What Great Teachers Do Differently - The Ability to Ignore

What Great Teachers Do Differently - The Ability to Ignore

Another great chapter in Todd Whitaker's book, "What Great Teachers Do Differently".  The ability to ignore is a critical aspect that sets not only teachers apart from one another, but also individuals.  We all know someone that has a giant button on them and once you push that button, watch out!  Students are very good at finding which "buttons" they can push on a teacher to get a rise out of them.  It's the ability to recognize when a student is searching for the button and not allow them to push it that sets great teachers apart from the rest.

Whitaker is not suggesting we ignore all behaviors, but rather some find alternative means to dealing with misbehavior in the classroom.  He says, "Great teachers have the ability to ignore trivial disturbances and the ability to respond to inappropriate behavior without escalating the situation."  In essence it comes down to classroom management.  Whitaker says, "...classroom management is grounded in their ability to manage their own behavior."  We need to have high expectations for our own reactions just as we have high expectations for our students.  For example, a student walks down the hallway and calls another student a name.  This situation is totally dependent upon how the student who was called the name reacts.  If he/she "flys off the handle" and punches the other kid, we have a situation.  If he or she ignores the behavior, the situation likely diffuses because the kid doing the name calling did not get the reaction they wanted.  Again, Whitaker is not suggesting to ignore the behavior, but rather painting a picture to show that the student being wronged has total control over how the situation will escalate or not.  Misbehavior in the classroom is the same way.  The student misbehaving is waiting to see how you will react.