Talk-Less Teaching: Practice, Participation and Progress

by Isabella Wallace, Leah Kirkman

Teacher-talk is a powerful tool. But while teachers must embrace teacher-talk as vital, they must also bear in mind that not all teacher-talk is created equally...Long periods of talk will not always keep a class spellbound. Other techniques are needed on which to help pupils embed learning and make progress. After all, how can we be effectively checking progress and understanding when it is we who are doing all the talking? How can we be certain that the sea of "attentive" faces before us is not simply contemplating lunch? The solution is here--a vast bank of exciting, engaging, practical ways to allow learners to access and understand complex topics and skills without relentlessly bending their ears. Strategies which not only prevent pupils from being passengers in lessons, but which also make progress visible to both teacher and learner. In an entertaining and practical way, Talk-Less Teaching shows you how to encourage learners' responsibility for their own progress without compromising test results or overall achievement. Discover hundreds of tried and tested practical tips for helping pupils understand difficult concepts and learn new skills without you developing lecture-laryngitis.

Genres: Teaching, Education

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2014

Reviews

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did skip a lot of the body of the text - I don't need to be convinced to avoid too much 'teacher-talk' , but I have lots of pages stuck with post-it notes , marking ideas I might try in class - so a pretty good book for teachers.

[Mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how this book offers practical strategies to a range of learning styles. Recommended for practitioners.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful, easily implemented strategies here which can be adapted to any subject. A book that provides ideas for making the transferral of information more learner-led than teacher-led. However, the structure of the book means that it isn’t very easy to navigate, just when you want to flick through for something to pimp up a lesson plan. I prefer teaching books that can be kept to hand and quickly referred to. This one’s the sort of book you need to go through and earmark the bits you like.

[Glynn Bentley]

Superb Book for the aspiring teacher that wants to talk less.