Teaching for Real Learning: Classroom Applications, Grades 4-12

Here is a roadmap to success affecting the growth and achievement of all students. This book integrates research about teaching and learning using a variety of sources, both popular and academic, to create a readable text. The author offers: A description of current practices in schools that successfully promote positive relationships, Strategies to handle persistent and difficult discipline problems effectively, Examples of observations of teachers-in-action and materials developed by preservice and novice teachers in their first three years of teaching, A discussion on building rapport and conducting successful tutoring sessions, Results of tutoring programs, Interactive teaching strategies based on models of teaching that improve student engagement and performance with examples from different subject fields, Technology applications, including virtual field trips and webquests that promote critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity are described. Accountability is a natural concern for beginning and experienced teachers. Teaching for Real Learning offers practical informal strategies to assess what students learn from discussions. The text relates guidelines for developing teacher-made tests, essay questions, performance-based tasks, portfolios and affective measures, and provides classroom samples. Steps to develop checklists, rating scales, and rubrics are offered with content-related examples. Rubric banks and generators are cited for immediate use. For beginning teachers and preservice teachers in classes on instructional methods, grades 4-12.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 List of Figures Part 2 List of Tables Part 3 Preface Part 4 Acknowledgments Chapter 5 1 Tutoring for Learning Chapter 6 2 Observing Teaching and Learning Chapter 7 3 Building and Keeping Relationships Chapter 8 4 Preparing for Learning Chapter 9 5 Instructional Strategies: The Heart of Teaching Chapter 10 6 Technology Teaches, Too! Chapter 11 7 Using Humor in Lessons Chapter 12 8 Assessing Learning Chapter 13 9 Homework Pros and Cons Chapter 14 10 Contests and Competitions Chapter 15 11 Preservice Stories Chapter 16 12 Classroom Bound Chapter 17 13 Professional Learning Part 18 Appendix A Museum Sites Part 19 Appendix B WebQuest Part 20 Appendix C CyberGuide Part 21 Appendix D Performance-Based Task Part 22 Index Part 23 About the Author

About the Author :
Roberta Devlin-Scherer teaches instructional theory and contemporary assessment at Seton Hall University. She is also a trainer for the Stallings Observation System, which is being disseminated internationally.

Review :
Over the course of 13 chapters, [the author] deals with classroom observation, building positive relationships, instructional strategies, the use of technology, the use of humor, student learning assessment, recommendations for homework, the use of contests and competitions, suggestions for preparing for the first weeks of teaching, and learning throughout ones career.