First published 2012 by Eye on Education
Published 2013 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whilaker, Todd, 1959-
What great teachers do differently : seventeen things that matter most / Todd Whilaker. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-59667-199-7
1. Teacher effectiveness. 2. Effective teaching. 3. Teacher-student relationships. I. Title.
LB1775.W443 2011
371.2’012—dc23
2011029023
ISBN 13: 978-1-596-67199-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-317-92590-3 (ePub)
Compositor: Richard Adin, Freelance Editorial Services
Cover Designer: Dave Strauss, 3Fold Design
Also Available from EYE ON EDUCATION
Study Guide:
What Great Teachers Do Differently (2nd edition)
Todd Whitaker & Beth Whitaker
What Great Principals Do Differently:
Eighteen Things That Matter Most (2nd edition)
Todd Whitaker
50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior:
Simple Solutions to Complex Challenges
Annette L. Breaux & Todd Whitaker
Study Guide:
50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior
Annette L. Breaux & Todd Whitaker
Seven Simple Secrets:
What the BEST Teachers Know and Do!
Annette L. Breaux & Todd Whitaker
Study Guide:
Seven Simple Secrets
Annette L. Breaux, Todd Whitaker, & Nancy Satterfield
Dealing With Difficult Parents:
And With Parents In Difficult Situations
Todd Whitaker & Douglas J. Fiore
Teaching Matters:
Motivating and Inspiring Yourself
Todd Whitaker & Beth Whitaker
Great Quotes for Great Educators
Todd Whitaker & Dale Lumpa
Teaching Matters:
Motivating and Inspiring Yourself
Todd Whitaker & Beth Whitaker
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my favorite teachers, who are my three children: Katherine, Madeline, and Harrison. Watching them grow and sharing life with them has taught me more than I ever dreamed possible.
About the Author
Recognized as a leading presenter in the field of education, Dr. Todd Whitaker has been fortunate to be able to blend his passion with his career. His message about the importance of teaching has resonated with hundreds of thousands of educators around the world. Todd is a professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. He has pursued his love of education by researching and studying effective teachers and principals.
Early in his career, Todd taught mathematics and coached basketball in Missouri. He then served as a principal at the middle school, junior high, and high school levels. He was also a middle school coordinator in charge of staffing, curriculum, and technology for the opening of new middle schools.
One of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness, Todd has written more than twenty books, including the second edition of What Great Principals Do Differently. Other titles include 50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior, Teaching Matters, The Ball, 7 Simple Secrets, Motivating & Inspiring Teachers, and Dealing with Difficult Parents.
Todd is married to Beth, also a former teacher and principal, who is a professor of Elementary Education at Indiana State University. They are the parents of Katherine, Madeline, and Harrison.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Celia Bohannon for her outstanding work in editing the original manuscript. Her ability to make sense of my grammar while keeping the heart of the book is a special gift.
I would also like to give a special thanks to my publisher, Mr. Robert Sickles. His support, energy, and confidence have enabled me to remain true to myself and helped me share my vision with fellow educators.
And to Beth, my wife: Your continual love and support help me to be a better person than I could ever have been without you.
Contents
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Introduction to the Second Edition
1 Why Look at Great?
Studying Effective Teachers
2 It’s People, Not Programs
Programs Come and Go
How Open Classrooms Got Started
Assertive Discipline: The Problem or the Solution?
It’s Not What You Do, It’s How You Do It
The Poor Lecturer’s Classroom
3 The Power of Expectations
Expectations
Rules
Stop the Thumping!
Consequences
Set Expectations at the Start of the Year
We Are Still Undefeated
4 If You Say Something, Mean It
The Football Coach
This Time, I Really Mean It
Smile When You Say That
When You Are Ready
From Four to Three
Class Rules the Day
5 Prevention versus Revenge
When a Student Misbehaves
Sending Students to the Office
“Nuthin’ Happened”
A Teacher’s Bag of Tricks
Respect Your Students, Their Parents—and Yourself
Twenty-Four Students on the Side of the Teacher
Restoring Trust
6 High Expectations—for Whom?
Are High Expectations Important?
