Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

Book Description

What works in education? How do we know? How can teachers find out? How can educational research find its way into the classroom? How can we apply it to help our individual students? Questions like these arise in most schools, and busy educators often don't have time to find the answers. Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock have examined decades of research findings to distill the results into nine broad teaching strategies that have positive effects on student learning:

* Identifying similarities and differences.
* Summarizing and note taking.
* Reinforcing effort and providing recognition.
* Homework and practice.
* Nonlinguistic representations.
* Cooperative learning.
* Setting objectives and providing feedback.
* Generating and testing hypotheses.
* Questions, cues, and advance organizers.

This list is not new. But what is surprising is finding out what a big difference it makes, for example, when students learn how to take good notes, work in groups, and use graphic organizers. The authors provide statistical effect sizes and show how these translate into percentile gains for students, for each strategy. And each chapter presents extended classroom examples of teachers and students in action; models of successful instruction; and many "frames," rubrics, organizers, and charts to help teachers plan and implement the strategies.

Customer Reviews:

Best teacher guide EVER.......2007-09-15

This booklet provides vastly more instruction on the nitty-gritty of what teachers need in the classroom. Thank you!

Marzano is a must read........2007-09-10

I wish I would have heard of Robert Marzano my first year of teaching. This book explains the research behind the classroom instruction and gives you ideas of what you should do. This is a great book to have with the "Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works".

Great resource!.......2007-05-12

After hearing so much in teacher in-services about "Marzano strategies" I decided to check out his work myself. I was struck by the simple fact they are not his strategies as people talk about. Instead, they are research supported strategies that he and other authors/researchers have compiled and shrunk down into some user-friendly nuggets. The book is very easy to read, provides ample sources of real research, and is practical. The layout is great and the content superb. It is an excellent resource for teachers looking to improve their instruction based on reliable and somewhat traditional methods.

Solid Resource for Educators.......2007-03-17

Provides tangible ideas that any educator can take into the classroom. I would also recommend any book by Kelly Gallagher.

Marzano's Classroom Instruction That Works.......2007-01-09

An excellent text for the first time teacher. Provides techniques and examples to assist in implementation of the techniques. Gives you more teaching tools for your toolbox. Easy to read, taking one chapter at a time. I highly recommend the book.

The First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher

Average customer rating:

Great Resource for New Teachers!!
first day of school
Wong and Wong: Inspirational and Helpful
best teaching book I've ever read
EVERYTHING you NEED to know about teaching!!!

The First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher
Harry K. Wong , and Rosemary T. Wong
Manufacturer: Harry K. Wong Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Teaching With Love and Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom
Teaching Strategies: A Guide to Effective Instruction
Fred Jones Tools for Teaching
First Year Teacher's Survival Guide: Ready-To-Use Strategies, Tools & Activities For Meeting The Challenges Of Each School Day (J-B Ed:Survival Guides)
Reluctant Disciplinarian: Advice on Classroom Management From a Softy who Became (Eventually) a Successful Teacher

ASIN: 0962936065

Product Description

With nearly 1.4 million copies sold, you'll learn practical techniques on discipline, procedures and routines, teaching for mastery, cooperative learning, and positive expectations. You'll find it difficult to put this book down as you become an even more effective teacher.

Customer Reviews:

Great Resource for New Teachers!!.......2007-10-11

I am an Elementary Education major, and my college required me to read this book before beginning my Student Teaching experience. It was recommended to me before that, though, by an acquaintance I met in Kentucky while I was on a trip. She highly promoted it as a must-have, and after reading it I heartily agree with her. There is tons of practical information in this book, and it's convenient as well as easy to use. This is a book that is sure to greatly help new teachers get started!!! Enjoy!! =)

first day of school.......2007-10-06

This book was highly recommended by my education professors. I am a new secondary math teacher. This book may be more valuable for lower grades, but does not translate well for upper level math students.

Wong and Wong: Inspirational and Helpful.......2007-10-05

Wong and Wong's First Days Of School is a must for any teacher seasoned or new. This will mostly serve the new teacher in inspiring and preparing them for the first days of school. There is advice and technique that will save time and frustration making class fun for the students and for the new teacher.

best teaching book I've ever read.......2007-09-30

I've never read a more useful book. This is by far the most helpful and practical book I've ever used in my teaching career. This is a must for new teachers and a great book for seasoned teachers. This helped me get ALL my ducks in a row for the first week of school. Thank you!!!

