Chronicles the ups-and-downs of two young, first-grade teachers in an urban public school. Through rich, detailed portraits, excerpts from teacher journals, student work, and lived memories and recollections, Daniel Meier shows that the heart of teaching and learning in our culturally diverse urban schools is tied to the overall quality of human interaction in the classroom. “I know that every classroom teacher will read this with bated breath, perhaps even with a small knot in the pit of their stomach at times. What will the kids do next? Will it have a happy ending? . . . I think parents, too–regardless of race or class–will recognize their teachers, their children, and their schools in this account.” —From the Foreword by Deborah Meier “I tell the story of our year together because teachers, educators, parents, and others are always in need of personal, direct accounts from the classroom. . . . I hope readers will see and hear and feel the voices in this story according to their own experiences and hopes and dreams for our children and schools.” —From the Introduction

Documentation and Inquiry in the Early Childhood Classroom explores teacher inquiry, reflection, and research and the documentation of these processes within a variety of school sites and models. Compiling underrepresented inquiry stories from practicing teachers and administrators in early childhood (0–5) classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area, this book highlights the power of the community in supporting professional development for early childhood educators and the education of young children. Important elements addressed include teacher learning, children’s curricula, parent and community communication, and equity and social justice for teachers, children, and families.

A comprehensive theory-to-practice guidebook, Supporting Literacies for Children of Color argues for a new strength-based view of teaching to support the literacy talents and abilities of preschool-aged children of Color. The early childhood field is at a critical juncture in preschool literacy education as educators confront an ever-changing array of curricular approaches and assessment measures while still trying to meet the social, cultural, language, and literacy needs of individual children. By integrating parent and teacher literacy perspectives, as well as calling on the author’s own decades of teaching, this book offers practical tools and strategies for culturally responsive pedagogy and demonstrates effective methods for using oral language and multilingualism to celebrate and deepen the literacy capabilities of children of Color. Featuring examples of children’s literacy processes and products both at home and in preschools to illustrate effective instructional strategies, as well as boxes noting important ideas and strategies in each major section, this text will guide students and educators toward creating a supportive learning environment for children of Color.

As top-down educational reform policies at local and national levels increasingly isolate teachers from their own professional and instructional agency, and stultify children’s passion for learning, new techniques are needed for understanding and transforming educational practices. Narrative Inquiry in Early Childhood and Elementary School: Learning to Teach, Teaching Well facilitates meaningful change in early years education by providing early childhood and elementary school teachers with methods to incorporate narrative into their instruction and inquiry. This book offers practical strategies for incorporating narrative tools and structures into the classroom, and encouraging effective conceptual, pedagogical, and personal avenues for engaged teaching and learning across languages and cultures. The book’s chapters promote a lively discussion of central tenets of narrative inquiry and illustrative examples of teachers at work with narrative and inquiry for improving their practice and children’s learning.

In his latest book, Daniel Meier highlights the critical importance of integrating content and mechanics for successful and engaged writing at the K–4 level. Featuring the teaching philosophies and strategies of seven exemplary teachers, and a discussion of relevant research and theory, Meier provides a fresh, practical, and much-needed perspective on making writing meaningful and effective in the current standards-based era. Written by an experienced teacher and researcher, this book will be of interest to both new and veteran teachers, As well as curriculum coordinators, literacy coaches, and researchers on writing.

Attraverso fitte foreste, braccato da droni che dall’alto scandagliano i segni della sua presenza, Spark cerca di sfuggire alla sorte beffarda che il destino gli ha riservato. Prima del giorno infausto in cui suo padre morì, era uno dei cittadini privilegiati di Eden, il mondo perfetto della tecnologia, il luogo in cui le esistenze dipendono in tutto e per tutto da now, l’intelligenza artificiale avanzata sviluppata grazie ai cospicui finanziamenti elargiti dal Pentagono. Ora Spark vaga nei territori che si estendono al di fuori di Eden, privato dei suoi diritti e di qualsiasi garanzia di sopravvivenza. Qualcuno – o qualcosa – ha deciso che i segreti che ha scoperto sulla morte di suo padre devono restare sepolti ed è disposto a tutto, anche a ricorrere alla violenza più cieca, pur di raggiungere lo scopo. A Spark non resta che lottare per non soccombere, perché in gioco, oltre alla sua vita e a quella delle persone a lui più care, c’è il futuro del mondo. Un thriller adrenalinico, un sorprendente romanzo d’esordio.

Learning Stories and Teaching Inquiry Groups is a practical text focused on how ECE practitioners can establish teacher inquiry and reflection groups and integrate the use of learning stories to strengthen their assessment, teaching practices, and knowledge of child development. Drawing on relevant research and the authors' direct work with teachers, the book focuses on describing ways the authors have adapted the framework of the learning stories approach from New Zealand to specific US educational contexts via examples from several urban and rural ECE contexts. The book provides practical examples of novice through veteran early childhood teachers engaging and collaborating in onsite and cross-site inquiry and reflection with a focus on learning stories. This text will be useful for infant, toddler, and preschool teachers taking courses at the AA, BA, and MA levels, as well as teachers engaged in onsite professional development. This text will help early childhood educators learn to write learning stories as an observational and assessment approach to document young children's learning experiences and to deepen teachers' understanding of the role of narrative in linking child development knowledge with effective environmental design, high-quality curricular approaches, and socially and culturally inclusive relationship practices. The text will support early childhood educators' professional development through easily understood instructions and case study samples of inquiry work with learning stories through community of practice. Educators will learn how linking learning stories with regular, systematic forms of teacher inquiry, documentation, and reflection promotes a new image of children as holistic learners.