Megan Palevich's List: Books

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility. Drawing on the stories of a wide range of people, including Paul McCartney, Matt Groening, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bart Conner, he shows that age and occupation are no barrier and that this is the essential strategy for transform ing education, business, and communities in the twenty-first century.

According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential. Case studies of Google's 20 percent time (in which employees work on projects of their choosing one full day each week) and Best Buy's Results Only Work Environment (in which employees can work whenever and however they choose-as long as they meet specific goals) demonstrate growing endorsement for this approach. A series of appendixes include further reading and tips on applying this method to businesses, fitness and child-rearing. Drawing on research in psychology, economics and sociology, Pink's analysis-and new model-of motivation offers tremendous insight into our deepest nature.

Whether you intend to pursue formal accreditation through one of the many schools of education that have adopted these standards, or you simply want to increase your skills and competencies, this practical step-by-step guide provides everything you need not only to understand the standards, but to meet and exceed them. With each chapter dedicated to a single standard, the authors provide insight, advice, and tips for every level of facilitator and school leader. Accessible to pre-service educators and with hands-on practical lessons for currently practicing professionals, this book can also serve as a template for superintendents and cabinet-level policy-makers as they create and define the job descriptions of the next generation of educators.

Packed with research-based strategies, this step-by-step resource shows educators how to cultivate a more creative teaching practice by accessing their creative resources, eliciting students' creativity, and more.

ccording to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive-academically, economically, and technologically-we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our educational system, and reinvigorate our commitment to learning. In other words, we need "disruptive innovation."\n\nNow, in his long-awaited new book, Clayton M. Christensen and coauthors Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson take one of the most important issues of our time-education-and apply Christensen's now-famous theories of "disruptive" change using a wide range of real-life examples. Whether you're a school administrator, government official, business leader, parent, teacher, or entrepreneur, you'll discover surprising new ideas, outside-the-box strategies, and straight-A success stories.\n\nYou'll learn how\n\nCustomized learning will help many more students succeed in school\nStudent-centric classrooms will increase the demand for new technology\nComputers must be disruptively deployed to every student\nDisruptive innovation can circumvent roadblocks that have prevented other attempts at school reform\nWe can compete in the global classroom-and get ahead in the global market\nFilled with fascinating case studies, scientific findings, and unprecedented insights on how innovation must be managed, Disrupting Class will open your eyes to new possibilities, unlock hidden potential, and get you to think differently. Professor Christensen and his coauthors provide a bold new lesson in innovation that will help you make the grade for years to come.\n\nThe future is now. Class is in session.

Whether you are a scientist on a ship in Antarctic waters or a young girl in a Philippine village, you can learn whenever and whatever you want from whomever you are interested in learning it from.\nAs technologies have become more available, even in the most remote reaches of the world, and as more people contribute a wealth of online resources, the education world has become open to anyone anywhere. In The World Is Open, education technology guru Curtis Bonk explores ten key trends that together make up the "WE-ALL-LEARN" framework for understanding the potential of technology's impact on learning in the 21st century:\n\nWeb Searching in the World of e-Books\nE-Learning and Blended Learning\nAvailability of Open Source and Free Software\nLeveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare\nLearning Object Repositories and Portals\nLearner Participation in Open Information Communities\nElectronic Collaboration\nAlternate Reality Learning\nReal-Time Mobility and Portability\nNetworks of Personalized Learning\nIn addition, this important resource contains compelling interviews that capture the diverse global nature of the open educational world from those who are creating new learning technologies as well as those who are using them to learn and teach in new ways. Using the dynamic "WE-ALL-LEARN" model, learners, educators, executives, administrators, instructors, and parents can tap into the power of Web technology and unleash a world of information.

ISTE top sellers.

This concise diet of digital tools helps beginning and experienced users investigate a variety of tools at an individual pace and incorporate them into todays classroom to foster productive learning.

A breakthrough book that goes well beyond the idea of adding technology to existing schools. This will be a must read for my students and research collaborators. --John Bransford, University of Washington, author of How People Learn and Preparing Teachers for a Changing World<br /><br />If you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter<br /><br />The most convincing account I've read about how education will change in the decades ahead the authors' analyses are impressive, fair-minded, and useful. --Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education, author of Five Minds for the Future and Frames of Mind\n\nA breakthrough book that goes well beyond the idea of adding technology to existing schools. This will be a must read for my students and research collaborators. --John Bransford, University of Washington, author of How People Learn and Preparing Teachers for a Changing World\n\nIf you want to join today s conversation about the future of learning, start here. --Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, author of Education and Learning to Think and Making America Smarter

21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn is the fifth book in the Leading EdgeTM series. The Leading Edge series unites education authorities from around the globe and asks them to confront the important issues that affect teachers and administrators the issues that profoundly impact student success. The experts contributing to this anthology do not prescribe one method to transact change. They embrace the mission, trusting that teachers and administrators the true change leaders will venture to the Leading Edge to embrace the challenges and opportunities that will guarantee the success of their students. 21st Century Skills examines a daunting challenge today s educators face: how to equip students with the skills to succeed in the twenty-first century. Many critics oppose the idea of teaching 21st century skills on the grounds that emphasizing skills such as critical thinking and problem solving will erode the teaching of important content. The contributors to this volume contend that both knowledge and skills are needed, and they are interdependent. The authors of this book know from experience that effective teaching involves having students use skills to acquire knowledge. 21st Century Skills introduces the 21st century skills movement, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. The chapters seek to flesh out the vision established by the Partnership by identifying key issues that contribute to the dialogue. The contributors explore three overarching questions: 1. Why are the skills listed in the Framework for 21st Century Learning needed for learning in the future? 2. Which skills are most important? 3. What can be done to help schools include these skills in their repertoire so that twenty-first century learning results?

In The Genius in All of Us Shenk beautifully explains why the nature-nurture debate is dead. It is not just the genes we are born with, but how we are raised and what opportunities are open to us that determine how smart we will become. Nurture and experience reshape our genes, and thus our brain. Shenk argues that the idea we are either born with genius or talent, or we aren't, is simply untrue. The notion that relentless, deliberate practice changes the brain and thus our abilities has been undervalued over the past 30 years in favor of the concept of "innate giftedness." Practice, practice, practice (some say 10,000 hours or more) is what it takes. Shenk argues that it is just some fantasy that effortless, gifted genius is born and not made. He marshals evidence to show that genetic factors do not trump environmental factors but rather work in concert with them. Shenk notes that by the sweat of our brow we can train ourselves to be successful--even if we are born with only average genetic talent. Scientists know that how we are raised and how we are trained affects the expression of our genes. If you think you've reached your talent limit, think again, Shenk says. It's not just in your genes, he says, but in the intensity of your motivation. Ambition, persistence, and self-discipline are not just products of genes, but can be shaped by nurture and environment. Certainly it is important to have good genes, but that determines at most only 50 percent of your talent. He underscores the point that intelligence is made up of the skills that a person has developed--with an emphasis on "developed"--through hard work. Encouraging ourselves and our children to work hard requires being surrounded by others also wanting to achieve striving for excellence. Moreover, Shenk gives the hopeful message not just for kids, but also for adults. Happily for us, the human brain remains plastic, changeable and trainable well into old age. So no matter how old you are, if you'd like to be smarter--get to work!

This resource examines how the digital landscape is transforming teaching and learning, why informed leadership is so critical, and how instruction can support traditional literacy skills alongside 21st-century fluencies.

