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Engaged Learning

By: Richard VanDeWeghe

Foreword by Richard Sterling

Spark genuine enthusiasm in your classroom by engaging students' hearts and minds!

Richard VanDeWeghe provides an inside look at what happens in students' minds and hearts when they are engaged in learning. Based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's idea of "flow"—a state of intrinsic control, curiosity, interest, and inquiry that is the ultimate experiential goal—this book shows how to develop motivated, engaged learners. Teachers will find:

Information on brain function and memory pathways
Spiritual and emotional principles of the heart
Strategies for guiding open-ended discussions, quality questioning, and teacher modeling
Practical applications for the classroom
Examples of effective teacher dialogue

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12, Elementary, Secondary
ISBN: 9781412966290
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2009
Page Count: 176
Publication date: November 23, 2012

Price: $34.95

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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.

Key features

The author has been an educator for 35 years.
The book contains many examples and vignettes to make the material more relatable to the reader.
The book is incredibly research-based, supporting the author's vignettes and claims.
The author combines both the humanistic side and the scientific side of learning and engagnig students to learn in a new and intriguing manner that has not been attempted by any other author.

Author(s)

Richard VanDeWeghe

Richard VanDeWeghe is an associate professor of English at the University of Colorado Denver. He has taught middle school and high school, he has been a faculty member at two universities, and he is a field director for the National Writing Project. He has directed two sites of the National Writing Project; supervised preservice teachers in the Initial Professional Teacher Education program at the University of Colorado Denver; and worked with practicing teachers in numerous schools and districts on reading, writing, and thinking across the curriculum.

VanDeWeghe has been awarded Teacher of the Year at the University of Colorado Denver, where he was also named a President's Teaching Scholar. He was selected as Outstanding Educational Leader (1992) by the Colorado Language Arts Society, and he was a recipient of the 2006 National Network for Educational Renewal, Richard W. Clark Partner School Award.

His research interests concern theoretical and empirical issues that inform instructional practice—engaged learning; reading, writing, and thinking across the curriculum; teacher education; teacher professional development through inquiry; and the intersection of brain research and humanistic education. He has published articles in such resources as Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, English Education, English Journal, and the Journal of Teaching Writing. He was writer and column editor for the "Research Matters" column for English Journal for six years. He has presented workshops and papers for the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Writing Project, College Composition and Communication, Modern Language Association, and the Australian Reading Association.

VanDeWeghe has a bachelor’s degree in English and speech education from Western Michigan University, a master of arts degree in English from Michigan State University, and a doctorate in English with a specialty in the teaching of writing from Michigan State University.

Table of 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

Reviews

"It’s tough to bring heart and soul into the classroom. The author makes a clear and concise case for doing this, and does so elegantly."

Nancy Foote, Math Specialist
Higley Unified School District, Gilbert, AZ

"The author offers a basis for understanding and developing lessons that not only engage students’ minds but ensure the connection with the heart of learning."

Debby Chessin, Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction
The University of Mississippi

"This work could make a distinctive change in educational practice."

Kathleen Choma, Math Teacher
South Brunswick High School, NJ

"This book is a breath of fresh air in this age of 'buzz words' and linear thinking."

Cindy Corlett, Middle School Science Teacher
Parker, CO

"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

Other Titles in: Student Engagement & Motivation | Administration & Leadership | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

Select Format:

For Instructors

Request Review Copy

When you select 'request review copy', you will be redirected to Sage Publishing (our parent site) to process your request.