Teacher Talk!: The Art of Effective Communication (School Talk series) [Paperback]

Cheli Cerra M.Ed. (Author), Ruth Jacoby Ed.D. (Author)

Book Description

Series: School Talk series | Publication Date: April 1, 2005

A must-have book for every practicing and would-be teacher!

Teacher Talk! provides practical advice to help educators develop and improve their communication skills. Authors Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby identify 52 common school situations and then provide insight with tips, worksheets, and sample letters for handling each of them.
* Are you uncomfortable speaking with parents?
* Are you in need of assistance at conference time?
* Are you looking for easy-to-use worksheets and sample letters to guide you?
* Are you in need of answers on how to best handle common, everyday situations?


If you answered yes, then Teacher Talk! is the book you need. You'll communicate better with both students and parents, your stress levels will go down, and student achievement will go up!

"An amazing compilation of what to say to parents. Any one suggestion will help, if not save your life, in a difficult situation with a parent. This book is a must for your professional library!"
--Harry K. Wong, Ed.D. Author of the #1 bestseller The First Days of School

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A must-have book for every practicing and would-be teacher!

Teacher Talk! provides practical advice to help educators develop and improve their communication skills. Authors Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby identify 52 common school situations and then provide insight with tips, worksheets, and sample letters for handling each of them.

• Are you uncomfortable speaking with parents?
• Are you in need of assistance at conference time?
• Are you looking for easy-to-use worksheets and sample letters to guide you?
• Are you in need of answers on how to best handle common, everyday situations?

If you answered yes, then Teacher Talk! is the book you need. You'll communicate better with both students and parents, your stress levels will go down, and student achievement will go up!

"An amazing compilation of what to say to parents. Any one suggestion will help, if not save your life, in a difficult situation with a parent. This book is a must for your professional library!"
—Harry K. Wong, Ed.D. Author of the #1 bestseller The First Days of School

About the Author

CHELI CERRA, M.Ed., is a school principal, former teacher, and mother of two. Under her leadership, her schools received an A+ rating from the Florida Department of Education. Cerra has been featured on over thirty radio shows around the country as well as in Woman's Day magazine.

RUTH JACOBY, Ed.D., is the founding principal of the Somerset Academy charter schools for grades pre-K–11, which also received an A+ rating. She has more than thirty years' experience as an administrator and educator in traditional public, private, and charter schools.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471720143
• ISBN-13: 978-0471720140
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,801,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Real-world, practical advice, September 5, 2003

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teacher Talk! (School Talk, 1) (Paperback)

The sad thing about this book is that our educational system is in such a state that a book like this is necessary. In "Teacher Talk!" the authors detail all the most common situations you are likely to find while teaching and how to use effective communication to handle it. The coverage is extensive and includes situations like dealing with the overzealous parent at open house, the parent who wants to talk daily just before school, the parent who gossips about the child or about you, the parent who mistakenly believes their child is gifted, the child who is gifted, the child whose performance is declining, habitually truant children, bullies, the student caught cheating or stealing, parental questions on testing and test results, and dozens of other situations. The book is laid out in a workbook style full of notes, reminder lists, examples of various written communications, self-evaluations, sign-in forms, forms for a parent to request a conference, forms for a teacher to request a conference, guidelines sheets, phone logs, behavior observation charts, and just about anything else that you could possible ask for or anticipate needing. By having established policies that are clear and easy to understand the teacher keeps control not only of her students, but also of his or her time. Anyone just starting to teach in the educational system or trying to create an effective communication system between students, parents and the teacher will find a lot of valuable information and forms in this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to school starts soon-- get your's now! Parent & Teacher, July 31, 2006

By 

Joyce Schwarz "Joyce Schwarz" (Marina Del Rey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Teacher Talk!: The Art of Effective Communication (School Talk series) (Paperback)

Perfect book for every teacher and principal who wants to communicate effectively. Great advice for educators. Wind your way through more than 50 school situations and learn tips, find worksheets and sample letters for handling each of them. From the overzealous parent at open house to the parent who feels his child gets too stressed about a test to giving a child another opportunity on a project. Organized by the school year. The graphics are amazing and will keep you reading. If you're a new teacher this is invaluable, if you're a returning veteran-- you can always use some extra help on a tough day - this is it. One of a series of books aimed for the school workplace. Cheli is amazing and her partner and the graphics dude did a terrific job.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teacher Talk, March 7, 2006

By 

Toni (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teacher Talk!: The Art of Effective Communication (School Talk series) (Paperback)

Teacher Talk is a helpful way to aide not only the first year teacher but even all seasoned teachers with a month by month checklist of effective communication strategies to utilize throughout the school year and their teaching career. This book is a must have!!