{"id":4607,"date":"2019-05-17T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=4607"},"modified":"2019-05-17T09:10:37","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T14:10:37","slug":"the-best-teaching-book-to-read-this-summer-powerful-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/the-best-teaching-book-to-read-this-summer-powerful-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Teaching Book to Read This Summer: Powerful Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s describe a perfect book for a Learning and the Brain<\/em> conference goer:<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>: it should begin with solid science<\/em>. Teachers don\u2019t want advice based on hunches or upbeat guesswork. We\u2019d like real research.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>: it should include lots of classroom specifics<\/em>. While research advice can offer us general guidance, we\u2019d like some suggestions on adapting it to our classroom particulars.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>: it should welcome teachers as equal players<\/em> in this field. While lots of people tell teachers to \u201cdo what research tells us to do\u201d \u2013 that is, to stop trusting our instincts \u2013 we\u2019d like a book that values us for our experience. And, yes, for our instincts.<\/p>\n

And, while I\u2019m making this list of hopes for an impossibly perfect book, I\u2019ll add one more.<\/p>\n

Fourth<\/strong>: it should be conspicuously well-written<\/em>. We\u2019d like a lively writing voice: one that gets the science right, but sounds more like a conversation than a lecture.<\/p>\n

Clearly, such a book can\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

Except that it does<\/em>. And: you can get it soon.<\/p>\n

Memory researcher Pooja Agarwal and teacher Patrice Bain have written Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning<\/em>. Let\u2019s see how their book stacks up against our (impossible) criteria:<\/p>\n

First: Begins with Research<\/h2>\n

If you attend Learning and the Brain conferences, you prioritize brain research.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not here for the fads. We\u2019re here for the best ideas that can be supported by psychology and neuroscience.<\/p>\n

Happily, Powerful Teaching<\/em><\/a> draws its classroom guidance from extensive<\/strong> research.<\/p>\n

Citing dozens of studies done over multiple decades, Agarwal and Bain champion four teaching strategies: retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, <\/em>and metacognition<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(As frequent blog readers, you\u2019ve read lots about these topics.)<\/p>\n

Agarwal herself did much of the research cited here. In fact, (researcher) Agarwal did much of the on-the-ground research in (teacher) Bain\u2019s classrooms.<\/p>\n

And Agarwal studied and worked with many of the best-know memory researchers in the field: \u201cRoddy\u201d Roediger, Mark McDaniel, and Kathleen McDermott, among others.<\/p>\n

(BTW: McDaniel will be speaking at the LatB conference this fall<\/a> in Boston.)<\/p>\n

In short: if you read a recommendation in Powerful Teaching<\/em>, you can be confident that LOTS of quality research supports that conclusion.<\/p>\n

Second: Offers Classroom Specifics<\/h2>\n

Powerful Teaching<\/em> is written by two teachers. Bain taught 6-8 grade for decades. And Agarwal is currently a psychology professor.<\/p>\n

For this reason, their book BOTH offers research-based teaching advice AND gives dozens of specific classroom examples.<\/p>\n

What does retrieval practice look like in the classroom? No worries: they\u2019ve got you covered.<\/p>\n

This strength merits particular attention, because it helps solve a common problem in our field.<\/p>\n

Teachers often hear researchers say, \u201cI studied this technique, and got a good result.\u201d We infer that we should try that same<\/em> technique.<\/p>\n

But, most research takes place in college classrooms. And, the technique that works with that age group<\/em> just might not work with our students<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How should we translate these research principles to our classrooms? Over and over again — with specific, practical, and imaginative examples — Bain and Agarwal show us how.<\/p>\n

Third: Welcomes Teachers<\/h2>\n

Increasingly in recent months, I\u2019ve seen scholars argue that teacherly instincts should not be trusted. We should just do what research tells us to do.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written elsewhere<\/a>, I think this argument does lots of damage\u2014because we HAVE to use our instincts.<\/p>\n

How exactly do research-based principles of instruction work in thousands of different classrooms? Teachers have to adapt those principles, and we\u2019ll need our experience \u2014and our instincts\u2014to do so.<\/p>\n

Powerful Teaching <\/em>makes exactly this point. As Bain and Agarwal write:<\/p>\n

You can use Power Tools your way, in your classroom. From preschool through medical school, and biology to sign language, these strategies increase learning for diverse students, grade levels, and subject areas. There are multiple ways to use these strategies to boost students\u2019 learning, making them flexible in your<\/em> classroom, not just any classroom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or, more succinctly:<\/p>\n

The better you understand the research behind the strategies, the more effectively you can adapt them in your classroom \u2013 and you know your classroom best.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By including so many teachers\u2019 experiences and suggestions, Agarwal and Bain put teacherly insight at the center of their thinking. They don\u2019t need to argue that teachers should have a role; they simply show us that it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

Fourth: Lively Voice<\/h2>\n

Scientific research offers teachers lots of splendid guidance \u2026 but if you\u2019ve tried to read the research, you know it can be dry. Parched, even.<\/p>\n

Happily, both Bain and Agarwal have lively writing voices. Powerful Teaching <\/em>doesn\u2019t feel like a dry lecture, but a friendly conversation.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Learning is complex and messy, it\u2019s not something we can touch, and it’s really hard to define. You might even say that the learning process looks more like a blob than a flowchart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having tried to draw many learning flowcharts, only to end up with blobs, I appreciate this honest and accurate advice.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Not to Love?<\/h2>\n

As a reviewer, I really should offer at least some criticism of Power Tools.<\/em> Alas, I really don\u2019t have much \u2013 at least not much substantive.<\/p>\n

Once or twice, I thought that the research behind a particular finding is more muddled that PT <\/em>lets on. For example, as I\u2019ve written about before<\/a>, we\u2019ve got contradictory evidence about the benefits of retrieval practice for unstudied material.<\/p>\n

But, as noted above, Agarwal is an important researcher in this field, and so I\u2019m inclined to trust her judgment.<\/p>\n

Mostly, I think you should put Powerful Teaching <\/em>at the top of your summer reading list. You might sign up for the summer book club<\/a>. Keep on eye on the website<\/a> for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Powerful Teaching, by Agarwal and Bain, combines research and practical classroom strategies. The result: an ideal book for teachers who want to improve our practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[15,23,12],"class_list":["post-4607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-lb-blog","tag-classroom-advice","tag-long-term-memory","tag-retrieval-practice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4607"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4616,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607\/revisions\/4616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}