Upper-elementary students encounter a sometimes dizzying array of traditional and nontraditional texts both in and outside of the classroom. This practical handbook helps teachers in grades 4–6 harness the instructional potential of fiction, poetry, and plays; informational texts; graphic novels; digital storytelling; Web-based and multimodal texts; hip-hop; advertisements; math problems; and many other types of texts. Twenty-four complete lessons promote critical literacy skills such as comprehending, analyzing, and synthesizing information and using writing to communicate new ideas and pose questions. Snapshots of diverse classrooms are accompanied by clear explanations of the research base for instruction in each genre. Ready-to-use reproducibles are included.

Virtual K-8 Teaching: A Handbook for Building Productive Teacher-Student Relationships is a deep dive into the ways in which virtual K-8 teachers build those ever-elusive relationships with virtual students. Virtual K-8 teachers rarely, if ever, see their students in-person and yet are expected to build meaningful and productive relationships with them. The literature on this topic was analyzed and discussed. Eight virtual middle-school teachers were interviewed, as well. These teachers shared stories, tips and tricks. Concerning the building of meaningful and productive teacher-student relationships in virtual settings, the research brought about many common threads, including student engagement, teacher academic and social presence, the nurturing of student sense of belonging, bridging the transactional distance gap and the importance of the student’s educational community. Also, emerging throughout was an immediately useful collection of teacher tips and tricks for creating productive, safe spaces that foster success of the K-8 virtual student. Ultimately, teacher-student relationships were found to be crucial in the overall success of the virtual K-8 student.

The completely updated NETWORK+ GUIDE TO NETWORKS, 6th Edition gives readers the technical skills and industry know-how required to begin an exciting career installing, configuring, and troubleshooting computer networks. The text also prepares readers for CompTIA's Network+ N10-005 certification exam with fundamentals in protocols, topologies, hardware, and network design. After exploring TCP/IP, Ethernet, wireless transmission, and security concepts, as well as an all-new chapter on virtual networks, readers can increase their knowledge with the practical 'On-the Job' stories, Review Questions, Hands-On Projects, and Case Projects. NETWORK+ GUIDE TO NETWORKS, 6th Edition also includes reference appendices, a glossary, and full-color illustrations. The features of the text combined with its emphasis on real-world problem solving, provides readers with the tools they need to succeed in any computing environment.

Deborah Rickey and Randall Wisehart have spent more than 80 years in the field of education as teachers and administrators. In The Habit of Passionate Teaching, they share what they have learned from their students in middle school, high school, and teacher preparation programs. The motivation for this book comes from the authors’ deeply held belief that it is crucial for teachers to share their knowledge about teaching (their craft knowledge) so that every generation of teachers can build on what has worked in the past. Based on interviews with dozens of experienced teachers and with the addition of their own experience, the authors describe and explore what teachers said about becoming effective and “passionate” teachers and how the practices became a habit. The teachers whose voices are shared throughout the book have found success in teaching over a span of five, ten, even twenty and more years. They have bucked the trend that has seen so many teachers leaving the profession after three years or fewer. The authors sought to discover why these teachers chose to stay in the profession. The emerging answer to the question is that these teachers learned and employed practices of passionate teachers and honed the practices until they became a habit, a habit of passionate teaching. The authors highlight the importance of practices that veteran teachers shared during interviews and focus group sessions. One practice is reflecting. Teachers reported the importance of reflecting before, during and after teaching in order to help them focus on student learning. Another practice is nurturing relationships. Teachers shared that building positive relationships with their students was an essential practice. The practice of engaging in an action research mindset was also listed as an important practice. Teachers were clear that having a question or wondering about student learning was crucial. Yet another practice is seeking the perspective of their own students in their journey to the habit of passionate teaching. Seeking the student perspective was an essential element of their teaching practice. Teachers shared how they sought and acted on the student perspective in both formal and informal ways. Finally, the practices of listening and questioning were described as being threaded throughout these teachers’ professional lives. Listening was crucial in understanding the student perspective and helped create a classroom culture that led to teachers and students being partners in learning. Questioning was described in a very specific way in the context of this book. Teachers explained the importance of asking questions they did not know the answer to as an important way to emphasize that answers lay in exploration not in the teacher’s head. Learning and employing practices of passionate teachers is not an easy process. Teacher anecdotes and examples clearly demonstrated a commitment of these veteran teachers to being lifelong learners. The teachers whose words are shared throughout this book, were clear that being a good teacher means always inquiring about what is working and what isn’t and making the necessary adjustments. This book is built around stories and insights of teachers who have made a commitment to the habit of passionate teaching. This book includes important ideas that teachers reported were key to filling them with hope and helping them understand what it means to be a good teacher. In addition, the teachers and authors share specific strategies, practices, and protocols that can be adapted for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary classrooms. This book describes the craft knowledge of the authors and veteran teachers in hopes that other educators can build on the ideas and, in the future, share their own craft knowledge.

