What Great Teachers Do Differently - The Rest & Summary

What Great Teachers Do Differently
Since the first of the year we have been taking a look at one strategy from Todd Whitaker's book What Great Teachers Do Differently.  This week we will quickly highlight the last 5 strategies and then provide a summary.

Base Every Decision on the Best People - "Before making any decision or attempting to bring about any change, great teachers ask themselves one central question: What will the best people think?" (Whitaker, 88)

In Every Situation Ask Who Is Most Comfortable and Who Is Least Comfortable - "Great teachers continually ask themselves who is most comfortable and who is least comfortable with each decision they make.  They treat everyone as if they were good" (Whitaker, 95)

Put Yourself in Their Position - "Great teachers have empathy for students and clarity about how others see them" (Whitaker, 101)

What About These Darn Standardized Tests - "Great teachers keep standardized testing in perspective.  They focus on the real issue of student learning." (Whitaker, 109)

Make It Cool to Care - "Great teachers care about their students.  They understand that behaviors and beliefs are tied to emotion, and they understand the power of emotion to jump-start change." (Whitaker 118)


Summary
Whitaker's book What Great Teachers Do Differently is a quick read outlining some of the characteristics that set the best teachers a part from the others.  As I finished the book, I tried to summarize a great teacher into one (long) sentence:  A great teacher is someone who cares for kids, keeps kids first in all decisions, treats everyone as if they were good every day, and is empathetic.  Whitaker mentioned when he spoke to the MRVED districts (this is a paraphrase)..."none of these things require money, the newest curriculum, or the fanciest device...all of these things can be accomplished through EFFORT."  It may take a lot of effort some days to treat that one kid as if he was good, but in the end it's worth it.

When I think back to my schooling (and I need to be careful here as some of my teachers are still teaching :-) and remember the great teachers.  I don't remember some of the neat projects we did, or the newest computer games (it was the color version of Oregon Trail), I remember the teachers that treated me with respect and genuinely cared for me.  Some of it was "tough love", but love nonetheless.  Think back to your schooling.  What were some of the characteristics of the best teachers you had?  Do you carry some of those characteristics yourself?  Would you want to be a student in your own classroom?

If you haven't read it already, find a copy of Whitaker's book What Great Teachers Do Differently and read it over the summer.

Summer Reading List

Summer Reading List
With only a month (or less) of school left I thought it would be good to get a list of books to read over the summer months.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Todd Whitaker

Innovators Mindset - George Couros (MRVED Keynote Speaker Spring 2018)

Teach Like a Pirate - Dave Burgess

On Your Mark - Thomas Guskey

Better Conversations - Jim Knight

50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools - Berliner & Glass


All of these books offer great discussion points and make you think about teaching and learning.  Brandon has read many of these, so if you are looking for something specific, contact him (braymo@mrved.net).

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Random or Plandom?

Random or Plandom?
Todd Whitaker talked about this when he was with us in April.  "Great teachers have a plan and purpose for everything they do.  If plans don't work out the way they had envisioned, they reflect on what they could have done differently and adjust accordingly." (Whitaker, 82).  The key words in the previous sentence are "what THEY could have done differently".  They referring to themselves.

Whitaker gave the example of the lyceum.  Great teachers know where the problem children are likely to be seated and they sit themselves right next to those students.  The other teachers congregate in the back of the auditorium and try to manage the students from the back (which has been proven to be ineffective time and time again.)  Another example is that Johnny and Timmy do not work well together, so instead of allowing kids to choose groups, the teacher figures out a way in which the two young men will not be working together.  "Great teachers intentionally arrange, rearrange, alter, and adjust the structures that frame their teaching." (Whitaker 81)

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.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Don't Need to Repair - Always Do Repair

As we continue through the book "What Great Teachers Do Differently" by Todd Whitaker, chapter 11 is on helping students repair situations.  Effective teachers give students processes that will help them throughout their life.  One of these processes is to repair a situation in which someone was offended or wronged.

