Foreword by Martin J. and Patricia Koldyke
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1: Becoming and Celebrating Yourself as a Grounded Teacher: Five Requisite Precepts
Precept 1: Recognition and Belief That the Quality of Your Work is a Matter of Life and Death to Your Students
Precept 2: Immunity From the Toxic Cynicism of Your Colleagues
Precept 3: Recognition That Your Words Matter
Precept 4: Recognition That You Must Have a Reason to Be in Front of Your Students
Precept 5: Give Them Hope, Rather Than Love
2: Fifteen Indicators of a Grounded Teacher: Classroom Nuances and Other Cues
First Indicator: Avoiding Classroom Wheel Spinning
Second Indicator: Being Comfortable With Time and With Questions
Third Indicator: Attending the Lecture’s Funeral
Fourth Indicator: Mastering the Art of Asking Questions
Fifth Indicator: Planning Student Group Work Carefully
Sixth Indicator: Being a Non-Contributor to Classroom Disarray
Seventh Indicator: Knowing Speed Kills Everywhere, Even in the Classroom
Eighth Indicator: Avoiding the Rudderless Class
Ninth Indicator: Keeping an Ear to the Tone of a Classroom
Tenth Indicator: Beware of Your Own Undertone!
Eleventh Indicator: Avoiding Topic or Grade as Threat
Twelfth Indicator: Using Compliments Adroitly
Thirteenth Indicator: Prodding Gently (but Prodding Nonetheless!)
Fourteenth Indicator: Holding Students Responsible for Their Own Learning
Fifteenth Indicator: Holding Students Responsible for Their Own Behavior: “We Don’t Baby Our Babies Anymore”
3: Model Techniques of Exceptionally Grounded Teachers
The Socratic Seminar Method for High School English Classes: Exceptionally Grounded Teacher Tom Anstett, Lincoln-Way East High School, Frankfort, IL
Getting Students Hooked Through the Power of Inquiry Science: Exceptionally Grounded Teacher Jim Effinger, Naperville North High School, Naperville, IL
Presenting Poetry To the Recalcitrant and Suspicious High School Student: The "Search for the Central Experience" Method
The Magic Math Box and Elementary Math Approach: Exceptionally Grounded Teacher Sr. Raeleen Sweeney, PBVM, Golden Apple Foundation, Chicago, IL
Literacy Travels: Exceptionally Grounded Teacher Jim Sorensen, Chippewa Middle School, Des Plaines, IL
Lessons in Loving Science and Children: Exceptionally Grounded Teacher Carolyn "Mama C" Cyriaque, Golden Apple Foundation, Chicago, IL
4: Further Nuances and Challenges for the Grounded Teacher
When Tragedy Affects the Classroom
Teacher Burnout: What It Is, Why It Is, Why You Must Combat It, or Leave Teaching Now
State and Federal Testing and the Fight for a Teacher's Soul
Bridging the Achievement Gap With Your Minority Students: A Conversation With Gloria Harper and a Summary of the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability
Epilogue: A Teacher's Poem, the Subjects of Fear and Resilience
References
Index