Be the change that lights the learning fire. Discover how you, as a classroom teacher, can generate enthusiasm, confidence, and joy in your students that will affect their learning and lives. Delve into the what, and why of motivation and how it affects learning. Then, learn how to spark motivation using practical, research-informed strategies that address how to ? Hone student grouping, rewards, technology, and competition for positive impact ? Confront and disarm testing conflicts to make assessments a pleasant student experience ? Examine and empower teacher–student relationships ? Rethink rules and procedures to improve behavioral outcomes

A guidebook to successful leadership explains that by looking at an organization as a bus and the employees as the people on it, managers can identify who is helping the bus move, and who is hindering it.

"In Sparking Student Creativity: Practical Ways to Promote Innovative Thinking and Problem Solving," author and researcher Patti Drapeau explores and explains research related to creativity and its relevance in today's standards-based, critical thinking-focused classroom. In addition, the book includes 40 "grab and go" ideas that infuse lesson plans with a spirit of exploration. No matter what grade levels or content areas you teach, Sparking Student Creativity will help you to produce creative lesson components that directly address critical content, target specific standards, and require thoughtful products from students as they grow into independent learners and become successful adults." from cover verso

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.

Written specifically for teachers, this book offers a wealth of research-based principles for motivating students to learn within the realities of a classroom learning community. Its focus on motivational principles rather than motivational theorists or

"One of the most common problems teachers face in modern education is unmotivated students. Allen N. Mendler's Motivating Students Who Don't Care: Proven Strategies to Engage All Learners, 2nd Edition provides practical strategies for teachers to motivate struggling students. From emphasizing effort to sparking enthusiasm for learning, each chapter covers one key process to boost student motivation. Disinterested, unmotivated students can be discouraging to hardworking teachers, but Mendler's proven strategies can nurture enthusiasm and excitement for learning in any classroom and reach even the most challenging students"--

Addresses the challenge of motivating underachieving students. This title advises teachers and concerned adults to look beyond test scores and encourage under-performing middle and high school students to find their motivational spark. It discusses developmental benchmarks, reasonable expectations for results, and strategies for charting progress.