Reddit mentions: The best teaching instruction books

I´d say that the key to successful classroom management is transparency and consistency. Transparency because your rules need to be known and understood by all students; they should never have to guess at what you want (or don´t want), but know in advance. Whenever you dish out sanctions, you should not have to explain why - the student should be familiar with the rules and know that he/she broke them. If this is not the case, students will unknowingly break rules, you will punish them and thus frame yourself as a mean, unfair teacher. Understanding the rules is step one. This leads to the second point, consistency: sanctions should work almost like an if-this-then-that statement, meaning that you apply the same rules for all students, every single lesson, and as soon as a problem arises. If you are inconsistent, the system isn´t transparent and students will begin to test your limits - but if your limits are the same every single lesson, they will quickly learn them and, hopefully, learn to respect them.

Second, it´s important to understand that successful classroom management arises from a combination of rewards and sanctions - but many people forget the former. You will want to reward model behavior in order to communicate to the model student (and the rest of the class) that this is the sort of behavior you are looking for - this goes hand-in-hand with the transparency and consistency concepts mentioned above. If done correctly, you should see an increase in desirable behavior. Rewards don´t have to be tangible; a word of praise will do, or a clap on the shoulder, or a smile. Positive reinforcement, if done right, is often more impactful than sanctions. An example could be the following:

>In my classroom, students wait outside for me to open the door. I greet them at the door, they enter, take their seats and take out their notebooks, homework diaries and pencil cases. I have a poster outside my classroom to remind students of this, and it is drilled a bit in the first week of school.In the beginning, lots of students will forget to do it. At this point, I am tempted to frown and say something like "Remember what I told you last time? Take out your equipment!" The farther we get through the school year, the harsher my voice and the greater my frustration. But there´s another way to deal with it; find the one student who has taken out his/her equipment it and say "Maria has taken out her equipment, well done." This statement achieves the same as the former but is much more positive. You have stated your expectations and highlighted model behavior.

Role-modeling behavior like this works for a ton of things. Imagine that you ask a question to the class and three students raise their hands. Tell the class "I see three hands raised" - I promise you that a few more will pop up!

If things get more serious (for better or for worse), you should ideally have a whole-school policy in place to fall back on. Before you even start teaching, the first thing to do would be to talk to your line manager, department head or the class teacher to figure out if there are any such systems in place for rewards and punishment. An ideal school should have such a system; for example, merits for exceptional behavior and detentions for unwanted behavior. If there is such a system, most of your problems are already solved since you won´t have to figure out punishment and rewards, but only have to dole them out in accordance with your rules. If there is no such scheme, I recommend that you go through the other posts here - there are some great ideas.

One thing that I would stress in extension of this is that rewards and sanctions for the entire class go against the principles of transparency and consistency. If you teach 40 students and 30 behaved well while 10 misbehaved, do you reward or punish the class? If you reward, then you aren´t being transparent with the 10 - and if you punish, you aren´t with the 30.

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Finally, a quick list in no particular order:

• Be realistic. Don´t set rules that you can´t enforce and don´t be much more (or less) demanding than their other teachers when it comes to creating the rules.
  
• Make sure that the rules are agreed upon by the students. Some teachers like to use their first lesson to, as a class, write a set of rules. You might also consider asking the students what the rules are in their other lessons and work from there - again, consistency from teacher to teacher helps as well.
  
• Make sure that the rules are visible; either as a poster or as a handout glued in their notebooks. Consider getting them translated to your students´ first language. Again, for transparency.
  
• Do not, under any circumstance, compromise with transparency and consistency in the first weeks of teaching in order to give an impression of being that "cool, laid-back teacher" that we all loved when we went to school. If you don´t follow through with sanctions according to your rules, students will think you are a push-over. When you finally do put your foot down, they won´t understand why since you let them break your rules several times before. Transparency and consistency should automatically lead to mutual respect and a good classroom environment; once your students know the rules and follow them, you will only have to punish rarely.
  
• Read up on the topic. Books were already recommended in this thread, so I´ll add mine: Teach Like a Champion 2.0 by Doug Lemov. It´s developed from observing great teachers in charter schools in the USA, but most of the techniques are applicable in any classroom.
  
  I hope this helps!
  
  ​

>With quizzes, can you use someone else's quizzes? Say another teacher wants to use the same quiz or you're collaborating with someone at another campus.

You can, how easy it is depends on how your school is setting things up how easy it is. If you are collaborating with another AP Physics 1 class, and you want to run pretty much the same stuff, the easiest way would be to share a class with each teacher having their own section. You could share everything, but control your own assignment and due dates, as well as grading only your own stuff.

Otherwise, the way that always works is to have one teacher export the quiz, send it to the other and import it. This however will not allow you to work together on the quiz, just transfer finished quizzes.

Finally, there is also something called Commons, which would allow anyone in the world to share anything, rubrics, assignments, quizzes, whole classes, and everything inbetween. However I am not sure if that is in general release now, or still only in certain districts.

Anyway, here is my go to "New Physics Teacher" list.

Books

TIPERS

• TIPERs: Sensemaking Tasks for Introductory Physics
  
• Newtonian Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research: nTIPERs
  
• E&M TIPERs: Electricity & Magnetism Tasks
  
• Ranking Task Exercises in Physics
  
  TIPERs are a fantastic resource for including conceptual thinking assignments. Answer keys are generally available if you talk to your school's Pearson Rep. IMO, the E/M book is the weakest, in part because it ignores that circuits are a thing. I would start with the first as it is a general overview, and go from there.
  
  

  General Physics Education
  

  
  

• Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching
  
• Hands-On Physics Activities with Real-Life Applications
  
• Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package - This is less helpful as you get further in your career and are more comfortable designing your own assignments, but was very helpful when I first started.
  
• Thinking Physics: Understandable Practical Reality - If you like Hewitt's next time questions you'll love these.
  
• Teaching Introductory Physics - Pretty much all physics teachers should read this at some point, such a fantastic resource.
  
• Teaching High School Physics Volume I - First of a three volume set, I like these, but they were written by one of my college profs, so I am biased.
  
  

  Websites
  

• Pretty Good Physics - While mostly an AP resource, tons of teacher made materials are available. If you want access to the good stuff (tests and such) those are keep in PGP-secure, there are instructions on how you can gain access.
  
• PheT
  
• Compadre - Tends to be hit or miss for me, but a good collection of resources.
  
• AP Physics HTML 5 Sims - A collection of simple simulations written by an AP Physics teacher, good for introductory labs.
  
• New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning - Another collection of materials for all types of courses, particularly handy if you have any ESL students and know none of the language.
  
• Physics Classroom - Pretty much the defacto online physics textbook.
  
  

  Youtube
  

• Lasseviren1 - Great Calc-physics tutorials
  
• Flipping Physics
  
• Minutephysics
  
• Veritasium
  
  If anyone else has suggestions let me know, I will try to keep an up to date list to post for all of the "I'm new to physics help!" posts. I might add an AP section.
  

Where I have found philosophy important to science is in epistemology. As a scientist, you do need to be aware of your own views about how it is we come to know things. But science and philosophy certainly are different and should not be mistaken for each other. There are all sorts of sloppy thinking that gets us into trouble, and that sounds like one of them.

Clearly, I am an advocate of science having a role in how we conduct education. And you've asked me a good question. Before I try to answer it, I want to note one thing, and (rhetorically) ask another thing.

I acknowledge that teachers are constantly subjected to changes in education policy that come and go when political winds shift with different ideologies in charge. The unfortunate fact is, there are deep disagreements in the education world. We have near universal agreement that education is important, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts, you see that people value different things. Education has a values problem in the USA.

In any case, it is no wonder that the world of shifting plans and directives might make any teacher suspicious of whatever it is that they think is responsible for the situation. And politicians often use science and anything that sounds like it as a tool to lend additional authority to their initiatives, so teachers may learn to be suspicious of research. I get that.

So, now I ask a rhetorical question. Teaching and learning are not without their challenges. We need to act with an understanding of these problems in order to address them satisfactorily. Where should we turn for that understanding? Who is trying to gain an understanding of these problems that is accurate in the description of them, faithful to participants, trustworthy in methods and results, authentic within their settings, and honest about the assumptions? My answer, of course, is science. And because science writing makes many things explicit, we can look at what researchers are, in fact, living up to the ideals I suggest in this paragraph (which I would use to evaluate good science).

If someone were to say they wanted to be guided by something else, I would wonder how they know they can trust it. Teaching, as a profession, has been around for ages (as has been pointed out). But there are issues both old and new that we need to address, and teaching is not explicitly about investigating these issues. If teachers had already solved them, they wouldn't be existing issues. New issues are definitely encountered, because education exists in a changing world. We need to turn to a set of practices that can help us extend our understanding in ways that help us act to address our issues.

That's what science can do; that's what researchers should do. As researchers, we can't tell other people what to do. But we can tell people what we are learning about the world. And I think the understanding we gain from research can be of use.

Back to your question: you wanted to know what I thought was good research to pay attention to. Excellent question, and not something I can give a comprehensive answer to. But I can mention a few things. I'm in mathematics education, so this will mainly pertain to that.

What does important research look like?

In the 70's, Erlwanger did a study of students learning the standard algorithms for certain math operations and found that students could perform the steps of an algorithm successfully without understanding fundamental concepts underlying the algorithm. The implications of this are huge. Students had long been tested by asking them to solve math problems, and the assumption was that they understood what they were doing if they got the right answer. A whole branch of math education shifted. This is an oversimplification, but students behaviors alone were no longer reliable data about their understanding. Now we knew that without talking to students, we might never really know what they understand. Without making understanding more central to instruction, we might not be teaching in ways that are likely to result in understanding.

I mention that partly to show how profound a change one qualitative study can have. This was not an at-scale study. There were just a few students, and the paper (Benny's Conception) written about it focused on one student.

But also, the role of understanding has become important, so we put concern for it up front. Other previously existing approaches valued repetition, speed, efficiency, and an over-reliance on memory. But it turns out that stressing things like memory actually drains the meaning and relevance out of math for students. Jo Boaler mentions here how math learning needn't overburden a student's memory resources.

The rest of my answer is a slight cop-out because others have written better about this than I have. I will tell you, I value inquiry-based approaches to learning, which are summarized here. I hate to point you towards one book, but I'm in a bit of a hurry today (dissertation work) and I don't want to leave you with nothing. The book mentioned in that article is here. and the reason I link to it is that the chapter-writers are researchers who write well for practitioners and policy makers. They back up what they are saying with many, many research results, which they also describe. This is, in my experience, unusual for a book on education.

