When I find a great resources it is important to share it with you who are out there, working to educate children. These two are worth your time checking out and possibly purchasing.
The Cornerstone: Classroom Management that Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient and Enjoyable by Angela Powell (Watson) (2009) is a nitty gritty uber-detailed book. Angela covers everything from classroom arrangement to maintaining a class library to developing procedures to creating a support system. Great for new teachers and for those looking for simple ideas to sometimes complex issues.
The CAFE Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literacy Assessment and Instruction (2009) is written by “The Sisters”, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. C=comprehension, A= accuracy, F= fluency and E= expanded vocabulary. Lots of strategies, conferencing ideas, charts, ways to take on conferring with students, record keeping and literacy skill development without costly materials. It compliments their earlier book, The Daily Five. The CAFE includes a CD with numerous charts, record-keeping ideas, etc. so save you time recreating on your own.
Please send me your ‘finds’ so I can share them with others. After all, we have the same goals: creating independent, educated, thinking children.