Textbooks are symbols of centuries-old education. They're often outdated as soon as they hit students' desks. Acting "by the textbook" implies compliance and a lack of creativity. It's time to ditch those textbooks--and those textbook assumptions about learning In Ditch That Textbook, teacher and blogger Matt Miller encourages educators to throw out meaningless, pedestrian teaching and learning practices. He empowers them to evolve and improve on old, standard, teaching methods. Ditch That Textbook is a support system, toolbox, and manifesto to help educators free their teaching and revolutionize their classrooms.
This state-of-the art research Handbook provides a comprehensive, coherent, current synthesis of the empirical and theoretical research concerning teaching and learning in science and lays down a foundation upon which future research can be built. The contributors, all leading experts in their research areas, represent the international and gender diversity that exists in the science education research community. As a whole, the Handbook of Research on Science Education demonstrates that science education is alive and well and illustrates its vitality. It is an essential resource for the entire science education community, including veteran and emerging researchers, university faculty, graduate students, practitioners in the schools, and science education professionals outside of universities. The National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) endorses the Handbook of Research on Science Education as an important and valuable synthesis of the current knowledge in the field of science education by leading individuals in the field. For more information on NARST, please visit: http://www.narst.org/.
With Jim Arnosky as your guide, an ordinary hike becomes an eye-opening experience. He'll help you spot a hawk soaring far overhead and note the details of a dragonfly up close. Study the black-and-white drawings -- based on his own field research -- and you'll discover if those tracks in the brush were made by a deer or a fox. In his celebrated style, this author, artist, and naturalist enthusiastically shares a wealth of tips. Jim Arnosky wants you to enjoy watching wildlife. He carefully explains how field marks, shapes, and location give clues for identifying certain plants and animals wherever you are. He gives hints for sharpening observational skills. And he encourages you to draw and record birds, insects, shells, animal tracks, and other finds from a busy day's watch.
One April in Boston is the story of a real American family and a gift that was passed down from generation to generation. It teaches American history, the power of imagination, and the value of goal setting. In this unique book you will learn the real story of Paul Revere’s midnight ride; witness the first shots of the American Revolution; attend the reading of the Declaration of Independence in Boston on July 18, 1776; visit the Paul Revere House in 1909; and much more. After researching his Boston ancestors for six years, author Ben Edwards has crafted a tale that not only tells their story by tying in real connections to Paul Revere and Abraham Lincoln, but honors his relative Private Philip Edwards by revealing the gift he gave to the neighborhood children before leaving for France to fight in World War I and passing into legend. When the story begins in April 1775, 10-year-old Ben Edwards carries a spyglass that once belonged to his grandfather, an early Boston sea captain. Ben believes he can glimpse the future through its lens. His goal is to work on a sailing ship and see the world. Can the spyglass and a member of the Sons of Liberty help Ben on his journey? Will his predictions about the future come true? By reading the book you’ll discover that Ben’s gift is something we all possess, a power that can help you on your own life’s journey—if you believe in it.
Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher's encouragement leads her to change her mind and she goes on to encourage another student who feels the same as she had.
The world is filled with educational possibilities — use it! This valuable resource explores every aspect of field trips, including their foundation in caring and curiosity, how leaders can establish and achieve sound learning goals, and how to avoid the headaches that too often accompany dozens of children and chaperones unleashed in a new environment. Properly organized, a field trip can provide students with opportunities to develop lifelong learning skills, increase personal responsibility, work cooperatively with others, and expand their worldviews. And field trips need not be full-day affairs to be valuable—even a short “trip” can provide a much richer learning experience than can be found though standard in-class instruction and serve as a welcome break from the weekday routine. A Guide to Great Field Trips outlines more than 200 ideas for valuable trips within the school, around the building and playground, and through the local neighborhood. It even offers ideas for virtual field trips on the Web. Readers can find tips on handling dozens of logistical issues related to field trips, including safety, transportation, permissions, fundraisers, grants, chaperones, meals, and more.
Everyone wants to visit New York at least once. The Big Apple is a global tourist destination with a dizzying array of attractions throughout the five boroughs. The only problem is figuring out where to start—and that’s where the city’s tour guides come in. These guides are a vital part of New York’s raucous sidewalk culture, and, as The Tour Guide reveals, the tours they offer are as fascinatingly diverse—and eccentric—as the city itself. Visitors can take tours that cover Manhattan before the arrival of European settlers, the nineteenth-century Irish gangs of Five Points, the culinary traditions of Queens, the culture of Harlem, or even the surveillance cameras of Chelsea—in short, there are tours to satisfy anyone’s curiosity about the city’s past or present. And the guides are as intriguing as the subjects, we learn, as Jonathan R. Wynn explores the lives of the people behind the tours, introducing us to office workers looking for a diversion from their desk jobs, unemployed actors honing their vocal skills, and struggling retirees searching for a second calling. Matching years of research with his own experiences as a guide, Wynn also lays bare the grueling process of acquiring an official license and offers a how-to guide to designing and leading a tour. Touching on the long history of tour-giving across the globe as well as the ups and downs of New York’s tour guide industry in the wake of 9/11, The Tour Guide is as informative and insightful as the chatty, charming, and colorful characters at its heart.
Sometimes, a dock isn't just a dock. It's a habitat, a living thing. In the tiny fishing community of Panacea, Florida, the author's floating dock nurtures an abundance of marine life. Crabs, worms, mollusks and algae make their home there, attracting and feeding fish and other creatures higher up the food chain. These also feed the author's business, Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, which supplies specimens to research and teaching institutions: marine fauna from his dock, from nearby mud flats and beaches, and netted offshore from his little shrimp boat, "Penaeus." This entertaining and educational book looks at the life histories of some of these creatures, and recounts Rudloe's experiences in collecting them, in the process examining man's relationship with the natural world.
