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Capturing the Spark: Inspired Teaching, Thriving Schools
We all care about improving public education, but how do we find out what's really happening in classrooms and schools? Veteran teacher David B. Cohen spent a year spent visiting public schools throughout California, discovering how students flourish when teachers capture the sparks of curiosity and inspiration. The result is Capturing the Spark: Inspired Teaching, Thriving Schools.
From finger-painting to A.P. Physics experiments, Cohen takes readers into classrooms for students of all ages and in a wide variety of subjects, at schools enrolling dozens or thousands of students, in traditional or alternative programs. Take a look inside more than 60 schools. How are teachers blending traditional and innovative practices? How does quality teacher training make a difference over a teacher's career? What makes Teachers of the Year unique? What are unions doing to improve education? What does it mean for a teacher to achieve National Board Certification? What can we learn from teachers who create and lead new schools?
A veteran teacher with experience in leadership roles in statewide organizations, Cohen came up with the idea for Capturing the Spark after he encountered a troubling dissonance regarding public education. He continually met teachers whose creativity and dedication were making a positive difference in their own schools and in the broader field. Yet, in the media, in politics, and even in casual conversations, he kept encountering fear and anxiety about the deterioration of public schools in California. Determined to offer a broader and more optimistic view, Cohen took a leave of absence from his own teaching in order to visit, observe, and write about great teachers and schools. With funding from a successful Kickstarter campaign, he was able to visit campuses all over the state, from the redwood forests near the northern border to the desert towns of the south, from the major cities on the coast to the foothills of the Sierras.
While focusing on positive stories in public education, Cohen recognizes the many challenges facing public education. Capturing the Spark draws upon hundreds of hours of observations, decades of personal experience, and a body of education policy research to offer recommendations for how California can protect what's working and make smart decisions about what to add and change in the future.
The print edition of Capturing the Spark features fifteen black and white photographs of teachers profiled in the book, while the electronic edition includes dozens of additional color photographs of teachers, students, and schools.
From finger-painting to A.P. Physics experiments, Cohen takes readers into classrooms for students of all ages and in a wide variety of subjects, at schools enrolling dozens or thousands of students, in traditional or alternative programs. Take a look inside more than 60 schools. How are teachers blending traditional and innovative practices? How does quality teacher training make a difference over a teacher's career? What makes Teachers of the Year unique? What are unions doing to improve education? What does it mean for a teacher to achieve National Board Certification? What can we learn from teachers who create and lead new schools?
A veteran teacher with experience in leadership roles in statewide organizations, Cohen came up with the idea for Capturing the Spark after he encountered a troubling dissonance regarding public education. He continually met teachers whose creativity and dedication were making a positive difference in their own schools and in the broader field. Yet, in the media, in politics, and even in casual conversations, he kept encountering fear and anxiety about the deterioration of public schools in California. Determined to offer a broader and more optimistic view, Cohen took a leave of absence from his own teaching in order to visit, observe, and write about great teachers and schools. With funding from a successful Kickstarter campaign, he was able to visit campuses all over the state, from the redwood forests near the northern border to the desert towns of the south, from the major cities on the coast to the foothills of the Sierras.
While focusing on positive stories in public education, Cohen recognizes the many challenges facing public education. Capturing the Spark draws upon hundreds of hours of observations, decades of personal experience, and a body of education policy research to offer recommendations for how California can protect what's working and make smart decisions about what to add and change in the future.
The print edition of Capturing the Spark features fifteen black and white photographs of teachers profiled in the book, while the electronic edition includes dozens of additional color photographs of teachers, students, and schools.
- GenresNonfiction
308 pages, Paperback
Published November 17, 2016
3 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 27, 2018
While many of us have experience with public schools in one form or another, very few have genuine insight into what's happening behind the walls of the schools in our communities, region, and throughout our state. Capturing the Spark is a gift to us all. It brings us into more than seventy classrooms across California where we can discover what drives great teachers and schools.
The author, David Cohen, is National Board Certified Teacher who has taught for over 20 years. Because of this experience as an educator, Cohen understands the complexities of the classrooms he visits and is able to artfully share them with reader at home. This is a book for parents, teachers, concerned citizens, and every elected official whose decisions have an impact on our schools.
"We need policies and working conditions that allow teachers, school leaders, and communities t create their own best practices that are informed by others, yet based on their own strengths, which arise from their unique contexts......Capturing the Spark means not being distracted by the flames. You can't replicate the schools in this book, copy and paste their programs, or clone their teachers. Nor do you need to. The sparks are already close at hand, if you recognize and cultivate the potential in your community, schools, teachers, and students."
