Publisher description: This first-of-its-kind resource shows teachers, administrators, and counselors how to teach these unique yet at-risk learners while also leveraging their blend of humor and intelligence to inject joy and enthusiasm into the classroom. Written by a veteran educator (and self-described class clown), this concise guide combines laugh-out-loud writing with the author's field-tested expertise to help educators: Identify the four "signature" tendencies of class clowns. Employ practical classroom strategies to keep instruction moving. Prevent class clowns from acting out by understanding how to teach them.

Over 400 schools throughout the world have adopted Invitational Education to foster innovative thinking, sustained positive action, and the creation of socially and emotionally safe schools. As educators are now involved in an epic rethinking of what they do and how they do it, Developing Inviting Schools provides a dependable guide for improvement. Written by two of the creators of the Inviting Schools movement—Purkey and Novak—along with Joan Fretz who works with public schools, this book updates and extends the construct of invitational learning to assist today’s teachers and leaders. The authors present a simple, but not simplistic framework that offers real-life responses to such challenges as faculty morale, school safety, conflict management, community involvement, student behavior, motivation, and school success. Use this resource to create, sustain, and enhance the social and emotional climate of your school. Book Features: A defensible theory of practice based on the community values of intentional care, respect, trust, and optimism.A deep dive into the basic assumptions that guide life in schools. Guidance for developing and maintaining positive school climate initiatives.Practical examples of how Invitational Education works in real-life situations.A fresh and innovative approach to a positive social and emotional learning environment.

In this innovative book, David E. Low examines the multifaceted role of humor in critical literacy studies. Talking about how teachers and students negotiate understandings of humor and social critique vis-à-vis school-based critical literacy curriculums, the book co-examines teachers’ and students’ understandings of humor and critique in schools. Critical literacy centers discussions on power and social roles but often overlooks how students use transgressive humor as a means to interrogate power. Through examples of classroom interactions and anecdotes, Low analyzes the role of humor in classroom settings to uncover how humor interplays with critical inquiry, sensemaking, and nonsense-making. Articulated across the fields of literacy studies and humor studies, the book uses ethnographic data from three Central California high schools to establish linkages and dissonances between critical literacy education and adolescents’ joking practices. Adopting the dialectic of punching up and punching down as a conceptual framework, the book argues that developing more nuanced understandings of transgressive humor presents educators with opportunities to cultivate deeper critical literacy pedagogies and that doing so is a matter of social justice. Essential for scholars and students in literacy education, this book adds to the scholarship on critical literacy by exploring the subversive power of humor in the classroom.

We can all remember how great we felt when our favorite teacher praised us for a job well done or a good instructor encouraged us during a tough assignment. We were eager to go the extra mile for these teachers because we knew they believed in us and supported our success. In Inviting Students to Learn, Jenny Edwards shows us how to re-create that same enthusiasm with our own students by choosing our words carefully and creating learning environments that motivate students to be eager to learn and ready to succeed. Edwards provides 100 practical tips for making subtle yet powerful changes in our conversations with students—from how we ask students to do something as simple as turning in their homework on time to how we inspire them to set big goals for the entire school year. Edwards provides suggestions that will help us• Build relationships with your students• Teach more effectively• Help students plan for the future• Respond effectively to students’ objections• Encourage students• Influence students• Resolve conflictsInviting Students to Learn also contains tips for interacting with parents, reaching out to diverse student groups, and using technology to efficiently communicate with students. Edwards shows us that as we begin to shift our everyday conversations with students, we can boost their self-esteem, improve their knowledge, and increase their desire and willingness to work successfully toward their goals.

A supplementary text that provides a practical yet comprehensive explanation of learner-centered instruction.

This edited collection examines the means to create, maintain, and enhance welcoming colleges and universities in the United States and abroad with personal accounts, case studies, models, programs, and other frameworks written by practitioners in higher education. The contributors explain how they have created inviting classrooms; established friendly educational experiences both within and beyond the classroom; engaged faculty and enhanced the teaching experience; and developed instruments to assess invitational strategies in higher education from a global perspective.

This edited volume highlights recent research related to how issues of diversity are addressed within literacy instruction for K-12 learners.