Clock Watchers

     I just read an awesome book for teachers called Clock Watchers by Stevi Quate and John McDermott.  I picked this book thinking it was written by one of my favorite teachers - Cris Tovani.  It turns out she just wrote the introduction, but I am glad I decided to read it anyway.
     This book has six steps to motivate disengaged students.  The authors call them the six Cs:  Caring Classroom Community, Checking In and Checking Out, Choice, Collaboration, Challenge and Celebration.  A chapter is devoted to each of the steps.  The authors give examples from their own classrooms and then give you specific ways you can implement that step in your classroom.  You can choose to implement any or all of the steps, but they work best together.  The last chapter explains how the steps can be implemented together.
     This book had lots of great strategies and examples that I plan to use in my classroom this fall.  It is a great book for teachers of all ages - from preschool to college.   I highly recommend it if you have any clock watchers like I do!