Full Description
"No other book on teaching has excited me as much as this one. It should be the core text for prospective teachers in any field."
—Jonathan Potter, English and Drama Teacher
Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport, ME
"VanDeWeghe presents powerful instructional practices to help students use both their hearts and their minds in learning."
—Louann Reid, Professor
Colorado State University
Spark genuine enthusiasm in your classroom by engaging students' hearts and minds!
To generate truly compelling learning experiences and increase retention of new information, educators need the knowledge and tools to engage students from both a neurological and humanistic perspective.
Richard VanDeWeghe provides an inside look at what happens in students' minds and hearts when they are engaged and "in the groove." Based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's idea of "flow"—a state of intrinsic control, curiosity, interest, and inquiry that is the ultimate experiential goal for learning—this book provides holistic strategies for encouraging students to become motivated, engaged learners. Teachers will find:
Information on brain function and memory pathways
Spiritual and emotional principles of the heart that influence learning
Strategies for guiding open-ended discussions, quality questioning, and teacher modeling
Immediate, practical applications for language arts, science, math, and social studies
Vignettes illustrating effective teacher dialogue and classroom involvement
Engaged Learning is a clear, concise, and elegant resource that helps teachers understand what it means to be a highly motivated learner.
Contents
Foreword by Richard Sterling
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Part I. Flow, Minds, and Hearts
1. Engagement as Flow
Engagement
Engagement as Flow
The Conditions of Flow
2. Engaged Brains
#1: Brains Search for Meaning
Looking for Meaningful Patterns
Constructing Personal Theories
Paying Attention in Personally Significant Ways
#2: Emotions Drive Brains in Learning
#3: Engaged Brains Engender Mind-Body States
3. Engaged Hearts
#1: Mindfulness
#2: Unity
#3: Compassion
4. Engagement and Instructional Practice
Decisions About Engaged Learning
Brain Decisions
Heart Decisions
Flow State Decisions
A Way of Thinking
Part II. Teaching for Engaged Learning
5. Modeling Engaged Learning
Teacher Modeling
Modeling Habits of Mind and Heart
Modeling Work Habits
Thinking
Writing
Reading
History Class Revisited
6. Using Words That Support Engaged Learning
Talking About Learning
Noticing and Naming
Identity
Agency
Generalizing
Knowing
Democratic Learning Community
Talking About Intelligence
Fixed Intelligence
Malleable Intelligence
Talking About Intelligence
Intelligence Praise
Science Class Revisited
7. Using Discussions to Engage Learners
Engaging Ideas
Engaging Questions
Engaging Silence
The Dynamics of Engaging Discussion
Biology I Revisited
8. Supporting Engaged Readers
Engaged Reading
Trinal (Three-Part) Approaches to Reading
Before-Reading Comprehension Strategies
During-Reading Comprehension Strategies
After-Reading Comprehension Strategies
Carmen and School Reading
9. Supporting Engaged Writers
Engaged Writing
Purposes for Writing
Audiences for Writing
Forms of Engaged Writing
Teachers Respond to Engaged Writing
Courtney and School Writing
10. Promoting Engagement Through Memory Pathways
Memory Pathways
Semantic Pathways
Episodic Pathways
Procedural Pathways
Emotional Pathways
Spatial Pathways
Multiple Memory Pathways
Engaged Remembering in Ms. Gonzales' Classroom
Afterword: Lingering Questions
What About Assessment?
What About Classroom Research?
What About Study Groups?
What Now?
References
Index
