The Little Blue Book for Teachers: 58 Ways to Engage Students

By Dr Elpida S. Christianaki

Jargon free, clear and concise, The Little Blue Book for Teachers provides both new and seasoned teachers with over 50 strategies that will help engage students and keep teaching fresh. The content is wide in scope, covering topics such as lesson planning, questioning, small-group and cooperative-learning strategies, homework, reading, grading, reviewing and more. It is a toolkit for primary and secondary teachers alike with all strategies having passed the most rigorous of tests: they have actually worked in the classroom. Just open the book and get stuck in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398463219

Dr Elpida S. Christianaki

Elpida has over 20 years of experience as a teacher and a manager in education. She started teaching at university during her postgraduate studies in Canterbury before moving on to further education and then teaching in a secondary school. She moved to Cambridge to work at a leading independent school where she is now Assistant Principal with a remit for teaching and learning. Drawing on these rich experiences along with degrees in education and special educational needs, including assessing students for learning difficulties, Elpida has compiled this book to help educators maximise their students’ potential. She lives in Cambridge with her husband Joel and their cat Kozzie.

Book preview

The Little Blue Book for Teachers

Dr Elpida S. Christianaki

Austin Macauley Publishers

The Little Blue Book for Teachers

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Preface

Introduction

Part 1: Check and Introduce

Section A: Checking Previous Learning

1. Feigning Ignorance

2. Matching Activity

3. Form a Question Chain

4. Mark ‘Someone Else’s Work’

5. Pick the Thorn

6. Returning Homework

7. Quiz

8. Common Denominator

9. Mnemonics

10. Mini White Boards

11. Mini Student Presentations

Section B: Presenting Lesson Objectives

12. Spot the Similarities

13. Spot the Differences

14. Put It in Context

15. Make Informed Guesses

16. Linking Objectives with Assessment Criteria

17. Work It Out

18. Tricky Traps

19. You Choose!

Section C: Enthuse and Motivate About Today’s Learning

20.Take Me to the End

21. Timeline

22. Stepping Stones and Flipped Learning

23. Tools at the Ready

Part 2: Take It Higher

Section A: Teaching Thinking Skills

24. Can I Question My Teacher?

25. Signalling

26.Maybe Later?

27. Give Me Time

28.Working Together

29.Tailored Learning

30.Checking Students’ Contributions

31.There Is No Back Row

32.Assign a Timeframe

33.Part of the Whole

34.Using Follow-Up Questions to Reinforce Good Learning Habits

35. Checking What They Already Know

36. How Often Should We Check Level of Knowledge?

37.Comparisons Are Not Always Helpful

38. The Goldilocks Paradigm

39. Thinking on Our Feet

40. Going Back to Go Further

41.Break the Code

42.How to Take Homework Higher?

43. Changing the Style of the Delivery

44. It Pays to Think About Delivery

45. Blind Repetition

46. Show Them That You Care

47. The Rest Is Silence!

Section B: Preparing for Exam Performance in