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Wayside Teaching
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Wayside Teaching
Connecting With Students to Support Learning



February 2010 | 200 pages | Corwin

"Teachers know how to teach, but they want to connect with their kids to make that teaching effective. This book empowers teachers to complete what is missing in their work."
—Jude A. Huntz, Adult Education Coordinator
St. Michael the Archangel Parish and School, Leawood, KS

"Wayside teaching is not taught as an educational strategy, yet its impact is undeniable. The book defines the concept and demonstrates how teachers can implement this tangential form of learning on a regular basis."
—Marilyn Steneken, Science Teacher
Sparta Middle School, NJ

Wayside teaching—nurturing connections in and out of the classroom to facilitate learning!

Wayside teaching is about intentionally practicing what educators do every day in perhaps unintentional ways: relate to students. This practical, research-based guide illustrates how wayside teaching—the informal curriculum, implicit instruction, and mentoring that happens in sometimes unintentional ways—can be intentionally practiced across grade levels to enhance learning and boost student outcomes.

Through a framework focused on attitudes, approaches, and actions, and using vignettes that illuminate wayside teaching in action, Sara Davis Powell demonstrates how reaching out to students in formal and informal situations helps create a culture of belonging and safety that strengthens a student's self-concept, confidence, resiliency, and cognitive processes. The book provides:

  • Wayside teaching strategies for use inside and outside classrooms
  • Specific examples for elementary, middle, and high school settings
  • Self-assessment exercises that help educators explore their own dispositions and connect self-knowledge with productive teaching practices
  • Easy-to-reference graphic organizers that link wayside teaching practices to specific classroom contexts

Offering invaluable resources, including student surveys for learning more about your students and an annotated booklist for promoting acceptance and compassion, Wayside Teaching reflects the powerful influence that teachers' actions can have on their students' academic and personal lives.


 
List of Figures
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction: What Is Your Current Wayside Teaching Profile?
Graphic View of Your Current Wayside Teaching Profile

 
 
1. What Is Wayside Teaching, and Why Does It Matter?
What Is Wayside Teaching?

 
Why Does Wayside Teaching Matter?

 
Concluding Reflections

 
 
2. 12 Components of Wayside Teaching: Attitudes, Approaches, and Actions
Component 1: Know Your Students

 
Component 2: Practice Little Gestures That Matter

 
Component 3: Reveal Your Personal Self

 
Component 4: Create and Maintain an Inviting Classroom

 
Component 5: Promote a Culture of Acceptance and Compassion

 
Component 6: Help Students Find Their Voice

 
Component 7: Learn to Listen

 
Component 8: Speak Carefully

 
Component 9: Teach Skills That Help Students Become Autonomous, Not Anonymous

 
Component 10: Build Resiliency

 
Component 11: Encourage Imagination and Creativity

 
Component 12: Infuse Humor

 
 
3. What Does Wayside Teaching Look Like in Elementary School?
Development of Elementary Learners

 
Wayside Teaching Practices for Elementary Learners

 
 
4. What Does Wayside Teaching Look Like in Middle School?
Development of Young Adolescent Learners

 
Wayside Teaching Practices for Young Adolescent Learners

 
 
5. What Does Wayside Teaching Look Like in High School?
Development of Adolescent Learners

 
Wayside Teaching Practices for Adolescent Learners

 
 
6. Wayside Teaching: The Power of One
Looking Back at Theory and Practice

 
Reform in Perspective

 
Goals for Wayside Teachers

 
Final Thoughts

 
 
Resource A: Surveys
 
Resource B: Annotated Book List for Promoting Acceptance and Compassion
 
References
 
Index

“At last! A book that pushes past the idea that students should be test-taking machines by emphasizing relationship building and providing practical advice to teachers.”

Kristie Betts Letter, English Teacher
Peak to Peak High School, Erie, CO

"It was refreshing to read about what I truly believe in and work at every year in my classroom."

Sandi Phair, Second-Grade Teacher
West Hill School, Rocky Hill, CT

"A topic whose time has come and is perhaps long overdue. Teachers know how to teach, but they want to connect with their kids to make that teaching effective. This book empowers teachers to complete what is missing in their work."

Jude A. Huntz, Adult Education Coordinator
St. Michael the Archangel Parish and School, Leawood, KS

“I loved the premise of the book. It touched my soul.”

Patricia Bowman, Instructional Consultant
Retired Administrator, Los Angeles Unified School District, CA

"Wayside teaching is not taught as an educational strategy, yet its impact is undeniable. The book defines the concept and demonstrates how teachers can implement this tangential form of learning on a regular basis."

Marilyn Steneken, Science Teacher
Sparta Middle School, NJ

"If teaching has left you wrung out academically and dried out emotionally, this book is for you. By using studies proving the power of wayside teaching, Powell has freed teachers to create meaningful relationships with students that will not only inspire them to greater academic achievement, but help them become emotionally healthy and resilient adults."

Jennifer Y. Cheng, Teacher
Northridge Middle School, Chatsworth, CA
Key features
  • Provides self-assessment exercises to highlight the connection between self-knowledge and productive teaching practices and to help teachers explore their own dispositions and practices
  • Explores the academic and affective impact of positive wayside teaching and the issue of measuring this effect
  • Provides wayside teaching strategies for use inside and outside of the classroom with specific strategies and examples for elementary, middle, and high school grade levels
  • Presents vignettes of actual teachers that illuminate positive wayside teaching practices and correspond to the strategies and concepts in each chapter
  • Includes easy-to-reference graphic organizers that link wayside teaching practices to specific classroom contexts
  • Offers invaluable teacher resources, including student surveys to help teachers learn more about their students and an annotated booklist for promoting acceptance and compassion

Select a Purchasing Option


Paperback
ISBN: 9781412972901
$39.95