Professional Development Literature

Access to high-quality computer science instruction has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Thanks to this movement, more students start middle school with some foundational knowledge of computer science and coding. This new set of creative skills empowers students to express themselves in powerful ways, but students still need opportunities and support to develop and hone those skills. This book helps classroom teachers in several core content areas develop activities and projects to encourage computational thinking and coding skills, and to build bridges between those skills and practice. For math, science, English language arts and social studies teachers, the resources in this book provide guidance to start integrating coding into their classes to complement and strengthen existing instruction.

Digital leadership is a strategic mindset and set of behaviors that leverages resources to create a meaningful, transparent, and engaging school culture. It takes into account recent changes such as ubiquitous connectivity, open-source technology, mobile devices, and personalization to dramatically shift how schools have been run and structured for over a century. Leading in education becomes exponentially powerful when using technology to your advantage.

It started with a simple observation: Students need their teachers present to answer questions or to provide help if they get stuck on an assignment; they don’t need their teachers present to listen to a lecture or review content. From there, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams began the flipped classroom: Students watched recorded lectures for homework and completed their assignments, labs, and tests in class with their teacher available. What Bergmann and Sams found was that their students demonstrated a deeper understanding of the material than ever before. This is the authors’ story, and they’re confident it can be yours too.

Learn what a flipped classroom is and why it works, and get the information you need to flip a classroom. You’ll also learn the flipped mastery model, where students learn at their own pace, furthering opportunities for personalized education. This simple concept is easily replicable in any classroom, doesn’t cost much to implement, and helps foster self-directed learning. Once you flip, you won’t want to go back!

Building on their best-selling book Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, flipped education innovators Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams return with a book series that supports flipped learning in the four topic areas of science, math, English and social studies as well as the elementary classroom.

In this new book, the authors discuss how educators can successfully apply the flipped classroom model to teaching math. Each chapter offers practical guidance, including how to approach lesson planning, what to do with class time and how the flipped model can work alongside learning through inquiry.

With Gamify Literacy, teacher Michele Haiken brings together top educators and gaming professionals to share gamification strategies, demonstrating how teachers can use gaming tools and activities to improve literacy and content learning. This friendly, accessible guide provides classroom educators and tech coaches with tips and inspiration on how to apply gaming techniques to improve literacy and deepen student collaboration and critical thinking. This book includes: tips for implementing gaming techniques to engage and motivate students; a fun and engaging design to complement a game-based approach to learning; and examples that can easily be modified for different grade levels.

Even if you don't have access to expensive (but increasingly affordable) hardware, every classroom can become a makerspace where kids and teachers learn together through direct experience with an assortment of high and low-tech materials. The potential range, breadth, power, complexity and beauty of projects has never been greater thanks to the amazing new tools, materials, ingenuity and playfulness you will encounter in this book. In this practical guide, Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager provide K-12 educators with the how, why, and cool stuff that supports making in the classroom, library, makerspace, or anywhere learners learn.

Something happens in students when they define themselves as makers and inventors and creators. They discover powerful skills-problem-solving, critical thinking, and imagination-that will help them shape the world's future ... our future. In LAUNCH, teachers will discover practical strategies for using design thinking in the classroom to engage, inspire, and empower students. Here are a few key takeaways:Student projects that focus on making, designing, and creating; Fixing the brainstorming process; Structuring project-based learning to unleash creativity; Building creative confidence in the classroom and Leading a maker movement without spending a lot of money.

Learning with technology does not happen because a specific tool “revolutionizes” education. It happens when proven teaching strategies intersect with technology tools, and yet it is not uncommon for teachers to use a tool because it is “fun” or because the developer promises it will help students learn.

To adequately prepare students for success, our schools must encourage students to evolve and develop as creative individuals. Today's educators are challenged to establish an instructional practice that will support the development of student creativity, as well as meet curricular goals and assessments. In this book, author Mark Gura shows that creativity can be developed and that, thanks to the variety of technology resources available, doing so is not only possible, but practical and effective.

This book takes the creativity and inventiveness of the maker movement and applies that energy in a new way to help children learn across all subject areas as well as broaden their world view.

Making Simple Robots is based on one idea: Anybody can build a robot! That includes kids, school teachers, parents, and non-engineers. If you can knit, sew, or fold a flat piece of paper into a box, you can build a no-tech robotic part. If you can use a hot glue gun, you can learn to solder basic electronics into a low-tech robot that reacts to its environment. And if you can figure out how to use the apps on your smart phone, you can learn enough programming to communicate with a simple robot.

Coding and computational thinking are among the skills that will serve students well in the future. Coding goes beyond websites and software; it is an essential component in finding solutions to everyday problems. Computational thinking has many applications beyond the computer lab or math class. It teaches reasoning, creativity and expression, and is an innovative way to demonstrate content knowledge and see mathematical processes in action. To help teachers easily and effectively introduce coding, the book features: classroom-tested lessons and activities designed for skills progression; ready-to-implement coding exercises that can be incorporated across the curriculum; alignment to ISTE and Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) standards; and case studies and explorations of technology tools and resources to teach coding.

Today's students need broad skills to help them think creatively, work collaboratively and implement innovations in our complex and global society. These skills must be taught early to ensure success. In Nurturing Young Innovators, PK-5 teachers will learn how to engage families and communities in activities that create environments where creativity, innovation and collaboration are fostered and valued, and where technology is used to redefine learning and promote responsible risk-taking. Written by two experts who are passionate about supporting early learners through effective uses of technology, this book is a singular source for learning how to encourage innovation and creativity in early learners so they can develop the skills they need to thrive. This book includes: examples of how teachers can collaborate with students, parents and the community to support student success and innovation; practical tools, including sample projects, reflection questions and exercises to drive student learning; an action plan to help you track the steps you re taking to facilitate creativity in students; and a Resources section to support the content in each chapter.

Picture a computer scientist, staring at a screen and clicking away frantically on a keyboard, hacking into a system, or perhaps developing an app. Now delete that picture. In Once Upon an Algorithm, Martin Erwig explains computation as something that takes place beyond electronic computers, and computer science as the study of systematic problem solving. Erwig points out that many daily activities involve problem solving. Getting up in the morning, for example: You get up, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast. This simple daily routine solves a recurring problem through a series of well-defined steps. In computer science, such a routine is called an algorithm.

Perfect for kids, parents, and educators, Paper Inventions is a project-based book with full color illustrations, step-by-step instructions, supply lists, and templates that allow you to follow along with the book or devise something entirely new. Each chapter features new projects that will challenge and intrigue everyone, from beginning to experienced Makers.

Kids walk into schools full of wonder and questions. How you, as an educator, respond to students' natural curiosity can help further their own exploration and shape the way they learn today and in the future. In The Innovator's Mindset, George Couros encourages teachers and administrators to empower their learners to wonder, to explore--and to become forward-thinking leaders. If we want innovative students, we need innovative educators. In other words, innovation begins with you. Ultimately, innovation is not about a skill set: it's about a mindset.

Make: Tinkering (Kids Learn by Making Stuff) lets you discover how, why--and even what it is--to tinker and tinker well. Author Curt Gabrielson draws on more than 20 years of experience doing hands-on science to facilitate tinkering: learning science while fooling around with real things.