Developing a Learning Classroom

Nic Cooper, Ed.D., LPC, LMSW, has 34 years of experience in public education as a counselor, alternative education developer, assistant principal and principal. He spent most of his career at the middle school level after beginning as a high school counselor. Prior to his retirement, his middle school was named as one of Michigan’s first Schools to Watch in 2006. He has also worked as a substance abuse counselor and a probation officer. After his retirement from public education, he became a full-time faculty member in the teacher education program at Baker College in Jackson, MI and a part-time leadership coach for the Center for Excellence in Education at Central Michigan University. A certified counselor and social worker, Nic also works part-time as a therapist at Still Waters Counseling in Saline, MI. He is the state director for the Schools to Watch program, a recognition program for exemplary middle schools presented through the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. He is the co-author with Rick McCoy of a book for parents of adolescents entitled How to Keep Being a Parent When Your Child Stops Being a Child. He is a board member for the Michigan Association of Middle School Educators and the Michigan Association of Teacher Educators and is a member of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. He presents at state and national conferences on classroom development, healing teaching staffs in conflict, and addressing the needs of at-risk students, among other topics.

• AcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors1. What Is a Learning Classroom? How to Develop Relationships, Relevance, and Rigor2. Who Am I Who Teaches? How Knowing Oneself Impacts Practice3. Who Are the Students We Teach? How Knowing Our Students Affects Teaching and Learning4. How Do We Reach Our Students? How Procedures and Clear Expectations Develop a Learning Classroom5. How Do We Teach Our Students? How to Engage Students in Their Own Learning With Rigor and Relevance6. How Do We Know If Our Students Are Learning? How to Assess and Motivate Students7. How Do We Stay in the Game? How to Cultivate Learning Communities for Continual Professional GrowthAppendix A. Introductory Student SurveyAppendix B. Advanced Student SurveyApendix C. Sample Socratic Questions: Tools to Stimulate Critical ThinkingAppendix D. Flexible Lesson DesignAppendix E. Personal Education PlanReferencesIndex

“When students feel safe and respected, the time spent managing a classroom is replaced with time spent teaching. This book helps teachers refocus.”