Working the Room: Choreographing Continuous Improvement in K-12 Classrooms

About the Book

Teachers often will conclude that teacher talk and worksheets won’t cut it if getting students deeply engaged in their own learning is the goal. Indeed, students need to move beyond pretending to listen; they can—and should—develop essential competencies that include academic discourse with classmates, fielding and asking open-ended questions, seeking and providing peer feedback, identifying failure as a necessary accelerant to improvement, and finding joy in learning. Having coached and observed in hundreds of K-12 classrooms over three decades, Nash has met some incredible teachers whose students truly don’t want to miss anything. You’ll meet teachers like that in this book as you discover ways to work the room in a collaborative, engaging, and joyful environment.

Table of Contents:

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Chapters

Movement, Exercise, and the Magic of Laughter
What Do They See?
Questions, Questions, Whose Got the Questions?
I Hear You…AND I’m Listening
The Role of Failure and Feedback in the Continuous Improvement Process
Clear Directions, Practiced Procedures, and Trouble-Free Transitions
Presentation Tools for a Smoother, More Pleasant Journey
Speed Things Up by Slowing Things Down
Afterword
Appendix: Classroom Configurations that Facilitate Student Interaction
References
Index

About the Author :
Ron Nash has spent the past 52 years in education as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, and organizational development specialist, and has authored 17 books for teachers. He has coached teachers in more than 250 K-12 classrooms since 2007 and has presented at national conferences for ASCD, Learning Forward, NBPTS, Learning and the Brain, and Eric Jensen’s Learning Brain EXPO.

Review :
Ron Nash provides valuable insights into how teachers can create classrooms that are more interactive and where students are highly engaged and motivated to learn. This book is packed with compelling examples, helpful ideas, and actionable steps for designing student-oriented environments. It’s an important resource that will help in shifting educators’ thoughts and philosophies about the role of movement and collaboration in today’s classrooms. Knowing that success in work and personal life now hinges on the ability to work with others, create, analyze, persevere, and communicate, Ron Nash has given educators a road map to helping students develop these skills in the classroom. With an easy-going writing style and step-by-step description of proven strategies, this book will help educators transform their classrooms into places of productivity, learning, and joy. Looking for ways to engage students? This is the book! Following Nash’s advice, teachers will transform a teacher-centered classroom into what he describes as a community of learners. Nash details the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of using practices, like collaboration, movement, and fun, to create a learning environment where students want to be. Inexperienced teachers will use this text to build active, student-centered classrooms, while experienced educators will renew their passion for teaching. Readers will find a wealth of strategies in every chapter!

In Working the Room, Ron Nash continues a storied history of mixing humor, personal experience, and pedagogy to provide readers with strategies they can implement right now to see positive student outcomes. Readers will get a firsthand look at how developing relationships, teaching students the language of learning, students exchanging ideas and collaborating, and moving towards a student-centered classroom will skyrocket their classes to continuous improvement.

Looking beyond the pedagogy, Ron encourages self-reflection and personal growth for educators so that students get the best advocates and teachers standing before and beside them every day.

In essence, Working the Room is a choreographed move toward excellence, and without a doubt, it is another Ron Nash work that should be part of every teacher’s toolbox.