December 28, 2016
"...the real drivers of education are not technological or programmatic. It's educators who make innovation work, when they are connected, empowered, and inspired to make learning come alive for students."
I have met David Cohen, the author, several times, and I admire him greatly, so reading this book was having a long visit with him...
David took a year off and set out to visit as many schools as he could, observing educators in action...visiting with administrators and learning what works and what doesn't. He counted on his extensive network of educators: people he trained with, NBCTs he worked with, and just friends from his career...It was a joy to 'visit' these classrooms with him.
More than a few are teachers I know, or are online friends...FB friends, network associates, or folks I follow on twitter. I loved the possibility of peeking into Jane Fung's classroom, and Jim Burke, and Larry Ferlazzo, and Leslee Milch, whom I've met at several conferences.
David organized his visits first by level: elementary, middle school, secondary...Then, he reconfigures his visits according to other criteria: Teachers of the Year, NBCTs, teachers in the STEP program, union leaders, authors, tech-networking teachers, teachers at innovative schools, teacher-run schools...he learns from each teacher and each site.
Then, in the epilogue, he puts it all together, all his insights, all him reflections (he IS, after all an NBCT!) and shares his observations, his suggestions. I was reading and cheering the whole way. His recommendations are all for California schools, but they are so transferable to #oklaed too:
1. Equity of funding
2. Local control and accountability (CA programs)
3. Libraries with full-time librarians (YES YES YES)
4. School nurses and counselors at every school...
5. Address teacher salaries and recruiting/retention programs (Teacher Salary Project)
6. Teacher preparation and induction
7. Teacher leadership-career pathways
8. Address teacher evaluations
9. Progressive unionism and collaborations
What if -- what if our policy makers really committed to reforms like this?
Favorite quotes"
"We err by viewing school improvement as a personnel problem rather than a system problem"
"New teachers, like other professionals, should be thoroughly trained and ably supported by experienced mentors."
"Teaching is more multidimensional, involving continual learning, planning, design, assessments, collaborations, and leadership."
"..accomplished teaching depends on the teacher's ability to learn."
He reminds us of the danger of a single story, and he shares so many different stories of accomplished teachers, vital schools, and wonderful students.
I'm sure David didn't hear, but there were several times I was cheering out loud as I read!
I have met David Cohen, the author, several times, and I admire him greatly, so reading this book was having a long visit with him...
David took a year off and set out to visit as many schools as he could, observing educators in action...visiting with administrators and learning what works and what doesn't. He counted on his extensive network of educators: people he trained with, NBCTs he worked with, and just friends from his career...It was a joy to 'visit' these classrooms with him.
More than a few are teachers I know, or are online friends...FB friends, network associates, or folks I follow on twitter. I loved the possibility of peeking into Jane Fung's classroom, and Jim Burke, and Larry Ferlazzo, and Leslee Milch, whom I've met at several conferences.
David organized his visits first by level: elementary, middle school, secondary...Then, he reconfigures his visits according to other criteria: Teachers of the Year, NBCTs, teachers in the STEP program, union leaders, authors, tech-networking teachers, teachers at innovative schools, teacher-run schools...he learns from each teacher and each site.
Then, in the epilogue, he puts it all together, all his insights, all him reflections (he IS, after all an NBCT!) and shares his observations, his suggestions. I was reading and cheering the whole way. His recommendations are all for California schools, but they are so transferable to #oklaed too:
1. Equity of funding
2. Local control and accountability (CA programs)
3. Libraries with full-time librarians (YES YES YES)
4. School nurses and counselors at every school...
5. Address teacher salaries and recruiting/retention programs (Teacher Salary Project)
6. Teacher preparation and induction
7. Teacher leadership-career pathways
8. Address teacher evaluations
9. Progressive unionism and collaborations
What if -- what if our policy makers really committed to reforms like this?
Favorite quotes"
"We err by viewing school improvement as a personnel problem rather than a system problem"
"New teachers, like other professionals, should be thoroughly trained and ably supported by experienced mentors."
"Teaching is more multidimensional, involving continual learning, planning, design, assessments, collaborations, and leadership."
"..accomplished teaching depends on the teacher's ability to learn."
He reminds us of the danger of a single story, and he shares so many different stories of accomplished teachers, vital schools, and wonderful students.
I'm sure David didn't hear, but there were several times I was cheering out loud as I read!
April 2, 2017
After getting to know this author a little on Twitter, I purchased the book and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed spending time with all of the exemplary teachers that were profiled. I wanted the author to spend more time with each and really understand the secrets of what keeps these educators passionate. I could see a niche market where authors profile/interview exemplary teachers in each subject. Teachers need to be celebrated.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews