Good practice develops reciprocity and cooperation among students. Ignoring the contributions that students can make to each others' learning is a waste of a valuable resource. Students need opportunities to express their ideas to an audience that matters, and to reflect on the ideas of their peers. We owe our students the opportunity to reach that level of understanding by explaining concepts to their peers. Research on peer tutoring, for example, suggests that tutors benefit at least as much as tutees.
Good practice uses active learning techniques.
Students who arrive in the classroom, open the tops of their skulls, and passively wait for knowledge to be poured in will surely be disappointed. To belabor the metaphor almost beyond reason, most of it will spill right out. Our job, then, is to create environments in which students can work, and work hard, at learning. In planning a class session, I think it is much more important to think about what my students will be doing during the session than what I will be doing. Good practice gives prompt feedback.