The book series I am currently writing is titled How to Teach Elementary School: So That All Students Achieve; Effective Teaching from Day 1 to 180. In each chapter, I have addressed student achievement, but thought it would be good to address what exactly an effective teacher is. Because…what does effective teaching look like and how do you know if you are an effective teacher?
Effective Teaching Strategies
Prior to writing this blog post, I sat down to ponder what I felt were the characteristics of an effective teacher.
If I have learned ANYTHING in 28 years of teaching, it’s that the teaching profession and classroom expectations are ever changing and COMPLEX. Almost EVERYTHING I do as a teacher today, is different from what I did when I started teaching in 1996. If I was still teaching the way I did as a novice educator, I WOULD NOT be the effective teacher I am today.
I then read a book recommended to me titled, What Great Teachers Do Differently, by Todd Whitaker.
Todd lists 19 things that matter most to great teachers. To read all 19, you will have to buy the book yourself, but I used my personal experience and the knowledge gained from that book to create the quiz below.
“The best thing about teaching is that it matters, and the hardest thing about teaching is that it matters every day.” -Todd Whitaker
According to Todd Whitaker, the difference between more effective teachers and less effective teachers is not WHAT THEY KNOW. It is WHAT THEY DO.
Test yourself! Are you an effective teacher? Do you know an effective teacher? Do you have effective teaching strategies?
1. Great teachers close the door to their classrooms and just teach. They block out all the noise and focus on the kids.
TRUE
FALSE
2. Effective teachers know that if they have all the right academic programs in place, then their students will reach proficiency.
TRUE
FALSE
3. Great teachers know classroom management is not about rules and consequences. Effective classroom management is about expectations, consistency, and follow through.
TRUE
FALSE
4. The most important thing effective teachers do is to build relationships with their students.
TRUE
FALSE
5. Great teachers know that the group of students each year is the variable that determines student behavior and achievement. If a group of students does not show as much growth as expected, it is likely because there is a larger percentage of low performers. If classroom behavior is a challenge, it is likely because the class has more behavior problems.
TRUE
FALSE
6. When teachers plan Tier 1 instruction, they should teach to the grade level standards and beyond, regardless of the academic level of the students in the classroom. If you start where the majority of the students are and then proceed forward, you will never get them where they need to be.
TRUE
FALSE
7. When the pendulum swings, new teaching strategies are introduced, or new programs and systems are adopted, and great teachers smile, nod, and just keep doing what has worked for them in the past.
TRUE
FALSE
8. When days are tough and an effective teacher is facing challenges, they remain positive. They avoid slipping into a pattern of negativity and complaining. Complaining doesn’t make the job any easier, it actually makes the job harder.
TRUE
FALSE
9. Great teachers treat everyone with respect. Everyone. Everyday. You don’t need to like everyone on campus, students included, but they are always treated with positive regard.
TRUE
FALSE
10. Effective teachers have high expectations for all students and hold students accountable to those expectations. Effective teachers have higher expectations for themselves and hold themselves accountable to reaching or exceeding those expectations.
TRUE
FALSE
ANSWERS:
1. Answer: FALSE
Great teachers are collaborators. They seek out other great teachers to discuss what works for them so that they can continuously improve their own teaching practices. When faced with a challenge (challenging student, challenging leadership, changes to expectations), they face each day with a positive attitude. They lead by example and keep their door open for all to see.
2. Answer: FALSE
It’s not about programs, it's about people. In my position as an Instructional Specialist, I've noticed my school’s student proficiency scores have gone up, WAY UP. I am often asked by other specialists, teachers, and administrators, “What programs are you using?” I share what programs we are using and it is exactly the same as what everyone else is using, since it is the district adopted curriculum. I then explain that our rising proficiency rates are from the culture of our school as a collaborative group of educators working towards improving student achievement. While “programs” and teaching methods DO MATTER, it is not WHAT you do, it is HOW you do it.
3. Answer: TRUE
Effective teachers are masters at classroom management. They are clear with their students about what their expectations are and hold students accountable for those expectations ALL. THE. TIME. This is the consistency piece and the follow through piece. Students follow the rules and follow procedures because they know it is expected every time and there is no leeway. Great teachers say what they mean and mean what they say.
