Adolescent Literacy, Field Tested —
Abstract of

Chapter 18
Successful Secondary Teachers Share Their Most Effective Teaching Practices

Sheri R. Parris

Cheryl Taliaferro

This chapter includes interviews with award-winning secondary-grade teachers who share insights and instructional practices that contribute to their teaching success. These teachers come from a variety of content areas and electives, yet they all share a common trait: They all support literacy development as an integral part of achievement in their classrooms. Upon analyzing these interviews, common instructional themes emerged, including chunking, creating student buy-in and student choice for lessons, developing lessons for different learning styles, creating a safe and supportive classroom environment, utilizing higher-level thinking skills, and developing relationships with students. Overall, this chapter contains a wealth of practical wisdom from teachers who have overcome the challenges of today's classrooms to achieve the highest honors in their field.

Parris, S.R., & Taliaferro, C. (2009). Successful Secondary Teachers Share Their Most Effective Teaching Practices. In S.R. Parris, D. Fisher, & K. Headley (Eds.), Adolescent Literacy, Field Tested (pp. 219-227). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.