Talk About Teaching!

Leading Professional Conversations
Second Edition
Charlotte F. Danielson - Educational Consultant - Princeton, NJ
Talk About Teaching!
September 2015 | 160 pages | Corwin
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eBook
ISBN: 9781483373805
Available from January 0001
Paperback
ISBN: 9781483373799
Available from January 0001

Description

Improve teaching practice through powerful professional conversations!

Move beyond isolated teaching, passive observations, and ineffective workshops to be the leader who engages staff and affirms the value of reflective and informal professional discussions. Launch meaningful conversations and a powerful team of teachers who understand how students learn, what motivates them, and how to implement that research in the classroom. 

Good leaders know that sharing, discussing, and examining teaching practices and student work improves student learning through professional examination, inquiry, and growth. Educators who harness the power of informal professional conversation invite teachers to do the intellectual work needed to connect with students and boost achievement. The second edition of this powerful book includes:

  • A new chapter guiding conversations to align with  new state standards
  • Outlines for specific conversation skills needed to initiate and succeed
  • Mental maps, sample topics, and conversation activities

Read Talk About Teaching! and build a culture of understanding, respect, and empathy that encourages your team to reach for new possibilities. 

"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers.  I use it in my graduate class in supervision and strongly recommend that students keep this book as a resource for the future."
Diane Canino Rispoli, Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and former school leader
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY 

"The book’s major strength is that it combines a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how to conduct productive professional conversations. This book would be an excellent resource for supervisors and principals."
M. Susan Bolte, Principal
Providence Elementary, Aubrey, TX

Contents

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Author

Preface

Preface

1. Why Professional Conversation?

  • The Imperative for Improvement in Teaching
  • The Nature of Teacher Learning
  • Promoting Professional Learning Through Conversation
  • Assumptions Underlying Professional Conversations
  • Summary

2. Power and Leadership in Schools

  • Overview
  • The Reality of Power
  • Reconciling Power and Leadership
  • Summary

3. The Big Ideas that Shape Professional Conversations

  • What Constitutes Important Learning?
  • What Causes Learning?
  • How Are Students Motivated?
  • The Merging of All These Ideas
  • Summary

4. The Topics for Conversations

  • Power, Leadership, and the “Big Ideas”
  • Summary

5. Conversation Skills

  • Setting the tone for conversation
  • Linguistic Skills
  • Paraphrasing
  • Summary

6. Informal Professional Conversations

  • Purpose
  • Settings for Professional Conversations
  • Procedure
  • Summary

7. Implementation Issues

  • Finding Time for Conversation
  • Communicating the Purpose
  • Establishing Trust
  • Forging Understanding and Consensus on the “Big Ideas”
  • Elaborating the “Topics for Conversation”
  • Summary

8. Conversation Activities for Implementation

  • Establishing the Foundation
  • Communicating the Purpose
  • Establishing Trust
  • The Big Ideas: Considering High-Level Learning
  • How do People Learn?
  • Worthwhile learning experiences
  • Human Motivation
  • Topics for Conversation
  • Summary

References

References

Index

Index

Description

Improve teaching practice through powerful professional conversations!

Move beyond isolated teaching, passive observations, and ineffective workshops to be the leader who engages staff and affirms the value of reflective and informal professional discussions. Launch meaningful conversations and a powerful team of teachers who understand how students learn, what motivates them, and how to implement that research in the classroom. 

Good leaders know that sharing, discussing, and examining teaching practices and student work improves student learning through professional examination, inquiry, and growth. Educators who harness the power of informal professional conversation invite teachers to do the intellectual work needed to connect with students and boost achievement. The second edition of this powerful book includes:

  • A new chapter guiding conversations to align with  new state standards
  • Outlines for specific conversation skills needed to initiate and succeed
  • Mental maps, sample topics, and conversation activities

Read Talk About Teaching! and build a culture of understanding, respect, and empathy that encourages your team to reach for new possibilities. 

"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers.  I use it in my graduate class in supervision and strongly recommend that students keep this book as a resource for the future."
Diane Canino Rispoli, Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and former school leader
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY 

"The book’s major strength is that it combines a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how to conduct productive professional conversations. This book would be an excellent resource for supervisors and principals."
M. Susan Bolte, Principal
Providence Elementary, Aubrey, TX

Contents

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Author

Preface

Preface

1. Why Professional Conversation?

  • The Imperative for Improvement in Teaching
  • The Nature of Teacher Learning
  • Promoting Professional Learning Through Conversation
  • Assumptions Underlying Professional Conversations
  • Summary

2. Power and Leadership in Schools

  • Overview
  • The Reality of Power
  • Reconciling Power and Leadership
  • Summary

3. The Big Ideas that Shape Professional Conversations

  • What Constitutes Important Learning?
  • What Causes Learning?
  • How Are Students Motivated?
  • The Merging of All These Ideas
  • Summary