4. Answer: FALSE
Just building relationships is not enough. A teacher can be fun, exciting, and engaging, but not effective. You can’t have achievement without relationships. But relationships don’t guarantee achievement. Every school year, I complete an activity with my upper graders called, Would you Rather? I have them discuss the options of: Would you rather have a super fun teacher but you don’t learn anything OR would you rather have a strict teacher who helps you learn everything? First instinct is usually to go for the fun teacher. In the end, the majority of students ALWAYS choose the strict teacher. This is because students know that learning is ultimately what is most important. According to Todd Whitaker, RELATIONSHIPS go along with EXPECTATIONS and CONSISTENCY.
“You cannot relationship your way into being an effective teacher. It is much more complicated than that." -Todd Whitaker
5. Answer: FALSE
The variable in your classroom is YOU. The only behavior you can truly control is your own. Great teachers consistently strive to improve. They focus on the one thing they can control: themselves and their performance. The best teachers take responsibility for their classrooms and all things that happen within them.
“This is the worst class I’ve ever had.”
“I have so many low students.”
“I have so many behavior problems.”
Some teachers place blame or make excuses. Great teachers look to themselves for solutions and rise to the challenge of making each class of students their best class of students. Every teacher has “low” students. Every teacher has students with challenging behaviors. The only behavior and performance we can truly control is our own. When students do not achieve or do not behave it is not the student’s fault. It is the teacher. Effective teachers take responsibility.
6. Answer: TRUE
Great teachers aim high. Great teachers plan instruction and make all decisions based on what their highest achievers and best behaved students can do. We need our best students to model for others and influence others. If we planned everything to the “middle” or to the "lowest" students in our class, we are selling all our other students short. Meeting the needs of all learners comes through differentiation and instruction during your Tier 2 and Tier 3 time.
7. Answer: FALSE
Great teachers are ALWAYS looking to improve their teaching practices. When a new idea or system is presented, they proceed with an open mind. Everything is worth a try. If it works, if it impacts student achievement in a positive way, the great teacher is ALL IN. Great teachers do not throw out tried and true teaching methodology (with proof of results) for the NEW. They incorporate the two together. The more GOOD, the more ACHIEVEMENT.
8. Answer: TRUE
The go-to for some teachers is to immediately find the negative in all things and complain about change. While a moment of venting is good for our mental health, effective teachers maintain a positive outlook. Effective teachers filter out the negative that doesn’t matter. By sharing a positive attitude, we help to create a culture of success. I would imagine that the most successful schools have a collective group of teachers who move in a positive direction with a positive attitude. Negative attitudes and complaining do not lead to student achievement.
9. Answer: TRUE
Great teachers create a positive atmosphere in their classroom and school. They take a positive approach. EVERY DAY. This positive approach applies to people. An effective teacher looks for opportunities to find people doing things right and provides authentic, specific praise. There is a saying, “Every time you praise someone, at least two people feel better - one of them is you.
10. Answer: TRUE
Strive to be a great teacher. “We can’t hold students accountable if we don’t hold ourselves accountable.” I am sure that most teachers have high expectations for their students. The difference between a good and a great teacher is the expectations they have for themselves. In all things, effective teachers work to plan engaging lessons, meet the needs of all learners, and show proof of learning. If any of these things do not happen, the effective teacher asks themselves what they could have done differently, and then implements that adjustment. Effective teachers focus on their own performance.
BONUS: It is not about you. It is about the students.
As teachers we do what we do for STUDENTS. Every decision that is made within a school day should be through the lens of, “Is this best for students?”. Notice I said, “within the school day”. Teachers spend an enormous amount of time outside of the school day perfecting their craft. I have seen a large shift in teachers committing to only working within their contractual hours. And beyond contractual hours, it SHOULD be about you and your family. When things need to happen in the school, in the classroom, during school hours it is always about what is best for students. Great teachers know this and live this.
If you’d like to know more about what great teachers do differently, grab your copy of Todd Whitaker’s book!
