Ron Nash

Having observed and coached in hundreds of K-12 classrooms since 1994, Ron Nash has come to a few conclusions about what makes teachers tick and classrooms click. The best teachers attend to those seemingly little things that cost nothing, even as they create classroom climates where students can’t wait to walk through the door every day. The big little things that great teachers do have students up, moving, pairing, sharing, laughing, and learning in an atmosphere full of trust, respect, and high expectations. Great teachers are obsessed with continuous improvement. This second edition of Big Little Things highlights 50 tools for building better classrooms at all levels.

Having observed and coached in hundreds of K-12 classrooms since 1994, Ron Nash has come to a few conclusions about what makes teachers tick and classrooms click. The best teachers attend to those seemingly little things that cost nothing, even as they create classroom climates where students can’t wait to walk through the door every day. The big little things that great teachers do have students up, moving, pairing, sharing, laughing, and learning in an atmosphere full of trust, respect, and high expectations. Great teachers are obsessed with continuous improvement. This second edition of Big Little Things highlights 50 tools for building better classrooms at all levels.

Teachers often will come to the conclusion that teacher talk and worksheets won’t cut it if getting students deeply engaged in their own learning is the goal. Indeed, students need to move beyond pretending to listen; they can—and should—develop essential competencies that include academic discourse with classmates, fielding and asking open-ended questions, seeking and providing peer feedback, identifying failure as a necessary accelerant to improvement, and finding joy in learning. Having coached and observed in hundreds of K-12 classrooms over three decades, Nash has met some incredible teachers whose students truly don’t want to miss anything. You’ll meet teachers like that in this book as you discover ways to work the room in a collaborative, engaging, and joyful environment.

Teachers often will come to the conclusion that teacher talk and worksheets won’t cut it if getting students deeply engaged in their own learning is the goal. Indeed, students need to move beyond pretending to listen; they can—and should—develop essential competencies that include academic discourse with classmates, fielding and asking open-ended questions, seeking and providing peer feedback, identifying failure as a necessary accelerant to improvement, and finding joy in learning. Having coached and observed in hundreds of K-12 classrooms over three decades, Nash has met some incredible teachers whose students truly don’t want to miss anything. You’ll meet teachers like that in this book as you discover ways to work the room in a collaborative, engaging, and joyful environment.

Most books about the information technology industry highlight the legendary stories of the colorful and ego-driven entrepreneurs who founded companies and became billionaires. This book takes a different look at the industry and instructs the reader on how to develop the leadership skills which will allow them to succeed in this fast-paced, competitive, innovative, high-talent industry. The author is a veteran leader who has been CEO of several information technology companies and has worked with a number of the legendary characters of this industry. Through a series of experiential stories, he gives practical, understandable lessons in developing the business skills and patterns of thinking that will allow a person to enhance their leadership skills in this industry. Ron Nash takes you along on his journey from being a tentative new employee to a talented CEO. Along the way, you will meet famous leaders such as Ross Perot, Mort Meyerson, and Jim Cannavino, and will understand how they built their companies to be huge successes. This highly readable and enjoyable book will give you solid lessons on leadership, as well as a broad view of how information technology companies and fortunes are built.

Shift Students’ Roles from Passive Observers to Active Participants. Preparing students for a world that did not exist when they were students themselves can be challenging for many teachers. Engaging students, particularly disinterested ones, in the learning process is no easy task, especially when easy access to information is at an all-time high. How then do educators simultaneously ensure knowledge acquisition and engagement? Ron Nash encourages teachers to embrace an interactive classroom by rethinking their role as information givers. The Interactive Classroom provides a framework for how to influence the learning process and increase student participation by sharing • Proven strategies for improving presentation and facilitation skills • Kinesthetic, interpersonal, and classroom management methods • Brain-based teaching strategies that promote active learning • Project-based learning and formative assessment techniques that promote a robust learning environment Intended to cultivate an interactive classroom in which students take an active role in learning, this book provides a blueprint for educators seeking to amplify student engagement while imparting critical twenty-first century skills.

Coach Ron Nash explains why LinkedIn is different from other forms of social media. Never before have professionals from all industries, all backgrounds, and all levels of experience been able to harness their unique skills and experiences in order to build virtual working relationships that span the globe. This one platform allows you to create a persona that aligns with your goals and passions. For the first time in the history of work, you have the power to master the way new networking contacts and potential employers see you. You have the chance to interact with thought leaders in your industry. You have the ability to build a brand beyond the walls of the company you work for.

In Collaborative School Leadership, Nash and Hwang provide administrators with clear and focused ideas on making the most of collaborative leadership while on the path to continuous improvement. Recognizing that classroom instruction is at the core of any plan of improvement, this book looks at the role and nature of powerful building-level professional development. Nash and Hwang provide answers to critical questions: As part of a school’s improvement efforts, what is non-negotiable? What are some barriers to progress, and how can they be overcome or removed? How can building administrators help teachers improve instruction? An extensive appendix provides principals and teacher leaders with ten lessons and an entire chapter is devoted to the kind of formative support that building administrators can provide in the pursuit of student progress. Finally, Nash and Hwang elaborate on the whole decision-making process, and differentiate between the kind of independent and interdependent reflection that is part of the relentless pursuit of continuous improvement at the building level.

Traditional, teacher-centered classrooms are not serving the needs of our students. Their futures will increasingly demand skill sets in the areas of communication, collaboration, and critical thinking; worksheets, videos, and lectures will not prepare them for the challenges they will face in an increasingly-global economy. Shake-Up Call: The Need to Transform K-12 Classroom Methodology calls on educators at every level to challenge the status quo and take risks on behalf of kids. Ron Nash calls on teachers to move off the stage and become facilitators in a process where students are heavily engaged in their own learning. Teachers need to get kids up, moving, pairing, sharing, and asking questions as they seek to understand content-related information. This book reminds teachers of the importance of feedback in the continuous-improvement process, along with the role of consistency. In order to get students up, moving, and sharing, classrooms must be set up to allow for this movement; Nash includes an appendix full of pictures showing classroom configurations that facilitate movement and academic conversations. The final chapter calls for an end to isolation as teachers move to collaboration and the power of "We."