The study described in this book arose in the contextof a three-year collective effort to bring about change in science teaching at Mountain Elementary School. 1 This opportunity emerged after I contacted the school with the idea to help teachers implement student-centered science teaching. At the same time, the teachers collectively had come to realize that their science teaching was not as exciting to children as it could be. They had recognized their own teaching as textbook-based with little use of the "hands-on" approaches prescribed by the provincial curriculum. At this point, the teachers and I decided that a joint project would serve our mutual goals: they wanted assistance in changing from textbook-based approaches to student-centered activities; I wanted to collect data on learning in student-centered knowledge producing classroom communities. I brought to this school my new understandings about classroom communi ties from several earlier studies conducted in a private high school (e. g. , Roth & Bowen, 1995; Roth & Roychoudhury, 1992). I wanted to help teachers create science learning environments in which children took charge of their learning, where children learned from more competent others by participating with them in ongoing activities, and teachers were responsible for setting up and maintaining a classroom community rather than for dissem inating information. After I had completed the data collection for the present study, I watched a documentary about an elementary school in the small French village of Moussac (Envoye Special, TV5, September 14, 1994).

Publisher Annotation: Teachers inspire students every day, and this new collection provides some much-needed inspiration for these dedicated educators. With great stories about teaching from teachers and stories of thanks from students, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Teachers makes for a great teacher gift all year round! Teachers will love the book?s heartfelt, inspiring, and humorous stories from inside and outside the classroom. Stories from teachers and students about their favorite memories, lasting lessons, and unforgettable moments will uplift and encourage any educator. Chicken soup for the soul series, (Original), 400pp.

Playway to English Second edition is a new version of the popular four-level course for teaching English to young children. Pupils acquire English through play, music and Total Physical Response, providing them with a fun and dynamic language learning experience. In the Teacher's Book: • Clear, comprehensive lesson plans with valuable suggestions for mixed-ability classes • Useful photocopiable resources to supplement lesson plans

Mental health has become a growing concern in today's society, with schools emerging as focal points for addressing this topic. The present volume takes this as a starting point to explore the relevance of curricula and competencies, texts and materials, (digital) culture and communication, and teacher education in the context of mental health and English language education. This, for instance, includes insights into interrelated topics such as gender, climate change, stress, and conspiracy theories. A variety of texts including multimodal novels, video games, and songs provides practical impulses for integrating mental health related topics into English lessons. As such, this volume brings together scholars from various fields who discuss the relationship between mental health issues and English as a foreign language learning from a variety of theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented perspectives.

This unique, edited book is a must for science educators who desire to improve upon traditional methods for science teaching and learning. It provides background, theoretical research-based frameworks, guidelines, and concrete examples for the implementation and assessment of innovative models of science learning, teaching, and professional preparation.

"This book helps educators who use the outdoors as a learning setting. It presents teaching methods for people who teach in schools, nature centers, adventure centers, camps, environmental learning centers, government agencies, and universities. These methods apply to many subject areas such as physical education, science education, environmental studies, and recreation"--