Frank Thoms

In October 1985, Frank Thoms first ventured into the Gorbachev's Soviet Union. By the time Gorbachev resigned as general secretary, he taught in four schools in three cities, Leningrad, Moscow, and Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan. In 1994, he returned, this time to the new Russia to lead a seminar in Yakaterinberg, Siberia, for teachers coming to America. 

He discovered, in his passion to find common ground with Russians, that he did not judge them but learned from them, not to bring America to them but to be an American with them. He taught using Soviet pedagogy but for the most part, his own. He befreinded hundreds of students and teachers. 

His book is lively, provoactive, and personal. The Red Veil is his metphor for how the Communist Party projected itself to its own people, to foriegn visitors, and to the world at large. The writing is crisp, to the point, and honest. The book is an extension of his classroom philosophy, which was centered on being alongside his students, not as a deliverer of information but as a partner in learning with them. 
 

Thoms offers readers a robust model for instructional improvement, an inspiritional set of insights, and a pragmatic toolkit of strategies to sharpen pedadgogy and engage learners.  

He sees the teaching process as a joint venture between teacher and student, where the teacher brings learning to the student and, at the same time, brings the student to the learning. This process demands at least as much listening as talking, a new habit that teachers and principals need to learn.

Listening is Learning: Conversations between 20th and 21st Century Teachers is unique. It is an autobiography of Frank Thoms's fifty-year teaching career written in the third person. He invokes veteran teachers (composites of him) to have conversations with young teachers. His thesis is that the classroom may be the last vestige of hope in society where children can discover the joy of being together without intermediary devices.

Veteran teachers, recognizing the challenges of 21st Century children, offer engaging ideas for revitalizing the face-to-face classroom. A place to learn the value of body language and tone. A place where gestures, animation, eye contact, and voice make for deeper understanding of one another. Human society began with people sitting around campfires having conversations. In his appealing book, Thoms advicates to continue that tradition.
 

Teaching from the Middle of the Room is written through the eyes of Dan Hilliard. It traces his journey from standup delivery in front talking at students to choosing to engage them, metphorically, from the middle of the room.

In twenty-seven stimulating chapters, readers learn of the myriad of methods that provide stimulating invitations for students to want to learn. It was written before the impact of digital devices in students' lives. Nevertheless it offers ways to bring students into face-to-face learning necessary to counteract the isolation of the digital culture.

"Frank Thoms is a passionate teacher, and his powerful book is all about "stance"––how a teacher places him or herself physically, emotionally, intellectually, and organizationally––with respect to students, knowledge, and learning. Every teacher, from a first-timer to an old hand, will learn much that is practical, and even more that is inspirational, from reading this book."

Steve Jobs said, "The minute you understand that you can poke life and …something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it." Thoms invites teachers to do just that. Take their classrooms and poke the lives of their students and invite them to seize each day in earnest. 

By meeting innovative practitioners who engage students, this intriguing book will help readers shift from traditional classroom practices into exciting alternatives. 

"Teaching That Matters is a delightful concoction of philosophical and psychological reflections and provocations on the art of teaching. Creative teachers will find Frank Thoms's book highly engaging and his practical teaching recommendations enormously useful."

Two-way teaching! Classrooms where students and teacher learn! Converstion is the medium. In converstion everyone listens. Everyone is invited to share. In this short, concise, and practical book, teachers will find a myriad of ways to engage their students––and engage themselves.