Talk About Teaching! helps educators understand the value and power of meaningful informal conversations about teaching to promote teacher learning, improve classroom teaching, and increase learner achievement. It also provides all educators with the "mental maps" and practical tools to enable them to conduct meaningful, although frequently informal, professional conversations about practice. This book: Identifies topics for professional conversations that are linked to the "big ideas" or essential components of successful teaching Links the "big ideas" to both critical research and to the author′s frameworks Identifies and describes research-based conversation skills, including setting the tone, probing, paraphrasing, and inviting thinking Demonstrates how to create an environment that supports informal and effective professional conversations, e.g., making time for the conversations, establishing the necessary trust, reaching consensus on the essential components of successful teaching Provides an entire chapter of very specific conversation activities or protocols organized around the "big ideas" that comprise suggested questions, materials to support the conversations, and likely outcomes of discussions