Provides research-based pathways that teachers can take, regardless of their experience, to grow professionally and aim for truly inspired teaching.

Teaching can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be incredibly demanding. Teachers are often pulled in multiple directions. You work hard and give much of yourself. You care about your students and want to be a teacher who makes a difference. You also want a fulfilling life outside of school. The result of trying to be and do everything is often stress and overwhelm. We want you to feel fulfilled in all areas of your life. We'll help you create a vision for what you want in your life. You'll identify your unique gifts and talents and the best ways to use them. We'll ask you to look for obstacles and challenges and make a plan for dealing with them. We will assist you in setting up daily and weekly habits and actions that will support you in the lifestyle you want. And we will encourage you to recognize when you need support and create an amazing support system. This is not just a book for reading, it is a book for doing. We've included pages for you to write, draw and plan. We will guide you to reflect on what you want and need as you design your days and weeks. And, perhaps best of all, we've included quotes from over 40 teachers who offer you advice, wisdom and inspiration.

This book provides educators with information on how to become an inspiring teacher. Nine chapters look at: (1) "The Qualities of an Inspiring Teacher" (e.g., passion for learning, lifelong learners, and actions match words); (2) "Choice Theory" (genetic instructions affecting behavior, the quality world, and perception); (3) "Brain-Based Learning" (e.g., brain information for the nonspecialist, memory, and multiple intelligences); (4) "Developmental Issues" (e.g., theory of human development, stages of moral reasoning, and gender and gender bias); (5) "Inspiring Your Students" (e.g., building the classroom community, the first day of school, and working with a purpose); (6) "Inspiring Your Colleagues" (e.g., walk the talk, preserving individual style, and making connections beyond the building); (7) "Forging an Alliance with Parents" (e.g., intimidation, fear, condescending behaviors, and parent experts in the classroom); (8) "Conflict Management" (achieving a win/win result and when conflict resolution is not an option); and (9) "Time Management" (e.g., student evaluation, teacher as facilitator, and effective use of paraprofessionals). (Contains 45 bibliographic references.) (SM)

The best-selling book of easy-to-implement classroom lessons from the world’s premier educational system—now available in paperback. Finland shocked the world when its fifteen-year-olds scored highest on the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a set of tests evaluating critical-thinking skills in math, science, and reading. That was in 2001; even today, this tiny Nordic nation continues to amaze. How does Finnish education—with short school days, light homework loads, and little standardized testing—produce students who match the PISA scores of other nations with more traditional “work ethic” standards? When Timothy Walker started teaching fifth graders at a Helsinki public school, he began a search for the secrets behind the successes of Finland’s education system. Highlighting specific strategies that support joyful K–12 classrooms and can be integrated with U.S. educational standards, this book, available in paperback for the first time, gathers what he learned and shows how any teacher can implement many of Finland's best practices. A new foreword by the author addresses the urgent questions of teaching, and living, in these pandemic times.

The complete presentation of the system developed by Wally Jay, this book brings together elements from different arts, Jay's broad-based yet focused and effective system incorporates theories, principles, and techniques essential to the development of every martial artist, whether a novice or a seasoned veteran. In this definitive instructional text, Jay covers the history of small-circle jujitsu; techniques for warm-ups, falling and resuscitation; details on weaknesses of the human body; locking techniques for wrists, fingers, arms, and legs; throwing and choking techniques; and self-defense against strikes, chokes, body grabs, and wrist grabs.