I have so much empathy for you because I have definitely been where you are. This is my sixth year teaching middle school, and it gets better. My first year was rough (I remember one student asking me, "Why don't you act like a real teacher?"). So, please don't get discouraged!

I think a lot of the advice you've been given is spot on. I really liked Fred Jones Tools for Teaching. It gives really clear, practical advice for setting the tone and structuring your class.

You'll take some time to settle into a tone and a style that works for you. I remember during my first year, I felt that I had to be really authoritative. I wore my hair in a bun, wore heels so I'd be taller than the student, and I tried to be rigid and not show too much of my personality. Huge mistake! Now I'm much more myself and I allow my students to know a little more about me (I talk about my cat, my travels, etc.). They like me (well most of them do!), and they want to impress me and don't want to disappoint me. Part of that came with them seeing me as a real person.

I also learn as much about them as possible. I love Google Forms. If you haven't done it already, a getting to know you type survey is great for starting to build that relationship and trust. Here's the one I gave this year. It's nice because then I can reference things from their survey when I'm talking with them one on one (e.g. "You like the Pacers? I don't know ... I'm more of a college basketball fan myself.") It means a LOT to kids that you care about getting to know them personally. I make flashcards for myself with their names and faces at the beginning of the year because I'm terrible with names. I also recognize birthdays with a homework pass and a note (that would be a lot harder with the number of kids you work with!)

The other thing I had to figure out by myself was the right and wrong way to confront a kid who is misbehaving. Instead of "Lift your head and pay attention!," I now come over, crouch down, and ask "Are you feeling okay?" Kid might be sick, tired, in a horrible mood ... better to assume the best then accuse them of the worst. Someone posted this video recently, which I wish I'd seen my first year of teaching!

Do you have any positive reward systems in your class? My kids love class raffles for individual positive behavior, and my sixth graders love earning bouncy balls for positive class behavior. Fill the jar, and the class gets a prize (homework passes / cookies / mini party). I started seeing a lot more positive peer pressure to behave! If you can group the in small collaborative groups, then reward good group behavior, that can lead to positive peer pressure as well.

Don't give up. You'll adapt and grow, and every day will get better and you'll feel more natural.

I teach 7th Grade in a Title I inner city school. I totally understand your feelings. Don't give up yet! Since my first year, the things that improved my teaching / classroom management the most were:

1. Reading Teach Like a Champion - really helped me put my classroom needs into actual techniques. As a beginning teacher, it's really frustrating to hear admin and mentors give advice in platitudes. This gives actual techniques that you can apply.
   
   
2. Changing my curriculum to favor hand-on approaches (interactive notebooks, lots of cutting and pasting, etc.) instead of more traditional notes and worksheets.
   
   
3. Creating a Rewards System in my classroom. It doesn't have to be big or expensive, but low income kids will do a lot for food and candy. Reward for participation and good behavior. Make them have to earn several of something to get a prize, so you don't have to constantly pay out.
   
   
4. Try to lead with positivity and remain calm when things go badly. You are the leader of this classroom. You can handle it when things go awry. At this age, they really do want to do well and to please you. Give them a chance to buy in before you hit them over the head with difficult work. Support them and praise whenever you can. I know it's hard to find those times, but it makes a difference.
   
   
5. Use whatever discipline system you have. Send out kids if you need to. You need to protect your learning environment. Be clear about what your expectations are - you can do this without yelling and screaming. Kids want a safe, calm place where they can learn. Give that to them by using your resources and not allowing kids to derail your lessons. They will respect you more if you have a low tolerance for shenanigans.
   
   Good luck!! Feel free to PM if you want to vent or have any questions.
   

Secure caregiver attachment is the healthiest thing a child can have. Numerous studies show that children who are securely attached to an adult caregiver develop better in every area, and are generally more autonomous. There is no limit to how securely attached a child can be, and the more attached, generally, the better. Securely attached kids are also usually more comfortable being away from their caregiver or letting other children interact with their caregiver because they trust that their caregiver will still be there for them when they need their caregiver (Trawick-Smith, 2014) (Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer, 2018).

Insecure attachment, however, happens when a child is very attached, but does not have complete trust in their caregiver. They may fear that, if their caregiver starts interacting with other children that they will be forgotten, or that the caregiver will prefer the other children over them. Children in insecure caregiver relationships are generally less likely to be confident in themselves as-well, and sometimes show less interest in exploring the world around them (Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer, 2018).

The best thing for making sure a child feels secure in their relationship is to build trust. A caregiver should always be honest with the child, include them in things that concern them, respect and value their opinions, and always keep their word. Children need to know that their caregiver is going to be there to care for them when they have needs (Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer, 2018). These needs include physical needs, emotional needs, social needs, affectionate needs, creative needs, and cognitive needs (Chahin, 2008).

Sometimes insecure attachments can transfer over from previous insecure attachment. For example, if he has an insecure attachment with mom, then he will have a much harder time forming a secure attachment with a caregiver, even if that caregiver does everything perfectly (Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer, 2018).

