Aurora University
Fall 2015

Guest Speaker Notes

Our Non-Negotiables:  Because what we stand for we will achieve

• We will not do initiatives, we will continuously improve
• Our professional time and classroom will operative as collaborative professional learning communities
• Data is our friend
• Time is our enemy
• The 4 guiding PLC questions
  • What are you going to teach?
  • How will you know if they know it?
  • What will you do if they know it?
  • What will you do if they don’t know it?
• No secrets, no silos
• We are a solutions driven school

Curriculum Review Resources
U-46 Elementary Math curriculum change
Oklahoma AP US History
Illinois Science Standards
CNN AP US History
Colorado APUSH
Arizona Mexican-American Studies
Reeves – Leading change with teachers

Flipped Learning Webinars from ASCD

Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement
Embracing Flipped Learning Tour

Book Recommendations
These are some of my personal favorite books that I refer back to constantly for professional development sessions, inspiration or help.

Jon Bergmann
Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement
Flip Your Classroom
Flipped Learning for Science
Flipped Learning for Math
Flipped Learning for English Instruction
Flipped Learning for Social Studies
Flip Your Classroom Workbook
Flipped Learning in Elementary
These are the flipped learning books we discussed in class

Jim Collins
Good to Great
Book recommended by Kim Zupec – great book for culture shift

Henry Gray
Education Consultant, Australia

Heidi Hayes Jacobs
Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World
Jacobs likes to write a lot about curriculum mapping, scope and sequence in curriculum.  This book branches off to talk about technology’s role in curriculum and the 21st century school.

Eric Jensen
Teaching With the Brain in Mind
Arts With the Brain in Mind
Eric Jensen’s books focus on how the brain works in relation to learning and to specific content areas.

Jim Knight
Instructional Coaching
Knight is the top researcher in instructional coaching.  This is a great book if you are thinking of moving into an instructional coaching role.

Robert Marzano
Classroom Instruction that Works
Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading
Anything by Marzano is excellent.  These are my two favorite books that stand out, but anything you read by Marzano is good and research-based.  You can also follow the Marzano Research Institute on Twitter.

Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins
Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Learning
Understanding By Design, extended 2nd edition
Understanding By Design is the backwards curriculum planning book we used during this class.
Essential Questions explains more of the Understanding By Design model and helps teachers at all grade levels and in all content areas use essential questions to build inquiry lessons into their curriculum.

Alan November
Empowering Students with Technology
November is a leader in technology education.  Another of my top favorite authors and books.

Kathie Nunley
Student’s Brain: The Parent/Teacher Manual
This book does a wonderful job of explaining how the brain develops over the years in language that is easy to understand.

Larissa Pahomov
Authentic Learning in the Digital Age
This book walks through practical (and easy) ways to incorporate inquiry based lessons into the middle school or high school class (can be adapted for elementary).  This is a great book for any content area teacher with examples of inquiry in all subjects (including exploratories).

Theodore Sizer
The Students Are Watching
Book recommended by Kim Zupec – another great book for culture shifts with teachers and staff

Marcia Tate
“Sit and Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites
Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
Both of these books are excellent for engagement ideas for students and teachers.  Tate is a wonderful presenter. If you have a chance to see her in person, GO!

Carol Ann Tomlinson
Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd edition
How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms
Tomlinson is a leader in differentiated instruction in all content areas and at all grade levels.  Any of her books are EXCELLENT with concrete ideas and examples. These are my two personal favorites, but I encourage you to read any of her books.

Tim Westerberg
Becoming a Great High School
While Westerberg speaks to high schools, much of this book can be used at the middle school level too.

Rick Wormeli
Fair Isn’t Always Equal
Differentiation: From Planning to Practice
The first book is focused on assessing and grading in a differentiated instruction/personalized classroom – EXCELLENT BOOK! One of my personal top favorites.
The second book is about the philosophy and implementation of differentiation in the middle school classroom.
Wormeli is another author you cannot go wrong with.  He is a passionate middle school educator who is wonderful to read and hear speak.  If you ever have the opportunity to go to one of his workshops – TAKE IT! He will make an entire day fly by, feeling like it’s only been 5 minutes.