EVERYTHING you NEED to know about teaching!!!.......2007-09-21

EVERYTHING you need to know about teaching and NOTHING you don't need to know is in this book! It's like the Bible for ALL levels of teaching! It should be a requirement for all educators to read this book. It is full of PROVEN methods to help manage your classroom. It is also very easy and enjoyable to read. The text is full tips for everyday classroom activity... DEFINITELY the best investment I've ever made in a book. I will carry this with me until I retire from teaching.

Teach with Your Strengths: How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students

Average customer rating:

The first two chapters or so were good
This book just makes sense
leaves out my own groundbreaking research
Teach with your strengths
Teach with your strengths

Teach with Your Strengths: How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students
Rosanne Liesveld , Jo Ann Miller , and Jennifer Robison
Manufacturer: Gallup Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Personal Transformation | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life
Building Engaged Schools: Getting the Most Out of America's Classrooms
StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths
Soar with Your Strengths
Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without

ASIN: 1595620060

Book Description

Now, Discover Your Strengths introduced millions of Americans to the unique, personal strengths that they could use to succeed in life. Teach with Your Strengths expands upon the best-selling Now, Discover Your Strengths and shows how anyone who teaches — from classroom instructors to coaches to business executives — can get the most from their students. Focusing on the central insight that all great teachers make the most of their natural talents, Teach with Your Strengths shows teachers how to avoid the pitfalls that lead to mediocrity and work best with what they have. The book is written by two teachers with a combined 70 years of classroom and consulting experience, and it includes real-life examples of how great teachers use their strengths to solve problems, battle bureaucracy, and reach all of their students. For anyone who has ever wanted to be a better teacher, Teach with Your Strengths offers proven techniques to help readers get the results they want.

Customer Reviews:

The first two chapters or so were good.......2007-08-11

I was really happy with the book through the first two or three chapters. The book said a lot of things that I already feel about teaching. Essentially, it says, "Teachers are good because of who they are, and they're better when they teach with their strengths."

That's a great sentiment.

However, the middle chapters quickly devolved into a promotion for a particular personality trait test. I felt like bit like I was being lured into a Dianetics room. I felt slightly hesitant while moving on past the initial chapters, because the authors kept talking about one particular personality test.

I checked this book out from the library, and I had just finished telling my wife how I was going to be purchasing the book to have at school. Then came the Clifton test advertisements.

If you don't mind reading books that are intended to advertise a product, then by all means, please read this book. If that sort of thing offends you, then don't get it. If you don't care either way, only read the first few chapters. You won't know the difference.

This book just makes sense.......2006-08-18

I was at first apprehensive about buying this book. After all, what would the Gallup Poll know about teaching? Well, it turns out that they know a lot. Being a "highly qualified teacher", i.e. having a license to teach a subject is not enough these days. Good teachers must also be able to "connect" to students. The authors are realistic and their findings are extremely helpful. For example, working on ones weaknesses won't work. If you are an introvert, taking classes in public speaking won't help that much; it certainly won't make you an extrovert. This book is an excellent read for anyone who works with or is interested in working with students.

leaves out my own groundbreaking research.......2006-05-23

This book is awesome with a capital "E", and I have nothing bad to say about it. It is however, woefully inadequate, as it leaves out my own follow up research on "great" teachers. While they do indeed possess the common characteristics noted in the book (saluting when addressed directly; refering to themselves in the third person plural; loathing humanity; subscribing to Newsweek; and being unusually "voluminous" in their personal lives - I still don't get that one) I have discovered that they have a few other important traits in common as well. Below is an exhaustive list:

1. They sweat easily and profusely

2. They sometimes spit on students when emphasizing something they think is important. They never do this intentionally. It usually comes out during a hard "K" sound. More often than not, it simply lands on the student's picture of their boyfriend on their notebook - the student's boyfriend, not the teacher's. A great teacher would never spit on a picture of their own boyfriend (see appendix 4, section A.b.12.A IV)

3. They think Sweden should be a permanent member off the UN Security Council.

Before you "educators" out there run off and douse yourself in someone's sweat in the hopes your principal will be fooled into nominating your for teacher of the year, remember that, while all great teachers sweat, spit and have a thing for Sweden being a permanent member of the security council, not all people who sweat and spit and want Sweden to be able to veto UN resolutions are good teachers. In fact, many of them are simply Swedish.