It can be as simple as teaching kids how and when to say "I'm sorry".  More importantly, it's modeling this type of behavior for your students.  If as a teacher, you get upset at your class for not following through on a certain project or directions.  It's OK to be upset and we are all human and will react in a way that we know how, but it's what you do after that really counts.  Effective teachers will apologize for their behavior.  Apologizing does not mean the teacher was wrong for what they did, it simply shows they care enough to try to repair any damage he/she might have done the previous day when being upset.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Be the Filter

Be The Filter
We are about halfway through Todd Whitaker's book "What Great Teachers Do Differently".  The "Be The Filter" chapter is a great chapter for this time of the year.  February, March, and April can be tough months to get through.  Winter is dragging on, there are no breaks in sight, testing is on the horizon, teacher negotiations are ramping up, etc...  Whitaker talks about filtering out the negative to find the positive.

We all know that one person who constantly brings the negative to every conversation, we'll call her Debbie Downer.  Whenever someone asks Debbie how her day is, she starts by saying how bad her day is, or any problems she is having with her students.  If you are in a conversation with her, you need to filter that negative energy out, because it can leech into your mood as well.  If your mood is negative, your students will catch onto it very quickly.

We've also heard Debbie say, "This is the worst group of kids I have ever had".  Her grade level partners agree and also spew this negativity about this certain grade level.  Soon teachers in the grades ahead are fearing this group of kids.  This negative attitude about a certain grade level permeates throughout everything you do.  Be the filter...Filter out this toxic information and approach this grade level as you have every other year, with positive energy.

If you are dealing with a lot of negative people, pick up Whitaker's book and read chapter 10.  He will give you some strategies to filter out the negative and become the positive change you want to be.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Respect Everyone, Every Day

Great teachers create a positive atmosphere in their classrooms and schools.  They treat every person with respect.  In particular, they understand the power of praise." (Whitaker, 56)

It seems trivial, but the old adage of "Treat others how you would like to be treated", really is a crucial part to what separates the good teachers from the great teachers.  Think about a time you were mistreated...now think of a time you were praised.  Which one was easier to think about?  Which memory was more recent.  Chances are, you could easily identify a time when you were mistreated and your memory of praise happened more recently.  Why is this?  It's because those memories of mistreatment stick with you.

How does this apply to the classroom?  Think about the student who constantly feels as if he/she is mistreated by the teachers.  Do you think that will stick with them?  Whitaker makes a great point.  He says, "You don't have to like the students; you just have to act as if you like them." (Whitaker, 50).  Now, this seems like an awful statement to make, but I guarantee you that there are one or two students in your classroom who you can think of right now who you have a hard time liking.  If they know you don't like them, they can sense you don't care about them.  Do you think they will do anything for you?  Probably not.  If you act as if you like them and treat them with the same respect you treat all other students, they will be more than likely to do what you want them to do.

Whitaker goes into length about Ben Bissell's "five strategies that help praise work".  They are the praise must be authentic, specific, immediate, clean, and private.  Authentic, specific, immediate, and private praise are self-explanatory.  But clean praise could be somewhat confusing.  For praise to be clean, you can't expect something in return for the praise.  For example if you praise a kid on Monday, you can't expect the kid to not screw up on Tuesday.  The two behaviors are not related.  For praise to also be clean, it cannot contain the word "but".  For example, "great job on question 2, but you got 4 and 6 wrong".  The praise will not have an effect on the student because what do you think they remember from that sentence...they got 4 and 6 wrong.  They probably don't even realize you said "great job on question 2".

In short...respect everyone, every day!  Treat others how you would want to be treated, even if you really don't like them.  Give praise that is authentic, specific, immediate, clean, and private.  Great teachers, according to Whitaker, do all these things.

