The Subtle Side of Teaching

Small Things That Make a Big Difference in Your Classroom

Nathan O. Buonviri

Training, placing, and retaining highly qualified teachers in our nation’s schools has become a very serious challenge in the 21^st century. Many factors contribute to teachers’ relative levels of satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, with their careers. Some of these factors are rather obvious and tangible; others are not. Many teachers fade, sometimes rather quickly, from unmet personal expectations, overwhelming external requirements, and subsequent “running out of gas.” Some of the very simplest things in a teacher’s day can have the most dramatic effect on their passion for their work.

To keep teachers fully satisfied in their positions, they need to enjoy what they do daily; to enjoy what they do daily, they must approach their work inspired. The Subtle Side of Teaching offers 79 short essays with examples and applications to a variety of school subjects, pointing teachers toward fundamental guidelines for sustained energy, clear thinking, and a positive outlook in the classroom.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 150 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅛

978-1-4758-5430-5 • Hardback • December 2019 • $62.00 • (£48.00)

978-1-4758-5431-2 • Paperback • December 2019 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4758-5432-9 • eBook • December 2019 • $30.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Education / Teacher Training & Certification, Education / Standards (incl. Common Core), Education / Teacher & Student Mentoring

The Subtle Side of Teaching

Small Things That Make a Big Difference in Your Classroom

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Training, placing, and retaining highly qualified teachers in our nation’s schools has become a very serious challenge in the 21^st century. Many factors contribute to teachers’ relative levels of satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, with their careers. Some of these factors are rather obvious and tangible; others are not. Many teachers fade, sometimes rather quickly, from unmet personal expectations, overwhelming external requirements, and subsequent “running out of gas.” Some of the very simplest things in a teacher’s day can have the most dramatic effect on their passion for their work.

To keep teachers fully satisfied in their positions, they need to enjoy what they do daily; to enjoy what they do daily, they must approach their work inspired. The Subtle Side of Teaching offers 79 short essays with examples and applications to a variety of school subjects, pointing teachers toward fundamental guidelines for sustained energy, clear thinking, and a positive outlook in the classroom.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 150 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅛

978-1-4758-5430-5 • Hardback • December 2019 • $62.00 • (£48.00)

978-1-4758-5431-2 • Paperback • December 2019 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4758-5432-9 • eBook • December 2019 • $30.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Education / Teacher Training & Certification, Education / Standards (incl. Common Core), Education / Teacher & Student Mentoring

Author

Nathan O. Buonviri is associate professor of music education at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has taught music, Spanish, reading comprehension, phonics, and math to students of all ages.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Classroom purpose

Student activity

The sum of the parts

Teaching and learning

Need-to-know information

Noticing learning

Creating a need

Delivering the challenges

Student engagement

Ripe opportunities

Embracing mistakes

“Correct” answers

Nothing stays the same

The right job

The same class twice

The best way

Timing is everything

Things going well

Chapter 2: YOUR STUDENTS

Find your fascination

Never surrender

Learning is easy

Their best teachers

Be a great student

Genuine and phony

Discovering needs

Challenging and overwhelming

Intrinsic motivation

Skills and content

The second time around

Science, history, and people

Doing what they know

Asking "why"

Reinventing the wheel

Better ideas

Sky as a limit

Absence

Chapter 3: YOUR MOVES

Having and giving

Giving it away

One thing at a time

Three steps ahead

Going back

Stating the obvious

Saying something

Choosing thoughts

Choosing words

Examples

Modeling

Your first move

Saying nothing

Leaving it out

Ready with a reason

Diagnosis

Spelling it all out

Being sneaky

Doing it the hard way

Wait

Need-to-know content

REAL questions

Chapter 4: YOU

Out of the picture

Learn something

Precious thoughts

“Why?” and “Why not?”

Accepting advice

Your own advice

Time for your mind

Internal change

Thoughts, words, and actions

Your best self

Needing nothing

The wrong reasons

Three weeks behind

Anything is possible

Quick thinking

Taking the credit

Keeping things fresh

Teaching is easy

Exercising your freedoms

Enjoying your job

Not about you

Reviews

With The Subtle Side of Teaching, Dr. Buonviri has given teachers a powerful tool for reflecting on and improving their practice. The chapters are brief but potent, and will leave teachers of any experience level feeling challenged yet encouraged. Dr. Buonviri has gone to great lengths to make this book accessible to instructors of any discipline or grade level, and he has infused it with charming personal stories. One gets the sense that it would be a delight to take one of his classes.
— Joy Kolb, 7th and 8th grade Math, Caldwell Academy, Greensboro, NC

Dr. Buonviri’s The Subtle Side of Teaching is a richly useful tool for both novice teachers and experienced practitioners. Buonviri does his readers a favor by eschewing educational esoterica and research abstractions in favor of practical, accessible exposition. Furthermore, his experience as a classroom teacher is a hallmark of the book, one that any teacher, at any point in their career, will connect with and appreciate. The Subtle Side of Teaching is sure to be a welcome, and ultimately well-worn, addition to any educator’s personal library.
— Jon Dyer, instructor, Social Studies, Justin-Siena High School, Napa, CA