New Releases by Brenda Miller Power

Teacher research is an extension of good teaching, observing students closely, analyzing their needs, and adjusting the curriculum to fit the needs of all. In this completely updated second edition of their definitive work, Ruth Shagoury and Brenda Miller Power present a framework for teacher research along with an extensive collection of narratives from teachers engaged in the process of designing and carrying out research projects to inform their instruction. This edition includes a greater variety of short contributions from a wide range of teacher-researchers -- novices and veterans from all backgrounds and parts of the country -- who speak to the growing diversity in today'' s classrooms. Threaded throughout the chapters and narratives is a discussion of the emergence of digital tools and their effect on both teaching and the research process, along with an expanded number of research designs. The book has three primary components: 1.Chapters written by the authors explaining key elements of the research process: finding questions, designing projects, data collection and analysis, and more 2.Research activities that enable readers to try out the featured strategies and techniques 3.Teacher-researcher essays in which teachers share details of completed projects and discuss the impact they have had in their classrooms. Living the Questions, Second Edition: A Guide for Teacher-Researchers will take you step-by-step through the process of designing, implementing, and publishing your research. Along the way, it will introduce you to dozens of kindred spirits who are finding new passion for teaching by living the questions every day in their classrooms. You will be reminded of why you became a teacher yourself.

This book continues to show teachers how they can carefully and systematically ask and answer their own questions about learning.

This classic book combines landmark studies from key theorists with practical classroom examples in language development. Current and future teachers are given step-by-step guidance regarding the theories behind language development and inquiry techniques for understanding and investigating links between language and literacy in the classroom. Upon completing the book, readers will have the ability to test theories by observing and documenting language in their classrooms. Learning How to Research Language in Your Classroom; Historical Perspectives and Landmark Studies; Talk in Schools; Sociocultural and Personal Perspectives. For current and future teachers.

Grades K - 5 More than a book, more than a CD-ROM, Parent Power is a unique, comprehensive resource kit that supports teachers and schools with creative materials for all kinds of family outreach efforts. Here in one ready-to-use kit is a rich cache of materials on a wide variety of topics: 40 one-page reproducible essays--available in both English and Spanish--for parent newsletters and brochures, addressing topics such as reading at home, television and learning, understanding phonics, and coping with peer conflicts CD-ROM with newsletter and brochure suggestions, suitable for editing and available in both Adobe Acrobat Reader and ASCII formats sample calendars for designing complete outreach programs for an entire year practical advice for increasing family involvement in special events, including proven suggestions on working with bilingual families tips for generating media attention for school outreach efforts, including sample press releases ideas for creative outreach events--such as art fairs, family math nights, rummage sales, ethnic celebrations, and more grant-writing suggestions and sample narratives strategies for working with parent volunteers successful parent surveys list of award-winning websites for parents bibliographies of additional resources for parent outreach. With parent outreach being an important prerequisite for funding, administrators, supervisors, specialists, and coordinators who routinely spend hundreds--even thousands--of dollars on outreach materials will particularly appreciate the economy of Parent Power. Teachers who are attempting to design a home-communication plan will be inspired to work with parents in dynamic new ways. The power of informed, involved parents working together with educators can be transformative. Now you can tap into it with this exciting new tool. Individual User License

Provides practical tips for teachers on writing assessments of student work, including report cards and longer narratives, covering beginnings and endings, details, and ways to save time when assessing a great number of students, such as in middle or high school.

Because Power shows the warts in her teaching, readers can empathize with her keen insight into writing instruction for students of any age. And ultimately her book is hopeful, showing the promise of how improving writing instruction in schools begins with careful, thoughtful, and consistent mentoring of teachers in college methods courses.

Teachers need to be keen observers and notetakers as they assess how students learn. This practical guide will show readers how to dig their way through the mountain of paperwork before them and how to begin to keep thoughtful records of student learning. In a breezy, down-to-earth style Brenda Power invites you to try new notetaking strategies and shows you how developing this modest skill can help you organize your work and make you more efficient. In dozens of examples from teachers at all grade levels, Brenda offers helpful suggestions and strategies for everyone from the first-year teacher to the veteran classroom researcher. She takes you step-by-step through the process of examining existing notes, breaking old habits, managing time and materials so observations are possible, and coding notes for later use in assessment and research. Totally practical, every chapter in Taking Note is packed with ideas and techniques you can use to become a cogent, skillful, and accurate notetaker: The Tools of the Trade: Don''t get buried in scraps of paper. There are all kinds of inexpensive stationery items that are just right for the job so you start off organized and stay organized. When to Write: All about time-finding it, controlling it, and saving some for yourself. What to Write: You don''t have to write down everything you observe. These hints will help you tell what''s important and what''s not. Bringing It All Together: These case studies show you how two teachers developed their notetaking skills in very different settings. From Step-by-Step to a Dance: Try these ideas to set up and finance an inservice program to build a network of expert notetakers. Taking Note is a boon to any teacher and especially appropriate as a supplement to graduate or inservice courses in alternative assessment and teacher research.

Super teachers, step aside. There''s a lesson here: It''s okay to fail! We''ve heard enough about your successful teaching-your workshops that run like Cuisenarts, your students who listen with empathy and respond with insight, your conferences with parents and principals which end with hosannas and hugs. You''re too perfect. Welcome to the world of Oops, where things can-and do-go from bad to worse in the classroom. If you''ve ever had an awful day (or week or month or year) as a teacher, you will enjoy the essays in Oops.These are stories of failure from over forty-five new and veteran teachers in every field, stories that will resonate with every teacher who took a risk and blew it. Some failures are embarrassing: the male high school students in grass skirts surprising the class with a dance illustrating their notions of a jungle tribe . . .Some stories make you cringe: the disruptive college student who tries to lead the class in a spontaneous prayer....Others will remind you of your own lapses: a class of second graders arrives for the field trip with parent chaperones, picnic lunches, and maps, but you forgot to order the bus... And, because this is a book about the realities of teaching, you will see how others have learned the hard way about some of the intractable problems in education and society, for the issues of race, economics, undersupplied classrooms, and mind-numbing bureaucracy are all here. There is sparkling humor and genuine pain in these stories of teachers who care deeply about their students and still make mistakes. Every failure matters, and often hurts. But ultimately, many teachers have learned the most about the art of teaching when their teaching fails. As contributors like James Beane, Glenda Bissex, Leila Christenbury, Jerry Harste, Donald Murray, Susan Ohanian, Patrick Shannon, and Kathy Short demonstrate, even the profession''s gurus struggle with disaster. As educators we should write about, talk about, and think about failure more. The essays in Oops acknowledge the gaps between our theory and practice, between our dreams of what we might be as teachers and who we are.