I'm looking forward to reading this book some day.

Teach with your strengths.......2005-11-29

Teach with your strengths is focused on a strategy of self-discovery first, teaching methodologies second. This may disappoint many who are looking for easy answers to becoming better teachers. However, I found it quite revealing and useful as an adult who teaches innovation and creativity in my professional life, and as an adult who teaches Christianity to adults in my personal life. The Gallup folks are trying to start a positive revolution in many people's lives by focusing on our strengths. Teachers are the prime movers and shakers in that revolution. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to even further materials from Gallup and these authors.

Teach with your strengths.......2005-10-27

You always hear about these Gallup polls for this or that. I had no idea there was a Gallup Press putting out books based on poll results. Who'd've guessed it? "Teach with Your Strengths" is a good to provoke thought for the most part. After reading it, I'm not so sure whether individuals should teach to their strengths or with their strengths. The distinction is an important one because readers are told to define the important characteristics of their strengths and given over to the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment to help. It is only the final chapter that provides the details on what the assessment measures, and possibly only the final chapter that merits the purchase of the book.

Effective Group Facilitation in Education: How to Energize Meetings and Manage Difficult Groups

Average customer rating:

The facilitator's Bible: cultivating and creating.

Effective Group Facilitation in Education: How to Energize Meetings and Manage Difficult Groups
John F. Eller
Manufacturer: Corwin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain
Energizing Staff Development Using Film Clips: Memorable Movie Moments That Promote Reflection, Conversation, and Action
30 Reflective Staff Development Exercises for Educators
Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement
Now, Discover Your Strengths

ASIN: 1412904625

Book Description

Practical pointers for maximizing meetings and motivating team members!

At their worst, meetings can waste time, lack focus, foster a combative spirit, or be just plain boring. At their best, meetings can be a positive, dynamic experience that nurtures individual strengths while inspiring teamwork to successfully accomplish an established task. The fate of a meeting lies in the skill of the facilitator, and this easy-to-use guide has all the tips and tools necessary to make you shine in this challenging role.

Anyone charged with navigating a group of people toward a desired objective will benefit from this book’s indispensable features, which include:

Templates for easy implementation at every stage of the facilitation process
Straightforward tactics for managing difficult participants and emotionally charged situations
Realistic examples to help you avoid pitfalls
Surefire methods for delegating in a meaningful and respectful manner

From pre-meeting preparation, to the meeting’s critical first few minutes, to its conclusion and beyond, this manual provides step-by-step guidance for the entire facilitation process. It is packed with proven do’s and don’ts based on psychological principles, research, real-life experience, and field-tested best practices. The user-friendly strategies focus on such key areas as team building, brainstorming, motivating, overcoming problematic situations, reaching goals, and assessing results.

Customer Reviews:

The facilitator's Bible: cultivating and creating........2004-12-11

Finally, a book that is easy to follow, addresses the most common problems encountered by facilitators, and offers practical advice to both novice and pro alike in creating effective group work. Eller gives tips on how to manage difficult individuals with everyday gestures and postures and ways to diffuse a tense environment. Every chapter from "What am I getting into" to "Reaching Peak Performance: connecting their minds" and more is well-designed and deals with every complexity and situation imaginable for those involved in education. Whether you are looking for strategies to enhance the environment that the group will meet in or ways to make sure that the task at hand is not forgotten, this book contains ideas and contemporary models to put the facilitator's mind at ease and allow the team members to focus on the agenda, not petty problems. In addition, the author introduces in chapter seven a concise and clear path to attain the desired goal and does so in a manner that proves to be innovative and stimulating. Most of the books on the shelf that offer the reader suggestions tend to be rather dry and boring or use techniques and situations that haven't occured in many decades. Poignant and refreshing. Mr Eller gets an A+.

