When the Teacher Sneezes

     I've been reading a book by Todd Whitaker lately entitled What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most. It's an easy little read that (unfortunately at times) doesn't delve into too many specifics, but does offer a nice educational philosophy. Whitaker has conducted several studies on great teaching, theorizing to his readers that there are certain things that great teachers consistently do as part of their practices that set them apart from their colleagues. I thought I'd share some of these with you this week:

• Great teachers set -- and stick to -- expectations. Whitaker explains that establishing expectations is vastly different from establishing rules. He claims that "great teachers don't focus on 'What am I going to do if students misbehave?' They expect good behavior -- and generally that's what they get" (2004, p.18). (Remember I warned you about the lack of specifics?? Whitaker doesn't go into much detail about how great teachers expect good behavior -- about what that looks like and sounds like, etc. But his philosophy is a nice starting point for us all to start thinking about what that might look like for us.)
• Great teachers have a bag of classroom management tricks, like using eye contact or proximity. Great teachers know that a teacher never wins an argument with a student: "As soon as it starts, we have lost. If their peers are watching, they cannot afford to give in" (p. 26). And great teachers recognize that yelling doesn't work. (I learned this last lesson the hard way when I first started teaching. During my very first year, I yelled full volume at a very talkative class. It resulted in pin-drop silence . . . for about five minutes. I had lost my cool, my control. My students had won. They had been able to do that to me. I never yelled at a class again because I knew it didn't work.)
• Great teachers know that they want all students on their side. Whitaker offers this scenario: It's the first day of school. There are 25 students in a class and 24 of them are on their best first-day-of-school behavior. But #25 is not. As Whitaker insists, and I agree, right now the remaining 24 students are on the teacher's side. They want the teacher to take steps so that #25 will stop misbehaving. However, because #25 is one of them, they want the teacher to deal with #25 in a professional and respectful way. If the teacher does so, he's got the class on his side. If he does not, other students will begin to shift their allegiance to #25, and now the teacher has several #25s on his hands. Whoops. Whitaker claims that great teachers demonstrate respect for their students.
• Great teachers have high expectations of their students, but even higher expectations of themselves, says Whitaker. As a former high school ELA teacher, my expectations of my students and of myself were tested each time I assigned a major essay. I knew that if I expected my students to be able to complete this essay within a certain time frame, that I also had to be able to assess the essays within a certain time frame in order to provide feedback to my students. My expectations for my students kept my own expectations for myself in check.
• And, finally, when the teacher sneezes, the whole class gets a cold. As Whitaker says, "Our impact is significant; our focus becomes the student's focus" (p. 56). We as teachers set the tone for our classes each day. The teacher is the variable in her classroom. Whose behavior can she control? Her own. Whitaker recognizes that how teachers respond (to misbehavior, to a majority of a class failing a quiz, etc.) is the variable. "Good teachers consistently strive to improve, and they focus on something they can control -- their own performance" (p. 38).

     Now, I fear at times Whitaker might get a little "preachy" or a little simplistic -- and I've already remonstrated the poor man for his lack of specificity (give us some examples -- jeesh!) -- but all in all I enjoyed his common sense approach to what great teachers are doing in their classrooms every day that sets them apart as "great." I like that the above (though abridged) list is full of attainable mindsets and ways of thinking about teacher ownership over what occurs in a classroom. I hope this list sparks some thought and reflection -- I know it did for me!