Book Description
The goal of this book is to prepare prospective teachers to meet the challenges of today's changing classrooms by providing effective, practical, research-based practices in an accessible, conversational style. The author shows future teachers not only “what” to do to meet today's teaching challenges, but “how” to do it, through the experiences of real teachers in real classrooms. Material is based on a quarter-century of actual, in-classroom research that makes it possible to replace anecdotal suggestions for good teaching with solidly research-grounded strategies empirically related to positive outcomes. Extensive coverage on instructional goals and objectives—with expanded treatment of traditional taxonomies for cognitive and affective behaviors illustrates ways to determine the extent to which higher-order thinking and problem-solving is being achieved in the classroom. Discussion and illustrations focused on testing focuses readers' attention on the pros and cons of standardized testing—helps them identify when, and when not, to rely on such tests and how to help learners perform better on them. Material on diversity and inclusion, multicultural education and ESL teaching, and at-risk learners prepares prospective teachers for the diversity of today's classrooms—helps them understand the impact on learning needs and classroom management of such things as learning style, culture, prior knowledge/achievement, language, home/family life, and more. Includes coverage of NBPTS and INTASC standards, acquainting readers with these professional guidelines to help them prepare for the requirements of certification and licensure. For prospective teachers.


The publisher, Prentice-Hall Career & Technology
Conversational yet substantive in approach, this text presents practical, realistic, research-based teaching practices that have proven effective for engaging students in the learning process, managing the classroom, and increasing student achievement. It not only tells WHAT to do to obtain these results, it shows HOW to obtain them.


From the Back Cover
This practical K-12 general methods text continues to offer a strong research base and coverage of topics from instructional strategies to classroom management supported by authentic arid traditional assessment techniques. The new edition offers even more of a the practical coverage future, teachers need with new chapter case studies that offer Praxis II practice questions, and a new Video Window feature illustrating best practices. New to This Edition Chapter Case History and Practice Test Preparation exercises are tied to chapter content and prepare students to take the Praxis II exam. The Video Window feature provides unrehearsed classroom footage to help students identify and implement best practices. Increased coverage of the impact of standardized testing on classroom teachers helps future teachers better prepare their students to succeed.


