Most Popular Books by Douglas Fisher

Provide students a clear view of what success looks like for any process, task, or product. What does success look like for your students? How will they know if they have learned? This essential component of teaching and learning can be difficult to articulate but is vital to achievement for both teachers and students. The Success Criteria Playbook catapults teachers beyond learning intentions to define clearly what success looks like for every student—whether face-to-face or in a remote learning environment. Designed to be used collaboratively in grade-level, subject area teams—or even on your own—the step-by-step playbook expands teacher understanding of how success criteria can be utilized to maximize student learning and better engage learners in monitoring and evaluating their own progress. Each module is designed to support the creation and immediate implementation of high-quality, high impact success criteria and includes: • Templates that allow for guided and independent study for teachers. • Extensive STEM-focused examples from across the K-12 STEM curriculum to guide teacher learning and practice. • Examples of success criteria applied across learning domains and grades, including high school content, skills, practices, dispositions, and understandings. Ensure equity of access to learning and opportunity for all students by designing and employing high-quality, high-impact success criteria that connect learners to a shared understanding of what success looks like for any given learning intention.

This book focuses on a four-step approach to formative assessment, explaining how the system of give-and-take between student and teacher promotes learning in the classroom. Uses real-life scenarios to demonstrate application of the steps and provide adjustable instruction techniques for any grade level.

Engage, Empower, Educate: Unleash the Potential of Multilingual Learners What′s your "why" for being a teacher? Unlike other professionals, teachers often have strong reasons for why they teach and a clear sense of purpose. Acknowledging and understanding this purpose helps educators to not just do what they do but do it well. This illustrated guide was designed for all classroom teachers to emphasize the unique challenges and opportunities that arise in multilingual learner education. Using Simon Sinek′s Golden Circle theory to understand and elevate that sense of purpose, the book is organized into three parts: the why, the how, and the what of teaching multilingual learners. You will learn The benefits and goals of a multilingual education How to design learning experiences for multilingual learners and how to respond when students are not learning Culturally inclusive pedagogy and how it positively supports the identities of your students How to foster oral language skills, build vocabulary, and increase students’ word knowledge How to engage families and caregivers and create a sense of belonging in your classroom And so much more! With a clear understanding of the research-based tools, techniques, and instructional strategies described and illustrated in the book, a solid sense of purpose, and a dash of grace for you and your multilingual learners, you will be well on your way to creating productive and positive learning opportunities that meet the best interests of all students, families, educators, and the community.

Data. Does the word make you cringe? Does it evoke feelings of guilt? Are you unsure how to distill it and use it effectively? Grab this book and learn how to empower yourself and your school community with information gleaned from your school''s data. Experienced educators and authors offer simple instructions that can help focus school improvement efforts and result in increasing teacher expertise--a factor that positively affects the quality of life for students long after they have left the classroom. Accepting responsibility for such far-reaching influence requires educators to adopt instructional improvement as a standard by which a school needs to operate and as a means to collaborate and interact with one another. More than that, though, instructional improvement is an important component of successful schools. Learn how to improve instruction by * Collecting the right data--the right way. * Incorporating relevant data into everyone''s daily life. * Resisting the impulse to set brand-new goals every year. * Never settling for "good enough." * Anticipating changes--big and small, local and federal. * Collaborating and avoiding privatized practice. * Involving all stakeholders in identifying problems, setting goals, and analyzing data. * Agreeing on what constitutes high-quality instruction and feedback. The challenge is to understand that data--not intuition or anecdotal reports--are tools to be used in getting better at teaching students. And teaching students effectively is what schools are all about. Following the guidance in this book, overcome uncertainty and concerns about data as you learn to collect and analyze both soft and hard data and use their secrets for instructional improvement in your school.

Are we missing the opportunity to reach struggling learners from the very beginning? Are we hastily—and unnecessarily— referring students to intervention programs that substitute for high-quality core instruction? What if we could eliminate the need for intervention programs in the first place? Response to Intervention (RTI) programs are only as powerful and effective as the core instruction on which they''re built. High-quality instruction, then, is the key ingredient that helps all students excel, and it''s at the heart of Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey''s unique approach to the RTI model — Response to Instruction and Intervention, or RTI2. In Enhancing RTI, the authors argue that students learn best when classroom instruction and supplemental intervention mirror each other in both content and purpose. This book provides K-12 teachers with the knowledge and tools they need to implement a cohesive RTI2 system that helps all children learn by proactively addressing their needs. To this end, you will learn how to * Integrate and align core instruction and supplemental intervention. * Assess your own classroom instruction, in addition to your students'' responses to it. * Strengthen existing school improvement efforts within an RTI2 framework. * Utilize systematic feedback to raise student achievement. Fisher and Frey maintain that the RTI2 model not only promotes active student learning, but it also, when done right, promotes a culture of hardwired excellence at all levels of instruction.