Congrats on getting hired!!! I'd recommend a mix of PD/teaching books and content. When you get bored of one switch to the other. Both are equally important (unless you feel stronger in one area than the other).

For PD, I'd recommend: Teach Like a Pirate, Blended, The Wild Card, and the classic Essential 55. Another one on grading is Fair Isn't Always Equal - this one really changed how I thought about grading in my classes.

As far as content, you have a couple ways to go - review an overview of history like Lies My Teacher Told Me, the classic People's History, or Teaching What Really Happened, or you can go with a really good book on a specific event or time period to make that unit really pop in the classroom. The Ron Chernow books on Hamilton, Washington, or Grant would be great (but long). I loved Undaunted Courage about Lewis & Clark and turned that into a really great lesson.

Have a great summer and best of luck next year!!

Try getting him some really high interest reading material instead of just depending on school work to help him improve his skills. For example, my son loved the Goose Bumps series of books when he was a 3rd grader. If you don't know them, they are fairly cheesy scary stories appropriate for little kids. Or if he might prefer science fiction or sports stories of joke books or comics, find some of those. If you go to the local library, the librarian can help you pick some things. Then let him do his 20 minutes reading about things he enjoys, and the time will go faster and easier for you both. You can increase the time by a minute or two each night, and before you know it, he'll be reading for 30 or 40 minutes at a crack and wanting more.

The librarian can also help you set him up with books that progress in difficulty--so you can begin with slightly easier books that won't frustrate him or wear him out, then keep challenging him a little each time as you go.

I'll also recommend a great book called Phonics Pathways that can help him master language. I have used it often to tutor second and third grade students. A companion teaching tool for home use is Reading Pathways, which will help build fluency in his reading.

Finally, I suggest that you meet with his teacher and perhaps the principal, as well, to talk about his struggles right away. If he has a good teacher, he or she will want to do everything possible to support his learning so he doesn't fall farther behind.

I think this is an older version, but Pre-Referral Intervention Guide. They made us get that book for my internship, but it has helped me incredibly as a classroom teacher with interventions for TIPS/RtI.

Also, Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire gave me the idea for my classroom economy which was incredibly successful my first year and super inspirational.

Finally, I just started reading Ron Clark's books, and I wish I had read them before. They're super motivational/inspirational. The Essential 55 and The End of Molasses Classes.

Protip: I know I looked these up on Amazon, but check out Better World Books for cheap, good quality (for the most part) books with mostly free shipping...and the company donates a book for each book you purchase! :)

Okay, you mention electromagnetic field and photons. I'll agree with you there. I am sensitive to the sound of frequency through television especially if its poor reception. I hear like an annoying highish-low pitch sound when the signal is poor. I thought I was crazy but I later discovered about Mosquito frequency.


My visual snow was the strongest when I first started seeing in 2012, New Year's Day. This is where I agree with your "shape" anecdote. I recalled seeing swirls, circles, and anything near circular squiggles in my field of site. I thought I was going insane upon seeing these "illusions". I still see them but over the last 7 years, I grew accustom to them and rather see them as a "bonus feature" to my field of site. Plus, it does make my imagination go wild hahaha It keeps entertained than feeling hopeless than I can't change it.


Side tracked in this conversation, I honestly do believe its neuron connections and more specific to our eye sights. Like wires to a light bulb, I think those wires got burnt out. Or why is it that suddenly, visual snow is being labeled and talked now in the age of technology and bright blue lights as opposed to past. Unless pointillism artists had it and we just mistaken it for art.


If it helps with my idea of neural connection, I recommend checking out Sensation and Perception textbooks. https://www.amazon.com/Sensation-Perception-Bruce-Goldstein-ebook/dp/B00BF3VMSA .


If you may be kind and patience with free time, could you link me to your TED talks. I figure to see what your side of grass looks like to you. :)

If I could go back in time as a senior in high school, above all, I would just do more reading, and I would read widely. I did not start on the path to English teaching until I was 26, and although I did great in college and I feel that I am a successful teacher now, my weakness is my reading background. I would suggest using an app like Goodreads so that you can track your progress as you chip away at the literary canon, work by work. The texts that are going to help you the most and serve you for the rest of your career are the ones that most authors allude to, so, I would suggest that at some point you familiarize yourself with these from a literary standpoint:

• The Bible
  
• Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey
  
• Virgil's Aenid
  
• Ovid's Metamorphoses
  
• As many Shakespeare plays as you can read (and I just want to mention that the Cambridge School editions are the best for teaching)
  
  As far as resources that will give you a head start, I suggest:
  
  
• Shmoop (but only after you've exhausted your own abilities with a text)
  
• How to Read Literature Like a Professor
  
• How Literature Works
  
• Any Introductory Textbook to Critical Theory
  
  Considering pedagogy resources, by the time you are in an education program, there will be new research and new buzzwords, so I won't waste my time here, but these are my favorite resources when it comes to inspiring my teaching:
  
  
• Rick Wormeli (Seriously, this guy is amazing)
  
• Teach Like a Pirate
  
• Reading in the Wild
  
  Lastly, if you go into an English education program with a near-perfect understanding of grammar, your life will be so much easier. I suggest these three resources for brushing up:
  
  
• No Red Ink
  
• Teaching Grammar Through Writing
  
• Language Exploration and Awareness
  
  Good luck, and let me know if you have questions! If you do anything on this list, just read!

