Description

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Dr. Jeff Zwiers, an educational researcher at Stanford University, has spent the last 15 years analyzing classroom conversations to see how they can be better used and improved in classroom settings. Teachers who have worked with him report significant growth in students’ engagement, content learning, language, creativity, and sense of agency.

Zweirs introduced his initial vision for classroom conversations in Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk that Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understanding. His follow-up book, Next Steps with Academic Conversations: New Ideas for Improving Learning Through Classroom Talk, expands the first book with updated classroom strategies and practices. In this new version, teachers will discover:

• How to introduce buildable ideas and teach students how to develop and support them 
• Equitable classroom discussions and how diverse backgrounds conversing can benefit social skills and emotional intelligence
• Highlights of new research-based theories on classroom conversation
• Ways to develop students' confidence in conversation and how classroom skills can apply to real world interactions 

This resource is the product of his extensive research, co-teaching, and collaborating with a wide range of educators. It was written for busy teachers who want a practical guide for strengthening the quality and quantity of productive conversations in their lessons. 

About the Author

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Jeff Zwiers teaches in the Stanford Teaching Education Program and works for Stanford's Center to Support Excellence in Teaching.

He received his Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco and has taught English, Spanish, science, and history in high school, middle school, and elementary school.

Jeff says that he became a teacher to "positively influence the social linguistic, ethical, and cognitive development of students." His areas of specialty are academic language and literacy.

Jeff is also a consultant on the Guatemala Education Reform in the Classroom project to develop effective systems of bilingual education and teacher training across the country. He has published articles and books on literacy, cognition, and academic language.

Praise For…

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“Academic conversations create lifelong learners—learners who believe they have a voice in the conversation of ideas across time. Zwiers’ book provides some new, novel, and effective means to equip teachers with the tools to promote academic conversations in their classrooms.” —Middleweb