This easy-to-use reference—with hundreds of helpful, classroom-tested answers, ideas, techniques, and teaching tools—will help you on your way to a successful and productive school year. Designed to be flexible, the book offers a choice of ideas and approaches that best fit your classroom situation. Master teacher Julia Thompson shows you how to: Develop successful relationships with students, colleagues, administrators, and parents Manage professional responsibilities and develop career skills Create an orderly classroom where students are courteous and respectful Motivate students to become independent learners Use proven strategies to prevent misbehavior Design instruction that will appeal to every student Set up a classroom for maximum comfort and learning Thrive in the world of high-stakes testing

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years-from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding--that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives--the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness--are inextricable from the history playing out around them. Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made TheKiteRunner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love--a stunning accomplishment.

Based on rapid advances in what is known about how peoplelearn and how to teach effectively, this important book examinesthe core concepts and central pedagogies that should be at theheart of any teacher education program. Stemming from the resultsof a commission sponsored by the National Academy of Education,Preparing Teachers for a Changing World recommends the creation ofan informed teacher education curriculum with the common elementsthat represent state-of-the-art standards for the profession.Written for teacher educators in both traditional and alternativeprograms, university and school system leaders, teachers, staffdevelopment professionals, researchers, and educationalpolicymakers, the book addresses the key foundational knowledge forteaching and discusses how to implement that knowledge within theclassroom. Preparing Teachers for a Changing World recommends that, inaddition to strong subject matter knowledge, all new teachers havea basic understanding of how people learn and develop, a