Book Review of Super Teacher’s Six Success Steps: Winning Teaching Methods with Active Brain Based Learning and Teaching by Jason Stanley Ph.D.
This is the second book in the series and is designed to show how the principles are actually applied in school classroom settings from Kindergarten through high school and beyond. It’s not a theory-based book but a practical guide on how to actually implement the six steps. While there is no scientific study of this system, the results from using this method obtained in the pilot school are not only exceptional but also very dramatic!
This book is valuable for new teachers as well as veterans in that it gives new practical ways to overcome student boredom, to motivate students, and to enhance their long term retention of “facts.” By using these techniques, the students will become an active part of the classroom learning environment instead of passive listeners.
The book covers the six key steps of the Active Brain-based Learning And Teaching (ABBLAT) method. Key to the process is changing the state of the student to reduce boredom and to actively engage them in the learning/teaching process. The book is a practical guide demonstrating just how to actually carry out these six steps in the classroom. Thus, it is filled with examples that are simple to follow.
At several points, reference is made to the first book in this series, which provides the theoretical background and the basis for this method. One does not need to have read the first book in order to fully grasp the methods in this second in the series. When needed, such key underlying data are presented. The case study and results are fully discussed at the end of the book, along with two helpful appendices for those who wish to implement some of the techniques.
The writing style is highly personal with rhetorical questions designed to involve the reader at every step in the process. It is anything but formal writing or that of a college textbook, which makes this book an easy read for anyone. One caution: I found the writing style frequently reminded me of one of those slick, TV Infomercial super-salesmen.
I give this book a 5-star rating because, in my own opinion, if early education teachers even used a portion of this system, the students would benefit greatly from it.