Hi! Congrats on starting your new career :) I was in the same boat as you; graduated with a Chem degree and have ended up teaching most every science content (bio, physics, chem, and physical science) in the HS level.

Regarding subject specific resources, hopefully your school provides you with curriculum so that you can know what you need to review/look up--I know I spent a lot of time reviewing biology content when I had to teach that class since I was rusty on it. For a decent content review book, I found this book at Costco last year but they sell it on Amazon:

[Help Your Kids With Science] (http://www.amazon.com/Help-Your-Kids-Science-Publishing/dp/0756692687/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406088680&sr=8-1&keywords=help+your+kids+with+science)

I actually use the book sometimes with my Sped students or when if a class needs some quick review. It's pretty thorough with nice pictures.

This book is about using Science Notebooks in class... I spent a lot of time in grad school/student teaching using notebooks so I felt I had a good grasp on them, but this book provided a few good ideas. It is a little pricey though.

[Teaching Science With Interactive Notebooks] (http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Science-With-Interactive-Notebooks/dp/1412954037/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1406089065&sr=8-3&keywords=science+notebook)

If you need any first day advice or anything like that, feel free to PM me!

Ouch. My advice, then, would be to employ some good reading strategies and increase the drama/improv acting in your class.

The best book I've read for helping readers is When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. She offers some fantastic pre-, during-, and post-reading strategies. My students love Tea Party. Here is a summary of the book--look at chapters 6, 7, & 8 in particular: http://middlesecondarytoolkit.pbworks.com/f/mainidea111509.pdf

While that helps with comprehension (which naturally enhances engagement), I think teachers also can improve student engagement if they work on their performance abilities. I like to stop every few minutes or so (depending on grade level and reading ability) when I'm reading aloud and act out scenes. Today, my 7th graders (I teach 7-12 and I do the same with all grades) were reading Of Mice and Men, and after the scene where Lennie crushes Curly's hand, I stopped and said "Oh man this is exciting, but I'm not sure you're all getting this. We need to see this," and then I had the smallest girl get up and pretending to be Lennie as she crushed my hand and I melodramatically fell to the ground crying. In another scene I pretended to be Curly's wife and came in and "hit on" a couple male students. I'm a 6'0" man.

It sounds silly, but when you can embrace the cringe and get students laughing, you'll have them in the palm of your hand. It also causes students to pay more attention because they might get selected to be part of the mini-skit, and they don't want to be caught having no idea what we're talking about. If you want more information on how to increase the performance side of teaching, these are my two favorite books on the subject:

Teach Like a Pirate

Happy Teacher Habits

I was going to say the same thing. I LOVE using these....not just for organization but as a tool for kids to make sense of information on their own (a la constructivism). I agree about the pretty much saving my life comment; it has completely changed how I teach and I would never not use them! I've read a few sites for ideas but I also came across a book (http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Science-With-Interactive-Notebooks/dp/1412954037) that was really helpful. You can really customize to your style and it gives kids a chance to be creative with processing pages. Let me know if you want suggestions for implementing them. It takes a little buy-in, starting with the teacher. Good luck!

Wow, this is an amazing contest. I hope you'll have a good time in training, and that your feet esp. won't kill you. Best of luck!

Getting The Buggers to Behave 2 by Sue Cowley, whose wit, wisdom and clear writing have saved my sanity and my faith in my chosen profession of trying to educate little blighters. :) If it's unavailable (the books sell out often enough), her Guerilla Guide to Teaching is also on my "Oh Lord Won't You Buy Me A New Set Of Nerves" list. :D

What an awful situation.

Take it bird by bird--the most important thing right now is (like you said!) going to be management, and it sounds like management is going to be pretty much impossible in your context without relationships with the kids.

I found Teach Like a Champion super helpful when I was starting out--very concrete strategies, and I liked the videos. I thought it translated fine to a middle school context. I didn't love The First Days of School, but I know a lot of other folks do. It helped me to watch videos--I liked this one a lot in terms of the level of structure you'll want while you get settled.

Consistency, structure, relationships.

One other note, though - you can't pour from an empty cup. Sounds like your admin is dealing you a pretty tough hand. Make sure to take care of yourself this year.

Good news! Just called Webster and they said it doesn’t matter what you think sounds right and doesn’t sound right. There’re gonna keep the dictionary as is! Turns out they think it would be pretty irresponsible to let someone that doesn’t fully understand the English language be in charge of something like that. They recommended you learn an easier language, like Chinese. Until then, maybe find a job that isn’t correcting people’s word usage online. You aren’t very good at it. Good luck friend :)

Stephen Littlejohn's book Theories of Human Communication (probably on its 15th edition by now) is a basic overview of most com theories. I personally think the book has been over edited to death and is very sterile but it is a flagbearer book. Well-respected. https://www.amazon.com/Theories-Communication-Eleventh-Stephen-Littlejohn/dp/1478634057/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SF4YEF2TEVC9CJ61032D

​

A graduate level read that is a really good overview of the scope of com theories is this book by Robert Craig and Heidi Mueller: https://www.amazon.com/Theorizing-Communication-Readings-Across-Traditions/dp/1412952379/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?keywords=communication+theory+robert+craig&qid=1557254455&s=books&sr=1-2-fkmrnull

