Working the Room

Working the Room provides teachers with tools that will assist them in creating a community of learners that values movement, communication, curiosity, agency, collaboration, considerable risk taking, and joy. Teachers often will conclude that teacher talk and worksheets won’t cut it if getting students deeply engaged in their own learning is the goal. Indeed, students need to move beyond pretending to listen; they can—and should—develop essential competencies that include academic discourse with classmates, fielding and asking open-ended questions, seeking and providing peer feedback, identifying failure as a necessary accelerant to improvement, and finding joy in learning. Having coached and observed in hundreds of K-12 classrooms over three decades, Nash has met some incredible teachers whose students truly don’t want to miss anything. You’ll meet teachers like that in this book as you discover ways to work the room in a collaborative, engaging, and joyful environment.