What Great Teachers Do Differently: Fourteen Things That Matter Most

by Whitaker, Todd

• ISBN13: 9781930556690
• ISBN10: 1930556691
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

This book describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that form the fabric of life in our best classrooms and schools. It focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not. Readers of author Todd Whitaker's best-selling WHAT GREAT PRINCIPALS DO DIFFERENTLY asked him for a companion volume focusing on great teachers and their classrooms. This book is his response to those requests.This book focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not. It answers these essential questions: - Is it high expectations for students that matter? - How do great teachers respond when students misbehave? - Do great teachers filter differently than their peers? - How do the best teachers approach standardized testing? - How can your teachers gain the same advantages?

Table of Contents

About the Author	v
Acknowledgements	vii
Introduction	xiii
1 Why Look at Great?	1	(6)
Studying Effective Teachers	4	(3)
2 It's People, Not Programs	7	(8)
It's People, Not Programs	9	(1)
How Open Classrooms Got Started	10	(1)
Assertive Discipline-the Problem or the Solution?	11	(2)
It's Not What You Do, It's How You Do It	13	(1)
The Poor Lecturer's Classroom	13	(2)
3 The Power of Expectations	15	(6)
Expectations	17	(1)
Rules	18	(1)
Stop the Thumping!	18	(1)
Consequences	19	(1)
Set Expectations at the Start of the Year	19	(1)
We Are Still Undefeated	20	(1)
4 Prevention Versus Revenge	21	(10)
When a Student Misbehaves	23	(1)
Sending Students to the Office	24	(1)
"Nuthin' Happened"	24	(1)
A Teacher's Bag of Tricks	25	(2)
Respect Your Students, Their Parents-and Yourself	27	(1)
Twenty-Four Students on the Side of the Teacher	28	(1)
Restoring Trust	28	(3)
5 High Expectations-for Whom?	31	(4)
Are High Expectations Important?	33	(2)
6 Who Is the Variable?	35	(8)
Who Is the Variable in the Classroom?	37	(1)
What If the Students Do Poorly?	37	(1)
Hey, Who's Responsible Around Here?	38	(2)
How Do We Deal With the Demands of Others?	40	(3)
7 Ten Days out of Ten	43	(10)
We Never Forget That One Time	45	(1)
You Do Not Have to Like the Students	46	(1)
The Power of Praise	46	(1)
Five Things That Help Praise Work	46	(5)
Too Much Nice	51	(2)
8 The Teacher Is the Filter	53	(10)
How Is Your Day Going?	55	(1)
The Angry Parent	55	(1)
When the Teacher Sneezes	56	(1)
One Goal, Every Day	57	(1)
Where the Elite Meet?	57	(1)
The World Outside School	58	(1)
This Is the Worst Group of Kids We've Ever Had	59	(1)
Perception Can Become Reality	59	(4)
9 Don't Need to Repair-Always Do Repair	63	(10)
Some Never Need to Repair-But Always Do	65	(1)
Some Always Need to Repair-But Never Do	66	(1)
I Am Sorry That Happened	67	(1)
The Highway Patrol	68	(5)
10 Ability to Ignore	73	(8)
Hey, Pretzel Face!	75	(1)
Ignoring Minor Errors	76	(2)
Handling the High Achievers	78	(3)
11 Random or Plandom'	81	(6)
Why Does Jimmy Always Pick Billy?	83	(1)
The All-school Assembly	84	(1)
The Faculty Meeting	84	(3)
12 Base Every Decision on the Best People	87	(8)
Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted!	90	(1)
This Means You!	90	(1)
What Will My Best Students Think?	91	(2)
My Best Students "Will Be Fine" No Matter What	93	(1)
The Teacher's Pet	93	(2)
13 In Every Situation, Ask Who Is Most
Comfortable and Who Is Least Comfortable	95	(1)
Treat Everyone As If They Were Good	96	(3)
Uncomfortable Feelings Make People Change-One Way or Another	99	(1)
Pay for Performance	100	(3)
14 What About These Darn Standardized Tests?	103	(8)
Without Success, Tests Become the School	105	(3)
Raise Those Test Scores!	108	(1)
Effective Teachers Keep Testing in Perspective	109	(1)
So, You Want to Improve Your Reading Scores?	110	(1)
15 Make It Cool to Care	111	(10)
Make It Cool to Care	113	(1)
The Great Teacher	114	(1)
Merry Christmas, Everyone!	115	(2)
Who Are the Legends?	117	(1)
Touch the Heart, Then Teach the Child	118	(3)
16 Clarifying Your Core	121	(4)
Fourteen Things That Matter Most	125	(2)
References	127