​

This book by Shepherd, Striphas, and St. John is also one that I like...it is a different approach, more laid back in its writing and it tries to approach communication from a different angle. The book is a series of essays by prominent scholars explaining how they "see" communication. Worth checking out. https://www.amazon.com/Communication-as-Perspectives-Gregory-Shepherd/dp/1412906571/ref=sr_1_1

​

Kathy Miller's communication theory book is good as well but I haven't seen any of the newer editions. I used to teach out of that book 10 years ago and liked it. https://www.amazon.com/Communication-Theories-Perspectives-Processes-Contexts/dp/0767405005

​

You should be able to find a used copy of all these books for not that much money. There are plenty of com theory books out there, but these are good starting points and will prep you well for your MA program.

What's the task?

One of the things I think new teachers really struggle with is finding or creating good higher level models. Once you've got some really solid graded or anchored models of what you're expecting, motivated students can revise to get there. There's really no limit to this. If they're really good writers, show them some AP essays to humble them a bit.

If you're just looking for strategies to get them to care about process more, I've been using this video for years with high school students: Austin's Butterfly. Beyond the cuteness of a classroom full of elementary kids being genuinely kind and thoughtful, it's a great intro to peer review and getting real improvement.

It's also a bit about the task you choose. Is there any way to get more choice in what they're doing and revising? Maybe some Penny Kittle magic?

I took a class on teaching ESL, taught by our college's ESL specialist. This is the book we used: https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Grammar-English-Language-Learners/dp/0472032208

It's pretty good. It covers the most common issues/sources of confusion that you'll encounter with ESL students, as well as how to explain them. When a student asks you why what he/she wrote is wrong, and why it should be the way you say is right, it lets you say "Because XYZ" instead of "That's just the way it is".

One example covered in the book is prepositions. To an extent, they make sense. Especially with directional prepositions. But a lot of situations require certain prepositions for no logical reason. Like, you wouldn't say "I believe of you". But why is "I believe in you" better? But at the same time you say "I'm thinking of you" and not "I'm thinking in you". This can be incredibly frustrating for students. But letting them know that there isn't really a reason and sometimes they just have to remember can make them feel better, as opposed to trying to figure out the logic of rules that don't really exist and that no one can seem to explain.

Reading helps a lot. Keeping simple books around would be great. And/or books that are written in two languages. Like books where the left page is English and right page is Spanish. If these are hard to find for some of the languages, you could make your own by printing out short stories in both languages. Or even using google translate to get a copy in the student's primary language.

Encourage them to consume their media in English. English movies, music, shows, etc. Also, all Netflix original shows (or at least most, I think it's all) will have dubs in Spanish, and will have captions in multiple languages. Watching a show in English, with captions in your language to help you figure out what you don't understand, can go a long way. The opposite is true too (watching in Spanish with English captions).

I think the word, "great teacher" is a little like the word "genius". It shouldn't be thrown around too often, as they're so completely rare. When I think of great teaching I think of a couple of teachers at my school that are amazing.

1. Content area knowledge - these two teachers are insanely knowledgeable on what it takes to teach a kid how to read. They can talk for hours on the subject, and are intimately related with strategies, techniques, and the vocabulary of their subject area.
   
   
2. This is their career. Yes all teachers love kids. But they really see what they're doing as an avenue for social empowerment. I don't always agree with these two teacher politically, but they really see what they're doing as an extension of the civil rights movement. That seems cheesy but is important. You have to believe in what we're doing in the classroom. Otherwise, the stress, the long hours, etc, are not gonna be worth it to you personally.
   
   
3. Classroom Management - Obviously. Required Reading #1 Also, This + This = amazing teaching.
   
   
4. Data Driven Instruction - they constantly track student mastery of outcomes. They know which students have mastered what, and have clear strategies for getting them to that outcome. This is a key which many good teachers lack.
   
   I could say much much more on the subject, I'm sure.
   
   
   

As a toddlers teacher, I can tell you that there absolutely are tons of good books!!

You have to remember that there is no "ways to teach my kids." All kids learn differently. Luckily, since you are their parent, you are privileged to info about your kid that us teachers are not!

All kids naturally posses a desire to explore and learn. Teaching a toddler is not so much teaching as it is facilitating. Give your child the ability to explore and play freely. When you see your child has an interest in something, provide resources and opportunities for your child to discover and learn more about that thing. Scaffold. Info on scaffolding: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2017/rocking-and-rolling-empowering-infants-and-toddlers. I recommend spending some time on NAEYC's website. They have TONS of great information.

Books.

I also provided links to Amazon to view the books. I recommend that you buy older editions of the textbooks since these ones are really expensive. The older editions are pretty much the same, and much much cheaper.

• Your Self-confident baby by Magda Gerber.
  
• Developmentally Appropriate Practice by Carol Copple, et al.
  
• Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers by Janet Gonzalez-Mena, et al.
  
• Elevating Childcare by Janet Lansbury.
  
• The Whole Brain Child by Daniel Siegal (haven't read this one yet, but my colleagues say it's good).