Average customer rating:

Nothing substantial
a teacher's comments
Excellent book for college instructors
good book
What the Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain

What the Best College Teachers Do
Ken Bain
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Joy of Teaching: A Practical Guide for New College Instructors (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman)
McKeachie's Teaching Tips (College Teaching)
Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses (JOSSEY-BASS HIGHER & ADULT EDUCATION SERIES)
Successful Beginnings for College Teaching (Teaching Techniques/Strategies Series, V. 2)
147 Practical Tips for Teaching Professors

ASIN: 0674013255

Book Description

What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators.

The short answer is--it's not what teachers do, it's what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the best teachers know their subjects inside and out--but they also know how to engage and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn.

In stories both humorous and touching, Bain describes examples of ingenuity and compassion, of students' discoveries of new ideas and the depth of their own potential. What the Best College Teachers Do is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration for first-year teachers and seasoned educators.

Customer Reviews:

Nothing substantial.......2007-09-18

This book was completely unhelpful. It is filled with inspiring anecdotes of "what the best college teachers do" that illustrate some inspiring and earth-shaking revelations such as "treat your students like human beings" and "don't lecture for 2 hours at a time." All of his advice is abstract with few practical applications, and the rest is common-sense knowledge. Do not buy this book.

a teacher's comments.......2007-08-08

Excellent; makes one realize much of what passes for learning in college classrooms is little more than memorization and even that fades quickly. It would be 5-star except it doesn't always explain How these college professors implement their concepts of better teaching.

Excellent book for college instructors.......2007-06-27

I heard about this book at a small conference, checked it out of our university library, read one chapter and ordered a copy for myself. You'll easily come away with two or more ideas to better yourself -- a great book. I'm keeping this one in my personal library.

good book.......2006-11-11

Interesting book; it gives useful insights in how to teach.
Low information density though, it could have been more focused.
Nevertheless, it's easy to read and informative in general.

What the Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain.......2006-09-15

This book had some good insight. The emphasis on creating a community conducive to learning, while not novel, is important. I think, or at least hope, that the author was well-intended. However, most of the ideas were jumbled, inconsistent and presented in a highly condescending manner. The most annoying approach was creating a straw man, followed by destroying the straw man, and concluding with some statement to the tune of "now thay we've shown ...." Of course all Bain has shown is that some idea that most thoughtful instructors never considered a possibility is actually ... not a possibility. Often he would, later in the text, argue that he's proven something about good or bad instructors. As an example, in Chapter 4, "Recall that we found [in chapter 2] many less successful instructors who think of memory as a storage unit and intelligence as the capacity to use the information in that tank." Realistically, I suspect that most instructors are a lilttle bit more thoughtful about what constitutes intelligence. I found his shallow dualistic view of education demeaning to the intelligence of instructors and students.

Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction: A Direct Instruction Approach (4th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Math Instruction
Great resource

Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction: A Direct Instruction Approach (4th Edition)
Marcy Stein , Diane Kinder , Jerry Silbert , and Douglas W. Carnine
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Direct Instruction Reading, Fourth Edition
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Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers (7th Edition)

ASIN: 0131192442

Customer Reviews:

Math Instruction.......2007-07-10

This is THE BEST book I have read on math instruction. It fits my philosophy of sequential learning. It breaks every math skill into hierarchial steps, offers instructional presentation strategies, and assessment strategies. Every teacher of math needs to look at this book.

Great resource.......2007-03-09

Great book for developing direct instruction for math. Nice job with task analysis - breaking down concepts into steps. Helps inform my teaching.

What Successful Teachers Do: 91 Research-Based Classroom Strategies for New and Veteran Teachers

Average customer rating:

Great for any teacher
helpful

What Successful Teachers Do: 91 Research-Based Classroom Strategies for New and Veteran Teachers
Neal A. Glasgow , and Cathy D. Hicks
Manufacturer: Corwin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Education | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

What Every Teacher Should Know About Effective Teaching Strategies (Tileston, Donna Walker. What Every Teacher Should Know About--, 5.)
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Facilitator's Guide to What Successful Teachers Do: 91 Research-Based Classroom Strategies for New and Veteran Teachers
Fifty Modern Thinkers on Education: From Piaget to the Present Day (Fifty Key Thinkers) (Routledge Key Guides)
Teach!: The Art of Teaching Adults

ASIN: 0761945733

Book Description

"No matter where you are in your teaching career, this book will take you places you have been, will be, and wish to be. I have found some strategies that I can’t wait to try!"
—Stephen Sroka, Adjunct Assistant Professor
School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University

"All teachers will benefit from these strategies, especially new teachers who will rely on the research to back up these common sense techniques that they will utilize throughout their career in education."
—Laura Whitten, EMAP/BTSA Director
Escondido Union High School District

Energize your teaching practice with these state-of-the-art strategies for instruction, assessment, and classroom management!

