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Best Education Standards

Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms
How does Finnish education―with short school days, light homework loads, and little standardized testing―produce students who match the PISA scores of high-powered, stressed-out kids in Asia? Remarkably, Finland is prioritizing the joy of learning in its newest core curricula and Walker carefully highlights specific strategies that support joyful K-12 classrooms and integrate seamlessly with educational standards in the United States. “[Walker] provides an engaging and eye-opening vision that does not pit America against Finland, but lets us see what we can learn from each other... For teachers and education advocates who would like to understand one instructor's reflective quest toward educational improvement.”. - Library Journal. “Walker was nevertheless able to identify 33 strategies that could be easily introduced into American educational systems… [Walker’s ideas] are geared toward the relaxed, flexible, welcoming atmosphere that works so well for both teachers and students in Finland. “More joy in classrooms and less work for teachers as the way to improving student learning? Sounds incredible, but the Finns have figured it out, and Tim Walker explains how American educators can do the same in this engaging and important book. “Tim Walker is one of the most thoughtful educators I've ever encountered. His observations as an American teacher working in Finnish classrooms will surprise many readers: Some traditional ideas we've pushed aside actually work well in Finland, some of Finland's most effective strategies originated in American schools.
Reviews
"I teach 2nd grade in Ohio and have been feeling the stress of our state's teacher evaluation system and the constant testing. I can't wait for next week when I allow my kids more freedom in their research projects and having their help in planning our Force and Motion unit."
"Had some great, simple ideas."
"Simple and easy strategies that can be reflected on and adapted for the classroom no matter what area you teach."
"Changed my approach to workflow so I have less stress, but could use another edit due to typos and repetitiibs."
"His strategies talk not only about teaching but the things we should be doing outside of teaching to help us become better teachers."
"The 33 simple strategies (basic reminders; many are adapted from Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion) are pedagogically solid, activities we should be doing in order to keep learning joyful: frequent breaks with fresh air and movement, gallery walks, showing relevance of lesson, choice time in which “students can select from a range of options, ten minutes of free reading, free writing, or playing a fun math game,” getting to know each child to incorporate their interests into the instruction, and many more. They “typically employ traditional, teacher-driven classroom instruction….like lecturing” and “students...typically spend a significant amount of classroom time completing exercises from workbooks” and “copying text off the blackboard (or whiteboard) into their notebooks.” Most surprisingly, they don’t “take intentional, voluntary steps to improve significantly as practitioners, whether it be thorough reading professional literature of their choice, attending summer institutes, or implementing new pedagogies in their classrooms.” Ouch."
"I started following him, had to read every artical, he wrote, and wanted to learn more about Finlands education system."
"Using his life experiences in both American and Finnish schools, he provides insight into what worked for him as he learned to slow down, focus on the children and allow joy to a regular part of his day."
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The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8: What They Say, What They Mean, How to Teach Them (Corwin Literacy)
Jim Burke has already done the hard work for you with this roadmap of what each standard says, what each standard means, and how precisely to put that standard into practice across English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. "Fundamentally different from other Common Core books, The Common Core Companion is s a user's guide designed by a teacher who actually uses the standards in his daily work with students. Jim Burke gently demystifies the Common Core State Standards and offers a practical tool for curricular alignment. I predict administrators across the country will purchase this book for their secondary teachers to use in their staff meetings, individual department meetings, their PLCs, and for individual teachers to use as Burke puts it as 'a personal compass to navigate the complexities of the Common Core Curriculum.'". This book gives the kind of 'hands-on' support classroom teachers and curriculum committees really need in doing the work of 'unpacking' the standards and interpreting those standards into curriculum documents. "Fundamentally different from other Common Core books, The Common Core Companion is s a user's guide designed by a teacher who actually uses the standards in his daily work with students. Jim Burke gently demystifies the Common Core State Standards and offers a practical tool for curricular alignment. I predict administrators across the country will purchase this book for their secondary teachers to use in their staff meetings, individual department meetings, their PLCs, and for individual teachers to use as Burke puts it as 'a personal compass to navigate the complexities of the Common Core Curriculum.'". This book gives the kind of 'hands-on' support classroom teachers and curriculum committees really need in doing the work of 'unpacking' the standards and interpreting those standards into curriculum documents.
Reviews
"Nearly all of the language arts teachers in my building are using this book as a planning resources."
"Great for all content areas and has the social study and science/tech standards directly addressed."
"Great book, great buy!"
"It has also helped when planning with other content areas when they're looking for ways to support ELA in their classrooms."
"This book puts all of the academic verbosity into perspective and lays it out in terms that even an oldish teacher like me can understand and incorporate. It also has great sections of academic vocab aligned to the standard and practical ways to implement them plus- BONUS TIME a monthly planner so you can prove to the world just how CCS savvy you are!"
"A very good resource to understanding what is needed to meet the CC standards both from the teacher perspective and from the student perspective."
"As I read, I got countless ideas for different ways to implement the CCS in the classroom."
"Save your money."
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The Common Core Mathematics Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8: What They Say, What They Mean, How to Teach Them (Corwin Mathematics Series)
"The Common Core Mathematics Companion 6-8 offers a practical guide for implementing the CCSS Math Standards. Get the inside scoop on which standards connect, what key vocabulary means, and time-saving tables showing where to focus instruction for each grade Write curriculum for: ratios and proportional relationships, the number system, expressions and equations, functions, geometry, and statistics & probability Use the What to Teach pages to deliver powerful standards-based lessons Learn effective techniques to create an environment where all students can experience math break-throughs Incorporate the Standards for Mathematical Practice to improve students’ ability to problem solve, construct viable arguments, use tools strategically, attend to precision, and more. It provides a succinct and organized way to bring the theoretical standards down to practical application for enhanced student achievement." "The Common Core Mathematics Companion offers a practical guide for implementing the CCSS Math Standards. "The Common Core Mathematics Companion 6-8 offers a practical guide for implementing the CCSS Math Standards. --Betty Brandenburg, Retired Educator " The Common Core Mathematics Companion 6-8 offers a practical guide for implementing the CCSS Math Standards. --Betty Brandenburg, Retired Educator - The Common Core Mathematics Companion 6-8 offers a practical guide for implementing the CCSS Math Standards.
Reviews
"In my opinion, this is a great product for classroom teachers to help assist them with their planning."
"The Common Core Mathematics Companion really lays out exactly what each standard is expecting both the students and teachers to do for each grade 6-8."
"This book is very helpful with deconstructing standards and digging deeper."
"Really breaks down what each standard means and how to teach it."
"Most comprehensive publication that unpacks the common core standards in a meaningful wat."
"14th year teacher and this is an excellent resource."
"Good ....wish it had lesson plan in it."
"The producti was expected."
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Best STEM Education

