Focus Study Guide

In this four-session video-based Bible study, The Daniel Plan team explores both the spiritual and the health benefits of following a healthy lifestyle by focusing on the fourth essential of The Daniel Plan: FOCUS. Sessions include: Brain Health Mindset Matters Breaking through Barriers Don’t Mess with Stress Each session will highlight testimony from those who have incorporated The Daniel Plan into their everyday lifestyle, plus tips on getting started and medically based information on maintaining a healthy lifestyle by following The Daniel Plan. Each of the other DVD/Study guides will focus on another essential: Faith, Food, Fitness, and Friends. Designed for use with the Focus DVD 9780310823308 (sold separately).

In this 2nd edition of Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning, Mike Schmoker extends and updates the case that our schools could be on the cusp of swift, unparalleled improvements. But we are stymied by a systemwide failure to simplify and prioritize; we have yet to focus our limited time and energy on the most essential, widely acknowledged, evidence-based practices that could have more impact than all other initiatives combined. They are: simple, coherent curricula; straightforward, traditional literacy practices; and lessons built around just a few hugely effective elements of good teaching. As Schmoker demonstrates, the case for these practices—and the need for them—has grown prodigiously. In every chapter, you’ll find late-breaking discoveries and practical advice on how to simplify the implementation of new state standards in the subject areas; on the hidden pitfalls of our most popular, but unproven instructional fads and programs; and on simple, versatile strategies for building curriculum, planning lessons, and integrating literacy into every discipline. All of these strategies and findings are supported with exciting new evidence from actual schools. Their success confirms, as Michael Fullan writes, that a focus on the best "high-leverage practices" won’t only improve student performance; they will produce "stunningly powerful consequences" in our schools.

Prepares students for reading success through prereading background material ; Focuses reading with guided questions ; Builds vocabulary ; Develops cultural literacy.

Prepares students for reading success through prereading background material ; Focuses reading with guided questions ; Builds vocabulary ; Develops cultural literacy.

In his 2011 ASCD best-seller Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning, author Mike Schmoker described a fresh pproach to K-12 teaching built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum; clear, prioritized lessons; and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy. Now, in Leading with Focus, he shows administrators, principals, and other education leaders how to apply his model to the work of running schools and districts. In this companion to his previous book, Schmoker offers * An overview of the case for simple, focused school and district leadership--demonstrating its power for vastly improving the work of teachers and leaders. * Examples of real schools and districts that have embraced focused leadership--and the incredible results for student learning. * A practical, flexible, and easy-to-follow implementation guide for ensuring focused leadership in schools and districts. All students deserve to learn in schools where educators eschew distractions and superfluous activities to concentrate on what’s most important. To that end, this book is an essential resource for leaders ready to streamline their practice and focus their efforts on radically improving student learning.