Built on a foundation of tested, proven, research-based strategies for instruction, assessment, and classroom management, What Successful Teachers Do provides 91 key strategies for improving and re-energizing classroom practice. Combining theory, research, and practical suggestions, the authors cover curriculum and pedagogy, discipline and classroom management, assessment, relating to students, working with students with special needs, embracing diversity, integrating technology in the classroom, interacting with parents, collaborating with colleagues, developing a professional identity, time management, self-management, and organization.

Each strategy covers:

A concise description of the strategy
A brief discussion of the research that supports use of the strategy
Instruction on applying the strategy in instructional settings
Tips on avoiding pitfalls that may occur when implementing the strategy
Source materials for further research and follow-up

This practical volume is a resource that new and veteran teachers will want to use throughout their teaching careers.

See the companion Facilitator's Guide to What Successful Teachers Do

Customer Reviews:

Great for any teacher.......2006-04-29

I have this book and truly enjoyed using it. It sounds pretty intense but it is easy to read. As a teacher who has taught at almost every level, I can say that the strategies are very sound and accurate. Whether it is an advantage or disadvantage, the book only briefly covers the research they used to develop these strategies. It does hit all the major high points and points out some pitfalls. This is outstanding for a beginning teacher or a quick review for a vetran.

helpful.......2005-07-20

This book is very good at giving strategies that can be utilized in a classroom setting. It will be something that I will refer to often in my teaching. This book will be very helpful and it is a very interesting read.

Teaching Children to Read and Write: Becoming an Effective Literacy Teacher (4th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Helps with the RICA Case Study...

Teaching Children to Read and Write: Becoming an Effective Literacy Teacher (4th Edition)
Robert B. Ruddell
Manufacturer: Allyn & Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Literacy | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Development of Language, The (6th Edition)

ASIN: 0205435556

Customer Reviews:

Helps with the RICA Case Study..........2007-01-10

This book is pretty good with becoming an effective literacy teacher. Many of the different strategies given are good to know for your own classroom. This book was helpful because I used it in conjunction with other materials to study for the RICA and I passed. This version is just as good with the newest edition. I didn't miss out not having the newest edition...

Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain

Average customer rating:

From 2 Points of View
I love this book!! Judge it for yourself!!
Excellent book for teachers who WANT to learn
Missing Pieces
Strongly Disagree

Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain
Marcia L. Tate
Manufacturer: Corwin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain
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Top Tunes for Teaching: 977 Song Titles & Practical Tools for Choosing the Right Music Every Time
30 Reflective Staff Development Exercises for Educators

ASIN: 076193880X

Book Description

"Marcia Tate has done it! This is the most practical application of the brain compatible and learning styles research I've ever seen. The twenty strategies will make learning fun again. Every teacher should explore the rich resource for teaching offered in this book!"
—William Bender, Professor
University of Georgia

"When teachers in all schools integrate Tate's 20 instructional strategies into classroom instruction, school will become a place where all children can experience success regardless of their learning style."
—Linda Aikens-Young, Principal
C.J. Hicks Elementary School, Conyers, GA

Design fascinating activities and inspire active learning with proven teaching tools!

Attention spans, subject interest, learning styles, and even levels of understanding vary from student to student. Just as every student is different, teachers have their own personalities and teaching styles. Yet years of research confirm that certain teaching tools awaken the desire to learn in students by engaging their brains. And once their brains are engaged, synthesis, and retention of information will soar!

Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites targets teachers as "growers of brain cells" and encourages them to make practical application of the findings of learning style theorists and neuroscientists. Tactile learners, spatial thinkers, and logical minds alike will become eager students as the strategies in this handbook are implemented. Imagine raising student achievement by meeting the learning needs of each student and increasing subject matter understanding, all while enjoying teaching and learning. Marcia Tate demonstrates 20 strategies, including:

Using humor and telling stories
Implementing problem-based instruction
Incorporating games into lessons
Utilizing mnemonic devices and metaphors
And even singing and dancing while learning

Actively engaging students in the learning process is the best way for them to succeed in school—and in life. Give them an edge by growing their dendrites!

Also see:
Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites (Multimedia Kit)

Customer Reviews:

From 2 Points of View.......2006-08-05

First and foremost, I am sorry that two readers have not had a positive experience from this book; however, they sound like they are 90 year old teachers who have forgotten why they entered the profession of teaching in the first place. Fill out the retirement papers and go home!

In order to teach a child, we must look at the changes that have occured in the way children learn. With many more students dealing with disorders such as A.D.D. and Opositional Defiance Disorder, our classrooms have drastically changed, and students are dealing with issues today that did not exist five years ago when I was in high school. Therefore, this supports the idea that many of us did not learn the same way as our mothers; I learned in a more technologically up-to-date classroom with access to more media, etc...

The Student Point of View:

I have been a student in a classroom that uses many of the same strategies that Marcia Tate offers in her book Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites, and I absolutely loved the hands on approach that my teachers would provide after reading one of her books or attending a workshop. (Constructivism works!) My classmates were always much more involved with the activities. I can remember some of the cool experiements that my chemistry teacher did with us that if she had not followed with Tate's ideas I doubt I could have even recalled my lab partner's name.

Teacher Point of View:

Furthermore, I have just finished teaching my very first class. I can't say that I am an expert teacher (hopefully, I will be!). However, I can say that based on my evaluations and state test scores, I exceded first year teacher expectations. Also, I had fewer discipline problems than my counterparts, and many of my students went running to the principal telling him how much they had learned from my class. I am not good enough yet to have students bragging on me like that or at teaching the skills necessary to score high on those state/federal tests. But, I used several of Tate's suggestions in my classroom, and I could tell a drastic difference in my abilities. Whatever I was teaching was actually getting across to my students. Moreover, the class that I am referring to was a class of 20 students who had failed this class at least once and at most three times. I am not an experienced enough teacher to get the types of results I got from those students. These failures each became successes. I would recommend any beginning teacher or experienced teacher to read her books or take a workshop with Tate. Afterall, education is a changing process.

I love this book!! Judge it for yourself!!.......2005-01-29

I wish I had this years ago. My kids love it and soaking up everything we do. This half of the year is going great!! I've never had a class so interested in anything!

Excellent book for teachers who WANT to learn.......2004-02-23

For those great teachers out there, they will find they naturally use many of the strategies in this book. This books puts them all in one place and give you more ideas as well as the research to back them up. I do feel sorry for the rater that is having this approached forced on him or her. I am afraid to say that learner centered education is far from "trendy" nor is a constructivists approach to learning. Just throwing the books at the teachers not modeling the approach for even in teacher education, the adults should also construct meaning in their learning. I do agree with the reader that some teaching methods take more time upfront and there is a lot of pressure on teachers to hit all the standards but if retention is key, spend a little more time on the front end and they will retain it after a test rather than just for the test. This book is great if you want 20 specific ideas for injecting new way to learn in your classroom. It is not an all to nothing approach, just try one new thing while maintaining you own teaching style. Those teachers who are stuck in there own methods and fearful of sharing control of the learning with their students will have a hard time with this book.

Missing Pieces.......2003-10-15

I have been in early childhood education for 12 years. Within those 12 years, drastic changes have taken place. Year after year students come to my class with less knowledge. Everyday I try to find a new or better way to teach objectives. I have found that students need hands-on activities that help build the missing pieces of their educational foundation.
"Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites" by Dr. Marcia Tate has been extremely helpful to me. I know you can't totally do away with all worksheets, but today's students need more than that. They need movement, music, manipulatives, and visuals in order to retain what they are expected to learn.
Thanks to Dr. Tate's book, I have another resource to use instead of the regular old "paper-pencil" method.

