Frank Thoms, Teacher in the Rye

In October 1985, I first ventured into Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union. By the time he resigned as general secretary of the Communist Party, I had been a teacher of English in four schools in three cities, Leningrad, Moscow, and Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, twice as a US-Soviet exchange teacher and twice on my own. In 1994, I returned to the new Russia to lead a seminar in Yakaterinberg, Siberia, for teachers coming to America. 

In my passion to find common ground befriending hundreds of students and teachers, I did not judge them but learned from them. I did not bring America to them but was an American with them. I briefly explored Soviet pedagogy, but for the most part, I taught my way.

I've written the book to be lively and engaging. Each encounter with Russians, personal and provocative, reflected the larger whole of my experiences. The Red Veil is my metaphor for how the Communist Party falsely projected itself onto its own people, to foriegn visitors, and to the world at large. I aimed for the writing to be crisp, to the point, and honest. And the book is an extension of my classroom philosophy, which was centered on being alongside my students, not as a deliverer of information but as a partner in learning.

Teaching is 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, likely a new habit that teachers and principals need to learn.

Listening is Learning: Conversations between 20th and 21st Century Teachers is unique. It is drawn from my fifty-year teaching career expressed through veteran teachers (composites of me) in conversations with younger teachers. My thesis: the classroom may be the last vestige of hope in society where children can discover the joy of being together without their algorithmic addictive intermediary devices.

Veteran teachers in Listening is Learning, cognizant of the challenges of 21st Century children, offer engaging ideas for revitalizing the face-to-face classroom, a place drawn from experience, a place where teacher and students connect with human society's beginnings with people sitting around campfires having conversations. I advocate continuing that tradition.
 

My first book, Teaching from the Middle of the Room: Inviting Students to Learn (Stetson Press, 2010), I expressed through the eyes of Dan Hilliard. I trace his journey from standup delivery talking at students to engaging them, metaphorically, 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 learn and to want to learn. It was written before the impact of digital devices in students' lives. It offers ways to bring students into face-to-face learning essential in counteracting 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 actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it." I invite teachers to do just that. Take their classrooms and poke their students and encourage them to pop into each day in earnest. 

By meeting innovative practitioners who engage students, Teaching That Matters encourages teachers to 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! Conversation is the medium where students and teacher learn! Everyone listens, everyone shares. In this short, concise, practical book, teachers will find a myriad of ways to engage in conversation with their students––and engage themselves.
Conversation Classrooms  is the second edition of my successful Teaching That Matters Engaging Minds, Improving Schools (Roman and Littlefield, 2015). Focusing on student engagement, it offers concise, practical, and innovative strategies to stimulate face-to-face learning, important––in fact essential––in today's digital age.

"Conversation Classrooms is an inspirational book to read if you want to bring new life into your school."