How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students, and Still Enjoy Teaching!: Four Practices That Improve Student Learning

"This is a must-read for all of the practitioners who do not want to ′teach to the test.′ The book offers a sure-fire way to create lifelong learners who are motivated to come to school and who enjoy being part of an energized community."
―Joan E. Anderson, Reading Instructor
Oakridge Middle School, Naples, FL

"If teachers ever wondered how to integrate standards, high-stakes testing, and student learning, they need wonder no more. This book has something for everyone."
―Randy Cook, Chemistry and Physics Teacher
Tri County High School, Morley, MI

Apply user-friendly tools to create a stimulating environment for student growth while implementing standards!

How can teachers successfully create a standards-based classroom that meets accountability requirements and also provide a learning environment where both teachers and students can thrive? This book gives teachers ways to flourish in their profession as they engage students, increase their self-confidence, and inspire a lifelong love of learning.

The second edition of How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students, and Still Enjoy Teaching! offers a productive way of approaching standards and a framework for classroom practice to give all students the opportunity to succeed. The author demonstrates how teachers can follow a standards-based curriculum while:

• Creating a community of learners who are self-directed, interactive, cooperative, and focused on quality
• Making reflection a routine for both teachers and students
• Teaching content and process
• Developing more authentic student tasks and assessment methods

With updated references and new reproducibles for immediate use, this invaluable resource helps teachers maintain creativity and fun in the classroom while focusing on standards and building learners′ academic skills.

Barbara Benson is a teacher and international consultant with more than 20 years of experience in middle school, high school, and university education. She works with school systems in various capacities such as helping align curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices with higher state standards, facilitating the development of performance assessment tasks such as student-led conferencing, and assisting teachers as they apply current theory and research to their classrooms. Her workshops are practical and classroom focused, covering many topics related to improving student learning. She has presented sessions at the national conferences of the National Staff Development Council and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. She has published numerous articles on classroom practice and a book, How to Meet Standards, Motivate Students and Still Enjoy Teaching (2003). As a full-time consultant, she missed working directly with students, so Benson returned to the classroom in 2004 and is teaching middle school in Ashe County, North Carolina.