Strongly Disagree.......2003-05-30

This workbook is being forced on us in the school where I teach. I have to say that I strongly disagree with the ideas presented, but I don't have a choice of whether or not I want to use them in my classroom. If you have a choice, I firmly urge you to do some research on teaching methods. I don't mean "brain-based" research, psychological research, or any kind of research on "how children learn." I mean look for long-term, consensus research on methods that have been proven to work in the classroom. To adopt nonconsensus science as the basis of school policy is to conduct very perilous human experimentation on a large scale without license and with little hope of practical success.

"This theory is very popular among trendy education thinkers and professors. It holds that children learn best by discovering knowledge for themselves through hands-on projects and problem solving, rather than reading something out of a textbook or taking down what the teacher says. The idea is that knowledge you acquire for yourself is more likely to be understood and retained than a piece of information handed to you by someone else.

This view of education is seductive. It sounds so natural, energetic, and ambitious. Taken in moderation, it makes sense. As we all know, the lessons we figure out for ourselves tend to sink in deepest and stick with us longest. It is also true that there are some topics, subjects, and assignments where discovery learning is important. A lab experiment in science, for example, is a form of discovery learning. So is making a map of the school grounds, and collecting and classifying leaves. A good education obviously includes such activities. Virtually no one believes that learning should consist only of listening to teachers and reading from textbooks.

But discovery learning has real limitations in practice when schools try to turn it into the main way children learn academic lessons. First, it is truly inefficient. Having children figure out mathematical operations, for example, by playing games and making things takes a lot of time. There are not enough hours in the school year for students to unearth all there is to know on their own. When you rely on children to "construct" knowledge or skills-rather than systematically introducing material to them-learning can become a disorganized and time-consuming process. Mathematics is a highly structured body of knowledge and does not lend itself to haphazard learning. Second, unless the teacher is ready with corrections, a lot of things one "discovers" for oneself turn out to be wrong. Third, in some places discovery learning becomes a vehicle to reject the idea that there are important skills and information that all children should learn.

To many in the education establishment, the mental process of searching for answers is far more important than mastering any particular body of knowledge. What matters most to them is "learning how to learn." Schools are enthusiastic about making sure students acquire "higher-order thinking skills." Learning goals typically call for teaching kids to "think critically" and "solve problems." Give children the skills to find information and reflect upon it, the argument goes, and they'll become "lifelong learners." There's no need to force them into demonstrating specific knowledge. The problem with this rationale, of course, is that skills don't help students much without knowledge to apply them to. Modern education philosophy seems to have forgotten that knowledge makes you smarter. People we think of as creative geniuses are "brilliant" in large part because they have devoted long years to mastering knowledge in a particular field; what they know has become second nature, and their minds are free to focus and invent."

-The Educated Child

"Watching schools implement untested theories about "kinesthetic," or other intelligences when they can't teach reading looks suspiciously like one more fad. The hard truth is that today's youngsters, as never before, must hone their academic skills. Knowledge pays and pays handsomely; ignorance costs more than we can afford, individually or socially. Schools may want to teach English, mathematics, or physics by using music, dance, or football, but they cannot be permitted to lose sight of their academic mission."

Book Description

Methods for Effective Teaching discusses research-based general teaching methods while emphasizing contemporary issues, including creating a learning community, differentiating your instruction, and making instruction modifications based on student differences. Several pedagogical features about technology, learning communities, and instructional modifications for diverse classrooms engage the reader in decision making about chapter concepts. This book offers new content on motivating students for a learning community, working with colleagues and parents, differentiating your instruction, and managing lesson delivery. Thorough coverage of classroom management and discipline includes discussion of dynamic ways to create a positive learning environment. For anyone interested in different methods for teaching k-12 effectively.

Customer Reviews:

Great Text.......2006-06-27

I found this book after being disgusted with the required text for my methods class. This is a great text! Praxis PLT & INTASC concepts are covered in every chapter. A lot of detail on classroom management, direct & indirect strategies, discipline, assessment, grading, working with parent and colleagues, differentiating instruction and planning. It also goes into a little history of educational reform, Goals 2000, and "A Nation at Risk" which were actually topics during an interview for a job.
This text should be a required reading for all methods classes. In fact, my peers are now reading it to prepare for the PLT.

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