Tools for Teaching (Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series)

• #10 in Best First Year Teachers Books

9 Reviews

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I've been teaching for almost ten years now, and frankly didn't think this book would do much for me. WAS I WRONG! There are so many useful things in this book -- even experienced teachers can learn something. You can find tips that will help the novice -- how to structure a lecture course vs. a discussion course; to tips that will help you implement new things -- group work, role-playing, etc. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I find myself ambivalent about this book. I have been teaching University students since 1982 and was hoping for new tricks and techniques that might help me to continue improving. This book is a compilation of such tricks and techniques that might prove useful to a new Assistant Professor. However, the book was originally written in 1993 and has few references more recent than 1992. I'm not sure how many faculty need to know how to use the three-layer blackboards that used to be standard fixtures at the front of giant lecture halls. The description of multimedia uses Hypercard as the example of what's state-of-the-art. The few references to Internet resources have BITNET addresses. Much has changed in the classroom since 1992, but the new teacher won't learn about it from this source. Although this book would be helpful for teachers in the undergraduate classroom, I feel that they will also find it frustrating.

This book is written with the assumption that you will be teaching young people in college or below(pedagogy). It is great for that. If you want to get it to learn techniques for teaching adults in the workplace(andragogy), look for another book.

Regardless of the year in which this book was released, rest assured in knowing that it does provide VERY useful and timeless teaching techniques. I appreciate Dr. Gross Davis' efforts a great deal. May God bless you greatly, Dr. Gross Davis!!! This book IS a great starting point towards the quest for professional growth and development.

In my first teaching jobs, I had the unfortunate experience of being supervised by people who were barely (if at all) qualified to do such an important job. I had to learn how to teach the hard way. Thank God that over the years of perseverance and gained experience my supervisors and my clients (my students) seem to be happy with the educational services that I offer. However, I wish, that I had found out about this book earlier on my teaching career. That way, I could have avoided a lot of headaches. Dr. Gross Davis has done an excellent job on compiling and on organizing different suggestions on how to become an effective teacher. I found it very organized, easy to understand, and most of all very practical. I do not regret having bought this book. As a matter of fact, I treasure it a lot. God bless you, Dr. Gross Davis! I look forward to an update. This book can be a very helpful tool to new and to experienced teachers. It should be on every educator's personal library.

This seems to be a good book for begining college instructors looking for the classroom basics plus some ideas on how to modify some basic formulas to make it a bit more interesting. It manages to keep from getting too bogged down with details about specific strategies. Unfortunately, this is also it's weakness, as I did not find support readily available when I wished to know more about a specific strategy. Worth having as a basic reference.

This book provides a great toolkit for teachers, especially those of us new to the classroom. It has ideas for teaching techniques, including discussion starters, case studies, and grading methods. As a quick reference for those looking for additional ideas, its purpose is to provide a toolkit of ideas to jumpstart learning in the classroom. It is an easy read meant for quick reference, not a manual to guide you step by step to learn the art of teaching.

Tool's for Teaching by Jossey Bass brings the reality down to a lower level of understanding so the beginning instructor can learn about teaching. It assists the veteran teacher as well by refreshing their memories on the different aspects needed to teach and present the material for their students.

This book is a juice of tens of teaching books that will help teachers to improve their way of teaching, get the message across and interact effectively with their students.