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How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students, and Still Enjoy Teaching! - Book Cover

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Updated Edition of Bestseller

How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students, and Still Enjoy Teaching!

Four Practices That Improve Student Learning

Second Edition
By: Barbara P. Benson

Apply user-friendly tools to create a stimulating environment for student growth while implementing standards!

This resource illustrates how to use research-based best practices to establish a standards-based classroom, meet accountability requirements, and provide an engaging learning space where both teachers and students can thrive. With updated references and new reproducibles, the second edition demonstrates how teachers can follow a standards-based curriculum while:

Creating a community of learners who are self-directed, interactive, cooperative, and focused on quality
Making reflection a routine for both teachers and students
Teaching content and process
Developing more authentic student tasks and assessment methods

Full description

Look Inside

Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12, Elementary, Secondary
ISBN: 9781412963671
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2008
Page Count: 208
Publication date: August 21, 2008

Price: $42.95

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Description

"This is a must-read for all of the practitioners who do not want to 'teach to the test.' The book offers a sure-fire way to create lifelong learners who are motivated to come to school and who enjoy being part of an energized community."
—Joan E. Anderson, Reading Instructor
Oakridge Middle School, Naples, FL

"If teachers ever wondered how to integrate standards, high-stakes testing, and student learning, they need wonder no more. This book has something for everyone."
—Randy Cook, Chemistry and Physics Teacher
Tri County High School, Morley, MI

Apply user-friendly tools to create a stimulating environment for student growth while implementing standards!

How can teachers successfully create a standards-based classroom that meets accountability requirements and also provide a learning environment where both teachers and students can thrive? This book gives teachers ways to flourish in their profession as they engage students, increase their self-confidence, and inspire a lifelong love of learning.

The second edition of How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students, and Still Enjoy Teaching! offers a productive way of approaching standards and a framework for classroom practice to give all students the opportunity to succeed. The author demonstrates how teachers can follow a standards-based curriculum while:

Creating a community of learners who are self-directed, interactive, cooperative, and focused on quality
Making reflection a routine for both teachers and students
Teaching content and process
Developing more authentic student tasks and assessment methods

With updated references and new reproducibles for immediate use, this invaluable resource helps teachers maintain creativity and fun in the classroom while focusing on standards and building learners' academic skills.

Key features

Examines and provides answers to critical questions about standards:

What do the standards demand of students?
How are these demands different from what was required in the past?
What are the implications of these differences on classrooms and schools?

Author(s)

Barbara P. Benson

Barbara Benson is a teacher and international consultant with more than 20 years of experience in middle school, high school, and university education. She works with school systems in various capacities such as helping align curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices with higher state standards, facilitating the development of performance assessment tasks such as student-led conferencing, and assisting teachers as they apply current theory and research to their classrooms. Her workshops are practical and classroom focused, covering many topics related to improving student learning. She has presented sessions at the national conferences of the National Staff Development Council and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. She has published numerous articles on classroom practice and a book, How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students and Still Enjoy Teaching (2003). As a full-time consultant, she missed working directly with students, so Benson returned to the classroom in 2004 and is teaching middle school in Ashe County, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the First Edition by Spence Rogers

Preface to the Second Edition

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction: Focusing on Standards in the Classroom

A Positive View of Standards

Taking a Big-Picture Look at Standards

Standards and the Classroom

Four Practices That Meet Standards and Motivate Students

Ideas for Teachers

Ideas for Administrators

1. Creating a Community of Learners

Why Do I Need a Community of Learners in My Classroom?

Help Students Become Self-Directed Learners

Have an Interactive Classroom

Helping Students Work Cooperatively

A Quality Focus

The Community of Learners, a Final View

Ideas for Teachers

Ideas for Administrators

2. Making Reflection Routine

Teacher Reflection

Student Reflection

Concluding Reflection

Ideas for Teachers

Ideas for Administrators

3. Teaching Content and Process

The Learner Actions

Using the Learner Actions to Meet Standards

Analyzing Lessons to See Who Is Doing All the Work

Ideas for Teachers

Ideas for Administrators

4. Developing More Authentic Tasks and Assessments

What Type of Work Should Students Be Doing?

Performance Tasks

Assessment and Evaluation

Assessing and Evaluating Performance Tasks

Tasks and Assessment: Final Thoughts

Ideas for Teachers

Ideas for Administrators

Conclusion: Integrating the Four Practices and High-Stakes Tests

What About the Tests?

Three Approaches for Implementing the Standards-Based Classroom Practices

Final Thoughts

Resources A: Reproducible Forms

References

Index

Reviews

"This book is relevant and needed in today’s schools. It would make a great workshop or book study to help teachers who are struggling with standards."

Laura Cumbee, Special Education Math Teacher
Cartersville Middle School, GA

"Offers a wealth of practical strategies for creating a standards-based classroom and achieving academic success for all students. It is a must-have for all public educators and administrators."

Marsha Basanda, Fifth-Grade Teacher
Bell’s Crossing Elementary School, Simpsonville, SC

"An excellent source of both information and teacher resources. I recommend this book to any teacher or administrator who is looking for a way to implement standards and improve student outcomes so that all students are making adequate yearly progress."

Jolene Dockstader, Seventh-Grade Teacher
Jerome School District #261, ID

"This is a must-read for all of the practitioners who do not want to 'teach to the test.' It is a sure-fire way to create lifelong learners who are motivated to come to school and who enjoy being part of an energized community."

Joan E. Anderson, Reading Instructor
Oakridge Middle School, Naples, FL

"If teachers ever wondered how to integrate standards, high-stakes testing, and student learning, they need wonder no more. This book has something for everyone."

Randy Cook, Chemistry and Physics Teacher
Tri County High School, Morley, MI

"Benson offers a relevant resource guide for implementing standards-based classrooms that will help educators at all levels of educational reform grasp the key instructional components to support the expectations for student learning. This book is a must-have in preparing our students for their future role as lifelong learners competing on the world market."

Lynn Freeman, Leadership Facilitator
Georgia Department of Education

"This resource for teachers and administrators maps an attainable path to student success and deeper learning. Benson creates a clear vision for meeting the standards through best practices that motivate students and create a classroom community of learners. This book is ideal for teachers looking to make their classrooms engaging and to develop student efficacy."

Linda C. Diaz, Program Specialist for Professional Development
Monroe County Schools, Key West, FL

Other Titles in: Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

Select Format:

For Instructors

Request Review Copy

When you select 'request review copy', you will be redirected to Sage Publishing (our parent site) to process your request.