Holiday Book Recommendations

Holiday Book Recommendations
If you are looking for a couple books to read over the Christmas break, here is a short list of a couple great books by some excellent authors!

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Todd Whitaker


Better Conversations - Jim Knight


Fair Isn't Always Equal - Rick Wormeli


The Innovators Mindset - George Couros

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Focus on Students First

Focus on Students First
Great teachers always put the needs of their students before theirs.  Whitaker states, " Great teachers focus on students first, with a broad vision that keeps everything in perspective" (Whitaker, 48).  This seems like a no-brainer that all teachers focus on students first, but in reality this is not the case for all teachers.  Most teachers get into

 the profession for their love of kids and learning, but slowly, usually over time, something happens.

Take a schedule change for example.  There's an all school assembly at 2:00 on Friday, the student-centered teacher says, "I think it's great that our students get to hear speaker X on this very important topic, what can I do to help?"  The teacher-centered teacher says, "Why does it have to be at 2:00, now my 7th hour class is going to be behind the 6th hour by a day.  What am I going to do?"  The difference is not compliance, it's about who is at the center, student or teacher.

Our natural instincts say to take care of ourselves first, others second.  As a teacher, we need to put the needs of our students in front of ours.  This may cause us discomfort or create small problems for us, but in the end, school is about and for the kids.  Great teachers know this and live it.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Who is the Variable?

Who is the Variable?

This whole school year we have been looking at the book What Great Teachers Do Differently - 17 Things That Matter Most by Todd Whitaker.  Each chapter has examined simple things that separate the great teachers from the good teachers.  We all strive to be great at what we do, using some of the tips in this book can help all of us inch closer to that greatness.

This chapter by far has been my favorite!  This chapter focuses on who is the difference maker in the classroom.  Who is the variable? Whitaker starts with the example of the teacher who gets the award for sending the most students to the office.  It seems the same teachers win this award year after year and we can already predict who will win it next year.  How is it possible we could know this information already? We don't know what kids this teacher will have, but yet we know he/she will have the most discipline referrals.  This example shows that the teacher is the variable in the classroom.  When asking this teacher why there are so many office referrals, their answer will typically start with, "If the kids only...".  This makes the kids the variable, and they are not...the teacher is the variable in the classroom.

Great teachers recognize they are the variable and realize it is them who will need to adjust for anything to improve.  Great teachers know that they can only change things they have control of; themselves. Another great example is a teacher gives a spelling test, and over 1/2 the class fails the test.  Who is to blame?  Poor teachers will be quick to blame other variables...parents, the kids, schedules, snow days, etc...  Great teachers know what the variable is, themselves.  They look within first to realize what went wrong and then make adjustments within.

This variable idea does not only apply to education, but the business world as well.  Great store managers know they are the variable that makes a business successful or not.  Poor managers are quick to blame customers, location, weather, employees, corporate, etc...

Be the variable in your classroom!

What Great Teachers Do Differently - High Expectations - For Whom?

What Great Teachers Do Differently - High Expectations - For Whom?
The next chapter in What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker talks about expectations.  This chapter, although very short, dealt a huge punch.  Whitaker talks about that as teachers we all have high expectations for our students, regardless if you are a superstar teacher or not.  But what sets great teachers apart from everyone else, is having high expectations for themselves.

The teachers with high expectations for themselves are the ones who when they see their students struggling, they say to themselves "what can I do differently to help this student".  Teachers with low expectations of themselves will often have the opposite reaction, "what is the student doing wrong that they aren't getting it".  The great teachers have such high expectations of themselves that they will do anything they can to make sure the students are understanding what they are trying to teach.  The same can be said about kids paying attention.  If the students are not engaged, great teachers look within and look at their activities as to why students are engaged.  Teachers with low expectations are quick to blame the students for not being engaged.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Prevention versus Revenge

Prevention versus Revenge
As we continue on our journey through Todd Whitaker's book What Great Teachers Do Differently, we are looking at the 17 things that matter most.  This chapter deals with student discipline.  It offers a great way to think about classroom management, and more importantly discipline.

