Changing the Way You Teach, Improving the Way Students Learn

With classroom-tested ideas, real-world examples, and easy-to-use activities, Giselle Martin-Kniep and Joanne Picone-Zocchia tap three decades of experience to define and describe critical teaching and learning strategies that engage students and increase achievement. Teachers at any grade level and in any subject area will gain insights into how to

* Create a rigorous, relevant, and authentic curriculum;

* Use organizing centers and make meaningful connections to lend true coherence to subject matter;

* Ask students questions that will help them retain new material and apply their knowledge in settings outside school;

* Teach students how to develop high-order skills such as an ability to affirm values, articulate beliefs, and use multiple resources in varied contexts;

* Use assessment as a system to directly engage students in revising tests and evaluating themselves;

* Incorporate evaluation tools like portfolios, checklists, and rubrics to foster and assess high-quality student work that exceeds expectations; and

* Encourage students to self-monitor progress, self-regulate behavior, appreciate unique learning preferences, and, ultimately, become informed and active 21st century citizens.

Changing the Way You Teach, Improving the Way Students Learn stresses the need to build students' capacity to learn how to learn and be strategic, self-aware participants in an ever-complex and fast-changing society. Embracing what they call our "moral imperative," the authors encourage us to help students "pursue the goals that will make them feel whole as human beings."

"Two experienced teacher educators describe a framework for effective teaching that can be applied in any subject area and grade level. Their detailed review of the structures, processes, and content of effective practice provides you with lots of practical tips you can use right away, including how to teach both the depth and the breadth of your curriculum, five types of questions that engage and support student learning, four types of scaffolding techniques that help you create more paths to understanding of new content, and best ways to organize student portfolios so they document and promote student learning. "