Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach: A Handbook for Secondary School Teachers

353 Pages·2013·2.328 MB·English

by  Alan Singer

TEACHING TO LEARN, LEARNING TO TEACH

Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach uniquely addresses three problems that frequently concern pre-service and
beginning teachers: classroom control, satisfying state and federal mandates, and figuring out exactly what is
the role of the teacher. It provides an alternative to methods textbooks that compartmentalize different aspects
of teaching. Bridging these divisions by integrating practical, theoretical, and critical considerations in
secondary school teaching, it presents a model student-centered approach for designing lessons, developing
personal connections with students, and building classroom communities: PRO/CLASS Practices (Planning,
Relationships, Organization, Community, Leadership, Assessment, Support, Struggle). The broad principles
of PRO/CLASS Practice are presented as part of an integrated approach to teaching—not as a recipe to be
followed mechanically. Pre-service teachers are encouraged to reinterpret the principles and continually
redefine them as they develop their own reflective practice.
Changes in the Second Edition:
• Updates throughout with attention to the Common Core State Standards, high stakes testing, the
possibilities and limitations of technology use in the classroom, and preparing for the job market;
• Fully revised chapter on literacy highlighting critical literacy, types of literacy, literacy standards, learning
complex material while improving reading skills, and technological literacy in a digital age;
• New interviews with young teachers 10 years later (2003 to 2013) and with several second-career teachers;
• Companion Website: Supplemental planning, teaching, and assessment materials; 32 extended essays
including a number of the author's widely read Huffington Post columns; interviews with beginning and
veteran teachers; Ideas for Your Professional Portfolio, Resume, and Cover Letter; Recommended
Websites for Teachers.
Alan J. Singer is Professor of Secondary Education and Director of Social Studies Education in the
Department of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership at Hofstra University in New York and the editor of Social
Science Docket (a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for Social Studies).
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TEACHING TO LEARN, LEARNING TO
TEACH
A Handbook for Secondary School Teachers
Second Edition

Alan J. Singer and the Hofstra New Teachers Network

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First published 2014
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2014 Taylor & Francis
The right of Alan J. Singer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First published in 2003 by Routledge
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Singer, Alan J. Teaching to learn, learning to teach: a handbook for secondary
school teachers / Alan Singer. — Second edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. High school teaching—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
LB1737.A3S56 2013
373.1102—dc23
2013000959
ISBN: 978-0-415-53459-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-53460-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-11328-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo and Stone Sans
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Printed and bound in the United States of America on acid-free paper.
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The Second Edition of Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach is dedicated to Mary Kennedy Carter (1934–
2010), teacher, teacher educator, and lifetime political activist.
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BRIEF CONTENTS

Preface to the Second Edition: The Audacity of Teaching
Index to Companion Website
BOOK I
Goals and Responsibilities for Teachers
A Letter to Future Teachers
Why I Knead the Bread
1 Goals: Why Do You Want to Be a Teacher?
2 Responsibilities: What Is a Teacher?
BOOK II
PRO/CLASS Practices—Planning, Relationships,
Organization, Community
3 Planning: How Do You Plan a Lesson?
4 Relationships: Why Are Relationships with Students Crucial to Successful Teaching?
5 Organization: How Are Classrooms and Schools Organized?
6 Community: How Do You Build Classroom Communities Committed to Educational Goals?
Concluding Thoughts for Book II:
A PRO/CLASS Practices Approach to Dealing with Classroom and
Other Professional Problems
BOOK III
PRO/CLASS Practices—Literacy, Assessment, Support, Struggle
7 Literacy: How Can Teachers Encourage Student Literacies?
8 Assessment: How Should Teachers Assess Student Learning and Their Own Performance?
9 Support: How Can Teachers Provide Support for Students Having Difficulty in School and Life?
10 Struggle: How Can We Be More Effective Teachers and Build Better Schools?
Author Index
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Subject Index
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CONTENTS

