New Releases by Ted McCain

The educational pattern of lecture, listen, and forget is deeply ingrained in schools. In this user-friendly resource, author Ted McCain offers a compelling alternative that flips lessons on their heads: the problems-first instructional method. Using this method, you will fully engage students by first introducing a problem and then empowering learners to solve it using creativity, innovation, collaboration, and other essential skills. Use this resource to help students achieve higher levels of thinking: Identify the need for instructional change in the current educational system. Consider the transferable skills students need for solving problems in the workplace and in life outside the classroom. Study the benefits of a problems-first teaching style. Learn to implement problems-first methods into existing classrooms. Understand how this method teaches seven essential 21st century skills highly desired in the modern workforce. Discover how to introduce role-play into the classroom and broaden lessons to encompass whole-mind learning and boost student engagement. Contents: Acknowledgments Table of Contents About the Author Introduction Part One: Understanding New Needs and a New Approach for a Digital Generation Chapter 1: The New Needs of a Changing Generation Chapter 2: The Thinking and Processing Skills Students Need for the Future Chapter 3: The Key to a New Approach Part Two: Learning How to Create Problems-First Projects Chapter 4: Envision a New Role for the Teacher Chapter 5: Ensure That Problems Are First, Teaching Is Second Chapter 6: Establish a Real-World Link Using Role-Play Chapter 7: Expand Your View of the Curriculum Chapter 8: Equip Students With the 4 Ds of Problem Solving Chapter 9: Elevate the Students'' Level of Thought Chapter 10: Educate the Whole Mind Chapter 11: Evaluate Holistically Chapter 12: Ease Yourself Out of the Picture Part Three: Making the Shift to Problems-First Teaching Chapter 13: Pointers for Shifting to a Problems-First Approach Chapter 14: Examples of Problems-First Lesson Plans References and Resources Index

With foreword by Jason Ohler Despite technological advancements, most secondary schools still function on ideas that are more than 100 years old. Learning Without Classrooms outlines new guidelines for how schools must operate to remain relevant and effective as we move further into the 21st century. Making a persuasive argument for moving beyond the long-established idea of operating schools with traditional classroom instruction to a personalized learning environment for individual students, the authors detail six crucial elements of school management (community, instruction, time, technology, school facilities, and funding) and how to address them concurrently to improve secondary school learning environments. Transform secondary schools systemwide, from restructuring the physical learning environment to supporting personalized learning: Learn the six elements of schooling, and understand how changing any one element influences the others. Explore nine critical skills students need for success in the modern world. Review the structure and methodology behind an advisory-based concept for school management. Consider scenarios of what learning will look like in the near future as powerful new technological tools become available. Study seven visionary designs for how to renovate existing secondary school facilities to support technologically infused, personalized learning environments. Contents: Introduction Part 1: Understanding 21st Century Learning Chapter 1: The Classroom Has Run Its Course Chapter 2: Key Principles for Modern Schooling Chapter 3: Nine Essential Skills for the Modern World Chapter 4: How Technology Will Change Education Part 2: Designing 21st Century Schools Chapter 5: Schooling for the Future Chapter 6: How to Make It Happen Chapter 7: Concepts for New Advisory-Based Schools Part 3: Reimagining Seven Schools for the 21st Century Chapter 8: Additional Considerations for Transitioning to an Advisory Format Chapter 9: The Capital School Chapter 10: The Green School Chapter 11: The Connected School Chapter 12: The Open School Chapter 13: The District School Chapter 14: The Tech School Chapter 15: The Academy School Epilogue

An innovative look at reshaping the educational experiences of 21st-century learners! Inspiring thoughtful discussion that leads to change, this reader-friendly resource examines how the new digital landscape is transforming teaching and learning in an environment of standards, accountability, and high-stakes testing and why informed leadership is so critical. The authors present powerful strategies and compelling viewpoints, underscore the necessity of developing relevant classroom experiences, and discuss: Attributes common among digital learners The concepts of neuroplasticity and the hyperlinked mind An educational approach that supports traditional literacy skills alongside 21st-century fluencies Evaluation methods that encompass how digital generation students process new information