The comprehensive guide you can trust for evidence-based reading practices It′s settled science: developing skilled readers can enhance students’ lives. That’s why renowned educators Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp wrote this resource with the urgency of a code blue in an ER—because too many children, for many reasons, struggle with learning to become strong readers. Designed to be a one-stop shop for best practices, Teaching Reading is concise, encyclopedic, and essential. Thirteen interactive modules provide easy to read ideas to support you teaching every child to read very well. You will learn how to: Focus on two critical aspects of reading—word recognition and language comprehension. Select the best activities to support students in grades K-6 to learn letters and sound relationships. Provide developing readers with the most effective oral, written, and reading experiences. Recharge your confidence and craft with uplifting new research findings from neuroscience, cognitive science, and child development. Clear up confusions about phonics progressions, reading fluency, morphology, text selection, grammar, and more. Develop background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction. Be up to date on how to help students attain deeper levels of comprehension by applying Theory of Mind and other cutting-edge ideas. Reading is a thrilling but complex process. It involves a heady mix of skills, schema, self-concept, and social dimensions. To give all students the chance to reap its rewards, we need a go-big kind of resource. This is it.

Your Guide to Engaging and Effective Math Instruction With the latest research on what works best in teaching and learning, The Mathematics Playbook is your comprehensive guide to enhancing mathematics teaching and learning. With a focus on fostering equity and maximizing student learning, the authors provide practical modules that integrate the latest research on effective teaching practices, and answer four critical questions: How do we foster, nurture, and sustain mathematics learning? How do we ensure all learners have equity of access and opportunity? What are the non-negotiables in a high-quality mathematics task? How do we know if learners really "get it"? Through real-life examples and an emphasis on self-assessment and reflection, this playbook empowers you to create engaging and impactful learning experiences in mathematics.

Utilize restorative practices to create a safe, accepting, and equitable school climate where learning can flourish. When students have unfinished learning, educators create opportunities for students to learn. Unfortunately, this role seems to end when it comes to behavior. How can we turn behavior into a teachable moment? The Restorative Practices Playbook details a set of practices designed to teach prosocial behaviors based on strong relationships and a commitment to the well-being of others. Implementing restorative practices establishes a positive academic and social-emotional learning environment while building students’ capacity to self-regulate, make decisions, and self-govern—the very skills students need to achieve. In this eye-opening, essential playbook, renowned educators Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey support educators with the reflection prompts, tools, examples, and strategies needed to create restorative practices around several key concepts: A restorative school culture, grounded in respect, that builds agency and identity, establishes teacher credibility, sets high expectations, and fosters positive relationships Restorative conversations that equip adults and students with the capacity to resolve problems, make decisions, and arrive at solutions in ways that are satisfactory and growth-producing Restorative circles that promote academic learning through dialogue, build consensus in decision making, and help participants reach resolution through healing Formal restorative conferences that foster guided dialogue between victim(s) and offender(s) and include plans for re-entry into the school community By becoming adept in the skillful use of restorative practices, educators will foster equitable discipline that reduces exclusion and creates a school community driven by relationships and respect.

50 Strategies for Activating the Full Potential of Your PLC+ Team Are you maximizing the impact of your professional learning communities? 50 Strategies for Activating Your PLC+ equips educators with the tools and actions needed to foster highly effective PLC+ teams. Successful PLCs are built on a foundation of strong collaboration, unified purpose, trust, and effective communication. The 50+ strategies in this essential guide address the challenges and possibilities within teacher teams by focusing on the role of activators, group members who work to ensure that all members of the PLC+ contribute to meaningful, solution-driven progress. Grounded in experience and practical guidance, this resource is designed to make every step of your PLC+ experience impactful. With strategies organized into eight comprehensive sections, the authors provide the frameworks necessary to create an engaged, productive learning culture with: Eight categories of strategies aligned with the five guiding PLC+ questions to support targeted and actionable leadership A practical cross-reference table connecting the strategies to content with additional context and insights to deepen understanding Tools for developing activator skills that enhance facilitation, decision-making, and solution-oriented collaboration within your PLC+ teams Concrete protocols and frameworks for addressing team dynamics, meeting structures, and continuous improvement From establishing goals to reviewing results, you′ll find purposeful actions that drive positive outcomes for educators and students alike. Take the next step in your PLC+ leadership to shape the future of learning in your school.

What is FIT Teaching? What is a FIT Teacher? The Framework for Intentional and Targeted Teaching®—or FIT Teaching®—is a research-based, field-tested, and experience-honed process that captures the essentials of the best educational environments. In contrast to restrictive pedagogical prescriptions or formulas, FIT Teaching empowers teachers to adapt the most effective planning, instructional, and assessment practices to their particular context in order to move their students’ learning from where it is now to where it should be. To be a FIT Teacher is to make a heroic commitment to learning—not just to the learning of every student in the classroom, but to the professional learning necessary to grow, inspire, and lead. This book introduces the powerful FIT Teaching Tool, which harnesses the FIT Teaching approach and presents a detailed continuum of growth and leadership. It’s a close-up look at what intentional and targeting teaching is and what successful teachers do to Plan with purpose Cultivate a learning climate Instruct with intention Assess with a system Impact student learning Designed to foster discussion among educators about what they are doing in the classroom, the FIT Teaching Tool can be used by teachers for self-assessment; by teacher peers for collegial feedback in professional learning communities; by instructional coaches to focus on the skills teachers need both onstage and off; and by school leaders to highlight their teachers’ strengths and value. Join authors Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Stefani Arzonetti Hite for an examination of what makes great teachers great, and see how educators at all grade levels and all levels of experience are taking intentional steps toward enhanced professional practice.

