(Betsy) Elizabeth Compton

EDAD 6315: School Finance

Summer 2015
Book Review

Green Light Classrooms: Teaching Techniques that Accelerate

Learning by Rich Allen

Rich Allen holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and has been

researching educational strategies for many years. He has mostly focused
on how the human brain receives, recalls, and processes informationknowledge that informs all aspects of his teaching strategies (Allen xiv). He
began his career as an off-Broadway actor, which has perhaps influenced his
creative way of considering the brain and pedagogy. This book, Green Light
Classrooms, was published in 2008 and since, Dr. Allen has toured the
country to talk with educators about his ideas. He will be in Garland this
August.
The first chapter, titled Overview does a good job of setting up the
book. The figures are not really necessary, but do add clarity to the text.
From this first chapter, you can see that the book is well-organized and
although presented linearly, can be referenced later from any point. Rich

Allen begins by explaining the differences between Red Light and Green
Light classrooms. The concept of Red Light vs. Green Light is easy to
understand and apply. Basically, Red Light classrooms represent the status
quo, or the way things have always been done in the past. Red Light
classrooms rely heavily on top down teaching. For example, the teacher
most likely spends the most time lecturing to the students in a traditional
lecture format. Then, the students may complete worksheets or simple
assignments reinforcing the lecture material or reading from a textbook.
Lastly, the students complete the unit by taking a traditional test, focusing
on content knowledge gained.
Early in the book, Mr. Allen also references the Ferris Bueller movie
classroom scene as a great example of Red Light teaching. The movie,
released in 1986 features the antics of a teenage boy. The scene referenced
shows a teacher lecturing to the class in an incredibly monotone voice. The
camera pans by the students in the room, whom are in various stages of
boredom and completely disengaged from the lesson. I've actually seen that
clip played in professional development on two different campuses. We all
laugh because we know it's true, yet most teachers have ended up in that
place during a lesson at least once. The example serves to remind readers in
a humorous way that lecturing for an entire class period is never successful
and equals a Red Light classroom.
The second through tenth chapters of the book focus on different
elements of teaching; including memory, connections, movement, novelty,

tone, emotions, socialization, drama, and visuals. Each chapter includes

background information, research about the topic, plausible scenarios, and
example lesson plans with follow-up information. The example lessons in the
chapters are submitted by real teachers and the following debrief sections
are important to fully understand the choices that move the lesson plan from
Red to Green. All of the examples seem extremely plausible.
My favorite chapter in the book is Chapter 4: Movement. Many
students are primarily kinesthetic learners by nature and therefore, I have
been a strong advocate for movement in the classroom for a long time.
Many example lesson plans are provided in the chapter, which really shows
how movement is possible in every subject and grade level. Understanding
where movement is possible is the biggest road block for most core subject
teachers. Therefore, this is a great chapter for developing understanding
and exploring new ideas.
In addition to incorporating movement into content lesson plans,
movement can be utilized during administrative tasks. The chapter points
out that even small tasks, such as passing out papers, can involve
movement. Teachers whom allow students moments to purposefully get up
and move within the classroom are pursuing a Green Light classroom by
keeping the students physically engaged. As a result, they also reduce
classroom management issues, since students are no longer bored or
restless (Allen 60). For Green Light teachers, movement and physical

engagement are a natural and fundamental part of the learning process

(Allen 61).
The fifth chapter focuses on the concept of novelty. In todays society,
this chapter is incredibly relevant and important. Our students spend more
time using electronic devices with screens displaying brightly colored, fast
moving entertaining characters than ever before in history. They expect
something new and different daily. Red Light teachers will not be able to
hold the attention of todays youth. Green Light teachers use novelty to help
students make connections to content. The example lesson plans provided
in this chapter are good examples of teachers thinking outside the box to
create interesting, memorable lessons.
The end of the chapter also points out the importance of maintaining
rituals in the classroom. Although novelty is important, the entire class
should not be novelty driven. Rituals should be retained to sustain student
comfort levels Since so much of the learning process is by its very nature a
matter of exploring the unknown, having occasional touchstones of normalcy
can help students feel secure (Allen 79). Allen suggests finding a balance
between rituals and novelty. In many cases novelty can even be utilized
within classroom rituals. For example, the teacher may establish a ritual of
working in pairs, however may add novelty by changing how the pairs are
declared.

The other chapter that greatly stands out for me is Chapter 9, Drama.
As a former Theatre teacher, I enjoy the connections of drama to other
subjects. I have long known that role-playing leads to opportunities for
problem-solving and higher level thinking. Allen states, Guided properly,
drama can trigger a wealth of healthy emotions and positive learning for
everyone involved in any aspect of the production, large or small (Allen
133). Although all of the strategies presented in Green Light Classrooms
share connections, I especially like the connection of drama to the previously
mentioned strategies, movement and novelty. Most theatrical acts
inherently contain novelty and need movement to come to fruition, creating
a trifecta of learning.
Many teachers may be scared to incorporate drama due to fear of the
unknown. The examples in Chapter 9 show that simple strategies can be
utilized by anyone. The first example demonstrates how with guidance, the
students can be the creators and producers of their own works. Not only will
they learn content as they dive into the material to create a script, they will
learn problem-solving and have opportunities to show cooperation and
leadership through their interactions with their classmates. Later, follow-up
group discussions and self-reflections can lead to more engagement with the
content. Additionally, by experiencing something novel, students may
discover a path they otherwise would have failed to find (Allen 145).
The end of the book contains a Final Note in which Mr. Allen
integrates a few important concepts of Red Light vs. Green Light teaching by

offering advice. The first piece of advice is start small (Allen 171). Allen
advises not trying every strategy at once. Teachers should pick one with
which they feel comfortable and build from there. Along the way, it is
important to evaluate the progress and commit to make changes. Once a
teacher feels confident that strategy is working well, he/she should try a new
one.
The second bit of advice in the Final Note is to teach the students,
not the content (Allen 171). This phrase is common and presented in many
other texts. It is easy to say, but hard to explain. It is absolutely true that
teachers must transfer the knowledge of content to their students. The
concept is that by focusing on the students, the content will be learned.
Every student is different and each class will have a different energy. A
lesson plan that excels in one class may fall flat in another. Teachers must
focus on the individual learning needs of their students and build lessons
that utilize strategies that will best help those specific children. Whether it is
the following year, or the following class period, the teacher will need to
reevaluate the plan to discover the most successful path for the next group.
In conclusion, Green Light Classrooms is a well-written book identifying
strategies for student-led learning. Many of the ideas presented are also
presented by other authors, but the concept of Green Light vs. Red Light
helps draw a correlation in the minds of teachers that may help them identify
more successful teaching methods. The examples in the book are easy to
follow and adjust for various age groups and content areas. The research

presented by Mr. Allen seems sound and backed up by other studies and
real-world examples. Overall, it is a good text for teachers in all stages of
their teaching career.

Reference:
Allen, R. (2008). Green Light Classrooms: Teaching Techniques That
Accelerate Learning.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.