Talk About Teaching!
Leading Professional Conversations
Improve teaching practice through powerful professional conversations!
Move beyond isolated teaching, passive observations, and ineffective workshops to be the leader who engages staff and affirms the value of reflective and informal professional discussions. Launch meaningful conversations and a powerful team of teachers who understand how students learn, what motivates them, and how to implement that research in the classroom.
Good leaders know that sharing, discussing, and examining teaching practices and student work improves student learning through professional examination, inquiry, and growth. Educators who harness the power of informal professional conversation invite teachers to do the intellectual work needed to connect with students and boost achievement. The second edition of this powerful book includes:
- A new chapter guiding conversations to align with new state standards
- Outlines for specific conversation skills needed to initiate and succeed
- Mental maps, sample topics, and conversation activities
Read Talk About Teaching! and build a culture of understanding, respect, and empathy that encourages your team to reach for new possibilities.
"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers. 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
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY
"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
Providence Elementary, Aubrey, TX
"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."
"This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers. I use it in my graduate class in supervision and strongly recommend that students keep this book as a resource for the future."
"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."