A School-wide Approach to Student-led Conferences
A School-wide Approach to Student-led Conferences

Author: Patti Kinney

Publisher: National Middle School Association

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9781560901648

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Noting that the benefits of student-led conferences align well with practices recognized as developmentally appropriate for the middle school years, this book provides a step-by-step guide to implementing student-led conferences at the middle school level. The chapters are: (1) "Setting the Stage," presenting the rationale for student-led conferences; (2) "Begin with the End in Mind," presenting suggestions for organizing the program and training staff; (3) "Meanwhile...Back in the Classroom," examining ways to prepare students for the student-led conference; (4) "Self-Reflections," distinguishing self-evaluation and self-reflection, and focusing on building ways to enable students to understand their own learning process; (5) "Putting the Pieces Together," including information on scheduling conferences, collecting work samples, contacting parents, and teaching the process; (6) "Setting Goals for the Future," discussing goal setting and feedback; (7) "The Conference," presenting transcripts of a sample conference; (8) "Where Do We Go Next?" concerning evaluation of the student-led conference and making adjustments in the process; (9) "Going It Alone," suggestions for teachers ready to try student-led conferences but who do not yet have the support or resources to try a school-wide initiative; and (10) "Commonly Asked Questions about Student-Led Conferences." Appended are additional forms and handouts. (Contains 26 references.) (KB)

Student-Led Conferencing Using Showcase Portfolios
Student-Led Conferencing Using Showcase Portfolios

Author: Barbara P. Benson

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2005-02-15

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1483363406

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Serve up parent, teacher, and student satisfaction with this recipe for blending two ingredients of success: portfolios and student-led conferences.

Teaching to Strengths
Teaching to Strengths

Author: Debbie Zacarian

Publisher: ASCD

Published: 2017-09-20

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1416624600

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Half the students in U.S. schools are experiencing or have experienced trauma, violence, or chronic stress. Much has been written about these students from a therapeutic perspective, especially regarding how to provide them with adequate counseling supports and services. Conversely, little has been written about teaching this population and doing so from a strengths-based perspective. Using real-world examples as well as research-based principles, this book shows how to * Identify inherent assets that students bring to the classroom. * Connect to students’ experiences through instructional planning and delivery. * Foster students’ strengths through the use of predictable routines and structured paired and small-group learning experiences. * Develop family and community partnerships. Experts Debbie Zacarian, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes outline a comprehensive, collaborative approach to teaching that focuses on students’ strengths and resiliency. Teaching to Strengths encourages educators to embrace teaching and schoolwide practices that support and enhance the academic and socio-emotional development of students living with trauma, violence, and chronic stress.

The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education (2nd ed.)
The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education (2nd ed.)

Author: Steven B. Mertens

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2016-08-01

Total Pages: 471

ISBN-13: 1681235714

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The second edition of The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education has been revised, updated, and expanded since its original publication in 2005. The Encyclopedia is a comprehensive overview of the field; it contains alphabetically organized entries that address important concepts, ideas, terms, people, organizations, publications, and research studies specifically related to middle grades education. This edition contains over 210 entries from nearly 160 expert contributors, this is a 25% increase in the number of entries over the first edition. The Encyclopedia is aimed at a general audience including undergraduate students in middle?level teacher preparation programs, graduate students, higher education faculty, and practitioners and administrators. The comprehensive list of entries are comprised of both short entries (500 words) and longer entries (2000 words). A significant number of entries appearing in the first edition have been revised and updated. Citations and references are provided for each entry.

Evaluation without Tears
Evaluation without Tears

Author: Selma Wassermann

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-01-15

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 1475853513

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Teachers evaluate students’ work constantly. It is a built-in part of the job of teaching. Yet, what is hardly acknowledged is the subjectivity and unfairness of evaluation. Although grades and marks have long been discounted as having any reliability or validity, they endure as real and exact measures of ability and performance. Not only are they specious, they have little or nothing to do with the important goal of evaluation – that is to provide feedback to learners that enables their subsequent growth. Evaluation Without Tears provides teachers with specific examples of how they might provide evaluative feedback to students that is enabling and affirming, rather than punishing, respectful of the learner and protective of the learner’s dignity, recognizing that one person’s judgment is not truth. Teaching students to self-assess, an important dimension of growth and maturity, is a significant feature of the book.

Middle Grades Education
Middle Grades Education

Author: Pat Williams-Boyd

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2003-11-12

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 1851095152

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An expert guide to the development of the middle school model as the best educational environment designed to address students' developmental and social needs as well as educational needs. Middle Grades Education: A Reference Handbook explores the distinctive middle school approach to helping adolescents develop as human beings and citizens as well as students, with coverage that ranges from the conceptual foundations of the middle school model, to research-based best practices, to sample lesson plans and activities. Edited by Pat Williams-Boyd, with contributions from experienced, frontline educators, the book showcases a number of places where the ideal middle school has become reality, where individual talents are nurtured, families are involved, teachers serve as role models and advocates, and crucial health and developmental needs are met. Readers will experience classrooms where students dance their math, sing their science, and breathe the winds of history, and where the joy of learning is bounded only by the educator's imagination.

Creating a Culture for High-Performing Schools
Creating a Culture for High-Performing Schools

Author: Cletus R. Bulach

Publisher: R&L Education

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1610483219

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A high-performing school is described as one where student achievement is high and student and teacher absenteeism is low. Student behavior is such that teachers seldom have to control them or tell them what to do. This results in greater time on task, higher teacher morale, low teacher absenteeism, and improved parental support. One other distinctive feature of a high-performing school is that the student peer group is a positive force and not a negative force. The end result is a school culture where faculty and students trust and care about each other, and there is a cooperative attitude.

Flash Feedback [Grades 6-12]
Flash Feedback [Grades 6-12]

Author: Matthew Johnson

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2020-02-11

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1071803131

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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.

Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind
Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind

Author: Eric Jensen

Publisher: ASCD

Published: 2013-08-23

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1416617248

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In this galvanizing follow-up to the best-selling Teaching with Poverty in Mind, renowned educator and learning expert Eric Jensen digs deeper into engagement as the key factor in the academic success of economically disadvantaged students. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind reveals * Smart, purposeful engagement strategies that all teachers can use to expand students' cognitive capacity, increase motivation and effort, and build deep, enduring understanding of content. * The (until-now) unwritten rules for engagement that are essential for increasing student achievement. * How automating engagement in the classroom can help teachers use instructional time more effectively and empower students to take ownership of their learning. * Steps you can take to create an exciting yet realistic implementation plan. Too many of our most vulnerable students are tuning out and dropping out because of our failure to engage them. It's time to set the bar higher. Until we make school the best part of every student's day, we will struggle with attendance, achievement, and graduation rates. This timely resource will help you take immediate action to revitalize and enrich your practice so that all your students may thrive in school and beyond.