Teach More, Hover Less: How to Stop Micromanaging Your Secondary Classroom

by Miriam Plotinsky

A hover-free classroom starts with a dynamic class community. Our image of a classroom community in secondary education is rapidly evolving. The experience of remote learning during a pandemic has altered our mental picture of students occupying rows of desks with a teacher nearby, closely monitoring their activities. But even when teachers are able to be in physical proximity to their students, the research is clear that students need to be empowered to take ownership of their learning in order to be fully engaged. The question this book explores How can teachers step back, stop micromanaging, and allow students more agency? In this engaging guide, instructional specialist Miriam Plotinsky breaks hover-free teaching down into four sequential mindset, deeper relationships, planning for engagement, and choice-based instruction. Her book shows how teachers can free themselves from helicopter habits and allow students greater control of their own learning, while still managing and maximizing classroom time effectively. 20 black-and-white illustrations

Genres: Education

144 pages, Paperback

Published May 24, 2022

About the author

Miriam Plotinsky is an author and instructional specialist who addresses challenges in both teaching and leading across schools with a wide range of differentiated needs. A strong advocate for student-centered learning, she provides coaching and professional development for teachers and administrators. Her first book, Hover Less, Teach More: How to Stop Micromanaging Your Secondary Classroom (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022), is a practical guide to a student-centered instructional approach that removes the necessity of teacher micromanagement. Miriam is widely published in Education Week, Edutopia, ASCD Express, The Teaching Channel, EdSurge, K-12 Talk and Education World. She is also a National Board-Certified Teacher with additional certification in administration and supervision. She can be found on Twitter: @MirPloMCPS.

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the concepts in this book about class climate, engagement, and choice based instruction. The concepts I'm unsure about: self-paced instruction (seems too time consuming to set up) and "no deadlines " - there will be due dates in college and most jobs, so students should practice this in high school. Overall, I think it's valuable to learn more "hands-off" instruction techniques.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this via the author’s Edutopia piece recently (an extract from the book). This is the type of teaching I prefer to lean in to, and this book helped me think about how I might approach that this coming year in new ways.