Methods that Matter - Softcover

Daniels, Harvey; Bizar, Marilyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1571100822 ISBN 13: 9781571100825

Publisher: Routledge, 1998

Synopsis

Today's teachers are inundated with advice. Caught between the congenial but abstract ideals of progressive education and the thousands of micro-recommendations pouring out of school reform groups, how are we to teach our classes tomorrow? Cutting through this overload, Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar identify six basic teaching structures that make classrooms more active, experiential, collaborative, democratic, and cognitive, while simultaneously meeting the emerging standards of "Best Practice" across subject areas and through the grades.Methods that Matter offers concrete descriptions of practical and proven ways of organizing time, space, materials, students, and activities that embody new standards while creating genuinely student-centered classrooms. Illustrated by stories from two dozen teachers at a wide variety of grade levels, the book clearly describes six fundamental, recurrentIntegrative units - extending thematic, interdisciplinary inquiries co-planned with students, drawing on knowledge and skills from across the curriculum.Small group activities - structuring collaborative pairs, groups, and teams that decentralize the classroom and individualize the curriculum.Representing-to-learn - engaging ideas through writing and art; exploring genres and media of expression as ways of investigating, remembering, and applying information.Classroom workshop - applying the studio-apprenticeship method with teacher modeling and coaching, student choice, responsibility, and exhibition.Authentic experiences - curriculum-centered ways of bringing life into school and students into the community for research and service.Reflective assessment - nurturing student reflection, goal-setting, and self-assessment; widening the evaluative roles and repertoires of teachers and parents.Methods that Matter will help you organize and manage your classroom so learning and teaching can truly achieve Best Practice levels.

About this title

About the Author

Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar teach at the Center for City Schools of National-Louis University in Chicago. Both former public school teachers, Harvey and Marilyn now collaborate with a network of twenty-five schools seeking to implement progressive teaching methods. Along with a team of six full-time teacher-leaders, they offer classroom consulting, staff development workshops, and leadership development for parents and principals. In 1995, they helped found the Best Practice High School, a 400-student Chicago public school where methods do matter-to kids, teachers, and parents. Between them Harvey and Marilyn have authored or co-authored nine other books, including Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools, Thinking in Context, and Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. In the summer, Harvey and Marilyn help lead the Walloon Institute in Petoskey, Michigan, which gathers progressive educators from around the country to review and renew classroom practices.

From the Back Cover

Today's teachers are inundated with advice. Caught between the congenial but abstract ideals of progressive education and the thousands of micro-recommendations pouring out of school reform groups, how are we to teach our classes tomorrow? Cutting through this overload, Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar identify six basic teaching structures that make classrooms more active, experiential, collaborative, democratic, and cognitive, while simultaneously meeting the emerging standards of "Best Practice" across subject areas and through the grades.

Methods that Matter offers concrete descriptions of practical and proven ways of organizing time, space, materials, students, and activities that embody new standards while creating genuinely student-centered classrooms. Illustrated by stories from two dozen teachers at a wide variety of grade levels, the book clearly describes six fundamental, recurrent activities:

- Integrative units - extending thematic, interdisciplinary inquiries co-planned with students, drawing on knowledge and skills from across the curriculum.

- Small group activities - structuring collaborative pairs, groups, and teams that decentralize the classroom and individualize the curriculum.

- Representing-to-learn - engaging ideas through writing and art; exploring genres and media of expression as ways of investigating, remembering, and applying information.

- Classroom workshop - applying the studio-apprenticeship method with teacher modeling and coaching, student choice, responsibility, and exhibition.

- Authentic experiences - curriculum-centered ways of bringing life into school and students into the community for research and service.

- Reflective assessment - nurturing student reflection, goal-setting, and self-assessment; widening the evaluative roles and repertoires of teachers and parents.

Methods that Matter will help you organize and manage your classroom so learning and teaching can truly achieve Best Practice levels.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1571100822
• ISBN 13: 9781571100825
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272