Explains the strategies John Stanford used while he was superintendent of Seattle public schools to improve test scores, lessen violence, and increase student/teacher morale.

A revolutionary new educational model that encourages educators to provide spaces for students to display their academic brilliance without sacrificing their identities Building on the ideas introduced in his New York Times best-selling book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood, Christopher Emdin introduces an alternative educational model that will help students (and teachers) celebrate ratchet identity in the classroom. Ratchetdemic advocates for a new kind of student identity—one that bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and the urban classroom. Because modern schooling often centers whiteness, Emdin argues, it dismisses ratchet identity (the embodying of “negative” characteristics associated with lowbrow culture, often thought to be possessed by people of a particular ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status) as anti-intellectual and punishes young people for straying from these alleged “academic norms,” leaving young people in classrooms frustrated and uninspired. These deviations, Emdin explains, include so-called “disruptive behavior” and a celebration of hip-hop music and culture. Emdin argues that being “ratchetdemic,” or both ratchet and academic (like having rap battles about science, for example), can empower students to embrace themselves, their backgrounds, and their education as parts of a whole, not disparate identities. This means celebrating protest, disrupting the status quo, and reclaiming the genius of youth in the classroom.

Your best offense against the state assessments No matter what state you teach in, you can be certain that grammar is being tested . . . frequently and across the grades! The biggest issue? Most of our grades 4-12 students continue to make the same old errors year after year. Grammar Keepers to the rescue, with 101 lessons that help students internalize the conventions of correctness once and for all. Bernabei’s key ingredients include Daily journal writing to increase practice and provide an authentic context Minilessons and Interactive Dialogues that model how to make grammatical choices A “Keepers 101” sheet to track teaching and “Parts of Speech Sheet” for student reference

Do you know the life that wins? Are you ashamed of the kind of Christian life you live? Have you failed so terribly in your striving for victory that you cry out, “Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me . . . ?” (Rom. 7.24) Be assured that your salvation is at hand: “thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (v.25). For the life that wins is not attained, but obtained. It is not a life changed, but rather a life exchanged. It is not suppression, only expression. It is frankly not in you yourself, because it is in Christ who lives in you. The life which God gives and you receive at the time you believe in His Son Jesus Christ is such a life. It is a life that overcomes sin, provides intimate communion with God, and is full of satisfaction and power. It is already in you, waiting to be explored by you. The secret towards experiencing its power is to let go of yourself and let Christ live instead of you. This requires a childlike faith. Then shall you more than conquer through Him who loves you. In order to help believers into enjoying this life that wins, Watchman Nee delivered a series of messages on this subject at a conference held in Shanghai, China, in the months of September and October, 1935. He dealt with the full range of this important subject in his usual thoroughness yet simplicity and directness. At that conference, the author began with the believer’s personal experience which, shamefully, is much less than desired. Then, by contrast, he described the kind of Christian life as ordained by God. Next, he dealt with the nature of this life that wins before he showed the way of entering into it. In more detail, he treated the matters of yielding and believing, which are the conditions for crossing the threshold of victory. But the author of these messages then warned his audience of the testing of faith which must follow. He exhorted believers to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ. He stressed also the need for having the note of triumph, which is praise. And finally, he concluded with the first and last act after victory, which is consecration. These messages are now being translated from the Chinese for the first time and presented to the readers in book form. May the Lord of glory be glorified through His life being lived out in His own.