4. The Topics for Conversations

  • Power, Leadership, and the “Big Ideas”
  • Summary

5. Conversation Skills

  • Setting the tone for conversation
  • Linguistic Skills
  • Paraphrasing
  • Summary

6. Informal Professional Conversations

  • Purpose
  • Settings for Professional Conversations
  • Procedure
  • Summary

7. Implementation Issues

  • Finding Time for Conversation
  • Communicating the Purpose
  • Establishing Trust
  • Forging Understanding and Consensus on the “Big Ideas”
  • Elaborating the “Topics for Conversation”
  • Summary

8. Conversation Activities for Implementation

  • Establishing the Foundation
  • Communicating the Purpose
  • Establishing Trust
  • The Big Ideas: Considering High-Level Learning
  • How do People Learn?
  • Worthwhile learning experiences
  • Human Motivation
  • Topics for Conversation
  • Summary

References

References

Index

Index

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Talk About Teaching!

Leading Professional Conversations

Charlotte F. Danielson
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September 2015 | 160 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/01/2025 9781483373799 $40.95
Lifetime 01/01/2025 9781483373805 $37.00

Improve teaching practice through powerful professional conversations!

Move beyond isolated teaching, passive observations, and ineffective workshops to be the leader who engages staff and affirms the value of reflective and informal professional discussions. Launch meaningful conversations and a powerful team of teachers who understand how students learn, what motivates them, and how to implement that research in the classroom. 

Good leaders know that sharing, discussing, and examining teaching practices and student work improves student learning through professional examination, inquiry, and growth. Educators who harness the power of informal professional conversation invite teachers to do the intellectual work needed to connect with students and boost achievement. The second edition of this powerful book includes:

  • A new chapter guiding conversations to align with  new state standards
  • Outlines for specific conversation skills needed to initiate and succeed
  • Mental maps, sample topics, and conversation activities

Read Talk About Teaching! and build a culture of understanding, respect, and empathy that encourages your team to reach for new possibilities. 

"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers.  I use it in my graduate class in supervision and strongly recommend that students keep this book as a resource for the future."
Diane Canino Rispoli, Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and former school leader
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY 

"The book’s major strength is that it combines a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how to conduct productive professional conversations. This book would be an excellent resource for supervisors and principals."
M. Susan Bolte, Principal
Providence Elementary, Aubrey, TX


Table Of Contents:

  • Acknowledgements
  • About the Author
  • Preface
  • 1. Why Professional Conversation?
  • The Imperative for Improvement in Teaching
  • The Nature of Teacher Learning
  • Promoting Professional Learning Through Conversation
  • Assumptions Underlying Professional Conversations
  • Summary
  • 2. Power and Leadership in Schools
  • Overview
  • The Reality of Power
  • Reconciling Power and Leadership
  • Summary
  • 3. The Big Ideas that Shape Professional Conversations
  • What Constitutes Important Learning?
  • What Causes Learning?
  • How Are Students Motivated?
  • The Merging of All These Ideas
  • Summary
  • 4. The Topics for Conversations
  • Power, Leadership, and the “Big Ideas”
  • Summary
  • 5. Conversation Skills
  • Setting the tone for conversation
  • Linguistic Skills
  • Paraphrasing
  • Summary
  • 6. Informal Professional Conversations
  • Purpose
  • Settings for Professional Conversations
  • Procedure
  • Summary
  • 7. Implementation Issues
  • Finding Time for Conversation
  • Communicating the Purpose
  • Establishing Trust
  • Forging Understanding and Consensus on the “Big Ideas”
  • Elaborating the “Topics for Conversation”
  • Summary
  • 8. Conversation Activities for Implementation
  • Establishing the Foundation
  • Communicating the Purpose
  • Establishing Trust
  • The Big Ideas: Considering High-Level Learning
  • How do People Learn?
  • Worthwhile learning experiences
  • Human Motivation
  • Topics for Conversation
  • Summary
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

"The book’s major strength is that it combines a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how to conduct productive professional conversations. This book would be an excellent resource for supervisors and principals."
M. Susan Bolte, Principal, Providence Elementary, Aubrey, TX
"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers. I use it in my graduate class in supervision and strongly recommend that students keep this book as a resource for the future."
Diane Canino Rispoli, Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and Former School Leader, Syracuse University
"Talk About Teaching! Leading Professional Conversations provides a fine survey of how to encourage professional conversations and discussions about education, and comes from a team of teachers who discuss the basics of connecting with students on a meaningful level. The second edition of this book offers a new chapter on guiding conversations, sample topics and conversation activities, and discussions of how to engage students through conversational approaches and professional practices. From promoting analytic thinking to taking into account what motivates students and affects their actions, Talk About Teaching is for educators who want to open and foster dialogues that support the learning process."
The California Bookwatch: January 2016

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