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The Power of We
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The Power of We
Creating Positive and Collaborative Classroom Communities

  • Ron Nash - Ron Nash and Associates, LLC


August 2023 | 160 pages | Corwin

Students have an endless capacity of positive energy that can be harnessed into deeper understanding. This notion lies at the heart of The Power of We.

Through a powerful combination of first-hand stories and expert research, author Ron Nash recounts his awakening to the truth that engaging students starts by involving them as active participants in their own learning. By tracing his steps from a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, first-time teacher to a renowned education expert with four decades of experience, Ron Nash's first-person narrative springs to life as humorous tales lead to eye-opening realizations of classroom techniques that:

  • Encourage face-to-face conversations among students rather than reliance on technology
  • Put students first to create effective, dynamic classroom communities
  • Embrace the mistakes and use them to build advantage
  • Learn to narrow your focus to achieve big results
  • Help make a habit of being and staying positive by monitoring one's own daily energy levels
  • Extend a hand in the classroom to find the energy necessary to make instructional changes

By reassessing one's own understanding of the traditional model of teach, learn, test, educators can then leverage these strategies and tools to forge their own paths in helping students learn through true reflection of their classroom experiences.


 
About the Author
 
Acknowledgments
 
Foreword
 
Preface
 
Introduction
The View From the Balcony

 
We and Us

 
Through Lines

 
 
1. Learning As a Consequence of Thinking
Chief Loan Officer, Too

 
Attitude Check

 
Talking Is Thinking (Wait, What?)

 
A Tale of Two Conferences

 
That Was Then; This Is Then

 
Roles, Role Models, and Routines

 
Kids Have Some Explaining to Do

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
2. A Place for Face-to-Face Interaction
Developing Listening Skills

 
Begin With Pairs

 
The Pause That Reenergizes

 
Structured Brainstorming

 
Persist, Persist, Persist

 
Dialogue Is Content

 
Out Into the World

 
Hard and Essential Work

 
Mike Madden and the Halls of History

 
Inside the Outside Games

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
3. We and Us
Consider Changing the Paradigm

 
Build Empathy With Regular Interaction

 
The Importance of Modeling

 
Stop, Look, and Listen

 
Nurture Engagement on the Part of Students

 
Seek to Be Clearly Understood

 
Employ Motivation Accelerants

 
Encourage Digital Citizenship

 
Names and Relationships

 
Winter Doldrums

 
Consistency, Congruence, and Credibility

 
School-Wide Commitments to Learning Communities

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
4. To Laugh and Play, Perchance to Move
Getting Up to Business

 
Facilitating Movement in Classrooms

 
One District's Commitment

 
Laugh and the Kids Laugh With You

 
Time to Play and Tinker, Too

 
In-Place Energy Boosters

 
The Classroom and I Are Ready, Now What About the Kids?

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
5. In Praise of Foibles
Fear Itself

 
A Safe Place to Make Mistakes

 
Mistakes as Opportunities

 
What We Don't Know Can Help Us

 
Zone of Proximal Development

 
Extrinsic Rewards as Energy Killers

 
Feedback Is a Two-Way Street

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
6. Play Small Ball
Small Ball in the Schoolhouse

 
Process Before Content

 
Method or Madness

 
Play Small Ball With Journals

 
In-House Improvement Efforts

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
7. Monitor Your Energy Level
Seek Sources of Positive Energy

 
Manage Energy, Not Time

 
Just Walk That Way

 
Work on Working Relationships

 
Not Everything Is Planned and That's OK

 
Teacher Dynamism

 
Humor, Health, Exercise, and Nutrition

 
Harness the Power of Exercise

 
Start the Day Right

 
Cool Down

 
Rock On

 
 
8. Go Where the Fruit Is
Congenial and Collegial

 
How We View and Handle Change

 
Keep Their Questions Coming

 
Students and Teachers as Partners in Learning

 
Identify and Employ Accelerants

 
Invest in Their Time

 
Feedback

 
Try Something

 
The Power of We

 
 
References
 
Index

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ISBN: 9781943920266
CAD$ 38.95

For large school/district orders, volume discounts, availability and shipping times contact customer service at 800-233-9936
or order@corwin.com.

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