The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills [Paperback]

Jon Saphier (Author), Robert Gower (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1886822069 | ISBN-13: 978-1886822061 | Publication Date: January 1997 | Edition: 5th Revised

This book has become a standard text in many teaching courses. Designed for both the novice and the experienced educator, The Skillful Teacher is a unique synthesis of the Knowledge Base on Teaching with powerful repertoires for matching teaching strategies to student needs. Designed as a practical guide for practitioners working to broaden their teaching skills, the book focuses on 17 critical areas of classroom performance. Numerous examples illustrate teaching approaches, and chapter-by-chapter bibliographies provide additional sources for further research. This expanded fifth edition includes new chapters on Assessment, Expectations, Classroom Climate, The Importance of Teacher Beliefs, and Conditions for Teacher Learning.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jon Saphier is the Founder and Executive Director of Research for Better Teaching, Inc., an organization dedicated to the professionalization of teaching. Dr. Saphier is a recognized consultant on supervision, evaluation, staff development, and school culture and has authored six books and numerous articles on those topics.

Bob Gower is presently Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where he is an advisor in the doctoral program Leadership in Schooling. Dr. Gower is actively involved in long-term, school-based staff development projects in a number of Boston area schools.

Mary H. DeGarmo, Illustrator
Beverly Miller, Editor

Product Details

• Paperback: 598 pages
• Publisher: Research for Better Teaching; 5th Revised edition (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886822069
• ISBN-13: 978-1886822061
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Synthesis of the Knowledge Base on Teaching Available, November 21, 1999

By 

Stephen Phelps (San Francisco, Ca USA ([e-mail])) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills (Paperback)

Research for Better Teaching has synthesized much of the knowledge base on teaching in one practical and useful manual. At last there is book that does justice to the complexity of great teaching. Jon Saphier and Robert Gower have divided the nuts and bolts of teaching into four areas:

* Management, which includes classroom routines and transitions, discipline, momentum, and getting students' attention,

* Instruction, which includes clarity, the principles of learning, and models of teaching,

* Motivation, which outlines teacher behaviors that establish high expectations for all, help with relationship building, and the classroom climate,

* Curriculum, which includes objectives, the learning experience, assessment, and curriculum design.

This 598 page book should be a mandatory text for all teacher training courses.

The Research for Better Teaching group in Acton Massachusetts offers several 6 to 7 day courses for teachers and administrators on teaching and supervising teachers. Their just published book, the Skillful Leader, offers help to school administrators looking for solid ideas on how to help struggling teachers.

After sending some of our administrators to Boston to take the Research for Better Teaching courses, we are convinced that educators in the Bay Area will soon discover this great professional resource located just outside Boston.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A University Professor's View, August 22, 2002

By 

Mary Aspedon, Ph.D. (Weatherford, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills (Paperback)

"The Skillful Teacher" by Saphier & Gower simply is the best single reference I could recommend for preservice and inservice teachers. I use this book in my Classroom Management class for student teachers and the feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive. The practical approach built on sound educational theory makes this book enormously appealing. The chapters of the book address those skills prerequisite to successful teaching. I especially value the chapters on skills normally overlooked: Use of attention, momentum, space, time and routines. I have found that mastery of these skills along with high expectations, meaningful personal relationships, and positive classroom climate largely eliminate the need for "discipline." This is extremely powerful since teachers who exit the profession within the first three years consistently list "lack of effective discipline skills" as one of the major reasons for their departure. I advise all pre-teachers and teachers everywhere to buy, read, and use this book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive text, January 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills (Paperback)

Saphier & Gower's book is an invaluable resource for preservice & novice teachers or experienced teachers wishing to improve their pedagogical skills. The methodologies are applicable to most grade levels, content areas, and teaching situations. Great for use in teacher education courses. Exercises or suggested activities are given at the end of each chapter.