7 Who Is the Variable?
Who Is the Variable in the Classroom?
What If the Students Do Poorly?
How Do We Deal with the Demands of Others?
8 Focus on Students First
Change for Students’ Sake?
How Broad Is Your Vision?
Three Ways to React
Focus on Colleagues Second
The Hotel California
Remember What Matters
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How Do You View Your Siam?
9 Ten Days Out of Ten
We Never Forget That One Time
You Do Not Have to Like the Students
The Power of Praise
Five Strategies That Help Praise Work
Too Much Nice
10 Be the Filter
How Is Your Day Going?
The Angry Parent
When the Teacher Sneezes
One Goal, Every Day
Where the Elite Meet?
The World Outside School
“This Is the Worst Group of Kids We’ve Ever Had”
Perception Can Become Reality
11 Don’t Need to Repair—Always Do Repair
Some Never Need to Repair—But Always Do
Some Always Need to Repair—But Never Do
I Am Sorry That Happened
The Highway Patrol
12 The Ability to Ignore
Hey, Pretzel Face!
Ignore Minor Errors
Understand the High Achievers
13 Random or Plandom?
Why Does Jimmy Always Pick Billy?
The All-school Assembly
The Faculty Meeting
14 Base Every Decision on the Best People
Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted!
This Means You!
What Will the Best Students Think?
The Best Students Will Be “Fine” No Matter What
The Teacher’s Pet
15 In Every Situation, Ask Who Is Most Comfortable and Who Is Least Comfortable
Treat Everyone as If They Were Good
Uncomfortable Feelings Make People Change—One Way or Another
Pay for Performance
16 Put Yourself in Their Position
Teacher Pleasers
Model the Behavior You Expect
How Others See Us
What Do You Choose to Be?
17 What About These Darn Standardized Tests?
Without Success, Tests Become the School
Raise Those Test Scores!
Keep Testing in Perspective
So, You Want to Improve Your Reading Scores?
18 Make It Cool to Care
Having a “Cool” Classroom
The Great Teacher
Merry Christmas, Everyone!
Who Are the Legends?
Touch the Heart, Then Teach the Child
19 Clarify Your Core
Seventeen Things That Matter Most
References
Introduction
Any teacher can fill a bookshelf with books about education. Any teacher can study lists of guidelines, standards, principles, and theories. The best teachers and the worst teachers alike can ace exams in their undergraduate and graduate classes. The difference between more effective teachers and their less effective colleagues is not what they know. It is what they do.
This book is about what great teachers do that sets them apart. Clarifying what the best educators do, and then practicing it ourselves, can move us into their ranks.
This book is not meant to prescribe a narrow set of instructions. Instead, it frames the landscape of school from the perspective of great teachers. What do they see when they view their classrooms and the students in them? Where do they focus their attention? How do they spend their time and energy? What guides their decisions? How can we gain the same advantages?
There is no one answer; if there were, surely we’d all have it by now. Education is extremely complex, and so is classroom teaching. But we can work toward understanding what the best teachers do. We can gain insight into how effective we are as educators. Most of all, we can continue to refine our skills. All of us have this in common with the best teachers: No matter how good we are, we still want to be better.
The book flows from three different perspectives. I have participated in many research studies on the effectiveness of school principals. Each study was grounded in visits to more effective schools and to less effective schools. In every school, no matter what the environment, I found a wide range of teachers—some more effective, some less so. Better schools may have a higher percentage of better teachers, but I found great teachers in every setting, and I grew curious about what made them great. Second, every year I work with more than fifty schools as a consultant. Through years of observing and visiting with teachers, principals, students, and staff, I have gained insight into the attitudes and behaviors that lead to success. The third perspective is very personal: I write from my own experience as a teacher and principal. I have worked with many outstanding colleagues. What made them great? What kept others from reaching that level?
