Ceri B. Dean

Teacher librarians realize the tug of war that is going on in education that, in many cases, have contributed to the non-essential nature of the library/learning commons.Dean and her three associates present in this book the “stand and deliver” method of learning. The expert is at the head of the class and uses every technique that these authors have developed from practice and research literature to set objectives, assessments, and delivery mechanisms that try to direct learners through show more prescriptive and predictable outcomes. Everything depends on a set of skills that the teacher possesses that will be guaranteed to produce expected outcomes. Any mention of the world of information, technology, inquiry, differentiation? Of course not. The idea that anyone other than the classroom teacher might collaborate with such a teacher is absent. While we are certain that this team is busily selling their prescriptive formula nationwide, we are equally certain that their techniques are just one dimension of teaching and learning. Some call their approach, the formula for cookie-cutter education and if learning targets are not met, it is the fault of the teacher who has not followed the formula exactly. Are there some sound teaching strategies here? Of course; but, the movement for mor constructivist approaches to education are alive and well and deserve attention as we meet a generation of students who face many different challenges and opportunities not present in the research base from which these author’s strategies have developed. Teacher librarians in schools where this philosophy is required, recognize that the classroom door is locked, the teachers too busy and stressed, and the curriculum in such lock step that no amount of advocacy or convincing can change. The teacher librarian and any other specialist in the school will suffer the same fate in this type of learning organization and will be expected to offer what they can totally separate from what is going on in the classroom. A job in such a school is disappointing from the outset. That is why we recommend that a teacher librarian know full well the educational philosophy of the school before taking a position that will be discouraging from the outset. So, should you own and read such a book as this? That depends on your background knowledge and experience with this type of prescriptive and behaviorist educational philosophy. If you are a novice, then you need to read this book carefully to understand its philosophy and the few places in that model where your could possibily have an entry point assuming you don’t have a choice of jobs. If, however, you understand this philosophy, this book need not require your attention or purchase. show less

This book should be required reading for all teachers. It presents a framework for teaching and learning:
Creating The Environment for Learning
Helping Students Develop Understanding
Helping Students Extend and Apply Knowledge

Using this framework, research-based "high yield strategies" are presented and explained. They are-
1. Setting objectives and providing feedback
2. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
3. Cooperative Learning
4. Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers
5. show more Nonlinguistic Representations
6. Summarizing and Note taking
7. Assigning Homework
8. Identifying Similarities and Difference
9. Generalizing and Testing Hypotheses

Each chapter not only explains why the strategy is important, but gives user friendly suggestions for implementation. I learned a great deal about how to structure my units from the last chapter which is entitled "Instructional Planning Using the Nine Categories".

Overall, very well written and extremely usable ideas. I highly recommend this book to all teachers, regardless of experience level! show less

I really loved this book. I had to read it for an Education class this semester, and it was so useful. I learned a lot from this book. It is marked up and well loved. I would recommend this to a beginning teacher especially, but even seasoned teachers could benefit from it as well.