Teaching in Elementary and Secondary Classrooms: Building a Learning Community

This interesting, informative book addresses the increasing diversity in today's student populations by portraying the classroom as a community of learners, emphasizing responsibility, respect, cooperation, involvement, reflection and caring. It assists the reader's understanding of the need to reflect on what was taught and how it captured their students' attention, allowing them to learn what to teach (or re-teach) next. It describes, in easily-accessible terms, how to integrate new technology into the curriculum, covering the pros and cons of using the Web as a tool for teaching and learning. Highlighting simple methods for teaching topics or handling the various situations that can arise, this book focuses on the needs of learners (both students and teachers); the author shares her experiences in democratic classroom environments, exploring how they can be recognized and created. Chapters are linked with one another to present a continuous flow of information, and includes such “hot” topics as motivation, culturally-responsive education, cooperative learning, professional ethics, and accountability. A valuable resource for teachers of children from all backgrounds, this book can also serve as an important part of any educational administrator's library.