What I learned. I first read his book during a teacher preparation course. Later, after signing my first contract, I attended a professional development conference. I was impressed that the strategies were ranked based on metadata. This material impacted my teaching practice on so many levels!

How it changed my practice. I immediately began implementing these strategies into my classroom's daily routines, and I still use them. I use comparing and contrasting in my lessons to help students see how ideas connect. I use notetaking and summarizing while studying fiction, nonfiction, and math story problems. Students' reading comprehension and ability to solve story problems showed improvement within a few lessons. I also use descriptive phrases when praising students and giving constructive feedback. I learned the importance of marking papers and returning them to students and prioritized this into my daily schedule. Cooperative learning was a strategy that took more time for me to develop. Students achieve more when I use CHAMPS and role cards during cooperative learning activities.

What I'd like to do next. I'd like to implement Kaplan's Depth and Complexity strategies. I'm also interested in learning and applying Nelson's Project Zero because they're part of Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies (nonlinguistic representations).

How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed Ability Classrooms, by Carol Ann Thomlinson.

What I learned. In order to improve student engagement and achievement, it's important for teachers to adjust the content, process, and products of an activity.

How it changed my practice. Creating groups was easy using what I already knew about data analysis. Knowing what to do for them was more challenging! This book took small group instruction to the next level by clarifying the process of differentiation.

What I'd like to do next. I'm interested in Project BeGlad. I first heard about this project while teaching in California. A colleague of mine showed us how to use some of the English Language Development strategies and ever since then it's been on my bucket list.