About the Author
Gary Borich grew up on the south side of Chicago, where he attended Mendel High School, and later taught in the public school system of Niles, Illinois. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University, where he was director of evaluation at the Institute for Child Study. Dr. Borich is a member of the College of Education faculty at the University of Texas at Austin and a past member of the Board of Examiners of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. Dr. Borich's other books include Observation Skills for Effective Teaching, Fourth Edition; Educational Assessment for the Elementary and Middle School Classroom, Second Edition (with M. Tombari); Clearly Outstanding: Making Each Day Count in Your Classroom; Becoming a Teacher. An Inquiring Dialogue for the Beginning Teacher; Educational Psychology: A Contemporary Approach, Second Edition (with M. Tombari); and Educational Testing and Measurement, Seventh Edition (with T. Kubiszyn). Dr. Borich lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Kathy, and his two children, Brandy and Damon. His interests include training and riding Arabian horses.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Personal computers, competency testing for students and teachers, curriculum reform, new state and federal laws, multicultural classrooms, and new teacher certification and degree requirements are but a few of the factors changing the face of American schools. This book has been written to help you prepare to meet these challenges and to discover the opportunities for professional growth and advancement they provide. Goals of This Edition To accomplish this, the fifth edition of Effective Teaching Methods has four simple goals. The first is to present effective teaching practices derived from a recent 25year period of classroom research. In this research, different teaching practices were systematically studied for their effectiveness on learners. The results have made it possible to replace many age-old anecdotal suggestions for "good" teaching with modern research-based teaching practices that are empirically related to positive outcomes in learners. What these teaching practices are and how to use them to become an effective teacher is a major focus of this book. Second, this text describes these effective teaching practices in a friendly, conversational manner. The language of classrooms is informal, and there is no reason why a book about teachers in classrooms should not use the same language. Therefore, this book talks straight, avoiding complicated phrases, rambling discussions, or pseudoscholarly language. The idea behind each chapter is to get the point across quickly and in a user-friendly style. The third goal of this book is to be practical. Positive prescriptions for your classroom behavior show you how to engage students in the learning process, manage your classroom, and increase student achievement. This book not only tells you what to do to obtain these results; it also shows you how to obtain them with examples from classroom dialogues and case studies. The final goal of this book is to be realistic. Some of the literature on teaching is speculative. However, this book describes what real teachers do in real classrooms and which teaching practices research has found are and are not effective in those classrooms. Nothing in this book is pie-in-the-sky-theorizing about effective teaching, because most of what is presented results directly from years of research and observation of effective teaching practices in real classrooms. These, then, are this book's four goals: to provide research-based effective teaching practices, presented in a conversational style, that are practical and realistic. New to This Edition Users of the earlier editions of this book will notice that each chapter has been revised due to the rapid pace of change and new research occurring in nearly every aspect of teaching. These changes have resulted in a fifth edition that considerably updates and extends the content in earlier editions. Since publication of the last edition of this text, I have prepared a new and revised edition of a companion volume, Observation Skills for Effective Teaching, Fourth Edition (Borich, 2003, also from Merrill/Prentice Hall). This revised companion volume and workbook is intended to be used either in a preteaching observation experience or as an applications resource to the present volume. Observation Skills for Effective Teaching, Fourth Edition, provides extensive examples, additional entertaining and instructional classroom dialogues, and practical observation and recording instruments keyed to and coordinated with the effective teaching methods presented in this text. Together, these texts provide a sequence of learning for the preservice and beginning teacher, as illustrated in the following figure. Also new to this edition is a case history and practice assessment questions at the end of each chapter to help you prepare for the Praxis II: Principles of Learning and Teaching exam and other exams that may be required at the end of your teacher preparation program. Following the objectives, format, and content of the Praxis II: Principles of Learning and Teaching exam, these case studies and practice assessment questions provide an in-depth targeted rehearsal that will help prepare you for the test-taking skills and pedagogical knowledge that may be expected of you on exit exams from your teacher preparation program and for certification and licensing. Also new to this edition is a feature called "Video Windows" consisting of Web-based unrehearsed classroom footage that illustrates key concepts in each chapter. These video inserts are strategically placed within chapters to demonstrate key strategies and methods being applied by teachers in real classrooms. A video lead-in within the text describes what you will see followed by what you should look for and think about when viewing the video on this text's Companion Website. Each video lead-in ends with questions or reflections in the text to which you can respond online at the Companion Website. Finally, and also new to this edition, is a discussion and illustration of the often felt contradiction between classroom and standardized tests. Probably no other development in education during the last decade has generated more controversy than the use of standardized tests for making "high-stakes" decisions involving grade promotion, the selection of students for advanced academic programs, and high school graduation. Equally problematic is the amount of classroom time that you may have to devote to preparing your students for standardized tests. In chapter 12 you will find out what's right and what's wrong about standardized testing, their proper use and their abuse, and how you can help your students perform better on them. Special Features Special features of this fifth edition include the following: A beginning chapter on the characteristics of an effective teacher and what an effective teacher does in the classroom (chapter 1). This chapter also acquaints you with the NBPTS and INTASC standards, which will be important for your certification and licensing. A chapter on understanding how individual differences and learner diversity—prior achievement, learning style, culture and language, and home and family life-affect student learning needs and classroom management (chapter 2). This chapter will introduce you to the real nature and challenges of today's multicultural classrooms and the teaching of English-language learners, immigrant populations, and at-risk learners. A revised and expanded chapter on instructional goals and objectives that shows you how to assess the extent to which you are achieving thinking and problem-solving behaviors in your classroom (chapter 3). This chapter expands the traditional taxonomies of cognitive and affective behavior to include the important higher-order objectives of problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, and valuing. A revised chapter on unit and lesson planning that will improve your decision-making skills in linking subject matter content to teaching methods and student outcomes in a continuous process of lesson planning. This chapter also shows you how to compose thematic and interdisciplinary lessons to promote higher-thought processes and problem-solving behavior in your learners (chapter 4). Two chapters on teaching strategies that explain how to use direct instructional methods (such as explaining, presenting, drill and practice, and recitation—chapter 5) and indirect instructional methods (such as group discussion, collaboration, and discovery and problem-solving activities—chapter 6). These chapters prepare you with an interchangeable menu of instructional activities that can be mixed and matched to the needs of your learners and goals of your lesson. A chapter on teacher questioning that shows you how to raise questions at different levels of cognitive complexity and how to use probes and follow-up questions to promote higher-order thinking and problem-solving behavior (chapter 7). This chapter will help you prepare your learners not only to engage in higher thought processes with the questions you ask but will also teach your students to ask higher-order questions of you. A chapter on self-directed learning and how to use metacognitive techniques, teacher mediation, and the social dialogue of the classroom to help learners control, regulate, and take responsibility for their own learning (chapter 8). This chapter will help you unleash your learners' intuitive and imaginative capacities to learn on their own, with you as resource, leaving them with a sense of ownership in what they have explored and discovered. A chapter on cooperative learning and the collaborative process for productively organizing and managing group and team activities that promote communication skills, self-esteem, and problem solving (chapter 9). This chapter will introduce you and your students to the enthusiasm, motivation, and creativity that can result from learners working together on real-world projects and performances. Two chapters on classroom management, including how to build a cohesive classroom of learners who work in harmony (chapter 10) and anticipatory management (chapter 11), which tell you how an "ounce of prevention" is worth a "pound of cure." Both chapters provide a complement of techniques and strategies that can quickly change your beginning days in the classroom from a concern for your own self-survival to the impact you are having on your learners. A chapter on evaluation of student achievement for measuring and interpreting student progress using teacher-made and standardized tests (chapter 12). This chapter will not only help you assess your learners' day-to-day understanding, but will help you bridge the gap between your learners' daily performance and their standardized test scores. A chapter on performance and portfolio assessment, which explains the concept of authentic assessment and how to construct and grade performance assessments in real-life contexts, with a special extended discussion of how to create and use student portfolios, in your classroom (chapter 13). This chapter will show you how you can bring the real world of adult products and performances into your classroom to add yet another measure of your students' achievements. A revised and expanded student/instructor guide, Bridges: Activity Guide and Assessment Options, Fifth Edition, that accompanies Effective Teaching Methods, Fifth Edition. Bridges, shrinkwrapped with each volume of the text, provides the instructor with a variety of resources for enriching the content of each chapter of the text and you, the student, with a variety of opportunities to apply the content of each chapter in a self-study review and practice format.

FROM THE PUBLISHER