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art. \n\nLinchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. Like the small piece of hardware that keeps a wheel from falling off its axle, they may not be famous but they're indispensable. And in today's world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom. \n

Wagner, a Harvard education professor, begins by offering his astute assessment of secondary education in the U.S. today and how it fails to produce graduates who are "jury ready" (i.e., able to analyze an argument, weigh evidence, and detect bias). He then presents a concise manifesto for the steps needed to "reinvent the education profession." His thesis revolves around "Seven Survival skills"-the core competencies he deems necessary for success both in college and in the twenty-first-century workforce. These encompass problem solving and critical thinking, collaboration across networks, adaptability, initiative, effective oral and written communication, analyzing information, and developing curiosity and imagination. Wagner visits a wide spectrum of schools, both public and private, meets with teachers and administrators, and demonstrates how these survival skills have been forgotten in the preparation for mandatory tests. He stresses the importance of being able to analyze new information and apply it to new situations in the "global knowledge economy," then details the programs, including team teaching, at a few innovative schools that are effectively meeting this challenge. --Deborah Donovan

What year are you preparing your students for? 1973? 1995? Can you honestly say that your school s curriculum and the program you use are preparing your students for 2015 or 2020? Are you even preparing them for today?\nWith those provocative questions, author and educator Heidi Hayes Jacobs launches a powerful case for overhauling, updating, and injecting life into the K 12 curriculum. Sharing her expertise as a world-renowned curriculum designer and calling upon the collective wisdom of 10 education thought leaders, Jacobs provides insight and inspiration in the following key areas:\n\n* Content and assessment--How to identify what to keep, what to cut, and what to create, and where portfolios and other new kinds of assessment fit into the picture.\n* Program structures--How to improve our use of time and space and groupings of students and staff.\n* Technology--How it s transforming teaching, and how to take advantage of students natural facility with technology.\n* Media literacy--The essential issues to address, and the best resources for helping students become informed users of multiple forms of media.\n* Globalization--What steps to take to help students gain a global perspective.\n* Sustainability--How to instill enduring values and beliefs that will lead to healthier local, national, and global communities.\n* Habits of mind--The thinking habits that students, teachers, and administrators need to develop and practice to succeed in school, work, and life.\n

Examining in detail issues like equality of spending, testing in K-12 education, and teacher preparation, Stanford education professor Darling-Hammond (The Right to Learn) makes a clear, organized argument that, "like manufacturing industries that have struggled and gone under in recent decades, modern schools were designed at the turn of the last century," and are in desperate need of transformation. Using a straightforward style to examine complex issues, Darling-Hammond reveals the successful educational strategies around the world that are toppling the old educational guard, including a high degree of personalization that allows stronger, closer relationships among students, faculty, staff, and parents. Darling-Hammond doesn't shy away from difficult questions at the heart of seemingly-intractable academic issues; for example, "How is it that scores have been driven upward on the state tests required by No Child Left Behind, yet they have dropped on... international measures?" Scholarly and factual, well-researched and packed with astounding examples of the current climate of American education, this text should prove highly informative for educators, educational administrators, and involved parents throughout the U.S.

The new building blocks for learning in a complex world\nThis important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of what twenty-first century teaching and learning can achieve.\n\nA vital resource that outlines the skills needed for students to excel in the twenty-first century\n\nExplores the three main categories of 21st Century Skills: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills\nAddresses timely issues such as the rapid advance of technology and increased economic competition\nBased on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21)\nIncludes a DVD with video clips of classroom teaching

Aligned to the ISTE NETS standards for administrators, this guide provides an actionable plan for integrating new technology into teaching and learning and realizing measurable improvement.

What can Web 2.0 tools offer educators? Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging Web 2.0 technologies and their use in the classroom and in professional development. Topics include blogging as a natural tool for writing instruction, wikis and their role in project collaboration, podcasting as a useful means of presenting information and ideas, and how to use Web 2.0 tools for professional development. Also included are a discussion of Web 2.0 safety and security issues and a look toward the future of the Web 2.0 movement. Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools is essential reading for teachers, administrators, technology coordinators, and teacher educators.