In this third volume of It's All About Thinking, the authors focus on teaching and learning in the middle years, transforming principles into practices, and exploring such questions as: How can we help students develop the competencies they need to become successful learners? How can we create pathways to deep learning of important concepts? How can we engage and support diverse learners in inclusive classrooms? Nicole, Linda, and Leyton explore these questions and offer classroom examples to help busy teachers develop communities where all students learn, focusing on the big ideas in middle years education today.

Leyton Schnellert, PhD, (he/his/him) is an associate professor in UBC’s Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy and Eleanor Rix Professor in Rural Teacher Education. He focuses on how teachers and teaching and learners and learning can mindfully embrace Student Diversity and inclusive education. Dr. Schnellert is the Pedagogy and Participation research cluster lead in UBC’s Institute for Community Engaged Research, inclusive education research lead in the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship, and co-chair of BC’s Rural Education Advisory. His community-based collaborative work contributes a counter argument to top-down approaches that operate from deficit models, instead drawing from communities’ funds of knowledge to build participatory, place-conscious, and culturally responsive practices. Leyton works and learns on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Sinixt who were declared extinct by Canada’s government in 1956 and stands in solidarity with the Sinixt in their reclaimation efforts.  
 
Leyton has been a middle and secondary years classroom teacher and a learning resource teacher for grades K–12. His books, films, and research articles are widely referenced locally, nationally, and globally (https://ubc.academia.edu/LeytonSchnellert)
 
@leytonschenell

Leyton Schnellert's profile page

Linda Watson has been an educator with the Richmond School District for 26 years. She has taught in many secondary schools to all grade levels. She has also taught middle years English and social studies, drama and theatre, and been a literacy leader. Linda developed strong practices for teaching diverse learners in all these roles and has a passionate interest in arts education as an integrative tool to support all learners. Linda is currently retired.

Linda Watson's profile page

Nicole Widdess currently works in the Richmond School District as an Elementary School Principal. She has been working for 20 years in both an elementary and high school setting. Multiple roles such as Resource teacher and ELL teacher have benefited her in understanding individual student needs. She is committed to teaching diverse learners and is passionate about literacy. She is co-author with Leyton Schnellert and Linda Watson to It’s all about thinking: Creating Pathways for All Learners in the Middle Years.

Nicole Widdess' profile page

Faye Brownlie has worked in staff development with teachers, co-planning and co-teaching, providing seminars, workshops and keynote presentations in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. She’s passionate about including and supporting all learners, and her work focuses on literacy, teaching for thinking, assessment and inclusion. She has co-authored many books for teachers, including

It’s All about Thinking in English, Social Studies and Humanities and It’s All about Thinking in Mathematics and Science. Faye believes, "We know enough, collectively, to teach all our students to read, and more importantly, to create readers who not only can read but want to read." Faye lives in Vancouver.

Faye Brownlie's profile page