Inspiring Active Learning: A Complete Handbook for Today's Teachers

491 Pages·2006·14.08 MB·English

by  Merrill Harmin

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Education
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How can we structure class time efficiently? How can we explain
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and lecture effectively? How can we help students master content? I
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How can we make learning more real and lasting?
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In this revised and greatly expanded 2nd edition of Inspiring
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Active Learning, educators Merrill Harmin and Melanie Toth
provide answers to our fundamental teaching questions and show
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us how to transform our classrooms into communities of active, X
responsible learners. The authors present an array of research- P
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based, teacher-tested strategies for managing our everyday
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responsibilities—from beginning a class to grading homework, D
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from instructing large groups to promoting diligent seatwork,
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from motivating slackers to handling disrupters. These strategies
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focus on mutual respect, not bossiness; collaboration, not N
isolation; commitment to learning, not fear of failure; and the D

dignity of all, not praise or rewards for a few. E
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Regardless of our level of experience or the grade or subject BROWSE EXCERPTS I
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we teach, the active-learning approach helps us I
FROM ASCD BOOKS:
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• Perform routine teaching tasks more easily. http://www.ascd.org/books

• Discover a higher level of teaching success and personal
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satisfaction.
• Establish a class climate of full participation and
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cooperation. and Curriculum Development A
• Prepare engaging lessons that keep students productively Alexandria, Virginia USA R
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involved.
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• Encourage students to work energetically, willingly, $34.95 U.S. N
and intelligently each day.
• Inspire all students, even the most challenging, to strive
for excellence.
With its detailed classroom examples and more than 250 practical
strategies, Inspiring Active Learning is a comprehensive reference
for solving almost any teaching problem.
InspireActiveLearn TP 6/30/06 9:34 AM Page i
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Alexandria, Virginia USA
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®
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
1703 N. Beauregard St. • Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA
Phone: [phone] or 703-578-9600 • Fax: [phone]
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Gene R. Carter, Executive Director;Nancy Modrak, Director of Publishing;Julie Houtz, Director of Book Editing & Production;
Genny Ostertag, Project Manager;Georgia Park, Senior Graphic Designer;Cynthia Stock, Typesetter;Dina Murray Seamon,
Production Specialist/Team Lead
Copyright © 2006 by Merrill Harmin. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission from ASCD. Readers who wish to duplicate material copyrighted by ASCD may do so
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permissions office: 703-578-9600 or [email protected].
Printed in the United States of America. Cover art copyright © 2006 by ASCD.
ASCD publications present a variety of viewpoints. The views expressed or implied in this book should not be interpreted
as official positions of the Association.
PAPERBACK ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-0155-5 ASCD product #103113 s7/06
PAPERBACK ISBN-10: 1-4166-0155-4
Also available as an e-book through ebrary, netLibrary, and many online booksellers (see Books in Printfor the ISBNs).
Quantity discounts for the paperback edition only: 10–49 copies, 10%; 50+ copies, 15%; for 1,000 or more copies, call 800-
933-2723, ext. 5634, or 703-575-5634. For desk copies, e-mail [email protected].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harmin, Merrill.
Inspiring active learning : a complete handbook for today’s teachers /
Merrill Harmin with Melanie Toth. — Expanded 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-0155-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-4166-0155-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Teaching—Handbooks,
manuals, etc. 2. Motivation in education—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3.
Active learning—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Toth, Melanie. II. Title.
