Reinventing The Classroom Experience

Learn how to design versatile learning environments in which instruction is as effective virtually as it is in person. Bestselling author and consultant Nancy Sulla shows how you can reinvent the classroom experience and provide high-quality instruction that works as well at home as it does in school. You will discover how to help students build strong work habits and empower them to take responsibility for their learning; five key types of instructional activities; the power of PBL to increase student engagement and motivation; and five types of synchronous engagement between teachers and students. You will also gain strategies for building social and emotional learning, positioning the teacher as the facilitator of learning and parents as partners, and keeping equity at the forefront. No matter what grade level you teach or whether you are teaching fully in school, remotely, or a combination of both, this essential book will help you understand the key structures and strategies that work so students are positioned to learn anywhere, anytime.

Lead students through powerful learning experiences with Reinventing Project-Based Learning, a guide for educators, administrators and professional development specialists who want to make the shift to a more student-driven learning model. Explore proven strategies for overcoming the limitations of the traditional classroom, including a wealth of technology tools for inquiry, collaboration and global connection to support this new vision of instructional design.

Designed for use by teachers and teacher educators, this text should help both novice and experienced teachers reinterpret their working lives. The reader is led on a path of personal exploration that goes beyond standard approaches and leads from the personal to the critical. Illustrative material is drawn from all levels, from kindergarten to high school, to illuminate issues and questions fundamental to teachers' lives. Film and literary narratives supply further case studies and contribute to the fusion of critical reflection and everyday realities that typically inform teachers' experiences of work.

One of the most influential critical educators of the twentieth century, Paulo Freire challenged those educational inequalities and conditions of injustice faced by oppressed populations. In this new edition of Reinventing Paulo Freire, Antonia Darder re-examines his legacy through reflections on Freirean pedagogy and the narratives of teachers who reinvent his work. The fully revised first part provides important historical, political, and economic connections between major societal concerns and educational questions raised by Freire and their link to the contemporary moment, including questions tied to neoliberalism, coloniality, and educational inequalities. At the heart of the book is a critical understanding of how Freire’s pedagogy of love can inform, in theory and practice, a humanizing approach to teaching and learning. Powerful teacher narratives offer examples of a living praxis, committed to democratic classroom life and the emancipation of subaltern communities. The narratives clearly illustrate how Freire’s ideas can be put concretely into practice in schools and communities. These reflections on Freirean praxis are sure to spark conversation and inspiration in teacher education courses. Through a close theoretical engagement of Freire’s ideas and key insights garnered from lived experiences, the book speaks to the ways Freire can still inspire contemporary educators to adopt the spirit of liberatory pedagogy, By so doing, Reinventing Paulo Freire is certain to advance his theories in new ways, both to those familiar with his work and to those studying Freire for the first time.

Many contemporary American middle schools are stuck in a state of "arrested development," failing to implement the original concept of middle schools to a varying, though equally corruptive degrees. The individual chapters of the book outline in detail how to counter this dangerous trend, offering guidance to those who seek immediate, significant, internal reforms before we lose the unique value of middle schools for our nation's adolescents.

A heated debate is raging over our nation’s public schools and how they should be reformed, with proposals ranging from imposing national standards to replacing public education altogether with a voucher system for private schools. Combining decades of experience in education, the authors propose an innovative approach to solving the problems of our school system and find a middle ground between these extremes. Reinventing Public Education shows how contracting would radically change the way we operate our schools, while keeping them public and accessible to all, and making them better able to meet standards of achievement and equity. Using public funds, local school boards would select private providers to operate individual schools under formal contracts specifying the type and quality of instruction. In a hands-on, concrete fashion, the authors provide a thorough explanation of the pros and cons of school contracting and how it would work in practice. They show how contracting would free local school boards from operating schools so they can focus on improving educational policy; how it would allow parents to choose the best school for their children; and, finally, how it would ensure that schools are held accountable and academic standards are met. While retaining a strong public role in education, contracting enables schools to be more imaginative, adaptable, and suited to the needs of children and families. In presenting an alternative vision for America’s schools, Reinventing Public Education is too important to be ignored.

Flip communication for instant impact—and real results for students! Break away from the old ways of communication and revolutionize leadership and communication at your school. Use the principles of connectedness and flipped learning to engage stakeholders—teachers, administrators, and parents—digitally, so they’re ready for engaging and productive discussions when you meet in person. Featuring action steps, reflections, and “connected moments,” plus more resources online, this book shows you how flipped leadership: Makes the school community visible to parents Creates authentic staff meetings Maximizes communication between parents and school Models effective use of technology

Americans have been trying to redesign the American high school since it was first invented. One of the latest approaches—funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation —is to find inventive high school designs that work well in one location and can be replicated in others. The authors of this book followed a design team from Big Picture Learning, recording the challenges it faced and the strategies it employed in pursuit of this goal. Their accessible and entertaining account of Big Picture’s work is laced with stories about “scaling up” by other school design teams and in other enterprises beyond high school, and includes commentary throughout by Greg Farrell, founder of Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound and Howard Wollner, former senior vice president of Starbucks. Based on careful research, the book is both a practical guide to a new dimension of school reform and an engaging read for anyone interested in school change. The book is organized according to the eight challenges of going to scale with new school designs, complete with advice for how to address them: 1.;Fidelity Challenge. Balancing fidelity and adaptation. 2.;Teaching Challenge. Teaching and learning the design. 3.;Ownership Challenge. Instilling shared ownership of the design. 4.;Communication Challenge. Communicating effectively across contexts. 5.;Feedback Challenge. Using experience in new settings to improve the design. 6.;Resource Challenge. Obtaining and managing resources. 7.;Political Challenge. Negotiating the politics of local adoption. 8.;Mindset Challenge. Coping with the difference that difference makes.