Terrific Teaching: 100 Great Teachers Share Their Best Ideas

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Terrific Teaching is a compendium of bright ideas for keeping students
motivated, collected from elementary and secondary teachers at
in-service workshops and courses the author has taught over a 20-year
period. Pratt, a professor of education at Queen’s University, has
classified the ideas into broad topic areas: “Getting to Know Each
Other,” “Applied Arts,” “Self-Esteem and Lessons in Life,”
“Buddies and Tutors,” “Groups and Leadership,” “Crossing the
Curriculum,” “Problem-Solving,” “Dramatization and Role Play,”
“Field Trips,” “Extending the Classroom,” “Bringing the World
into the Classroom,“ and “Assessment.”

What transforms a good teaching idea into a great one? According to
Pratt, great ideas generally have modest resource requirements, and
often employ social and interpersonal methods. Most importantly, they
are memorable.

Terrific Teaching is a valuable resource for all teachers, whether
aspiring, new, or established.