LB1025.3.H37 2006
371.102—dc22
2006009539
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15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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E X P A N D E D 2 N D E D I T I O N
IInnssppiirriinngg AAccttiivvee LLeeaarrnniinngg
A C O M P L E T E H A N D B O O K F O R T O D AY ’ S T E A C H E R S
List of Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv 17. Helping Students Master Content in Individual
and Small-Group Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
A Personal Note on Using This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
18. Using Projects to Help Students Master Content. . . 249
Part I: Two Keys for Running an Inspiring Classroom 19. Stimulating Higher-Level Thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
1.Clarity About What Makes a Classroom Inspiring 20.Responding to Student Comments
to Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 and Using Praise Appropriately. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
2.A Four-Step Process to Make a Classroom Part VI: Strategies for Ending Classes Efficiently
More Inspiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
21.Helping Students Review and Summarize a Class. . 283
Part II: Strategies for Handling Six Fundamental 22. Providing Effective Homework Assignments. . . . . . . 292
Teaching Tasks
Part VII: Strategies for Further Advancing
3.Creating Lessons That Inspire Active Learning. . . . . . 29 Teacher Effectiveness
4.Establishing a Climate That Inspires
23. Advancing Students’ Learning Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Full Participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
24. Making Learning More Real
5.Establishing a Climate That Inspires
and Lasting for Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
High Cooperation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
25. Inspiring Students to Strive for Excellence. . . . . . . . 318
6. Structuring Class Time Efficiently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
26. Advancing Students’ Self-Responsibility. . . . . . . . . . 332
7. Using Small Groups Efficiently. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
27. Advancing Students’ Self-Confidence. . . . . . . . . . . . 336
8. Preventing Discipline Problems
28. Advancing Students’ Maturity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
from Arising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
29. Advancing Our Own Personal Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Part III: Strategies for Starting Classes Efficiently
Part VIII: Strategies for Evaluating Student Learning
9.Gathering the Attention of Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
30. Handling Students’ Written Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
10.Handling Completed Homework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
31. Handling Testing and Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
11.Providing for a Quick Review
32. Reporting Students’ Progress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
of Completed Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Part IX: Strategies for Maintaining Discipline
Part IV: Strategies for Presenting New Content
33. Handling Routine Misbehavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
12. Motivating Interest in New Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
34. Handling Serious and Chronic Misbehavior. . . . . . . . 418
13. Explaining and Lecturing Effectively. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
14. Providing Discovery-Type Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . 180
15. Using Written Material to Present Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
New Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
Part V: Strategies for Helping Students Master Content
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
16. Helping Students Master Content
in a Whole-Class Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
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L i s t o f S t r a t e g i e s
Strategies recommended for first attention are indicated by . 6-4 Independent Learning Assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6-5 Task Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6-6 Background Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3-1 Action Flow Lessons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3-2 Teaching in Layers, Not Lumps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 7-1 Sharing Pairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3-3 Quick Pace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 7-2 Learning Pairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3-4 Efficient Classroom Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 7-3 Rotating Pairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3-5 Personal Inspiring Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 7-4 Practice Pairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
7-5 Selecting Group Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4-1 Truth Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 7-6 Selecting Members for Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4-2 Cushioning Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 7-7 Grouping Students for Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4-3 Risk Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 7-8 Support Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4-4 Intelligence Call-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 7-9 Group Challenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4-5 Check-Yourself Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 7-10 Group Role Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4-6 Confidence Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4-7 Encouragement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 8-1 Setting Procedures and Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . 107
4-8 Learning Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 8-2 Communicating Confident Authority . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4-9 Let Them Be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 8-3 Authority Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4-10 Ability Salute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 8-4 Procedures That Energize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
8-5 Clock Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5-1 Student Procedure Mastery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 8-6 Special Energizing Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5-2 Class Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 8-7 Think Time Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5-3 Ask a Friend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 8-8 Self-Discipline Lesson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5-4 Once Principle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 8-9 Whole-Class Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5-5 Class Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 8-10 Parent Aides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5-6 Class Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 8-11 Discipline Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5-7 Getting-to-Know-You Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5-8 Community Living Lessons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 9-1 Hand-Raising Signal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5-9 Dignifying Acts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 9-2 One-Minute Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5-10 Family Introductory Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 9-3 Voting Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
9-4 New or Goods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
6-1 Do Now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 9-5 Lesson Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6-2 Learning Centers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 9-6 Relaxation Exercise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
6-3 Study Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 9-7 Brain Drain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
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L i s t o f S t r a t e g i e s v
10-1 Homework Sharing Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 16-1 Clarifying Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
10-2 Homework Self-Correcting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 16-2 Productive Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
10-3 Homework Hearing Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 16-3 Question, All Write. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
10-4 Credit for Completing Homework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 16-4 Whip Around, Pass Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
16-5 Set of Speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
11-1 Review Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 16-6 Voting Questions to Assess Understanding. . . . . . 211
11-2 Choral Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 16-7 Nod of Recognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
11-3 I Say Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 16-8 Brainstorm/Sort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
11-4 One Say, All Say. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 16-9 Mastery Learning Game. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
11-5 Sketching to Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 16-10 Face-off Game. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
11-6 Pass the Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 16-11 Avoiding Re-explanation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
11-7 Reteach Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 16-12 Think Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
16-13 Models and Manipulatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
12-1 Motivational Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 16-14 Parking Lot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
12-2 Know and Want to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 16-15 Physical Movement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
12-3 Make a Prediction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
12-4 Challenge Opener. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 17-1 Clear-to-Muddy Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
12-5 Experience Before Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 17-2 Mini-task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
12-6 Clear Learning Target. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 17-3 Learning Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
12-7 Specific Levels of Excellence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 17-4 Paper Exchange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
17-5 Question Exchange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
13-1 Attentive Lecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 17-6 Student Question Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
13-2 Presentation for Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 17-7 Teacher Role-Play. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
13-3 Explanation Back-off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 17-8 Boss/Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
13-4 Visual Aids and Graphic Organizers. . . . . . . . . . . . 170 17-9 Consult Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
13-5 Lingering Board Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 17-10 Plan, Do, Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
13-6 Concept Charts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 17-11 Student Self-Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