Python for Kids: A Playful Introduction To Programming
New terms are defined; code is colored, dissected, and explained; and quirky, full-color illustrations keep things on the lighter side. As you strike out on your programming adventure, you’ll learn how to: –Use fundamental data structures like lists, tuples, and maps. –Organize and reuse your code with functions and modules. –Use control structures like loops and conditional statements. –Draw shapes and patterns with Python’s turtle module. –Create games, animations, and other graphical wonders with tkinter. Make sure you try out code examples for yourself (don’t just read about them). Better yet, if you change things around to see what effect that has, you’ll learn and understand more. In Python, either in the Shell (IDLE) or the Console, you can type and run statements directly and see what happens. That way you can save your file, run it, and come back and fiddle with the code without having to re-type everything. Think arcade games from the 1970’s and 1980’s—games like Galaxian, Centipede, Donkey Kong, and Frogger have simple graphics and basic game mechanics, which makes them great first projects for budding game developers. It’s much more satisfying to take a simple project and actually finish it, rather than a hugely ambitious, complicated project that you never get working.
Reviews
"Great book covering the fundamentals!"
"Easy to follow introduction to the world of programming."
"It teaches me clearly on what you need to learn for Python..."
"I really think this book is excellent for kids."
"so far so good and my kid likes it quite a bit, I also like the gradual approach to learning the book takes."
"This is a good introduction to Python."
"Easy for my high school students to understand."
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Best Lesson Planning for Educators

The Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers
Now, in The Writing Strategies Book, Jen Serravallo does the same, collecting 300 of the most effective strategies to share with writers, and grouping them beneath 10 crucial goals. develop individual goals for every writer give students step-by-step strategies for writing with skill and craft coach writers using prompts aligned to a strategy present mentor texts that support a genre and strategy adjust instruction to meet individual needs with Jen's Teaching Tips demonstrate and explain a writing move with her Lesson Language learn more with Hat Tips to the work of influential teacher-authors. Jennifer Serravallo is the author of New York Times bestseller The Reading Strategies Book as well as other popular Heinemann titles, including Teaching Reading in Small Groups; Conferring with Readers; and The Literacy Teacher's Playbook, Grades K - 2 and Grades 3 - 6.
Reviews
"I can never find Jen's Reading Strategies Book because one of our special educators is always borrowing it and utilizing strategies from it in their mini-lessons and/or conferencing with students."
"I purchased this book as well as the reading strategies book by Serravallo."
"Awesome!"
"Excellent book."
"Amazing teaching resource!"
"Terrific resource all in one place and right at your fingertips!"
"Loved it so much - I bought one for my daughter."
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Best Curricula

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
This updated and revised edition of the American Book Award-winner and national bestseller revitalizes the truth of America’s history, explores how myths continue to be perpetrated, and includes a new chapter on 9/11 and the Iraq War. James W. Loewen is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America.
Reviews
"Every teacher in the country should read this book and be guided by it when teaching students of all ages."
"just an all around great read."
"It has tons of great information about things that are often taught to "favor" the United States in American History classrooms."
"This book should be mandatory in all middle - high school classrooms."
"What was bought was a piece of paper that Columbus made a claim, it wasn't anything."
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