For every teacher it’s different, but you know who they are for you—the students who are “hard to teach.” Maybe they’re reading far below grade level. Maybe they’re English learners. Maybe they have diagnosed learning disabilities or behavioral issues. Maybe they’re underachieving for reasons that are unknown. They have been overlooked or underserved or frustrated, and they’re not learning as they should. Until now. Until you. How to Reach the Hard to Teach presents a thoughtful and practical approach to achieving breakthrough success with linguistically and culturally diverse students who struggle in school. Combining elements of the SIOP® Model and the FIT Teaching® approach, authors Jana Echevarría, Nancy Frey, and Douglas Fisher take stock of what we know about excellent instruction and distill it into five guiding principles: 1. Set high expectations. 2. Provide access to the core curriculum. 3. Use assessment to inform instruction. 4. Attend to language development—both English and academic. 5. Create a supportive classroom climate. You’ll learn specific practices associated with each principle and see how real-life teachers are employing these practices in their classrooms so that all students have the opportunity to learn and receive optimal support for that learning. Every teacher has had the experience of seeing a “hard to teach” student in a new light and realizing all he or she might achieve. This book is about shining that light of possibility on the students who challenge us most, interrogating our beliefs, and taking action to ensure they receive the best instruction we have to offer.

Professional development embedded within the PLC culture is vital to successfully implementing the Common Core State Standards. Integrate the CCSS for English language arts into your school’s instruction, curriculum, assessment, and intervention practices with this straightforward resource. Using specific leader-driven examples and scenarios, discover the what and how of teaching so you can ensure students master the standards.

How do you generate that lightbulb “aha” moment of understanding for your students? This book helps to answer that question by showing Visible Learning strategies in action in high-impact mathematics classrooms. Walk in the shoes of teachers as they engage in the countless micro-decisions required to balance strategies, tasks, and assessments, demonstrating that it’s not only what works, but when. A decision-making matrix and grade-leveled examples help you leverage the most effective teaching practices at the most effective time to meet the surface, deep, and transfer learning needs of every student.

Explore strategies for integrating the Common Core State Standards for English language arts for grades K–2 in this interdisciplinary resource, which focuses on areas of instruction, curriculum, assessment, and intervention. You’ll also learn how to implement the CCSS within the powerful PLC at WorkTM process. Critical chapter-opening questions guide discussion and help you leverage the CCSS to optimize student learning.

We know that literacy is the key to learning in school, yet millions of middle and high school students lack the literacy skills they need to succeed. What can educators do? In Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents, authors Gay Ivey and Douglas Fisher make a compelling case that all teachers--across the content areas--have a role to play in students'' development of literacy, which they define as reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. Rather than focusing solely on reading instruction and the cliché that says "all teachers are teachers of reading," they urge teachers to incorporate rich literacy-based learning experiences into their classrooms, with the goal of helping students to learn and think across the curriculum. With research-based findings, engaging examples, and extensive lists of resources, Ivey and Fisher encourage readers to * Reexamine the materials, experiences, and expectations of the English/language arts classroom; * Use strategies to improve literacy in all the content areas and seek alternatives to the traditional textbook; * Make independent reading an important part of students'' ongoing literacy development; * Design and use interventions that really work for struggling students; and * Consider the schoolwide elements--professional development, peer coaching, leadership, and assessment--that should be in place to support teachers and students. Essential questions provide the focus for each chapter, and Quality Indicators for Secondary Literacy help readers gauge where they are on the continuum of providing a meaningful literacy experience for students. Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents will inspire educators to take up this challenge in their own school with new confidence that the work is worthwhile and achievable. Note: This product listing is for the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of the book.

Explore strategies for integrating the Common Core State Standards for English language arts for grades 9–12 in this resource, which focuses on areas of instruction, curriculum, assessment, and intervention. You’ll also learn how to implement the CCSS within the powerful PLC at WorkTM process. Critical chapter-opening questions guide discussion and help you leverage the CCSS to optimize student learning.

This book explains how teachers can use guided instruction (gradually transferring knowledge and the responsibility for learning to students through scaffolds for learning) to boost students to higher levels of understanding and accomplishment.

A guide to fostering academic discourse in classrooms regardless of subject area, with a focus on English language learners at all levels.

It is essential that students learn to examine, review, and evaluate knowledge and ideas through a process of scientific investigation and argumentation. Using these instructional methods and lesson scenarios, teachers of all disciplines will gain the tools needed to offer students a richer, lasting understanding of science, its concepts, and its place in their lives and the global community.