13-7 Note-Taking Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 17-12 Class Tutors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
13-8 Signal for the Big Picture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 17-13 Tutor Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
13-9 Finger Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 17-14 Best Choice Debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
13-10 Partner Restatement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 17-15 Task Group with Communication Practice. . . . . . . 242
13-11 Checklist for Effective Lectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 17-16 Computers and the Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
17-17 Task Group, Share Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
14-1 Discovery Lesson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 17-18 Option Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
14-2 Underexplain and Learning Pairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
14-3 Think Aloud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 18-1 Project Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
14-4 Guided Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 18-2 Application Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
14-5 VAK Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 18-3 Service Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
15-1 Paired Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 19-1 What’s the Difference?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
15-2 Reading for Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 19-2 What’s the Same?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
15-3 Reciprocal Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 19-3 Comparing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
15-4 Cooperative Reading Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 19-4 Sorting the Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
15-5 I Start, You Finish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 19-5 What Might Explain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
15-6 Directed Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 19-6 Summarizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
15-7 Timed Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 19-7 Creating Groupings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
15-8 Learning Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 19-8 Solving a Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
15-9 Dramatic Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 19-9 Brainstorming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
15-10 Jigsaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 19-10 Assessing the Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
19-11 Language to Advance Thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
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20-1 Plain Corrects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 25-9 Inspiring Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
20-2 Plain Incorrects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 25-10 DESCA Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
20-3 Incorrects with Appreciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 25-11 DESCA Proclamation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
20-4 Praise and Rewards for All. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
20-5 Silent Response to Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 26-1 Common Sense Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
20-6 Can-You Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 26-2 Shared Responsibilities,
20-7 Honest I Appreciates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Personal Responsibilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
20-8 I’m with You’s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 26-3 Self-Management Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
20-9 DESCA Inspirations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 26-4 Rights, Responsibilities, Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
20-10 Spontaneous Delights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
20-11 Caring Attention Without Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 27-1 Validations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
20-12 Saying No Slowly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 27-2 Recognition for Everyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
27-3 Promoting Kindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
21-1 Outcome Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 27-4 Distress-Easing Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
21-2 Like/Might Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 27-5 What-I-Like-About-You Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
21-3 Learning Log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 27-6 Sensible Risk Taking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
21-4 Concluding Whip Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 27-7 Prize Sprinkle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
21-5 Mental Pictures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 27-8 Star of the Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
21-6 Learning Log Exchange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 27-9 Positive Parent Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
21-7 Thought/Feel Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
21-8 Mini-celebration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 28-1 Strength-Building Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
21-9 Progress Proclamation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 28-2 Personalized Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
28-3 Gratitude Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
22-1 Assignments with Choice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 28-4 Whole-Self Lesson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
22-2 Homework Unlike Class Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 28-5 Choose, Be, Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
22-3 Homework in Layers, Not Lumps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 28-6 Goodness Log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
22-4 Responsible Homework Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . 295
22-5 Homework Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 29-1 Self-Acceptance Monologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
22-6 Managing Long-Term Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 29-2 Reality-Acceptance Monologue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
22-7 Avoiding Homework Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 29-3 Healthy Response to Misbehavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
29-4 Asserting Our Priorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
23-1 How-Read Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 29-5 Respecting Our Own Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
23-2 Note-Taking Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
23-3 Detailed Oral Learning Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 30-1 Response to Undone Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
23-4 Charts of Learning Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 30-2 Next-Time Feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
23-5 Teaching Specific Learning Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 30-3 Avoiding Paperwork Overload. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
30-4 Positive Feedback Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
24-1 Concept-Generalization Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
24-2 Using Subject Matter to Learn About Life. . . . . . . 312 31-1 Dignifying Grading Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
24-3 Application Brainstorm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 31-2 Tests with Choice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
24-4 Personalizing Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 31-3 Portfolios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
31-4 Focus-on-Learning Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
25-1 High Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 31-5 Retest Offer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
25-2 Active Learning Thermometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 31-6 Pre-final Exam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
25-3 Clarifying Excellence Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 31-7 Rubrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
25-4 Best-Work Lesson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 31-8 Failure Insulators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
25-5 Inspiring Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 31-9 High-Achievement Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
25-6 Going for the Gold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 31-10 Self-Selected Learning Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
25-7 E-for-Effort Certificates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 31-11 Quick Feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
25-8 Personal Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
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L i s t o f S t r a t e g i e s vii
32-1 Report Card Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 33-12 Silent Response to Misbehavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
32-2 Dual Grades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 33-13 Apologizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
32-3 Supportive Report Card Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 33-14 Mindset Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
32-4 Surprise Personal Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 33-15 Ask for Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
32-5 Reverse Report Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
34-1 Person-to-Person Dialogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
33-1 Broken Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 34-2 Self-Management Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
33-2 Calm Reminder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 34-3 Parent Notification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
33-3 Next-Time Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 34-4 Cool-Quick-Certain Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
33-4 Honest I Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 34-5 Dramatic Distraction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
33-5 Conciliation Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403 34-6 Calamity Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
33-6 Conflict-Resolution Lesson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403 34-7 Bully Lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
33-7 Behavior Checklist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 34-8 Temporary Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
33-8 Peer Mediators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 34-9 Discipline Squad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
33-9 Visitor’s Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 34-10 Safety Drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
33-10 Waiting Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 34-11 Diagnosing Student Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
33-11 Redirecting Student Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
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viii
A P e r s o n a l N o t e
o n U s i n g T h i s B o o k
This book brings good news to teachers. No longer need teaching be so stressful.
