Teaching Strategies for Active Learning: Five Essentials for Your Teaching Plan

"Emphasizes the importance of matching instructional strategies to the appropriate outcomes.Thia is very important!" —Cindy Harrison, Educational Consultant "My peers would benefit from having this handbook to guide new and struggling teachers and to inspire the expert teacher on staff. Practical suggestions give educators incremental steps toward increasing the active learning level within any classroom, without giving up control of content." —Beverly C. Eidmann, Principal, Arvada Middle School, CO Make a difference in student learning with the latest and best brain-based teaching strategies! Translating brain research into best practice, Donna Walker Tileston, award-winning author, educator, and trainer, offers teachers a simple and concise Strategic Learning Model applicable to all grade levels, content areas, and instructional settings. This systematic cycle focuses on five essentials that teach learners to plug in, power up, synthesize, outsource, and reflect on their learning. Based on the latest brain and educational research, this student-centered, teacher-friendly guide includes: A carefully chosen collection of instructional strategies for promoting the active transfer of knowledge to students′ long-term memory A step-by-step process for planning powerful lessons that make a difference in student learning Sample lesson forms and reproducible templates Sample strategies such as question-and-answer profiles, technology integration, mindjogs, KNLH, group memory, making predictions, cooperative learning, six-hat thinking, collaborative retelling, graphic organizers, thinking at right angles, plus-minus-interesting, and much more This is the teaching methods book for all teachers, instructional leaders, and curriculum designers who want to build students′ motivation, confidence, self-efficacy, and achievement.

Table of Contents:
Preface Does the Strategy Follow Current Brain Research? Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Teaching in the 21st Century Elements of the Strategic Learning Model The Teacher’s Role 2. Plugging In Part 1 of the Model: Plugging In Self-Efficacy as a Key to Motivation for Learning Activities for Building a Sense of Community in the Classroom Integrating Technology as a Tool for Building Community Summary What Does the Research Say? 3.Powering Up Beginning With the Self-System of the Brain Mind Jogs Building Connections Summary What Does the Research Say? 4. Synthesizing The Metacognitive System Building Declarative Knowledge Summary What Does the Research Say? 5.Outsourcing Concrete Models Brainstorming Models Thinking in Categories Summary What Does the Research Say? 6. Reflecting Summary What Does the Research Say? Resources Resource A: Sample Lesson Forms Resource B: Blackline Masters References Index

About the Author :
Donna Walker Tileston is a veteran teacher and administrator. She is currently the president of Strategic Teaching and Learning, a consulting firm that provides services to schools throughout the United States and worldwide. Donna’s publications include Ten Best Teaching Practices: How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies (2000), which has been on Corwin′s bestseller list since its first year in print, in addition to the ten-volume award-winning series What Every Teacher Should Know, now in its second edition. Other recent titles are Teaching Strategies for Active Learning (2006), Teaching Strategies that Prepare Students for High Stakes Tests (2008), and Closing the Poverty and Culture Gap (2009). Donna received her BA from the University of North Texas, her MA from East Texas State University, and her EdD from Texas A & M University-Commerce. She may be reached at www.whateveryteachershouldknow.com

Review :
"My peers would benefit from having this handbook to guide new and struggling teachers as well as to inspire the expert teacher on staff. Practical suggestions give educators steps toward increasing the active learning level within any classroom, without giving up control of content, while also potentially increasing academic achievement by having more students tune in to their learning." "Emphasizes the importance of matching instructional strategies to the appropriate outcomes, taking into account the brain research. This is very important!" "Reinforces much of what we know about teaching and learning." "Teaching is a craft, and the design of the craft is the same regardless of the discipline. Tileston has created a user-friendly how-to reference that will help teachers move learners from a position of spectator to one of active player. Teaching Strategies for Active Learning makes the secret of learning visible, with clear explanations, easy-to-implement suggestions, and connections to the current brain research on learning."