Classrooms That Spark!: Recharge and Revive Your Teaching [Paperback]

Dyan M. Hershman; Emma S. McDonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

When feeling worn-out, burned-out, or just plain tired of teaching the same old way, teachers need a resource for revitalization in their classrooms. They need new ideas, they need to be reminded of "oldies-but-goodies" and most of all, they need to have the sense that they can do this teaching "thing" and do it well. What they need is a SPARK to recharge the FIRE of learning in their classroom. Classrooms that SPARK is just what the doctor ordered. This complete resource is full of practical strategies, ready-to-implement ideas, reproducible forms, and real-life classroom vignettes all written in an easy-to-read conversational style that will help teachers get recharged and re-energized. Put the spark of learning back in your classroom with Classrooms that SPARK!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Light the fire of learning with Classrooms that SPARK! This comprehensive resource by the well-known teaching experts and authors of Survival Kit for New Teachers, Emma McDonald and Dyan Hershman, offers a "shot in the arm" to revitalize teachers with straightforward practical strategies for creating successful classrooms and successful learners. Not only do the authors provide specific details for each research-based strategy presented, but they also include reproducible forms to support the strategies, idea share excerpts, and a "teacher talk," which provides vignettes of real classroom experiences.

From the Inside Flap

Dear Reader,

Fire, so primative and primeval, is at once both fearsome and friendly. It can offer security and warmth from a cold unfriendly night, and yet if it gets out of hand, can become a raging inferno that consumes everything in its path. Each of us looks at fire from a different perspective. We bring in our own memories of fire that color our attitude towards it.

A fire, so vast in its existence and ways it is used is such a perfect metaphor for teaching. Teaching is so complex and varied because we each bring to it our own experiences. We add new ideas and remove old ones, we have calm years and tumultuous years, and we feel the ebb and flow for the passion of learning in ourselves and our students.

This book is broken into three sections that help build the analogy between teaching & learning and building a strong fire. The first section is "Preparing for the Fire," because as we all know, preparation is one of the keys to a successful classroom. Next, the second section offers ideas and strategies for "Lighting the Fire," helping us spark the love of learning in our students. Finally, the last section, "Fanning the Flames," offers a variety of strategies for maintaining that love of teaching within us and the love of learning within our students.

Whether you need to reignite that spark or simply fan the flames within your classroom, we hope that you will find the ideas and strategies described in this book to be helpful as you work towards rekindling the fire and excitement of learning within you and your students!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Inspiring Teachers Pub Inc (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966714571
• ISBN-13: 978-0966714579
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,268,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice bolstered by real-life scenarios and the utilization of research-based strategies, November 12, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classrooms That Spark!: Recharge and Revive Your Teaching (Paperback)

The collaborative work of Emma S. McDonald and Dyan M. Hershman, Classrooms That Spark!: Recharge And Revive Your Teaching is specifically designed to help classroom teachers overcome the problem of "burn out" by rekindling the fire of learning within themselves and within their students. Classrooms That Spark will enable any K-12 teacher to crate a positive classroom environment where the love of learning is fostered, develop a "learner-centered" classroom structure, teach motivating lessons that will engage student attention throughout the entire class period, and manage their classroom efficiently and effectively. Written in a thoroughly "reader friendly" conversational style, Classrooms That Spark! offers practical advice bolstered by real-life scenarios and the utilization of research-based strategies. Enhanced with more than one hundred reproducible forms, Classrooms That Spark! is enthusiastically recommended reading for any teacher suffering from (or wanting to avoid!) boredom in their instructional activities and responsibilities.