Ongoing shared professional learning helps bolster teachers’ willingness to embrace change and collaborate. Barbara Blackburn and Ron Williamson highlight three targeted activities: learning walks, lesson studies, and a strategy to develop consistent expectations.
David Palank’s Class Hacker is so enthusiastically and conversationally presented and informative that it needs to get into the hands of teachers in order to change instruction, writes former principal and writer Mary Langer Thompson.
Laila Sanguras helps educators better understand the nature of grit and think about how to build a culture of grit for all students, including the gifted. Reviewer Linda Bollendorf says the author, a former middle grades teacher, writes with humor and practicality.
Book Reviews / Professional Development
by MiddleWeb · Published 02/07/2018 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Hall and Simeral use an entertaining yet professional voice to share their decade-long research aimed at implementing a process of teacher self-reflection and collaboration across entire schools that positively impacts instruction and results in higher student learning.
For many students, grammar is mostly about memorizing rules and having teachers correct their mistakes. Author Sean Ruday’s Bachelor Grammar activity helps them see how authors use grammatical concepts purposefully to make a piece of writing as strong as possible.
Great educators don’t exist in a vacuum. More often than not they are supported by loved ones who also play a part in the accomplishment of a teacher’s daily miracles. Consultant Debbie Silver describes how spouses, children, and parents share in the teaching life.
Book Reviews / Project Based Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 02/01/2018 · Last modified 11/17/2019
After outlining the three design shifts in clarity, challenge and culture Michael McDowell calls for in Rigorous PBL by Design, teacher Rebecca Berger recommends PBL educators and leaders of PBL-focused schools take the time to read this dense but informative book.
In Digital Portfolios in the Classroom, personal anecdotes, discussions of technological tools, and interviews with educators who use a portfolio system provide a multifaceted picture of the benefits and possibilities of this student-centered approach to assessment.
Michael Dyson’s Tears We Cannot Stop challenges white Americans to confront white privilege and join black Americans to fight racism. Teacher Rita Platt finds Dyson’s book an effective starting point for educators ready to develop a social justice lens to combat racism.
Every year, writes teacher leader Jennifer Smith, schools “muddle through” standardized testing days trying to design schedules that take less time away from productive learning. Her 5th grade team tried a fresh approach that both engaged and energized test-weary kids.
