Methods that Matter [Paperback]

Harvey Daniels (Author), Marilyn Bizar (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is not just for beginners, teachers who have made some progress in transforming their teaching will find useful information and a helpful organization that may clarify their thinking and facilitate further progress. -- Education Book Review

From the Back Cover

Today's teachers are inundated with advice. Caught between the congenial but abstract ideals of progressive education and the thousands of micro-recommendations pouring out of school reform groups, how are we to teach our classes tomorrow? Cutting through this overload, Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar identify six basic teaching structures that make classrooms more active, experiential, collaborative, democratic, and cognitive, while simultaneously meeting the emerging standards of "Best Practice" across subject areas and through the grades.

Methods that Matter offers concrete descriptions of practical and proven ways of organizing time, space, materials, students, and activities that embody new standards while creating genuinely student-centered classrooms. Illustrated by stories from two dozen teachers at a wide variety of grade levels, the book clearly describes six fundamental, recurrent activities:

- Integrative units - extending thematic, interdisciplinary inquiries co-planned with students, drawing on knowledge and skills from across the curriculum.

- Small group activities - structuring collaborative pairs, groups, and teams that decentralize the classroom and individualize the curriculum.

- Representing-to-learn - engaging ideas through writing and art; exploring genres and media of expression as ways of investigating, remembering, and applying information.

- Classroom workshop - applying the studio-apprenticeship method with teacher modeling and coaching, student choice, responsibility, and exhibition.

- Authentic experiences - curriculum-centered ways of bringing life into school and students into the community for research and service.

- Reflective assessment - nurturing student reflection, goal-setting, and self-assessment; widening the evaluative roles and repertoires of teachers and parents.

Methods that Matter will help you organize and manage your classroom so learning and teaching can truly achieve Best Practice levels.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Stenhouse Publishers; [First Edition] edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571100822
• ISBN-13: 978-1571100825
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #795,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harvey "Smokey" Daniels has been a city and suburban public school teacher, a university professor, a classroom consultant, and writer and editor. He is the author of 13 books on literacy, language, and school change, most of which are available on Amazon. Among his best known titles are Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups, Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading, and Content Area Writing. His latest book is Conversation and Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action, with Stephanie Harvey.

After living and working in Chicago for many years, Smokey and his wife Elaine, also a teacher educator, recently moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is on the faculty of the University of New Mexico and regularly teaches students at Salazar School. Last year, Smokey spoke and consulted in 19 states and Canada, helping teachers and kids to think more deeply about the subject matter of the curriculum -- and to pursue the burning questions they have as curious human beings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must read" for 21st Century Teachers, August 4, 2000

By 

"chris21770" (Holden, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Methods that Matter (Paperback)

This book is an excellent overview of what it takes to be a teacher for today's world. Gone are the days of children sitting silently in rows while the the "sage on stage" lectures endlessly on facts and figures. In the year 2000, teachers need to be willing to share responsiblity for learning with their students, and present subject matter in relevant, engaging, collaborative ways. Daniels and Bizar do a masterful job presenting the "basics" for today. Teaching with integrated themes, the value of response projects, student conferences in their various forms, and creating a workshop atmosphere in the classroom are just some of the "methods that matter" presented in this highly readable, jargon-free book. If you are looking to to move toward stepping out of the spotlight in your classroom, to become a more child-centered facilitator of learning, this book is an excellent place to begin.

An added bonus: this book is not "pie-in-the-sky" idealistic, as many professional development books tend to be. Daniels and Bizar come across as "real", and acknowledge the realities that we as teachers face in the day to day politics that is American education today.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A teaching Methods for Teachers, November 16, 2001

By 

Gina Perry (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Methods that Matter (Paperback)

This is one of the most thorough books on how Best Practices works. Mariyln Bizar and Harvey Daniels explain the theory behind Best Practice and then explain how to implement it. We used this book in my Methods Class at National Louis University, where Marilyn and Harvey teach. I have also been to best Practice High School in Chicago and observed classes. Their theories hold up in the actual classroom. Students that you would not neccessarily have expected to do well,, do so with Best Practice Methods. Each and every child at Best Practice High School comes from the inner city , mostly from the West Side of Chicago. 80% of all graduates from Best Practice High School go on to college. Can your school say that?

Anyone who wants to teach or to change their teaching methods and get students involved in the process of their own education needs this book as a part of their library. When you do so, study it well and ask questions. Your students will love you for it and will buy into education. And isn't that worth every penny?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars need inspiring ideas?, February 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Methods that Matter (Paperback)

I don't usually take the time to write reviews for Amazon, but this education book inspired me enough to 'sell' it to you...

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this book was because of the wonderful layout and content presented in the text. It is cleverly divided into six fundamental strategies upon which "Best Practice" ideals are based. These activities (integrative units, small group activities, representing-to-learn, classroom workshop, authentic experiences and reflective assessment) are explained to the reader, one by one, then different teachers contribute activities which were effective for them. Their suggestions were innovative and useful in the classroom.

This book does not only focus on the language arts, but also spans across the math, science, art and phys ed curriculum. It discusses and explains how you can integrate several subjects into a lesson or workshop.

The activities can be used for primary students up to high school students, although I found it to be really useful for my junior/intermediate students. The activies are flexible and can be adapted for any grade level.

This book GAVE ME IDEAS right away. I highly recommend it. Read it, and you too might be inspired to write a review!