Wayside Teaching : Connecting With Students to Support Learning

"Teachers know how to teach, but they want to connect with their kids to make that teaching effective. This book empowers teachers to complete what is missing in their work."
―Jude A. Huntz, Adult Education Coordinator
St. Michael the Archangel Parish and School, Leawood, KS

"Wayside teaching is not taught as an educational strategy, yet its impact is undeniable. The book defines the concept and demonstrates how teachers can implement this tangential form of learning on a regular basis."
―Marilyn Steneken, Science Teacher
Sparta Middle School, NJ

Wayside teaching―nurturing connections in and out of the classroom to facilitate learning!

Wayside teaching is about intentionally practicing what educators do every day in perhaps unintentional ways: relate to students. This practical, research-based guide illustrates how wayside teaching―the informal curriculum, implicit instruction, and mentoring that happens in sometimes unintentional ways―can be intentionally practiced across grade levels to enhance learning and boost student outcomes.

Through a framework focused on attitudes, approaches, and actions, and using vignettes that illuminate wayside teaching in action, Sara Davis Powell demonstrates how reaching out to students in formal and informal situations helps create a culture of belonging and safety that strengthens a student′s self-concept, confidence, resiliency, and cognitive processes. The book provides:

• Wayside teaching strategies for use inside and outside classrooms
• Specific examples for elementary, middle, and high school settings
• Self-assessment exercises that help educators explore their own dispositions and connect self-knowledge with productive teaching practices
• Easy-to-reference graphic organizers that link wayside teaching practices to specific classroom contexts

Offering invaluable resources, including student surveys for learning more about your students and an annotated booklist for promoting acceptance and compassion, Wayside Teaching reflects the powerful influence that teachers′ actions can have on their students′ academic and personal lives.

Sara Davis Powell is a teacher―from elementary, middle, and high school classrooms to teacher preparation as a professor and chair of the Department of Education at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina. She is an advocate of active student engagement, emphasizing a balance of theory and developmentally responsive and academically rigorous practice. She is involved in local classrooms through the facilitation of professional development, supervision of clinical interns, and research and writing about a variety of education issues. She is also a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences, where her enthusiasm for teaching and students has proven contagious.

Powell’s PhD in educational administration, supervision, and curriculum development is from the University of Colorado at Denver. Her most recent books include An Introduction to Education: Choosing Your Teaching Path (2009) and Introduction to Middle School (2nd ed., in press).