This research-based curriculum features 15 lessons that use the latest information about the brain to dramatically improve behavior and learning for all students. Each lesson offers easy strategies for helping students focus their attention, improve their self-regulation skills, build resilience to stress, and develop a positive mind-set in both school and life. The lessons fit easily into any schedule and require minimal preparation. Classroom management tips and content-area activities help you extend the benefits of MindUP throughout your day, week, and year. Includes a BIG, colorful teaching poster with fascinating facts about the brain! Research-based and tested in dozens of classrooms Transforms classrooms into focused learning environments Helps teachers motivate at-risk learners so each child can thrive-academically, socially, and emotionally Kids love learning about how their brains work-and how the can help their brains "grow"! Includes high-interest activities to connect MindUP learning to all content areas Fosters a cohesive, caring classroom climate that enhances learning Correlates with social and emotional learning goals created by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

This research-based curriculum features 15 lessons that use the latest information about the brain to dramatically improve behavior and learning for all students. Each lesson offers easy strategies for helping students focus their attention, improve their self-regulation skills, build resilience to stress, and develop a positive mind-set in both school and life. The lessons fit easily into any schedule and require minimal preparation. Classroom management tips and content-area activities help you extend the benefits of MindUP throughout your day, week, and year. Includes a BIG, colorful teaching poster with fascinating facts about the brain! Research-based and tested in dozens of classrooms -Transforms classrooms into focused learning environments Helps teachers motivate at-risk learners so each child can thrive-academically, socially, and emotionally Kids love learning about how their brains work-and how the can help their brains "grow"! Includes high-interest activities to connect MindUP learning to all content areas Fosters a cohesive, caring classroom climate that enhances learning Correlates with social and emotional learning goals created by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

This research-based curriculum features 15 lessons that use the latest information about the brain to dramatically improve behavior and learning for all students. Each lesson offers easy strategies for helping students focus their attention, improve their self-regulation skills, build resilience to stress, and develop a positive mind-set in both school and life. The lessons fit easily into any schedule and require minimal preparation. Classroom management tips and content-area activities help you extend the benefits of MindUP throughout your day, week, and year. Includes a BIG, colorful teaching poster with fascinating facts about the brain! Research-based and tested in dozens of classrooms -Transforms classrooms into focused learning environments Helps teachers motivate at-risk learners so each child can thrive-academically, socially, and emotionally Kids love learning about how their brains work-and how the can help their brains "grow"! Includes high-interest activities to connect MindUP learning to all content areas Fosters a cohesive, caring classroom climate that enhances learning Correlates with social and emotional learning goals created by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

"Tony Wagner and venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith call for a complete overhaul of the function and focus of American schools, sharing insights and stories from the front lines, including profiles of successful students, teachers, parents, and business leaders. [The book proposes] a new vision of American education, one that puts wonder, creativity, and initiative at the very heart of the learning process and prepares students for today's economy"--

This thoughtful, engaging book is packed with helpful hints, tips, and techniques for helping children learn to recognize and express their emotions. Feelings can be complicated, and learning to express them is a skill that must be developed. My Mixed Emotions is here to coach children through a variety of emotions and situations including dealing with bullying, understanding grief, and coping with large family changes, such as divorce. Divided into happiness, fear, anger, and sadness, My Mixed Emotions explores the four main emotions, the reasons why we feel them, and the science behind each one. Children will discover great things about themselves, such as what happens in their brain when they are happy, why they cry when they are sad, and why they sometimes feel nervous. My Mixed Emotions will become a friend and guide as children travel through the mixed-up world of emotions to discover the wonderful, unique person that they are.

Young children with special needs often face physical, emotional, or social barriers to deep engagement with the natural world. These challenges need not prevent them from enjoying the many benefits nature has to offer. Nature is a necessity. Research tells us that we are happier, healthier, more socially engaged, and more creative when it is part of our daily lives. These benefits apply to people of all ages and abilities. In this inspiring book, Dr. Ruth Wilson explores the great potential of connecting young children with special needs to the natural world. Drawing on her knowledge of research and her decades of work with children in nature, she weaves together advice, real-life examples, and testimonies from educators and families on the healing, nurturing power of nature in the lives of young children with diverse abilities. In addition to exploring the role of nature in our lives, chapters include information on: Nature as a teacher and play partner Nature for holistic development Nature as a healer The importance of risk-taking Horticultural therapies Animal-assisted therapies Nurturing connections between children and animals, plants, and habitats Naturally Inclusive is an essential guide for creating inclusive nature-based play spaces and programs that connect every child to nature. It reminds us that nature is both an exemplar of diversity and a catalyst for inclusion. Ruth Wilson, PhD, works as an educational consultant and curriculum writer with special expertise in the area of early childhood environmental education. She has developed programs and initiatives in nature-based educational experiences for zoos and nature centers, state departments of education, and Sesame Street. Dr. Wilson's career includes working as a classroom teacher in both regular and special-education settings and as a teacher educator at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She serves as the research library curator of the Children and Nature Network.

