This thought-provoking book strengthens key skills for effective teaching, including classroom leadership, skillful planning, and promoting active learning, respect, and achievement.

While Active Learning Classrooms, or ALCs, offer rich new environments for learning, they present many new challenges to faculty because, among other things, they eliminate the room’s central focal point and disrupt the conventional seating plan to which faculty and students have become accustomed.The importance of learning how to use these classrooms well and to capitalize on their special features is paramount. The potential they represent can be realized only when they facilitate improved learning outcomes and engage students in the learning process in a manner different from traditional classrooms and lecture halls.This book provides an introduction to ALCs, briefly covering their history and then synthesizing the research on these spaces to provide faculty with empirically based, practical guidance on how to use these unfamiliar spaces effectively. Among the questions this book addresses are:• How can instructors mitigate the apparent lack of a central focal point in the space?• What types of learning activities work well in the ALCs and take advantage of the affordances of the room?• How can teachers address familiar classroom-management challenges in these unfamiliar spaces?• If assessment and rapid feedback are critical in active learning, how do they work in a room filled with circular tables and no central focus point?• How do instructors balance group learning with the needs of the larger class?• How can students be held accountable when many will necessarily have their backs facing the instructor?• How can instructors evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching in these spaces?This book is intended for faculty preparing to teach in or already working in this new classroom environment; for administrators planning to create ALCs or experimenting with provisionally designed rooms; and for faculty developers helping teachers transition to using these new spaces.

"Ron Nash brings the voice of reason and sanity to the field of education. With his clear, big-picture vision and his emphasis on routines, rules, and relationships, these practical and well-written ideas will help new teachers and veterans alike build connections with students and fellow staff members, keep their students engaged and involved in their own learning, and help them maintain their passion for teaching." —Jane Bluestein, Educational Consultant Author, The Win-Win Classroom Master proactive teaching skills that motivate students to learn! Engaging and inspiring students is central to effective teaching, but it can also be a teacher′s greatest challenge. Written by nationally known teacher coach Ron Nash, this thought-provoking book shows how educators can build a partnership with their students and bring their teaching skills to a new level of excellence. Drawing on his 30 years′ experience in teaching and staff development, Nash outlines a holistic approach to effective teaching, based on skillful planning and proven techniques for classroom management and facilitation. Emphasizing the "three Rs"—routines, rules, and relationships—Nash helps teachers lead students in a clear, consistent manner that wins their trust and develops their personal responsibility. Readers will find guidance on: Creating and sustaining a classroom community that promotes respect and achievement Fully involving students in learning while addressing a wide range of cognitive styles Collaborating with students, colleagues, and parents Using feedback and assessment to develop professionally and improve students′ academic performance Discover a wealth of valuable strategies and activities that enhance both teaching and learning!

This monograph examines the nature of active learning at the higher education level, the empirical research on its use, the common obstacles and barriers that give rise to faculty resistance, and how faculty and staff can implement active learning techniques. A preliminary section defines active learning and looks at the current climate surrounding the concept. A second section, entitled "The Modified Lecture" offers ways that teachers can incorporate active learning into their most frequently used format: the lecture. The following section on classroom discussion explains the conditions and techniques needed for the most useful type of exchange. Other ways to promote active learning are also described including: visual learning, writing in class, problem solving, computer-based instruction, cooperative learning, debates, drama, role playing, simulations, games, and peer teaching. A section on obstacles to implementing active learning techniques leads naturally to the final section, "Conclusions and Recommendations," which outlines the roles that each group within the university can play in order to encourage the implementation of active learning strategies. The text includes over 200 references and an index. (JB)

Originally published in 1955, this book holds some techniques for helping teachers to diagnose their own faults and learn from one another. The first part is concerned with the handling of speech problems in general and the second part with the training of English specialists. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

Describes nine different teaching strategies which have been proven to have positive effects on student learning and explains how those strategies can be incorporated into the classroom.

"The book provides a root cause analysis of why so many students are failing in America′s public schools. The materials translate research into practice and provide a rich collection of data for instructional strategies." —Mary Reeve, Director, Services for Exceptional Students Gallup McKinley County Schools, NM Innovative, research-based strategies to reach all the learners in your class! This second edition of the best-selling volume in the What Every Teacher Should Know series presents critical information about teaching learners from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, language, ability, and special needs backgrounds. Updated throughout, this essential guide assimilates new data about how the brain processes information and provides tools for understanding and working with diverse students, including a cultural proficiency checklist, a vocabulary pretest and posttest, and a vocabulary summary. Donna Walker Tileston explores: Brain-compatible teaching strategies that engage diverse learners Signs of bias to avoid in the classroom, including stereotypes, exclusion, selectivity, and more How culture affects learning styles Updated research on teaching children in poverty Guidelines for working with English language learners What Every Teacher Should Know About Diverse Learners shows teachers how to set high expectations for all students and facilitate their progress in fulfilling those expectations.