Kaye Henrickson, WAMLE President-Elect recommends:
Meet Me in the Middle
(2001).
Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers and Westerville, OH: National Middle School Asssociation
(NMSA).
This book
is a must for those educators both new to middle level education as well as
those seasoned to the middle looking for fresh ideas to infuse into their
already established classrooms! Nationally
renowned educator and speaker, Rick Wormelli, weaves logic,
nationally-accredited studies, and humor into an invaluable resource chock full
of ideas to implement the next day in your classroom. Adolescent brain research, advisory and teaming, and
differentiated instruction are just the tip of the myriad of middle level
elements addressed in this fast and friendly read.
Tom LoGuidace, Region 6 Rep recommends:
What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know
By Brown, D.F. & Knowles,
T., 2007
This is the ideal Middle Level 101 for interested in the
movement and for all levels of experience. Author Brown is a former middle
school teacher and author Knowles is an excellent writer and presenter. The
text begins with addressing young adolescent needs and then goes on to discuss
school organization, curriculum, teaching methods and student assessment.
Very readable!
AND
Leading change in your school:
How to conquer myths, build commitment, and get results
By Reeves, D.B., 2009
The author provides a practical path to organizational change.
The parts of the text include creating conditions for change, planning change, implanting
change and sustaining change. The chapters on personal change and
organizational change assessment help the reader determine the utility of the
text from a "school reality" context. ASCD provides additional supporting
materials for the book.
Rick Amundson, Region 7 Rep recommends:
How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards
By Ken O'Connor, 2002
Areas of Interest: Administrators and Classroom Teachers
Category: Assessment
Review: Ken O'Connor explores the often flawed and misguided assessment practices that occur daily in classrooms all over the country. O'Connor, through many the many examples and stories, gives readers the opportunity to identify and examine grading practices and the issues that arise from these practices. He provides the reader a chance to reflect on their own practice and provides eight practical guidelines to help teachers improve their assessment practices. Many professional discussions have been initiated through the reading of this book with my staff.
AND
A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades
By Ken O'Connor, 2007
Areas of Interest: Administrators and Classroom Teachers
Review: The current emphasis on standards or learning goals has had a huge impact on curriculum, instruction and assessment, but little influence on standards-based grading and reporting practices. Ken O'Connor has written this book with the intention of helping educators begin or focus professional dialog with the intent to help them begin to implement standards-based grading and reporting. An update of his previous book, "How to Grade for Learning", O'Connor also reviews how to "fix broken grades". This book would make a great staff "book study" and will definitely initiate many professional discussions.
|
Tom LoGuidace, Region 7 Rep recommends:
Catching up or leading the way: American
education in the age of globalization
(2009) Yong Zhao Alexandria, Virginia,
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
This is an exciting book that challenges American education
reform. The theme of the book is that
America is eager to throw away “education that respects individual
talents, supports divergent thinking, tolerates deviation and encourages
creativity ;a system in which the government does not dictate what students
learn or how teachers teach….”(p vi). Zhao suggests we need to rethink the
damage inflicted by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and other reforms, consider the
“cost of high scores “ and focus on our strengths as well as developing global
and digital competence in our students. The author is not a middle level
specialist, however every middle
school teacher will find support for the middle level approach in this text and
will be challenged about the future of American education.
Karsten K Powell, Region 1 Rep recommends:
Myths and Misconceptions about Teaching: What Really Happens in the Classroom
By Vicki E. Snider, 2006
Areas of interest: classroom teachers, parents, and administrators
Category: Education Reform
Review: In this book, Dr. Snider develops a logical framework that demonstrates the need for reform in six key areas of our schools. Although written specifically to demonstrate the plight of students in special education, these areas are central to teaching the middle level child and make for excellent reading for any educator.
| David Allen recommends:
Disrupting Class, How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns
by Clayton Christenson , 2008
Areas of interest: Administrators and Classroom Teachers
Category: Technology
Review: The book looks at the changes in the US culture over the past several generations and the impact that technology is having on and will continue have on our world. The author addresses the need for US schools to do a better job of differentiating instruction to meet the individual needs and wants of our students. The technology that is "disrupting" or classes today will be our students mode of learning in their future.
AND
Why Gender Matters, What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences
By Leonard Sax M.D., Ph.D., 2005
Areas of Interest : Parents, Classroom Teachers of all ages, Administrators, Pupil Services Staff, University Professors
Category: Gender Issues
Review: This book brings together years of research and data collection on how children learn and how this learning differs between the genders. Sax shares with us data on brain differences in learning between the genders and challenges us as educators and parents to adjust on teaching to best reach the different genders. You will love his case studies of students. This book will be the focus of a "Learning Lab" at the 2009 WAMLE Conference on October 8 in Wisconsin Dells. I look forward to discussing the book with you there.
|