Teaching Strategies for Active Learning

Donna Walker Tileston is a veteran teacher and administrator. She is currently the president of Strategic Teaching and Learning, a consulting firm that provides services to schools throughout the United States and worldwide. Donna’s publications include Ten Best Teaching Practices: How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies (2000), which has been on Corwin′s bestseller list since its first year in print, in addition to the ten-volume award-winning series What Every Teacher Should Know, now in its second edition. Other recent titles are Teaching Strategies for Active Learning (2006), Teaching Strategies that Prepare Students for High Stakes Tests (2008), and Closing the Poverty and Culture Gap (2009). Donna received her BA from the University of North Texas, her MA from East Texas State University, and her EdD from Texas A & M University-Commerce. She may be reached at www.whateveryteachershouldknow.com

• PrefaceDoes the Strategy Follow Current Brain Research?AcknowledgmentsAbout the Author1. Teaching in the 21st CenturyElements of the Strategic Learning ModelThe Teacher’s Role2. Plugging InPart 1 of the Model: Plugging InSelf-Efficacy as a Key to Motivation for LearningActivities for Building a Sense of Community in the ClassroomIntegrating Technology as a Tool for Building CommunitySummaryWhat Does the Research Say?3.Powering UpBeginning With the Self-System of the BrainMind JogsBuilding ConnectionsSummaryWhat Does the Research Say?4.SynthesizingThe Metacognitive SystemBuilding Declarative KnowledgeSummaryWhat Does the Research Say?5.OutsourcingConcrete ModelsBrainstorming ModelsThinking in CategoriesSummaryWhat Does the Research Say?6. ReflectingSummaryWhat Does the Research Say?ResourcesResource A: Sample Lesson FormsResource B: Blackline MastersReferencesIndex

"My peers would benefit from having this handbook to guide new and struggling teachers as well as to inspire the expert teacher on staff. Practical suggestions give educators steps toward increasing the active learning level within any classroom, without giving up control of content, while also potentially increasing academic achievement by having more students tune in to their learning."