Over the years, I have presented some of my answers to these questions in sessions with teachers and other educators. And, I compiled my thoughts in a short book titled, What Great Principals Do Differently. Before long, it became evident that great principals and great teachers share many of the same qualities. It makes sense: Part of being a great principal is to be a great teacher; part of being a great teacher is to be a great leader. Educators began inviting me to their schools and districts to work with their teachers, and teachers began asking me to write a companion volume that accounts for the differences between a principal’s role and a teacher’s role. With my compliments to all of the great teachers in our schools, here is that book.
Not all aspects of great teaching have a place in these pages. Those who seek guidance on curriculum development, instructional approaches, assessment rubrics, and other such tools of the trade will find that information elsewhere. These chapters focus on the beliefs and behaviors, attitudes and interactions that form the fabric of life in our classrooms and in our schools. Learning can happen in isolation; teaching happens between people. Effective teaching calls for “people skills,” and the best teachers practice those skills every day.
This book’s format is straightforward. An introductory chapter provides context on the importance of learning from the most effective teachers. A concluding chapter asks us to center on our own core beliefs. And in between are chapters dedicated to each of the individual things that great teachers do differently. Each of us can do everything described in this book—everything the best teachers do.
Introduction to the Second Edition
I’m very pleased to offer a second edition of What Great Teachers Do Differently. After writing What Great Principals Do Differently, I received many requests to write a companion book for teachers. Though a little hesitant, I plowed ahead, and the response was overwhelming. Arriving at a school to work with teachers, I would see hallways decorated with reminders of the “Fourteen Things That Matter Most.” Bookmarks were made, magnets designed, posters created—someone even gave teachers candy bars with special wrappers highlighting each concept. It was very gratifying. I began to hear about book studies, teacher skits at meetings, and peer teaching—outcomes I had never anticipated. Though apparently hundreds of thousands of educators had read the book, what I found most rewarding was that so many teachers took it to heart.
Education is a very difficult job. The days are long, and the challenges can be intense. I feel proud when truly outstanding teachers tell me how much it means to be reminded that their work matters. When I describe how great teachers establish high expectations, treat every person with respect, and make it cool to care, some teachers may feel uncomfortable. But it warms my heart to hear the best teachers say, “I knew that was right! I knew that was right!”
People sometimes comment that some characteristics of great teachers resemble those of great principals. My response is always the same: “I hope so!” Outstanding teachers have the potential to become outstanding building leaders as well. We should hope that many of them make that transition at some point in their career.
Working with thousands of teachers at hundreds of schools gave me the opportunity to further explore what the best teachers do that others do not. The differences are even more dramatic than I initially thought, and this edition addresses
three additional areas.
Great teachers continually focus on students first. Though many people pay lip service to this concept when it is convenient, the best people practice it when it is not. We know that schools should be first for the students, then for the adults—and the best teachers model this every day.
In addition, outstanding teachers can see things from their students’ point of view. They have a rare ability to put themselves into the position of each student they interact with, and they know how they come across to others.
I discovered the third area almost by accident. It is so simple to say, yet so difficult to do: When great teachers say something, they mean it. They choose when and how to address a situation to achieve the effect they want.
Throughout the book, I highlight the contrast between great teachers and poor teachers. In reality, most teachers rank somewhere in between, and most are working to improve. In presenting this second edition of What Great Teachers Do Differently, I salute the teachers who aspire to greatness.
1
Why Look at Great?
We often hear that we can learn from anyone. From effective people, we learn what to do; from ineffective people, we learn what not to do. Although this advice contains a grain of truth, think about it: How much can we really learn from our ineffective colleagues about being an effective teacher or leader? We already know plenty about what not to do. Good teachers already know not to use sarcasm, not to yell at kids, not to argue with teens in front of their friends. We don’t need to visit an ineffective teacher’s classroom to learn this. But we can always reap good ideas from successful educators.
What Great Teachers Do Differently Page 1
