Commonsense Questions about Instruction: The Answers Can Provide Essential Steps to Improvement

177 Pages·2014·0.65 MB·English

by  Gerard Giordano

Commonsense Questions
about instruCtion
Other Titles by Gerard Giordano
Capping Costs: Putting a Price Tag on School Reform (2012)
Teachers Go to Rehab: Historical and Current
Advice to Instructors (2012)
Lopsided Schools: Case Method Briefings (2011)
Cockeyed Education: A Case Method Primer (2010)
Solving Education’s Problems Effectively: A Guide to
Using the Case Method (2009)
Commonsense Questions
about instruCtion
The Answers Can Provide
Essential Steps to Improvement
Gerard Giordano
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD EDUCATION
A DIVISION OF
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education
A division of Rowman & Littlefield
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2014 by Gerard Giordano
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available
ISBN 978-1-4758-0508-6 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4758-0509-3
(pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4758-0510-9 (electronic)
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Printed in the United States of America
This book is for my incomparable students.

Contents
Preface: Have Commonsense Questions Affected Teaching? ix
Acknowledgment xiii
1 Why Ask Shrewd Questions? 1
2 What Is Instruction’s Goal? 13
3 What Are the Fundamental Subjects? 25
4 What Prods Learning? 41
5 How Complex Is Classroom Discipline? 55
6 What Are the Right Questions about Textbooks? 69
7 How Much Technology Do Teachers Need? 83
8 Do Grades Matter? 95
9 What Prods Politicians to Collaborate on Schools? 107
10 How Much Data on Teachers Is Needed? 117
References 129
About the Author 161
vii

PrefaCe
Have Commonsense
Questions affeCted teaCHinG?
What is the most important subject?
—“What Is the Most,” 2007
What makes a great teacher?
—Amanda Ripley, 2010
Discipline in school: what works and what doesn’t?
—Sherry Bowen, 2010
On what should politicians base their decisions?
—Michael De Dora, 2010
Should we be paying students?
—“Should We Be,” 2011
What is the best way to teach children to read?
—National Institutes of Health, 2012
ix