Talk About Teaching!

Talk About Teaching! helps educators understand the value and power of meaningful informal conversations about teaching to promote teacher learning, improve classroom teaching, and increase learner achievement. It also provides all educators with the "mental maps" and practical tools to enable them to conduct meaningful, although frequently informal, professional conversations about practice.

This book:

Identifies topics for professional conversations that are linked to the "big ideas" or essential components of successful teaching Links the "big ideas" to both critical research and to the author's frameworks Identifies and describes research-based conversation skills, including setting the tone, probing, paraphrasing, and inviting thinking Demonstrates how to create an environment that supports informal and effective professional conversations, e.g., making time for the conversations, establishing the necessary trust, reaching consensus on the essential components of successful teaching Provides an entire chapter of very specific conversation activities or protocols organized around the "big ideas" that comprise suggested questions, materials to support the conversations, and likely outcomes of discussions

“"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers.”

"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 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 "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

Charlotte Danielson, a former economist, is an internationally-recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness, specializing in the design of teacher evaluation systems that, while ensuring teacher quality, also promote professional learning. She advises State Education Departments and National Ministries and Departments of Education, both in the United States and overseas. She is in demand as a keynote speaker at national and international conferences, and as a policy consultant to legislatures and administrative bodies.

Ms Danielson is a graduate of Cornell University (history), Oxford University (philosophy, politics, and economics) and Rutgers University (educational administration and supervision.) She has taught at all levels, kindergarten through university), and has worked as a curriculum director and staff development director, and is the founder of The Danielson Group. Her Framework for Teaching has become the most widely-used definition of teaching in the United States, and has been adopted as the single model, or one of several approved models, in over 20 states.

Ms. Danielson's many publications range from defining good teaching ("Enhancing Professional Practice: a framework for teaching," 2007), to organizing schools for student success ("Enhancing Student Achievement: a framework for school improvement," 2002), to teacher leadership ("Teacher Leadership that Strengthens the Profession," 2006), to professional conversations ("Talk about Teaching! Conducting Professional Conversations," 2009), to numerous practical instruments and training programs (both onsite and online) to assist practitioners in implementing her ideas.

Click here for more info on Talk about Teaching!

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.