How to Catch a Shark: And Other Stories About Teaching and Learning

"I submit that the well-told, well-chosen story can tell the most about the qualitative status of both teaching and learning in the classroom." So says Donald Graves, author of this unique new book and one of the field's best-loved and most respected authorities on literacy education.

Now, in this eclectic collection of personal stories, Graves recalls with power and clarity the many events—great and small—that have informed his views on how we come to understand the world. In an age when teachers are under constant pressure to find the right pedagogical "method" and when the measure of success is often reduced to a test score, How to Catch a Shark will be both a comfort and an inspiration.

Here is a beguiling and thoughtful anthology of autobiographical tales, based on both personal and professional experiences. There are recalled moments of childhood wonder; anecdotes about remarkable and not-so-remarkable students; lessons from the pulpit as well as the ballfield; stories of painful loss, hilarious mishaps, and awesome epiphanies. Each one teaches as it reveals the nature of human learning. Graves' point is clear: the best way to understand effective, responsive teaching is to examine our own learning histories. He invites readers to do the same in a reflection and practical exercise at the end of each story.

Sit down with Donald Graves' book. Listen to his tales. Resonate with the truth of your own experiences. And in so doing, you will discover myriad ways to help students access the powers of their own stories.

To learn more about Donald Graves, visit www.donaldgraves.org.

Donald H. Graves was a pioneer in literacy education who ultimately revolutionized the way that writing is taught in the United States and around the world. The research study he began in the 1970s at the Atkins Academy, a rural New Hampshire elementary school, would transform writing instruction and launch a new kind of resource: professional books for educators. His bestselling book, Writing: Teachers and Children at Work, challenged teachers to let children's needs and interests, not mandates, guide instruction. For the first time, young children became engaged as writers - not just students learning to write. As they were guided to make the decisions writers make in an authentic writing process, they raised our beliefs about what young writers were capable of. Don Graves was a teacher, principal, Education Director, and Co-Director of an urban teacher preparation program. He was Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire . Heinemann proudly published Don's many other titles including A Fresh Look at Writing; A Sea of Faces; The Energy to Teach; Teaching Day By Day; and Inside Writing (coauthored with Penny Kittle). Children Want to Write: Don Graves and the Revolution in Children's Writing, edited by Thomas Newkirk and Penny Kittle, pairs Don's most important writings with recovered video from his classrooms, creating a vivid and surprising portrait of the man still referred to as "the Don." NCTE's Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing is given annually to deserving educators who have shown exemplary understanding and insight on student improvement in writing. For additional information about Don Graves, see: - Where It All Started by Tom Newkirk - A True Friend & a Good Writer by Nancie Atwell - The Teacher as Learner: The Research of Donald Graves by Mary Ellen Giacobbe