Instructional Strategies

Engaging students in their own learning. (Breaking Ranks)

Instructional leadership requires that principals help teachers to develop and utilize a variety of strategies to engage high school students in active, productive learning. These resources focus on instructional improvement and teacher development.

Concept to Classroom from WNET. New York's educational TV station teams with the Disney corporation to provide free, online training on the latest classroom practices. This award-winning site is an absolute "must see" for teachers, regardless of their subject or experience level. Pour a cup of coffee. You'll be here for a while! Topics include:

-Tapping Into Multiple Intelligences
-Teaching to Academic Standards
-Why the Net? An Interactive Tool for the Classroom.
-Cooperative and Collaborative Learning.
-Inquiry-Based Learning.
-And lots more.

Standards Based Instruction. From AOL@school, this searchable data base provides excellent lesson plans that are linked to the standards and benchmarks for each state.

More Standards Based Instruction. From the Mid Continent Regional Educational Laboratory (MCREL), this huge data base links state standards to lesson plans, instructional materials, and interactive materials that teachers can use in their own classrooms.

Help for Teachers. No principal can be an expert in every subject field, but these sites provide a place to start with new (and not so new) teachers who may need some assistance.

Beginning Teacher's Tool Box
What to Expect Your First Year of Teaching
Great Expectations: Helpful Hints for Beginning Teachers
The New Teacher's Guide to the U.S. Department of Education

National Staff Development Council. Focused on the kind of professional development that produces Results (the name of its journal), this association helps principals design staff development activities that engage teachers in strengthening their own teaching and classroom management