The first thing that struck me while reading this chapter is the mindset of how to deal with a student who misbehaves.  Whitaker states "Effective teachers want to prevent misbehavior, whereas ineffective teachers focus on punishing a student ... (Whitaker, 25)".  The effective teacher finds ways and deals with a student in a manner that will prevent the misbehavior from happening again.  The ineffective teacher will punish the behavior and often times see the same behavior happen again.  Ineffective teachers deal with the past, whereas effective teachers deal with the future.

When misbehavior happens, all eyes are usually on the teacher to see how he/she responds to the situation.  If the teacher blows up, yells, or embarrasses the student, often times the behaviors will reoccur.  If a teacher can deal with the student at an opportune time and in a private matter, often times the behavior will not reoccur.  Students are smart, if they know the teacher will fly off the handle while everyone is watching, the student got what they wanted...attention and amusement.

In short, deal with the future not the past when handling misbehaving students.

As usual, there is so much more in this chapter, so I highly recommend reading this great book by Todd Whitaker.

What Great Teachers Do Differently - When You Say Something, Mean It

When You Say Something, Mean It
As we continue through the book, "What Great Teachers Do Differently- 17 Things That Matter Most", by Todd Whitaker, we will review the previous 2 weeks.

1. It's People, Not Programs
2. The Power of Expectations

Now we will examine the chapter titled, "If you say something, mean it".  This chapter is exactly as the title describes.  Great teachers follow through with what they say they are going to do.  This chapter focuses primarily on classroom management, but I believe it can apply to all facets of things including, but not limited to, helping organize school events, meeting preparation, attending student events, etc...  It's not about how many things you are involved in or how many events you attend, it's about following through when you say you will do something.

In terms of discipline, if you say there is going to be a consequence, then follow through on your consequence.  If kids know you don't follow through on consequences, they will push you to the limit, thus disrupting quality instructional time.  Whitaker also points out that, although follow through is important, so is how you deal with the misbehavior.  For instance, often times you can acknowledge a behavior, without letting the whole class know you have seen the behavior.  Often times the student misbehaving is seeking attention.  By acknowledging the misbehavior in a loud way, you are giving the student what they want, attention.  So communicating the consequence is often times just as important as following through on the consequence.

"Great teachers manage their classrooms thoughtfully.  When they say something, they mean it (Whitaker, 24)."

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Expectations

Expectations
Last week we started our series on the book "What Great Teachers Do Differently" by Todd Whitaker.  Our topic last week was centered on people being the driving force behind making a school successful, not the programs.  This week we will look at "The Power of Expectations".

Whitaker says "Great teachers focus on expectations.  Other teachers focus on rules" (Whitaker, p.13).  This is an interesting statement and holds a lot of merit.  By setting expectations for our students from the start we are being more proactive in our approach versus always being reactive.

A great example of setting expectations not rules is "Be Respectful".  I'm sure we can all think of 10 rules that can fall under the umbrella of being respectful.  By using expectations, it gives the teacher much more discretion when disciplining a student.  Whereas, many rules have defined consequences.  Sometimes the punishments don't always fit the crime.  By being vague, yet pointed, in your expectations, you can deal with all consequences differently, yet fairly.'

This chapter deals primarily with student behavior in terms of expectations, but I think it can also apply to student learning as well.  Great teachers set high expectations for their students and are not afraid of the work it is going to take to get there.  They are also not afraid of failure, thus allowing themselves to set high expectations for their students.

Too often we set the bar high enough for students to reach it, but never challenge them by setting the bar just out of their reach.  The fear and letdown we experience when a student doesn't reach the bar we have set for them makes us set the bar lower and lower.  We need to have the mindset of the phrase in the image in this post, "Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."  This mindset is so important for everyone.  Aim big, have high expectations for all students.