No longer need we struggle with our unmotivated students and passive learners.
No longer must we abandon so many of our ideals. We now know how we can
run our classrooms so students will wantto cooperate, will wantto do good work,
will in fact want to do the very best they can for us.
Some background: I started off as a math teacher and, I thought, I was a
pretty good one. No one complained too much and my students produced good
test scores. But then I visited my colleague Peter’s classroom. At the time, Peter
was teaching a group of students I had taught the year before, a group I was par-
ticularly fond of. And as I watched those students in Peter’s classroom, I noticed
they were much more actively involved in learning than they ever were in my
class. Many more hands waved to answer teacher questions. Eyes were brighter
with attention. No one was fussing in his or her seat or looking aimlessly out the
window. How come Peter got more from those students than I ever did?
I took that question with me when I became a teacher educator, wondering
especially how some teachers motivated even the most reluctant and resistant of
students to do good work. The answer to the question seemed to involve more
than the methods those teachers used; other teachers could use the same meth-
ods without producing nearly the same results. And it seemed to involve more
than the personalities of the teachers; teachers with many different personalities,
from warm to cool, organized to disorganized, demonstrated that gift to motivate
learning. And it was clearly more than a matter of educational knowledge; some
of the brightest teachers lacked the gift and some of the most poorly prepared
had it. What was it?
Being in the business of training teachers, my interest soon shifted from seek-
ing an abstract answer to that question to seeking ways all teachers could
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A Personal Note on Using This Book ix
develop more of that inspirational ability. Since it was obviously possible to run
classrooms that motivated even the most unmotivated of our students—some
teachers clearly had the knack—what could the rest of us do to move more
closely to that outcome?
For many years, my colleagues and I played with various ideas, finally craft-
ing an approach that led to the first edition of this book. A decade later, now with
much more experience available to us, we offer this revised and expanded edi-
tion—and offer it with more assurance than ever. Yes, almost any teacher, K–12,
can run a highly inspiring classroom. The profession now knows in practical
detail how we can conduct a classroom that naturally, steadily draws even the
most unmotivated of today’s students toward active, cooperative, self-responsible
learning.
But this is not to be taken on faith. You can easily test the idea for yourself.
The best preparation
This book will show you how to do just that. More specifically, the book offers
for being a happy or
• Clarity about what makes a classroom inspiring to students.What is at the useful man or woman
heart of an inspiring classroom? If it’s not our personality or teaching methods, is to live fully as a
child.
what is it? That is the first question to address, and it’s the focus of Chapter 1.
• A simple,four-step process for making your classroom more inspiring.That is —Plowden Report
the focus of Chapter 2. It presents a straightforward process for you to give this
material a brief test for yourself. Then if you like what’s showing up, you can use
that process to gradually move ahead and create your own style of a highly inspir-
ing classroom.
• Practical strategies for running an inspiring classroom.All the chapters after
the first two contain examples of teacher-tested strategies that have been shown
to be effective in the running of an inspiring classroom. They illustrate how we
can handle almost all our daily tasks in a way that keeps eliciting the most posi-
tive response from students. Scan the Table of Contents and you’ll see the com-
plete list of teacher tasks for which strategies are provided.
Note that six of the most far-reaching of our teaching tasks are grouped in Part
II, Strategies for Handling Six Fundamental Teaching Tasks. Because teaching is
so much easier when those fundamental tasks are well handled, it’s valuable to
consider those chapters before the others. After that, you can jump around
among the other strategy chapters according to your personal interests.
However, you need not look at every strategy in every chapter. The introduc-
tory paragraphs in each chapter specify a few strategies to look at first. Each of
those is marked with an arrow like this: