When teachers and students are both engaged in the educational enterprise, every day has the potential to be transformative. "Lesson Planning with Purpose" takes readers on a journey through many pathways to engaging and meaningful educational experiences. The text first discusses "perceptive teaching:" the belief that teachers…

Now more than ever, students need support. To meet their needs, educators should encourage their students to break from the mainstream by inspecting their experiences, and therefore expressing their own values. This endeavor will lead students to make choices that are best for themselves and others. It is important to support students in both…

"Teaching with a Social, Emotional, and Cultural Lens" goes beyond existing social emotional learning programs to introduce a new framework for integrating the development of key skills needed for academic success into daily classroom practice. The framework spells out the competencies, processes, and strategies that effective P-12…

"Trauma-Responsive Strategies for Early Childhood" offers an overview of trauma and its impact on young children, as well as specific strategies and techniques educators and administrators can use to create classroom and school communities that improve the quality of care for this vulnerable population. Katie Statman-Weil has synthesized…

Using the guiding principles from Peter Johnston's best-selling professional resources, "Choice Words" and "Opening Minds," Peter and six colleagues began a journey to create just such classrooms-environments in which children meaningfully engage with each other through reading, writing, making, and discussing books. In…

This is the second edition of the seminal text designed to empower educators with an innovative and inspiring conceptual framework for effective teaching. This bestseller is grounded in the synergy of five big ideas for connecting mind, brain, and education research to classroom practice: neuroplasticity, potential, malleable intelligence, the…

Critical thinking is the essential tool for ensuring that students fulfill their promise. But, in reality, critical thinking is still a luxury good, and students with the greatest potential are too often challenged the least. "Thinking Like a Lawyer": (1) Introduces a powerful but practical framework to close the critical thinking gap;…

This ground-breaking book proves that Project Based Learning (PBL) does work in early childhood classrooms. Most common understandings of PBL in Pre-K through 2nd grade are rife with assumptions, misconceptions, and perceived barriers that have prevented its widespread implementation. "Implementing Project Based Learning in Early…

This resource serves as a companion piece to the "Caring for Students Playbook: Six Recommendations for Caring for Students" (ED613431) and provides a foundation for the approaches and methods offered therein. The content offered in this playbook begins by setting the groundwork for rooting instruction in diversity, equity, and inclusion…

Establishing a student-centered classroom environment where learning puts students' interests first is essential for middle school students to learn and thrive. Student success does not simply rely on instruction; it relies on external factors such as school and classroom climate, positive relationships with their teachers and other adults, and a…

Philosophy for Children (otherwise known as P4C) can help develop cooperative and peer learning and transform them into a method for developing critical and creative thinking skills. The purpose of this booklet is to describe what Philosophy for Children (P4C) is and how to implement it in the classroom. It consists of seven sections, each with a…

Social skills instruction (SSI) provides a promising avenue for teaching and promoting positive social interactions to students with high-incidence disabilities. Within SSI, a distinction can be made between social skills and social competence. Social skills are specific behaviors one must perform correctly within a specific social context or…

"Nurturing Students' Character" is an easy-to-use guide to incorporating social-emotional and character development (SECD) into your teaching practice. The links are clear--elementary and middle school students have better odds of academic success if you nurture their social and emotional skills. Drawing on broad field experience and the…

"107 Awesome Elementary Teaching Ideas You Can Implement Tomorrow" contains a wide variety of effective, user-friendly strategies, tips, and activities for your elementary school classroom. Rich with anecdotes and examples, this resource features useful suggestions for creating a positive, cooperative classroom culture, improving…

Student learning communities (SLCs) are more than just a different way of doing group work. Like the professional learning communities they resemble, SLCs provide students with a structured way to solve problems, share insight, and help one another continually develop new skills and expertise. With the right planning and support, dynamic…