Tuned in and Fired Up: How Teaching Can Inspire Real Learning in the Classroom

“Should be required reading for every teacher and every student contemplating teaching as a profession.”—Mary Lynn Collins, Teachers College Record

“Sam Intrator is one of the brightest lights in education today and a key leader in the rising generation of scholar-activists who can help bring meaning and purpose back to education. A compelling, wise, and truly extraordinary book.”—Parker J. Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach

“I yearn for our society to change its vision of education, to remember that hearts must be engaged in order for minds to be put in gear. [Tuned In and Fired Up] adds to my sense of hope. . . . I am grateful for this book.”—Kathy Simon, Horace

“Young teachers reading this book will learn many valuable things, but the most important message here is that good teaching is more a matter of passion and human connection than of practiced technique.”—David Ruenzel, Teacher Magazine

We treasure the occasions when a classroom of students becomes totally focused, absorbed by ideas. How can teachers make these special moments happen more often?

Every teacher has powerful memories of becoming swept up in an electric moment when the classroom hums with energy and students are wholly engaged in learning. During such moments of real learning, teenagers find genuine meaning, worth, and value in their academic experiences. And their teachers find in these heightened and exuberant moments the embodiment of their best hopes and ideals as educators. How can such "teachable moments" be encouraged? What can teachers do to inspire more of these educationally vital episodes? In this compelling book, Sam M. Intrator scrutinizes powerful learning moments in a high school classroom. He offers five detailed portraits of these experiences, describing in each case how the teacher shaped the culture of the class, made critical pedagogical decisions, and connected students to the subject matter. Intrator confirms that seemingly magical learning moments can becultivated, and he suggests numerous practical ideas to help teachers do so.

Should be required reading for every teacher and every student contemplating teaching as a profession.--Mary Lynn Collins, Teachers College Record

Sam Intrator is one of the brightest lights in education today and a key leader in the rising generation of scholar-activists who can help bring meaning and purpose back to education. A compelling, wise, and truly extraordinary book.--Parker J. Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach

I yearn for our society to change its vision of education, to remember that hearts must be engaged in order for minds to be put in gear. Tuned In and Fired Up adds to my sense of hope. . . . I am grateful for this book.--Kathy Simon, Horace

Young teachers reading this book will learn many valuable things, but the most important message here is that good teaching is more a matter of passion and human connection than of practiced technique.--David Ruenzel, Teacher Magazine

Every teacher has powerful memories of becoming swept up in an electric moment when the classroom hums with energy and students are wholly engaged in learning. During such moments of real learning, teenagers find genuine meaning, worth, and value in their academic experiences. And their teachers find in these heightened and exuberant moments the embodiment of their best hopes and ideals as educators.

How can such “teachable moments” be encouraged? What can teachers do to inspire more of these educationally vital episodes? In this compelling book, Sam M. Intrator scrutinizes powerful learning moments in a high school classroom. He offers five detailed portraits of these experiences, describing in each case how the teacher shaped the culture of the class, made critical pedagogical decisions, and connected students to the subject matter. Intrator confirms that seemingly magical learning moments can be cultivated, and he suggests numerous practical ideas to help teachers do so.

Sam M. Intrator is assistant professor of education and child study at Smith College.