Focusing on the different forms of nonfiction, this remarkable book shows teachers how to help students recognize that they write because they have something to say; that to write well means considering intent and purpose, and choosing the most appropriate form of expression. Practical and comprehensive, this fourth book in Adrienne Gear's "Powers" series will help teachers work with students to explore their Nonfiction Writing Powers: to Describe, to Instruct, to Compare, to Persuade, to Explain, and to Report. Ideal support for teaching writing in the content areas, the book includes methods for linking to Science, Social Studies, and more.

Online instruction has become an easy target to blame for learning loss during the pandemic. But in fact, it is a rich resource that can strengthen current classroom teaching, and also prepare schools to weather future school closings. In Online By Choice, Stephanie Moore and Michael Barbour argue persuasively that online learning is a precious source of resilience and flexibility for schools now and going forward--an important feature of a robust ecosystem along with face-to-face and blended instruction--and that failing to incorporate online is strategically impoverished. Choosing online instruction is very different from rushing to remote learning in an emergency manner, however, and doing it well involves a myriad of decisions. These authors provide essential guidance and tools for teachers and school leaders as they select, design, and implement online education solutions, including the "handshakes" needed to align instructional needs with school or district-level infrastructure and supports.

This highly visual social skills book uses computer metaphors and visual diagrams to help children on the autism spectrum to understand how their words and actions can affect other people. Easily identifiable computing and social networking metaphors are used to explain how memories are saved in the brain, like files in computer folders, and how, just as files can be shared and downloaded on the internet, people learn about you by sharing their positive and negative impressions with each other. The author explains why certain actions may be 'liked' or 'disliked' by others, and offers guidance on appropriate and inappropriate social behavior. This book also features photocopiable worksheets to reinforce the guidance and lessons offered in the book.

Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children is the fruit of decades of development and innovation in the Plum Village community's collective practice with children. Based on Thich Nhat Hanh's thirty years of teaching mindfulness and compassion to parents, teachers, and children, the book and enclosed CD cover a wide range of contemplative and fun activities parents and educators can do with their children or students. The activities are designed to help relieve stress, increase concentration, nourish gratitude and confidence, deal with difficult emotions, touch our interconnection with nature, and improve communication.  Planting Seeds offers insight, concrete activities, and curricula that parents and educators can apply in school settings, in their local communities or at home, in a way that is meaningful and inviting to children. The key practices presented include mindful breathing and walking, inviting the bell, pebble meditation, the Two Promises or ethical guidelines for children, children's versions of Touching the Earth and Deep Relaxation, eating meditation and dealing with conflict and strong emotions. Also included, are the lyrics to the songs on the enclosed CD that summarize and highlight the key teachings, as well as a chapter on dealing effectively with conflict in the classroom or difficult group dynamics, based on a conference with Thich Nhat Hanh, teachers and students. The accompanying CD has inspiring recordings of all the songs in the book as well as a guided pebble meditation, total relaxation, and children's touching the earth. Beautiful, color illustrations by Wietske Vriezen Illustrator of Mindful Movements (ISBN-13: 978-1-888375-79-4) accompany the various practices.  Any adult wishing to plant seeds of peace, relaxation, and awareness in children will find this book and CD helpful. It is full of wisdom on how to simply be with children and nourish their compassion for themselves and others. Illustrated by Wietske Vriezen Illustrator of Mindful Movements (Mindful Movements – Ten Exercise for Well Being, ISBN-13: 978-1-888375-79-4). Includes 1 audio CD.

The Polyvagal Backpack picks up where Wilson's first book left off by providing a plethora of classroom activities demonstrating how to implement PVT. The ease with which the principles of PVT can be applied becomes clear as Wilson draws one activity after another from her metaphorical backpack and shows how to help students co-regulate a classroom, for example, or repair a relationship. The opening true or false quiz, final FAQ section, and clear descriptions throughout make this an ideal book for teacher teams to read and use together

By the time Lindsey Blass and Cate Tolnai's paths crossed, they each knew their own "why" for leveraging the power of gameplay in learning. Both had taken a path from teacher to coach to central/county office roles focused on innovative learning design, all while noticing three trends that extended beyond their classrooms: students who weren't able to own and connect to their learning experience became disengaged; there was a general fear of failure among students and teachers; and teachers were perplexed at how to design engaging learning experiences that fostered student choice and celebrated failure as an opportunity for iteration. Together, they began to ask ... what if? What if we designed learning experiences that leveraged the power of gameplay to create more motivated learners? What if we modeled this type of learning with educators so they could experience the impact firsthand and spread the excitement and innovation in their classrooms? What if learning was fun for both students and teachers? With a uniquely engaging style, Power Up Your Classroom helps educators understand the benefits of gamification and game-based learning, and empowers them to design learning experiences that leverage gameplay to increase motivation and engagement, and build classroom community.