Active Learning

I had never really heard the term "Chalk and Talk" prior to taking this class. But now I realize I have experienced that teaching style for a dominant portion of my education.
The idea of active learning seams so appealing from a student and a teachers point of view that you wonder why it isn't used more often. The only thing I can come up with is that it takes a lot more time and preparation than just standing at the board and lecturing.
I didn't really think of it as active learning at the time, but when I was in forth grade I had the most inventive teacher. She is one of the main impetuses behind me wanting to be a teacher myself and the woman really took active learning to a whole new level. She put more time in effort into that one year of teaching our class than I think some teachers do for their entire careers.
Depending on what era of history we were studying she would decorate the entire classroom to go along with it and have stations for all the other subjects we were learning that reflected that era. We also went on frequent field trips. For instance, when were were learning about pioneers she had us all dress up in clothes fitting to the time period. We then brought radio flyer's from home which she converted into "covered wagons" that we took on a day hike. While on the hike we were given mason jars with cream and marbles that we had to "churn" while we were on our hike. When we got to our destination there was hot stew and biscuits waiting for us and we used our homemade butter on them. We all complained we were hot and tired and she would just reply, "We're going back to the air conditioning when we're done. What do you think it was like for the pioneers?" After filling up on food and singing old folk songs we forgot about the long walk and actually learned what it was like to be a pioneer. The best part is that it was an accident. She didn't tell us what it was like, she showed us. I think that is the most important part of active learning.