The Active Classroom

The beloved bestseller, updated for the classrooms of today This updated edition of Ron Nash’s The Active Classroom shows how to protect students from the higher-than-ever risk of becoming passive observers rather than active participants in the classroom. Featuring a wealth of new content plus an insightful foreword by Rich Allen, it shows: Ways to highlight writing as an essential discipline students need to excel within the Common Core Standards and beyond. Techniques for boosting engagement with visuals and technology, especially in modern hybrid classrooms. How the first two weeks of school set the tone for the entire year.

About Management in the Active Classroom: A well-managed classroom almost runs itself. Students are focused and respectful, whether they are silent at their desks or active throughout the classroom—collaborating, experimenting, discovering, and creating. This book is a guide for teachers who want their classrooms to run well in all settings, where students are self-directed and self-disciplined learners. It is a book of proven, practical strategies harvested from successful schools across the United States. Strategies are described in concrete language, illustrated through classroom examples, and illuminated by companion videos. This guide will equip teachers, whether veterans or brand-new, to join inspired, collaborative learning with a calm and thoughtful classroom culture.

"Every teacher keeps two or three books for constant reference while planning units and designing lessons—this is one of those books! The Active Classroom Field Book provides field-tested strategies for engaging students in learning disguised as fun!" —Jennifer Sinsel, Gifted Facilitator Wichita Public Schools, KS "This book is packed with ideas on how to let the students do the learning while the teacher guides them. The included real-life vignettes bring even more clarity to each concept, allowing the reader to experience the vitality each will bring to the classroom." —William Richard Hall, Jr., Principal Longan Elementary School, Henrico, VA Discover what really works in the classroom through success stories from educators like you! The best classrooms are dynamic environments that actively engage students in learning. In this exciting new resource, best-selling author and educational consultant Ron Nash shares the stories of practicing teachers who have successfully implemented active teaching methods in their classrooms. Expanding on the strategies in The Active Classroom, Nash uses educator stories and classroom vignettes to pinpoint how active techniques are working in schools across the country. This resource includes: Chapters on student-to-student conversations, classroom process, student movement, feedback, and continuous improvement through reflection Vignettes that set the stage for each chapter Lesson plan segments and anecdotes from teachers in Grades K–12 and college settings Ideal as a companion to The Active Classroom or on its own, The Active Classroom Field Book is the ultimate resource to help teachers transform students into active participants in their own learning.

The beloved bestseller, updated for the classrooms of today This updated edition of Ron Nash’s The Active Classroom shows how to protect students from the higher-than-ever risk of becoming passive observers rather than active participants in the classroom. Featuring a wealth of new content plus an insightful foreword by Rich Allen, it shows: Ways to highlight writing as an essential discipline students need to excel within the Common Core Standards and beyond. Techniques for boosting engagement with visuals and technology, especially in modern hybrid classrooms. How the first two weeks of school set the tone for the entire year.

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.

Expanding on the strategies in The Active Classroom, Nash shares the stories of teachers who have successfully implemented active teaching methods in their classrooms to engage students in learning.

Ron Nash's bestselling guide to promoting active student participation in the classroom is updated with a wealth of new content addressing today's unprecedented challenges.

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)