Preface to the Second Edition: The Audacity of Teaching
Rationale and Description
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Index to Companion Website
BOOK I
Goals and Responsibilities for Teachers
A Letter to Future Teachers
Why I Knead the Bread
1 Goals: Why Do You Want to Be a Teacher?
Section A: The Challenge
Section B: How Do Your Beliefs about the World Shape Your Teaching?
Section C: How Ideas Shape Our Teaching
Section D: Becoming a Teacher: Teachers Discuss Their Ideas and Experiences
Life Is a Series of Decisions by Pablo Muriel
Teacher and Adventurer by Amanda Ahern
Additional Online Stories about Becoming a Teacher
Section E: First-Semester Education Students Reflect on Their Experience
My Secondary Education General Methods Reflective Practice Journal by Alice Van Tassell
My Secondary Education General Methods Reflective Practice Journal by Maritza Perez
Section F: Alan's Pedagogical Creed—What I Know About Teaching and Learning (with Apologies to
John Dewey)
2 Responsibilities: What Is a Teacher?
Section A: My Best Teachers: Directed Experience, Scaffolding, and Creative Maladjustment
Section B: Nuts and Bolts of Teaching: Introducing the U.S. Army Air Corps Manual
Section C: Becoming a Teacher: Teachers Discuss Their Personal Experiences as Students
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A Student Who Did Just Enough to Get By by Stacey Cotten
I Hated Teachers Who Were Controlling by Jennifer Bambino
Additional Online Stories about Becoming a Teacher
Section D: Second-Career Teachers Who Make a Big Difference in the Lives of Their Students
Exploring Many Worlds by Vance Gillenwater
From Lawyer to Teacher by Jeffrey Cohn
First- and Third-Career Teacher by Bobbie Robinson
An Officer and Then a Teacher by Brian Joyce
Balancing Career and Family by Krishma Arora
Section E: Introduction to Online Stories by Veteran Teachers
BOOK II
PRO/CLASS Practices—Planning, Relationships, Organization, Community
An Introduction to PRO/CLASS Practices
3 Planning: How Do You Plan a Lesson?
Section A: What Are Your Goals?
Section B: Turning Common Core on Its Head
Section C: What Are Teaching Strategies?
Section D: My Best Teachers: A Lesson in Humility
Section E: What Does a Lesson Look Like?
Section F: Five Sample Lesson Formats
Section G: Becoming a Teacher: What Makes Someone Successful as a Teacher?
I Will Not Let the Wheelchair Be an Excuse by Dennis Mooney
Section H: What Is Thematic Teaching (in Social Studies, Biology, and Everything Else)?
4 Relationships: Why Are Relationships with Students Crucial to Successful Teaching?
Section A: How Important Are Relationships Between a Teacher and Students?
Section B: My Best Teachers: Learning from My Students
Section C: How Important Is It to “See” and “Hear” Students?
Section D: What Does It Mean to Be “Gifted”?
Section E: Should Teachers See Race and Discuss Injustice?
5 Organization: How Are Classrooms and Schools Organized?
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Section A: If You Could Build a Secondary School from Scratch, What Would It Look Like?
Section B: How Can You Find (and Hold Onto) a Job in a Traditional School Setting?
Section C: If You Could Design a Secondary School Classroom, What Would
It Look Like?
Section D: Nuts and Bolts of Teaching: How Do You Establish Classroom Rules?
Section E: How Do You Organize an Inclusive Classroom?
Section F: Becoming a Teacher: Responding to Different School Settings
The First Day of the School Year by Laura Pearson Wenger
A New Teacher's Difficult Journey by Nichole Williams Allen
6 Community: How Do You Build Classroom Communities Committed to Educational Goals?
Section A: Can Community Emerge from Chaos?
Section B: How “Teacher Tricks” Can Help Build Community
Section C: Becoming a Teacher: What Does Community Building Look Like?
I Struggle for My Students, Not Against Them by Rachel Gaglione Thompson
Teaching “Chocolate” and “Caramel” Colored Children by Justin Williams
Section D: How Do “Corny Teacher Jokes” Help You to Be “Real”?
Section E: Online Essays on Cooperative Learning and Developing Student Leadership
Concluding Thoughts for Book II:
A PRO/CLASS Practices Approach to Dealing with Classroom
and Other Professional Problems
Section A: Some Complicated But Pretty Standard “Classroom Problems”
Section B: Guidance-Related Issues Can Be Very Thorny and Can Raise Legal Questions
Section C: Relationships with Colleagues Can Be Tricky
Section D: Disagreements with School Policies
BOOK III
PRO/CLASS Practices—Literacy, Assessment, Support, Struggle
7 Literacy: How Can Teachers Encourage Student Literacies?
Section A: What Is Critical Literacy?
Section B: How Many Kinds of Literacy Are There?
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