Inspiring Active Learning: A Complete Handbook for Today's Teachers, Expanded Second Edition

Merrill Harmin with Melanie Toth

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About This Book

How can we structure class time efficiently? How can we explain and lecture effectively? How can we help students master content? How can we make learning more real and lasting?

In this revised and greatly expanded 2nd edition of Inspiring Active Learning, educators Merrill Harmin and Melanie Toth provide answers to our fundamental teaching questions and show us how to transform our classrooms into communities of active, responsible learners. The authors present an array of research-based, teacher-tested strategies for managing our everyday responsibilities--from beginning a class to grading homework, from instructing large groups to promoting diligent seatwork, from motivating slackers to handling disrupters. These strategies focus on mutual respect, not bossiness; collaboration, not isolation; commitment to learning, not fear of failure; and the dignity of all, not praise or rewards for a few.

Regardless of our level of experience or the grade or subject we teach, the active-learning approach helps us

• Perform routine teaching tasks more easily.
• Discover a higher level of teaching success and personal satisfaction.
• Establish a class climate of full participation and cooperation.
• Prepare engaging lessons that keep students productively involved.
• Encourage students to work energetically, willingly, 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.

See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.

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About the Authors

MERRILL HARMIN currently directs the Inspiring Strategy Institute, which specializes in practical ways of making schooling richer for students, more satisfying for teachers. He also teaches for the nonprofit American Meditation Society, which specializes in providing individualized meditation practices to adults. Earlier he spent 40 years as a professor of education at Rutgers University and Southern Illinois University.

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MELANIE TOTH began her career as a 4th grade teacher and is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational psychology at the City University of New York. She also works at the Inspiring Strategy Institute. Her focus is on developing ways to support teachers, particularly those new to the profession. In addition, she keeps busy writing, tutoring, doing yoga, and helping Merrill remember all the things he keeps forgetting.

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