The Active Teacher

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.

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.

The easy-to-implement activities and strategies in this book will help middle and high school foreign language teachers enhance their students' success. It shows how to create a classroom in which students can actively experience, experiment and discover a foreign language. It applies brain research, multiple intelligences, alternative assessment, technology and other educational innovations to the foreign language 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.

Educators seeking ways to update their presentation skills will find the keys to enriching their workshops with movement, laughter, and learning that lasts.

How can we structure class time efficiently? How can we explain and lecture effectively? How can we help students master content? How can we make learning more real and lasting?In this revised and greatly expanded 2nd edition of Inspiring Active Learning, educators Merrill Harmin and Melanie Toth provide answers to our fundamental teaching questions and show us how to transform our classrooms into communities of active, responsible learners. The authors present an array of research-based, teacher-tested strategies for managing our everyday responsibilities--from beginning a class to grading homework, from instructing large groups to promoting diligent seatwork, from motivating slackers to handling disrupters. These strategies focus on mutual respect, not bossiness; collaboration, not isolation; commitment to learning, not fear of failure; and the dignity of all, not praise or rewards for a few.Regardless of our level of experience or the grade or subject we teach, the active-learning approach helps us* Perform routine teaching tasks more easily.* Discover a higher level of teaching success and personal satisfaction.* Establish a class climate of full participation and cooperation.* Prepare engaging lessons that keep students productively involved.* Encourage students to work energetically, willingly, and intelligently each day.* Inspire all students, even the most challenging, to strive for excellence.With its detailed classroom examples and more than 250 practical strategies, Inspiring Active Learning is a comprehensive reference for solving almost any teaching problem.