Making a Difference in the Classroom: Strategies that Connect with Students
Balli is one of the most analytic and clear communicators about what it takes to become an extraordinary teacher. I think that she has nailed it. (David Berliner, Regents? Professor, Mary Lou Fulton College of Education,  Arizona State University)This book effectively reminds educators that their choice to nurture positive connections with students lies at the heart of good teaching. Student learning and success can be traced in large measure to how teachers foster classroom life and relationships. (William Glasser, founder of the William Glasser Institute, the home of Choice Theory)In a fresh approach to understanding the essential qualities of effective teachers, Balli challenges readers to evaluate their own approaches to classroom instruction, to reexamine the significance of teacher-student relationships, and to use their particular gifts as educators. Her candid retelling of real life classroom experiences makes this book easy to read and invites teachers to renew their commitment to making a difference in their own classrooms. (Erin Kurtz, teacher, Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School, California)This book is awesome and it rejuvenates education. It is useful for administrators because it offers insight on what great teachers do, and administrators can find ways to assist teachers at their site. It gives a foundation for what teaching is all about—relationships. It offers a sense of purpose, a motivation to continue to inspire, and a determination to make change. It brings to the forefront why I go to work every day. (Jennifer Castillo, assistant principal of Valley View High School, California)I think about the blur of those early years in my teaching life, a time of complete overload. I was happy just to be standing at the end of the day. It would have been nice to have had a simple, easy to remember set of teacher standards of excellence that I could grasp at any time during the day to check my performance. This book has the potential to offer that valuable tool. (Cameron Fraser, teacher, St. Helena Elementary School, California)Anyone who reads this book will think about teachers they have had and experiences from their many days in classrooms. Any teachers who carefully read the quotes and author extensions will get answers about good teaching and how to do it. The book includes some very important topics for teachers to consider and ponder: earning respect, making learning active rather than passive, providing an environment that is comfortable and feels like 'another home,' and how precious and long-lasting time spent together between teachers and students can be. Prospective teachers will especially benefit by searching for jewels in this book like the importance of 'taking students seriously' and a classroom where 'It is fun here. Just look around.' (Roger Johnson, professor of education and codirector of the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota)