Kay McSpadden's classroom in rural York, South Carolina is windowless, water stained, gray - and the scene of something amazing. Inside, slackers stay late to wrestle with Socrates. A teenage mother discovers Shakespeare. And a shy special ed student wins applause for powerful public speaking.In Notes from a Classroom, McSpadden introduces her unforgettable students. She chronicles their encounters with literature. And she shares what she's learned in thirty years of trial (and error!) in the classroom: How to turn teen diffidence, bravado and apathy into a lifelong passion for learning.
Although communication between parents and teachers has long been considered a key ingredient in children's academic success, few books have addressed actual methods for establishing effective interactions between home and school. This volume fills that void by providing practitioners with a detailed, comprehensive program that enables parents and teachers to work together to remediate children's classroom behavior problems. SCHOOL-HOME NOTES describes common obstacles to parent and teacher communication and clearly explicates how these obstacles can be overcome. It provides a critical appraisal of the relevant literature on parent- and teacher-managed contingency systems and factors influencing the efficacy of the procedure. The book offers a practical, comprehensive guide for assessing children's functioning in both school and home environments; for determining when school-home contingency systems are appropriate; and for ascertaining when they should be used alone or in combination with other interventions. The majority of the volume describes how to design and implement an effective school-home note procedure--from introducing the idea to parents and teachers to evaluating program effectiveness. It describes how to select workable, socially relevant target behaviors and generate performance contracts between parents, teachers, and students. It also gives examples of the specific roles each plays in the program. Each step of the procedure is detailed in an easy-to-read manner. Numerous examples are offered throughout and extensive case illustrations are presented at the end of the volume. In addition to providing narrative information on developing and using school-home notes, a special feature of the book is the inclusion of numerous sample handouts and guides, as well as tables that highlight clinical applications. Offering concrete guidelines, this volume is an invaluable resource for school psychologists and other practitioners working to improve children's academic performance and classroom behavior. Guidance counselors, principals, and special educators will find the book extremely helpful in achieving constructive communication between home and school, and it also offers much of value for clinical psychologists and behavior therapists working with children.
In May 1968 first-year English teacher Carolyn Wood takes a day off from school to campaign for Robert F. Kennedy. Invigorated by the senator's hopeful message, Wood develops big dreams to effect change beyond just her classroom. So when she's invited to be the family's governess, the appeal is undeniable. Class Notes follows her journey from the classroom into the famous family-ten boisterous children and one on the way-still reeling from Robert Kennedy's assassination. From inside the Kennedy Compound, stories emerge, the glimmer of fame fades, and the young teacher who sought worldliness and sophistication discovers instead the value of enough.
A status-obsessed senior unexpectedly falls for a freshman because of his Danny Zuko audition in their high school's production of Grease in this outrageously funny epistolary novel set in 1991. "Matt Boren brilliantly captures the voices of students way back in 1992 with humor and wit and a unique ability to shift from freshman to senior, boy to girl, cheerleader to theater geek. In this hilarious novel, Boren adeptly proves that the more things change, the more things stay the same." --Kelly Ripa The folded notes collected for this book represent correspondence surrounding one Tara Maureen Murphy, senior at South High c. 1991-1992. It's 1991, and Tara Maureen Murphy is finally on top. A frightening cross between Regina George and Tracy Flick, Tara Maureen Murphy is any high school's worst nightmare, bringing single-minded ambition, narcissism, manipulation, and jealousy to new extremes in this outrageous, satirical twist on the coming-of-age novel. She's got a hot jock boyfriend in Christopher Patrick Caparelli, her best friend Stef Campbell by her side, and she's a SENIOR, poised to star as Sandy in South High's production of Grease. Clinching the role is just one teensy step in Tara's plot to get out of her hometown and become the Broadway starlet she was born to be. She's grasping distance from the finish line--graduation and college are right around the corner--but she has to remain vigilant. "This dumb town, as we know, can be a very tricky place." --Tara Maureen Murphy It gets trickier with the arrival of freshman Matthew Bloom, whose dazzling audition for the role of Danny Zuko turns Tara's world upside down. Freshmen belong in the chorus, not the spotlight! But Tara's outrage is tinged with an unfamiliar emotion, at least to her: adoration. And what starts as a conniving ploy to "mentor" young Matt quickly turns into a romantic obsession that threatens to topple Tara's hard-won status at South High....
The classic and deeply prescient collection that explores the multifaceted nature of race, class, and identity in America, from one of our most insightful and iconoclastic intellectuals Hailed by Publishers Weekly for its “forceful” and “bracing opinions on race and politics,” Class Notes is a collection of critic Adolph Reed Jr.’s clearest thinking on matters of race, class, and other American dilemmas. With barbed wit, Reed takes aim against the solipsistic, individualistic approaches of identity politics, and in favor of class-based political interpretation and action. Reed leaves no topic untouched, from the myth that there exists a particular kind of “Black Anti-Semitism,” to the grift perpetuated by commentators who claim to speak for groups solely based on their identity categories. Adolph Reed Jr. remains one of our most controversial and necessary interpreters of American politics. These essays illustrate why Reed is “the smartest person of any race, class, or gender writing on race, class, and gender” (Katha Pollitt). Class Notes is a classic text that signposts a path for the Left—out of essentialist gridlock and into meaningful, goal-oriented mass politics.
"Kernahan argues that you can be honest and unflinching in your teaching about racism while also providing a compassionate learning environment that allows for mistakes and avoids shaming students. She also differentiates between how white students and students of color are likely to experience the classroom, helping instructors provide a more effective learning experience for all students"--
Work with students at all levels to help them read novels Whole Novels is a practical, field-tested guide to implementing a student-centered literature program that promotes critical thinking and literary understanding through the study of novels with middle school students. Rather than using novels simply to teach basic literacy skills and comprehension strategies, Whole Novels approaches literature as art. The book is fully aligned with the Common Core ELA Standards and offers tips for implementing whole novels in various contexts, including suggestions for teachers interested in trying out small steps in their classrooms first. Includes a powerful method for teaching literature, writing, and critical thinking to middle school students Shows how to use the Whole Novels approach in conjunction with other programs Includes video clips of the author using the techniques in her own classroom This resource will help teachers work with students of varying abilities in reading whole novels.
"Kids love to move. But how do we harness all that kinetic energy effectively for math learning? In Math on the Move, Malke Rosenfeld shows how pairing math concepts and whole body movement creates opportunities for students to make sense of math in entirely new ways. Malke shares her experience creating dynamic learning environments by: exploring the use of the body as a thinking tool, highlighting mathematical ideas that are usefully explored with a moving body, providing a range of entry points for learning to facilitate a moving math classroom. ..."--Publisher description.
Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences. Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the classroom Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills "Mr. Willingham's answers apply just as well outside the classroom. Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents -anyone who cares about how we learn-should find his book valuable reading." —Wall Street Journal
Sketches of Democracy is a captivating book that chronicles the first year in the life of a new urban high school. Based on journal entries and educational literature, this booktraces the author's challenging journey toward creating a democratic community of learners within a tangle of socio-economic and political issues. An experienced public school teacher and university educator, DeLorenzo brings a unique perspective to the teaching/learning process. Her poignant anecdotal stories, along with information from authoritative sources, provide a narrative that is deeply reflective and affecting. This book is a must-read for teachers, teacher candidates, and teacher educators who share a passion for teaching those on the margins of society.
