This collection chronicles the many ways in which teachers create professional learning communities through collaborations with colleagues, mentees, faculty groups, learners, families, and neighborhoods.

Praise for Randi Stone′s Best Practice collections:

"Will live up to its title and become a favored reference for any teacher, whether in a primary or public, rural or urban, or preschool through high school setting."
-Wisconsin Bookwatch, July 2004

"A priceless tool not only for teachers but also for mentors and administrators."
-Danny McPherson, Principal
West Columbus High School, Cerra Gordo, NC

"Just what the teacher ordered."
-CHOICE, November 2002

"Offers practical, down-to-earth advice."
-Letitia Abram, Media Specialist
Canal Winchester High School, OH

Join award-winning teacher leaders as they discuss their best ideas for today′s professional learning communities!

Best Practices for Teacher Leadership chronicles the many and varied ways in which award-winning teachers create professional learning communities through collaborations with colleagues, mentees, faculty groups, learners, families, and neighborhoods.

Join them as they share their best ideas for achieving excellence in education through staff development, hands-on learning, new technologies, mentoring, parent involvement, and more.

Preface
About the Authors
About the Contributors
1. Leading Through Collaboration With Colleagues
Excellence in Education
Operation (Help Me!) Collaboration: Or How I Survived My First Years of Teaching
Professional Collaboration Within An Inclusive Classroom Setting: How to Make It Work
Using Staff Development to Implement a Schoolwide Reading Goal
Statewide Teacher Training Networks
Structured Freedom: Successful Schools Through Collaborative Learning Communities
Lifelong Teaching and Learning
Scopes Trial and Error: A Lesson in Integrated Teaching
Staff Development Initiatives Within Faculty Groups
2. Involving Community and Families
Pioneer Days at Bowers Elementary School
Using School/Community Partnerships to Teach History, Heroism, and Heritage
Finding Your Lost Dutchman Mine
The Three “Cs” in Education: A Classroom, a Community, and Collaboration
Parent Involvement
Let’s Take It Outside: Creating a Community Learning Environment
Effective Parent Involvement in the Classroom
Billy: Every Family Is a Special Family
3. Encouraging Hands-On Learning in Science and Technology
Students and Research: Using Students to Create a Science Research Program
CELLLSS (Creating Experiences in Life, Learning, and Laboratory Science Skills) for Girls: Turning Middle and High School Girls On to Science
Voyaging Through Curriculum
Teaming Up for Success
Growing Community Ties Through Gardening
Online Collaboration Benefits Students and Teachers: Classrooms Across the World
Education Technology: Issues, Trends, and Leadership
Promoting Student Interest in Life Science and Technology by Making Students Active Learners
4. Mentoring and Sharing Professional Development
Give Me an “H”: Homework Strategies
Team Teaching From Two Perspectives
Enriching and Extending Teaching Through Professional Conferences
Leading and Modeling Staff Development Initiatives Within Faculty Groups and Within the School
Developing Interest in Reading Strategies Inside the Teaching Community
Teaching Is Not a Solitary Profession
Professional Development: A Life-Changing Event
5. Teaching With Passion
Leading Through Excitement
Peeking Through My Door
The Music Underlying the Words: Classroom Climate
Thank You, Mrs. Woodford
They Believe
Perception, Focus, and Attitude: Teachers Leading the Way
Accepting the Challenge
6. Empowering Students as Leaders
Each One, Teach One
To Russia With Love
Using Children’s Books in the High School Setting
Index