I am in a similar position as you and will be teaching AP World History as a first year teacher next year. I have been prepping this summer by reading some books on the topic. I can fully recomend is this book and [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0988217600/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) is also worth reading though not specific to AP World History. Reading AP Test Prep books is probably also a good idea just to get brushed up on the essay stuff and outlines of the content. There are also alot of websites such as [World History Connected] (http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/) that have great resources. Hope this helps and if you want to exchange lesson ideas at any point I would be happy to work with you.

I am still looking for a community of AP World History teachers to share lesson plans and ideas with. If anyone knows where I can find a commuity like this please let me know.

It's not uncommon in Title I schools. It's also not uncommon in Title I schools to be given little guidance or resources to do your job.

Here a couple of things that are (IMO) crucial to keep in mind:
(1) You need age appropriate literature that is also at your kids' reading level. Do not insult them with "See Spot Run." NewsELA allows you to adjust the same article to different reading levels. It's a brilliant resource you should use. https://newsela.com Same for The Simthsonian's Tween Tribune. https://www.tweentribune.com

(2) I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend Discovering Voice for middle school. https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Voice-Lessons-Middle-School/dp/0929895894/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502141983&sr=8-1&keywords=voice+lessons+middle+school Spend the $20 something. It comes with permission to make copies for your classroom so you only need the 1 book. It's a bunch of mini-lessons that work brilliantly at helping students read and write better with voice.

(3) Kelly Gallagher.
(a) Article of the Week http://www.kellygallagher.org/article-of-the-week/
(b) Try this book https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Reasons-Motivational-Mini-Lessons-Middle/dp/1571103562/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502142077&sr=1-6
(c) And this one https://www.amazon.com/Deeper-Reading-Comprehending-Challenging-Texts/dp/1571103848/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502142077&sr=1-3

(4) The New York Times Learning Network https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning

That should give you a more than decent start.

"Teach like a champ" is about compliance, and some of their methods don't really take into account child development. This book is clear, provides anecdotes and is supported by research. It is most helpful in establishing norms, routines, and maintaining expectations:
https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Secondary-Classroom-Management-Research/dp/0073378615/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1500150549&sr=8-5&keywords=secondary+classroom+management


Understanding by design is good, you might also find guided release of responsibility helpful:
https://www.amazon.com/Better-Learning-Through-Structured-Teaching/dp/1416616292/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500150503&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=guide+release+of+responsibility

We often ask our 9th graders to show how to add, multiply, subtract, etc. in more than one way. They often prefer algorithms but they have difficulty making sense with what they actually mean and how they transfer into algebraic thinking. I do have to say over time, they get better at the multiple ways of performing operations.

People who are good at number sense and mental math often don't waste time with algorithms.

I would recommend picking up this book and spending 5-10 minutes a day doing number strings:
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Powerful-Numeracy-Middle-Students/dp/0325026629

You can also pick up "Lessons and Activities for Building Powerful Numeracy" which has handouts/worksheets and sample discussions with students.

You can basically look for anything else that is written by Pamela Weber Harris or Catherine Fosnot.

I love the Discovering Voice and Voice Lessons books by Nancy Dean. They are short activities (which are fantastic for freshmen with short attention spans) that have students examine how a writer writes, and then each lesson has a "Now You Try It" activity that has them practice what they have just learned. These activities work great as a mini lesson or as warm-ups and makes them think about the decisions writers have to make before putting words on a page.

Teach Like a Champion by Lemov and The Skillful Teacher by Saphier are great resources to study. They'll provide you with techniques and tips on teaching. We used them in my Masters of Education course work. Extensively. It's worth it to note that in earning yourself a TEFL certificate, such as a CELTA, you'll be taught the rudimentaries of the profession.

Other than that, if you're really worried about it you could try taking some college courses on Education, either Applied Linguistics or Elementary, to get a broader idea of techniques and expectations. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. I went to China to teach knowing nothing except small bits of info from my CELTA course, and I got along just fine.

Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. If you feel like you're getting into too much of a rut with your delivery, this book really has some simple but great ideas to make your class more engaging. There's a question I ask myself often that he poses: "if your students didn't have to be there, would they show up?"

When you start your job start asking around about your mentor! Try and meet with your mentor and other people down your hallway as much as possible. Ask questions and never feel like you’re a bother. You’re all in it together!

If you’re nervous about student behavior, start asking around about their PBIS procedures. Do they have a bounce system? In school suspension?

Also read The First Days Of School as well as Teach Like A Champion .

You’re going to do find! Students respond to teachers who genuinely love what they do and care about them.

Essentially it's the "I do, we do, you do (together) and you do (alone)" format of instruction.
In a nutshell: the GRR is a more purposeful and STRUCTURED way to plan and deliver instruction. You (as the teacher) really think about the steps as you move from one to the other and what the learner's (student) role is in each step. In my own instruction, following the scripted curriculum, I wasn't really affording students the opportunity to engage in the necessary practice to truly demonstrate learning. Based on my research, I have found that many reading programs don't adhere to the GRR model or follow the "recipe'' for literacy success (article linked below).

