Full Description
"I re-read this book every summer to help me maintain a balanced perspective as I plan for a new school year."
Gary Tsuruda, Math teacher
Jordan Middle School
Palo Alto, CA
"Teaching Is an Art can help new teachers adjust more smoothly into the education profession and can provide new ideas and insights for veteran teachers."
John Thompson, Assistant Principal
El Camino High School
South San Francisco, CA
If you read only one book on teaching, make it this one! A practical, direct, and humorous guide to teaching—you won't be able to turn the pages fast enough.
Drawing upon close to 30 years of teaching experience, the author provides teachers with practical information that is not always taught in teacher education courses. New and veteran teachers alike will find useful advice for managing their work both in and out of the classroom. The book covers 82 essential topics, including Cooperative Learning, Parents, Staff Meetings, Tests, Portfolios, Rules, and many more.
Teaching ability, wisdom, and fervor are not inborn; teachers learn the elements of their art. With that in mind, Spreyer provides information, games, book recommendations, specific lesson plans, and straightforward advice on all aspects of teaching, ranging from Back-to-School Night to Power in the Classroom, from Principles to Principals, from Homework to Substitute Teachers. And he does it in a reader-friendly style, with easy-to-follow lists, examples, and suggested resources.
Highlights include:
Practical advice on over 80 subjects, to apply both in the classroom and out
Book suggestions and games for the classroom
For veteran teachers, suggestions for staying motivated and avoiding burnout
For new teachers, specifics you can't get anywhere else, such as tips on the First Day and First Week of School, and gaining Respect in the classroom
Contents
Preface
About the Author
The Art of Teaching
Assessment
Back-to-School Night
Books
Calculators
Career Path
Cheating
Class Management
Classroom Talk
Colleagues
Computers
Confidence
Contests
Cooperative Learning
Curriculum
Discipline
Einstein Points
Field Trips
First Day of School
First Week of School
Games
Getting Along
Getting Out More
Grades
Guest Speakers
Homework
How to Become Hated
Improvise
Individual Needs
Jobs in the Classroom
Knowledge
Last Days of School
Learning Is a Process
Lesson Plans
Lies
Making Yourself Accessible
Media
Mentoring
Mistakes
Modeling
Movies About Teachers
New Students
New Stuff and Neat Stuff
New Teacher
Nonverbal Communication
Openers
Organizing for Success
Parents
Photocopying
Pizzazz
Portfolios
Power in the Classroom
Principals
Principles
Quotations in the Classroom
Recognizing Students
Respect
Room Environment
Rules
School Reform
Special Education
Staff Meetings
Standards
Substitute Teachers
Support Personnel
Talking to Parents
Talking to Students
Teacher Evaluation
Teaching: A Look Back
Teaching Teachers to Teach
Team Teaching
Tests
Textbooks
"That's a Shame!"
"This Is Boring!" and Other Ego Traps
Timing
Units of Study
Veterans and Rookies
Videos in the Classroom
Why You Should Not Teach
Why You Should Teach
Zeal
Index
