In the perhaps the microscopic amount of time I have spent in a classroom as a teacher, and the multitude of years I have spent in them as student I have learned a few things. We have all met good teachers and bad teachers. We have all met short teachers and tall teachers. We have all met young teachers and old teachers. While this is true for most people, many have never met a great teacher. What is a great teacher? How do they differentiate themselves from good teachers? Do great teachers make a difference? These questions have resonated in the back of my mind and have only become more prevalent to me in my recent years of study. Many people may ask. Why do you care? John C. Maxwell once said,
“It’s said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others’ mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others’s successes.”
If this quote does not answer the question well enough my words will not clarify my intent any further. Todd Whitaker’s text What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most discusses the topic rather in depth of what great teachers do. Words that I hear echoed in the voices of my professors.
Todd Whitaker has a title that truly raises a question. What are the 14 things that matter most? At least in the context of great teachers Whitaker speaks to the abilities of some of his best teachers. Great teachers understand that people make the difference. Programs, frameworks, standards are all great ideas, but people implement them. People teach students. Great teachers have clear expectations. This begins at the start of the year. Clear rules and procedures set the stage for the rest of the year. Great teachers strive to prevent misbehavior, and, if it happens once, to prevent its re-occurrence. Great teachers have high expectations. Of course this is important for students, but even more important for the teacher to expect the best from themselves. Great teachers know they make the difference in the classroom. Great teachers set a positive environment for student learning. Great teachers care for their students and colleagues fostering enriching relationships. Great teachers ignore the trivial and respond to the inappropriate. This calls to mind the insult of “Hey Pretzel face.” I shudder to think what a pretzel face may appear like. Great teachers plan well, and are adaptable in the face of adversity. Great teachers shoot for the best. To be the best, to do the best, to think about what the best will think. Great teachers treat everyone as good. Rather than punish the few reinforce the many. Great teachers focus on student learning. Great teachers care. The 14 things great teachers do are evident whenever a person reflects on the good and the bad of any education.
Whitaker’s text makes one thing evident. Great teachers strive to be great. While I am still an aptly named student-teacher I strive to be great. All teachers should strive be great. Making a difference in the lives of students is the greatest of motivations. Whitaker basically restates what research tells teachers. For example a teacher must have clear expectations to ensure the maximum amount of class time is spent on learning. Jacob Kounin points out that the goal is to prevent misbehavior in a class. (Kounin, 1970) Great teachers plan. One of Charlotte Danielson’s four domains, a whole domain, is planning. (Danielson, 2007) Great teachers know they are the variable in a class. Hiam Ginott wrote A Teacher’s Motto. The whole poem is making this point. (Ginott, 1975) In my opinion in all expect maybe one or two instances these ideas can be aligned to the InTASC standards. The national, and specifically the Arkansas teacher licensure standards. All of Whitaker’s points are supported by research, are supported by experience, and are supported by teachers.
My lengthy explanation of this text is merely an example of what teachers can do to make a difference. Great teachers care about being the best they can be. Not for themselves, but for their students.
References
Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. 2Nd Edition (2nd Ed.). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Dr. Haim G. Ginott (1975), Teacher and child: A book for parents and teachers, New York, NY: Macmillan
Kounin, Jacob S. Discipline and group management in classrooms. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Win- ston, 1970.
Whitaker, T. (2004). What great teachers do differently: 14 things that matter most. Eye on Education: Larchmont N.Y.