This book has become my teaching Bible and it has lesson plan templates to ensure that you tie your instruction to the model: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Learning-Through-Structured-Teaching/dp/1416616292/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0/140-3275623-1048462?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2AEA8CPNJZPQ4Q1TWPF0

These websites provide a nice synthesized visual to explain the GRR model:
https://themasterclassroom.com/2017/04/03/why-teachers-should-be-using-the-gradual-release-of-responsibility-model/

http://wildlifetrackingsouthwest.com/gradual-release-lesson-plan-template/gradual-release-lesson-plan-template-gradual-release-pd-english-intervention-printable/

This is an article in which the researchers analyze reading programs for the instructional methods used: http://readingbydesign.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Core-Reading-Programs-RRQ.pdf

From the discussion: "Release of Responsibility
If the release-of-responsibility model (Pearson &
Gallagher, 1983) is the preferred manner of assisting
students to acquire and internalize strategies, then
none of the programs have employed this model with
any consistency and some not at all. The missing link
in most programs is the lack of guided practice and the
need for students to model the strategies. In Programs
A, B, D, and E the instructional design moves from direct explanation to questioning with very limited guided
practice. Students are not guided to acquire and try out
the strategies. Program C is the exception; it employs
explanations, modeling, and guided practice while students read in some, but not all, instructional units" (p.120).

😀🍎👩‍🏫🏫👨‍🏫📚

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

This book is fantastic and has actual concrete things you can do in class

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^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

Teaching Science with Interactive Notebooks is a fantastic read. I started using interactive notebooks this year, and it's been a huge help.

Definitely consider switching schools. If, however, that's not an option, you might be able to read up on some of the literature that great coaches use to develop great teachers. My school likes to send teachers to the Research for Better Teaching (RBT) program. You can find development through their website: http://www.rbteach.com/ and through the book that they use for the program, The Skillful Teacher (http://www.amazon.com/The-Skillful-Teacher-Building-Teaching/dp/1886822107). RBT is not an easy course, but it has completely revolutionized the way I teach.

The first two books I typically recommend for teachers are The First Days of School and Teach Like a Champion. Harry Wong, especially, is a leader in teacher development.

There's often a myth that kids with mild-moderate special needs should be taught differently than non-disabled kids, but the literature doesn't really bear that out. They just are less resilient than their peers to poor teaching techniques, so evidence-based techniques become more important for their success.

If your kids have moderate-severe impairments, I would suggest some different reading materials.

Isn't that rubric great?? It's from Kellie Marcarelli's book Teaching Science with Interactive Notebooks. I basically stole everything I do from there!! Actually, that rubric does a pretty good job explaining the expectations for those output assignments. To get a 10/10 they need to go above and beyond, they need to use drawings/color effectively, and they need to show in depth reflection/connection-making skills. Students do not love being told that meeting the basic requirements only gets a 9/10. In practice, their homework assignments (which I grade for completion) will get a 10/10 if they meet the requirements BUT their overall notebook grade (1-2 times a quarter) will be a 9/10 if they don't go above and beyond.

I have a document camera in my classroom (highly recommended if you will be using the notebooks) and after students complete their first assignment I walk around the room and look for the best examples. I ask those students if I can borrow their notebooks and then I project them from the document camera and explain to the class why these examples are so fantastic. I don't name the students as I'm showing their notebooks, and I try to be subtle when I ask for the notebooks/return them, but the class can see who's notebooks I'm taking. I had to do this because this was my first year using the notebooks, but next year I will have student examples to show them too.

Use number strings or number talks. These are mental math teaching strategies. In number strings you can talk about rounding to friendlier numbers (like multiples of 10 or doubling) for subtraction and then compensating. You can do the same thing for multiplication. After all, when most of us multiply 17 by 19 we don't use the algorithm, we multiply 17 by 20 then we subtract 17 (or -20 and add 3).


This books are useful
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Powerful-Numeracy-Middle-Students/dp/0325026629

And www.numberstrings.com

We can talk via email if you need more ideas. This has been my pedagogical focus. Incorporating numeracy into algebra.

I agree that focus on either of memorization/understanding alone would be lousy pedagogy. I can't really tell from the rest of your comment what you're advocating, though. For example:

> But enough people reach understanding that they become convinced that the way they learned is the way all people learn (or should learn).

Are you saying that people tend to teach as if the students are reflections of their own self? Is their research that evinces this phenomenon?

Is this the book you recommended?

And, is this the Benny article you cite? I (admittedly) skimmed it and read the conclusion. Does it hold any weight 40 years later? Is this method of teaching still used? Can we really infer anything from one test subject?

These are genuine questions, mind you. I am not versed in research in mathematics education, so I'm curious how this paper/book fit into that framework. Thanks for sharing!

I'm a high school science teacher and I can't recommend the Hands-On series enough. I use the physics, but the chemistry one is great too.

This book is fantastic and has actual concrete things you can do in class

What consequences are you giving? Do they make sense? Would working on the major problem behavior of the worst offenders help? Sometimes it's one kid influencing others to be naughty.

I recommend Collaborative Problem Solving with the worst kids. Here are the forms.

Secondly, I recommend reading Teach Like a Champion.

Lastly, I recommend Teaching with Love and Logic.

Get this book -- TONS of ideas https://www.amazon.com/Hands-Physics-Activities-Real-Life-Applications/dp/087628845X

http://www.amazon.com/Sensation-Perception-E-Bruce-Goldstein-ebook/dp/B00BF3VMSA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1452534476&sr=1-1

This book says its a "print replica" of yours or something. DeDRM it