No More "Us" and "Them": Classroom Lessons and Activities to Promote Peer Respect
Truly a book embracing the 21st century learner which is focused on the STUDENT! InNo More 'Us' and 'Them', teachers are provided strategies to hook students to become responsible for their own learning. A must read for every middle school teacher.(Sharon S. Sand, chief academic officer, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools)We have a lot to learn from our students and each other. Lesley Roessing shares her story that illustrates just how much you can discover through the power of collaboration. This book is a vehicle to share ideas and proven successful strategies. Just like our classrooms, our professional community “is built cumulatively, one activity at a time.(Lee Ann Wentzel, superintendent of schools, Ridley School District, Folsom, PA)At the core of teaching and learning is a meaningful relationship between teachers and students. This new generation of learners requires special cultivation, purposeful dialogue, and relevant exposure. InNo More “Us” and “Them,”Lesley Roessing does a masterful job of laying the foundation for teachers to use the stories in her book to inspire their own creativity in their classrooms to capture, inspire, and teach students who are unlike any generation before them. An easy read, with a powerful message of collaboration at its best, every teacher should read this book. It will motivate even the mediocre teacher to feel empowered to give more, listen more, and, more importantly, deliver more.(Stephen G. Peters, best-selling author of " Do You Know Enough About Me To Teach Me" and "Teaching to Capture and Inspire All Learners")The research and literature is very clear that effective middle level schools create a personalized school environment by building connections with their students—and where better to start this endeavor than in the classroom? Roessing’s book not only shares the importance of building relationships between and among students, but gives practical, engaging strategies and activities that will appeal to young adolescents and help them learn to accept, value and respect both themselves and others.(Patti Kinney, associate director, Middle Level Services, National Association of Secondary School Principals, and 2006 president, Association for Middle Level Education (formerly National Middle School Association))During a time of Common Core Standards and a 'teaching-to-the-test' mentality, Roessing reminds us that we have affective reasons to teach as well—the next generation must learn to respect and value differences or the world may actually cease to exist. Likewise, in a time when literature is being replaced by 'reading,' Roessing gives us a text that articulately shows why literature is important and how it should be used across the curriculum... This text puts the heart back into teaching.(Joan Kaywell, professor of English education, University of South Florida; senior executive director, Florida Council of Teachers of English, 2010-2011; membership secretary, Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English; and author of Dear Author:  Letters of Hope (NCSS Notable Book and 2007 VOYA Nonfiction Honor List))No More "Us" and "Them"is full of useful ideas that teachers can implement immediately…. The activities and lessons in this book will help teachers break down boundaries, integrate fun into the classroom, promote respect, strengthen social skills, build community and, most important, offer students the life skills they need in high school, college, and the work force—skills such as collaboration and tolerance.(Middle Ground)