Facilitating Authentic Learning, Grades 6-12: A Framework for Student-Driven Instruction

Your single-best way to nurture higher-order thinking There′s no doubt about it: the Common Core has us scrambling. With all the pressure to accelerate instruction, how can we possibly find the time to encourage students to do some serious thinking? For Laura Thomas, the answer couldn′t be clearer: through constructivist, experiential teaching methods. In fact, constructivist teaching is the single-best way to nurture the higher-order thinking so central to the Common Core. Fusing the practical with the theoretical, Thomas offers a clear path for facilitating real understanding and real skill-building within a community of learners. Grade 6–12 teachers will learn how to: Plan learning experiences that teach content and process at the same time Assess students′ development of 21st-century skills Coach students to do the hard work of authentic learning—without leaving them to flounder Teach reflection techniques that help students process their experiences and learn from mistakes. Featuring easy-to-follow graphics, sample lessons, and tools from practicing teachers, Facilitating Authentic Learning is an immediately practical resource that both beginning and veteran teachers can put to work in their classrooms. "This is a valuable book for educators, especially as we strive to help our students move from being receivers of knowledge to owners of their learning. Teachers need to develop strategies to be effective guides for our students, and to facilitate their progress toward educational goals." —Norma Barber, Language Arts Teacher Ukiah School District, OR "I LOVE this book! It provides step-by-step instructions for making a classroom student-centered and led by a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage. The author′s real-world examples and reader-friendly writing style make this book a winner!" —Nancy Foote, Teacher/Administrator Higley Unified School District, AZ

Table of Contents:
List of Figures and Boxes Foreword by Jill Davidson Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Introduction Meet the Facilitators 1. What is Next Generation Instruction? 2. Laying the Groundwork: Building a Collaborative Learning Community 3. Aiming: Gaining Clarity 4. Framing and Gaming 5. Claiming and Exclaiming: Reflection 6. Tips, Activities, and Tools for Next Generation Instruction: Gaming, Claiming, and Exclaiming 7. Assessment 8. Conclusion Appendix: Additional Resources References Index

Review :
"This is a valuable book for educators. We strive to help our students move from being receivers of knowledge to seekers of knowledge. Teachers need to develop better strategies to be effective guides for our students, and to facilitate their progress toward educational goals." "Facilitating Authentic Learning, Grades 6–12: A Framework for Student-Driven Instruction is an excellent resource for any educator wishing for more student ownership of learning. It provides the research and resources for making this transition as painless as possible!" "I LOVE this book! This book should be required reading for all current teachers and pre-service teachers as well. It provides step-by-step instructions for making a classroom student-centered and led by a guide-on-the-side, not a sage-on-the-stage. The author′s real world example and reader friendly writing style make this book a winner!"