Wayside Teaching
Connecting With Students to Support Learning
- Sara Davis Powell - Belmont Abbey College
"Teachers know how to teach, but they want to connect with their kids to make that teaching effective. This book empowers teachers to complete what is missing in their work."
—Jude A. Huntz, Adult Education Coordinator
St. Michael the Archangel Parish and School, Leawood, KS
"Wayside teaching is not taught as an educational strategy, yet its impact is undeniable. The book defines the concept and demonstrates how teachers can implement this tangential form of learning on a regular basis."
—Marilyn Steneken, Science Teacher
Sparta Middle School, NJ
Wayside teaching—nurturing connections in and out of the classroom to facilitate learning!
Wayside teaching is about intentionally practicing what educators do every day in perhaps unintentional ways: relate to students. This practical, research-based guide illustrates how wayside teaching—the informal curriculum, implicit instruction, and mentoring that happens in sometimes unintentional ways—can be intentionally practiced across grade levels to enhance learning and boost student outcomes.
Through a framework focused on attitudes, approaches, and actions, and using vignettes that illuminate wayside teaching in action, Sara Davis Powell demonstrates how reaching out to students in formal and informal situations helps create a culture of belonging and safety that strengthens a student's self-concept, confidence, resiliency, and cognitive processes. The book provides:
- Wayside teaching strategies for use inside and outside classrooms
- Specific examples for elementary, middle, and high school settings
- Self-assessment exercises that help educators explore their own dispositions and connect self-knowledge with productive teaching practices
- Easy-to-reference graphic organizers that link wayside teaching practices to specific classroom contexts
Offering invaluable resources, including student surveys for learning more about your students and an annotated booklist for promoting acceptance and compassion, Wayside Teaching reflects the powerful influence that teachers' actions can have on their students' academic and personal lives.
“At last! A book that pushes past the idea that students should be test-taking machines by emphasizing relationship building and providing practical advice to teachers.”
"It was refreshing to read about what I truly believe in and work at every year in my classroom."
"A topic whose time has come and is perhaps long overdue. Teachers know how to teach, but they want to connect with their kids to make that teaching effective. This book empowers teachers to complete what is missing in their work."
“I loved the premise of the book. It touched my soul.”
"Wayside teaching is not taught as an educational strategy, yet its impact is undeniable. The book defines the concept and demonstrates how teachers can implement this tangential form of learning on a regular basis."
"If teaching has left you wrung out academically and dried out emotionally, this book is for you. By using studies proving the power of wayside teaching, Powell has freed teachers to create meaningful relationships with students that will not only inspire them to greater academic achievement, but help them become emotionally healthy and resilient adults."