Reading Circles: Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject

“You can tell students what they need to know very fast,” begins the preface of Mel Silberman’s book Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject. We know that, which is why we teachers lecture so much.
But here’s the rub: when we tell them what we want them to know, Silberman guarantees—and he has the research to prove it—“they will forget what you tell them even faster.”
What’s the solution to a generation of students who are coming to college underprepared? We’re pretty sure it isn’t a lecture series.
Faculty & Staff Center is launching a series of reading circles around sound ideas for student engagement and active learning.
We’re looking for faculty who will gather and talk and share what works and what doesn’t work in their classrooms (both face to face and online). We’re looking for fire starters who will enlighten the rest of us regarding and motivate us to burn those old lecture notes and become better teachers for the “millennial” students who are filling our classrooms.
Email Joyce.Boatright@LoneStar.edu if you’d like to facilitate a group of your peers.
The first reading circle will meet noon – 1 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22 in the FSC, which is located in LB 203. You can sign up on MyWorkshops. Bring your lunch—we’ll provide drinks and dessert.Mel Silberman’s book Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject will be provided at no cost to you as a lagniappe (a little value added) for joining the reading circle. The book is an excellent addition for your professional library.
If you already read the book and/or are interested in blogging about this book? Email your article or request direct access to the blog to: Juan.Primo@lonestar.edu.