"This might well be THE contemporary manual for effective education reform. In a world where the future is now, schools are falling behind. It is a lag we can no longer afford."--Sean M. Nosek, PrincipalWestview Secondary School, Maple Ridge, BC, Canada "This is the most important book about high schools since Breaking Ranks for school facilities planners."--David E. Anstrand, Principal, Education Environment Planning ConsultantsBoard Member, Council of Educational Facility Planners International Discover options for instruction and school design that reflect the needs of 21st-century students! Preparing students to meet the demands of a constantly changing, technology-driven environment presents today′s educators with unique challenges. This innovative resource demonstrates how traditional, industrial-type high schools have become outdated and helps school leaders plan facilities and curriculum in ways that benefit students′ academic development and performance. Teaching the Digital Generation examines how educators can address the learning needs of secondary students immersed in a digital world by designing and implementing new instructional models and technology infrastructure. The authors explore ten alternative high school models that address 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and digital literacy, and pose five critical considerations: What should instruction and learning look like in a 21st-century school? How can technology foster this kind of learning? What noninstructional components are required? How can time be used differently to support our vision? How can new facility design turn this vision into reality? Incorporating issues of facility design with curriculum and instructional planning, the authors offer educational leaders a new vision for schools.

"McCain′s insights as an educator go way beyond the classroom. He truly grasps the need for schools to prepare young people for life in an increasingly dynamic world. This book continues Ted′s tradition as a writer who speaks with great insight and clarity."David Thornburg, Director Thornburg Center for Professional Development"In our current NCLB-test driven-environment, this book provides a guide for teachers who want their students to be life-long learners with real-world problem solving skills."Michael A. Burke, Director, District Media and Technology Services Edina Public Schools, MN"Ted McCain gives readers clear, detailed, and readable strategies in order to engage students in active learning. The real-world content for students is key to an authentic, sustainable ability to problem solving."Guylene Robertson, Assistant Superintendent Cleveland Independent School District, TexasReconsider the relevancy of what you teach and discover how to get students to develop "real-world" problem-solving skills! Through first-hand experience, author and educator Ted McCain concisely lays out the argument for preparing students for their world, guiding them to become independent and successful critical thinkers. Teaching for Tomorrow brings everyday life encounters and situations as text to the classroom, challenging students to engage more deeply in their learning and teachers in their teaching. By eliminating the typical stand and deliver approach, McCain hopes educators will now focus on using instruction that allows students to create knowledge for themselves. Major components of the book include: Role-playing scenarios Mapping out 6 changes to teaching that enable teachers to use problem-solving, project- based instruction effectively Outline of the 4 D′s (Define, Design, Do, and Debrief), a step-by-step process for student work and for problem solving applicable to virtually any field By gaining real-world skills rather than just "school" skills, students are engaged in thoughtful work, learning to collaborate, taking responsibility for their own time and tasks, and becoming creative problem solvers in the classroom and for life beyond.

"I would like to see this book become required reading for every teacher or administrator before they break for the summer. Its simplified descriptions make it easily understood by non-technical people. I will make sure that all of my classes read it!"--Shirley CampbellDirector, Computer and Curriculum Inquiry CenterUniversity of Pittsburgh, PA "McCain and Jukes build a case that the Information Age has not yet peaked and awaken us to the challenge of the dramatic technological changes we will surely see within our life time."--Frank Buck, Principal, Graham SchoolTalladega, AL "Windows on the Future summarizes key developments and concepts making them readily understandable. Though I′ve been a member of the World Future Society and an avid reader of books for over 30 years, I am not aware of any other publication like this for practicing educators. This would be very valuable for professional development study groups."--Karen L. Tichy, Associate Superintendent for InstructionCatholic Education OfficeSt. Louis, MO Get prepared to help your students move into the technological future! The world as we knew it ten years ago no longer exists. Ten years from now, today′s world will have recreated itself many times over. Windows on the Future shows educators how to help students cultivate the attitudes and skills necessary to leverage this monumental change for their benefit. Windows on the Future was designed to help the educator cope with changes created by technology and embrace a new mindset necessary to access the burgeoning technological advances. The goal is to keep schools and students relevant in the 21st Century, and McCain and Jukes offer new paradigms and frameworks to accomplish that. Critical issues explored include: Key trends for the new millennium The power of paradigm Education in the future New skills for students New roles for educators The need for vision