Notes on Teaching: A Short Guide to an Essential Skill
By Shellee Hendricks and Russell Reich
4.5/5
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About this ebook
By turns provocative, funny, and unerringly blunt (#166 “Steer clear of the grumblers”), the authors understand that HOW the information is delivered is as valuable as the information itself. The book's afterword is by Taylor Mali, a teacher and one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement, famous for his poem, "What Teachers Make."
Notes on Teaching is endorsed by: Wendy Kopp, Founder, Teach for America. Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone. Michael Thompson, PhD., co-author of Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys and The Pressured Child. Jack Covert, Founder and President of 800CEOREAD and co-author of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. Marc Tucker, President, National Center on Education and the Economy. Leon Botstein, President, Bard College. William Durden, President, Dickinson College and Former President of Sylvan Learning Systems.
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Reviews for Notes on Teaching
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Book preview
Notes on Teaching - Shellee Hendricks
PRAISE FOR
Notes on
TEACHING
Teaching is as much an art as a craft. It’s also joy-filled and heartbreaking, satisfying and frustrating. This deft little book gives professionals—new and old—a quiet moment to ready themselves for the rollercoaster ride of teaching and will spark great ideas for the classroom.
—GEOFFREY CANADA
PRESIDENT AND CEO OF HARLEM CHILDREN’S ZONE
I can’t believe how much teaching wisdom is stuffed into this short (and beautiful) little book. So much truth and inspiration!
—WENDY KOPP
FOUNDER OF TEACH FOR AMERICA
In this wonderfully crisp, wise, and useful book, Hendricks and Reich have given teachers a guide that will last them a lifetime. Notes on Teaching can and should be absorbed whole on the first reading, but I suspect readers will discover its true value only when they return to it. In times of uncertainty and lost bearings, I can think of no better compass than this little book, which abounds with humanity and good sense.
—LEON BOTSTEIN
PRESIDENT OF BARD COLLEGE
"Notes on Teaching is like eating potato chips: You can’t read just one note. You can try but you soon will be compelled to pick it back up to read a few more and then a couple more and then and then…. What really makes me mad is that so much of what I regard as my special knowledge as a school consultant is right here, available to everyone, almost for free. Damn!"
—MICHAEL THOMPSON, PH.D.
CO-AUTHOR OF RAISING CAIN: PROTECTING THE
EMOTIONAL LIVES OF BOYS AND THE PRESSURED CHILD
"Notes on Teaching, with its comprehensive collection of pithy and perspective-altering advice, is the perfect reminder to leaders that to teach is to lead and to lead is to teach."
—JACK COVERT
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF 800CEOREAD
CO-AUTHOR OF THE 100 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF ALL TIME
Bravo to the authors for giving teachers a written mentorship—a disciplined, knowledgeable, and generous companion—to accompany a most demanding, yet rewarding profession.
—WILLIAM DURDEN
PRESIDENT OF DICKINSON COLLEGE
FORMER PRESIDENT OF SYLVAN LEARNING SYSTEMS
This really is a wonderful book! It is the help you had hoped to get from your teachers college but didn’t. It is the mentor you wished for but never had. It is pithy, funny, practical and—mainly—wise.
—MARC TUCKER
PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL CENTER
ON EDUCATION AND THE ECONOMY
Also co-authored by Russell Reich
Notes on Directing
Notes on Cooking
Notes on Teaching: A Short Guide to an Essential Skill
by Shellee Hendricks and Russell Reich
© 2011 by Shellee Hendricks and Russell Reich. Printed and bound in the United States of America. All rights reserved. First printing 2011.
Published by RCR Creative Press Incorporated, New York, New York. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. Contact via RCRcreative.com.
Although the authors and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistencies herein.
NOTES ON is a trademark of RCR Creative Press Incorporated and may not be used without written permission.
Jacket design by Julia Reich and Daniel Tamman. Illustrations by Andre Junget. Interior design by Pneuma Books, LLC.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication
(Provided by The Donohue Group)
Hendricks, Shellee.
Notes on teaching : a short guide to an essential skill / Shellee Hendricks [and] Russell Reich.
p. : ill.; cm. — (Notes on—)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-9724255-4-4
1. Teaching—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Teaching—Quotations, maxims, etc. I. Reich, Russell, 1963–II. Title.
LB1025.3.H46 2011
371.102 2011904577
PRINTED AND BOUND IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on acid∞free paper
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
TO OUR PARENTS
AND
OUR CHILDREN
Table of Contents
Notes on Notes on Teaching
More Notes on Notes on Teaching
I. The Teacher’s Role
1. Share what you know
2. You don’t need all the answers
3. Cut your own cookie
4. Play the role required
5. You’re the most important person in the room
6. Practice what you teach
7. You’re the leader, but you’re not alone
8. Love them
9. Be decisive
10. Learning should be tough, challenging, and…enjoyable
II. Planning and Preparation
11. Know your subject
12. Read your materials
13. Read them again
14. Plan from the finale
15. Identify essential questions
16. Come prepared
17. Don’t over-prepare
18. Prepare to be unprepared
19. Picture success
III. First Class Meeting
20. Shake hands
21. Learn names quickly
22. Introduce them to the course and to each other
23. Know your students
24. Tell your story
25. Say why
26. Dive into the subject
27. Start with the known
28. Engineer early success
29. Send it home
IV. Setting Expectations
30. Reflect what you expect.
31. Involve them in setting goals
32. Tell them that their education is their responsibility
33. Don’t tell them they’ve achieved what they haven’t
34. When you believe that someone can’t be taught
35. Champion failure
36. Set no limits
37. Encourage them to surpass you
V. Classroom Rules
38. Establish the rules together
39. Be on time
40. Heed a speedy opening ritual
41. Raise hands
42. Write down your questions and comments
43. Speak out against bullying or rude behavior
44. Disagree without being disagreeable
45. Correct without being critical
46. Stay on topic
47. Break the rules
VI. Classroom Staging
48. Establish your space
49. Use the whole stage
50. Consider sightlines
51. Contain negativity
52. Clear the path
53. Ensure physical comfort
54. Keep it cool
55. Value sunlight
56. Bring in the props
57. Rearrange the furniture
58. Time scene changes
59. Take an intermission
60. Dress the set with signs of progress
61. Costume them in future possibilities
62. Stimulate all five senses
63. You are the director
VII. Building Blocks
64. Teach the skills you wish were taught in other classes
65. Teach the rules and beauty of language
66. Teach public speaking
67. Teach discussion skills
68. Teach discernment
69. Please, PLEASE teach logic
70. Know that you are teaching values
VIII. Leading a Class
71. Be an emotional leader as well as an intellectual one
72. Let them think
73. Let them talk
74. Let them teach
75. Elevate mundane tasks
76. Change it up
77. Test your own success
78. Give them choices
79. Don’t give them too many choices
80. Create eustress
81. Call on them randomly