Authors Pete Hall, Alisa Simeral, Bryan Goodwin, Bj Stone, and Bess Scott identify 24 of the most common "problems of practice" faced by educators--something that is not going quite as well as it could in the teaching-learning process--and show educators how to guide their own self-reflective journey toward solving these problems,…

"Building Everyday Leadership in All Kids" emphasizes that anyone can be a leader--and it's never too early to start learning what leadership means and how to lead. This resource engages all emerging leaders, at all emotional and academic levels, by taking a full, practical approach to building personal and group leadership attitudes.…

Once you've established a professional learning community (PLC), you need to get this ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) action tool to ensure that your PLC stays focused on addressing teaching methods and student learning problems. This ASCD action tool explains how your PLC can use collaborative action research to…

This book contains 65 specific activities designed to help disadvantaged students learn to use language more skillfully and develop the ability to function well in the school environment. The descriptions of the activities are referred to as shoe box labs and generally include the title of the activity, instructions for performing the activity,…

This book presents group activities that use metaphors to enhance learning for participants in adventure-based programs. The first chapter provides an overview of approaches to facilitating adventure experiences, including letting the experience speak for itself, speaking for the experience, debriefing the experience, directly frontloading the…

This guide addresses how to make small-group time with young children a meaningful, active, and engaging learning experience for both children and adults. The guide's introductory chapter outlines guiding principles for successful small groups, discusses the mechanical aspects of small-group times, explains how adults find and develop ideas for…

This book aims to help camp directors and programmers evaluate the environmental impact of camp practices, make informed environmental choices, and make environmental awareness a habit in all operations and activities. Section 1 discusses developing a personal environmental philosophy, and considering possibilities for camp environmental action in…

This book offers practical guidelines for implementing cooperative-collaborative learning in the classroom. Included are research reviews, sample lesson plan formats, suggestions for peer coaching, and forms and materials that teachers may duplicate. The book's 17 chapters are divided into three sections on cooperative group learning; partner…

This book contains patterns and activities designed to supplement core literacy instruction, showing students how to work together within large- and small-group settings, independently in learning centers, or at home with their parents. Section 1, "Essential Elements and Skills of a Balanced Literacy Program," provides ideas on how to…

This book suggests a variety of ways parents can develop a greater awareness of themselves and of their children. Topics covered include: (1) individual and small group sensitivity exercises for adults; (2) examples and uses of time sample and anecdotal observation records; (3) the importance of encouraging self-expression in children through…

Conventional wisdom has it that the way to achieve more is to study harder--put in longer hours and avoid the distraction of other people. Research suggests something different--study smarter, not necessarily harder, and use other students as a support group. This book provides teachers and counselors with tools they need to help students improve…

This book offers an overview of the cooperative learning process, including its rationale, research base, value, and practical considerations, with an emphasis on two key characteristics: cooperative learning's ability to create communities within classrooms, and well-structured, sequenced assignments which allow students to internalize…

Intended for both childcare professionals and parents, this book lists activities from episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood television program, and can be used with or without watching the program. Each activity is assigned a number which corresponds to the television episode in which the activity is featured, and a national PBS Broadcast…

This book describes issues, trends, and practical teaching concerns that surround cooperative learning. It puts forward specific organizational plans and content area lessons for teachers who would like to become more familiar with active team learning in the classroom. Major themes include collaborative approaches to multicultural education,…

How do we estimate personal growth? What do experiential education programs accomplish? Personal growth (affective domain) often is fostered through experiential education programs, but it is difficult to measure the relationship between the two. One manner of measurement is the observation of external actions by a student that demonstrate what…