryan Goodwin with ready-to-use instructional tools developed by Harvey Silver and the Thoughtful Classroom team, this book will help you unleash the power of curiosity in your classroom. More specifically, it will show you how to (1) Pique students' curiosity to increase interest in new learning. (2) Sustain students' curiosity over the course of lessons and units. (3) Inspire students to express and pursue their own natural curiosity. Designed for teachers of all grade levels and content areas, the book provides everything you'll need to get your students fired up about learning"--