What Great Teachers Do Differently

by Todd Whitaker

  At all levels of our school systems, the effective educators take responsibility. Some superintendents blame the school board for their woes; others work to educate its members. Some teachers lament, “This is the worst group of students I’ve ever had!” Others rise to the challenge of making every class their best. Most educators have had the feeling, at one time or another, that they are at the bull’s-eye of a community’s concerns. The great teachers place themselves in the bull’s-eye.

  How Do We Deal with the Demands of Others?

  This concept of accepting responsibility is not limited to education, although at times it may seem so. We constantly hear or read criticisms of schools and teachers. To survive, we must put these in context. Others, including our critics, focus on their own situations and needs. By the same token, everyone’s effectiveness depends at least in part on what they expect of themselves, not of others.

  A few years ago, the chamber of commerce in my community held a meeting whose purpose was billed as “enhancing dialogue and communication between businesses and education.” The superintendent asked me, as a principal, and two teachers in my school to represent the school district. I was flattered—until we walked into the room. Around a large circular table sat approximately fifteen business “leaders.” The three of us were the only representatives from the education community.

  To start the conversation, the business leaders shared their perceptions of, “the problem with education nowadays.” One by one, they vented their frustrations: “We hire these people and they can’t add or subtract,” whined the first one. His buddy chimed in, “We hire these people and they can’t read or write.” The litany went on and on: “We hire these people and their attendance is terrible,” “We hire these people and they can’t get along with authority.” What a treat for my teachers and me!

  After about twenty-five minutes, it finally got to me. I spoke from the heart.

  “Your concerns seem to be following a pattern. We hire these people and they can’t add or subtract, read or write, show up on time, follow instructions . . .”

  The business leaders nodded aggressively.

  I looked at them and asked, “Who hires these people?”

  I went on: “I used to be a high school counselor, and I never received one call from a potential employer requesting a reference for a student. If you need a way to determine whether an applicant can add and subtract, we can provide old-fashioned worksheets to do that in fifteen minutes. But that’s not my biggest issue. What is the variable here?”

  I was on a roll. They had touched a core belief of mine—accepting responsibility—and I wasn’t about to let them get away with holding others to a higher standard than they applied to themselves.

  “How come, with four McDonalds in town, two have great service and two have very rude employees? Ask for help in one of the grocery stores—on the east side of town, you’ll get a friendly smile, and on the west side you’d think you were offering someone a root canal. What makes the difference? All six of these stores hire from the same pool of candidates. All of them pay the same wages. What is the variable?”

  “We all know the answer: It’s the effectiveness of those who are managing the businesses. And, amazingly, those effective managers assume it is up to them to hire and train quality employees—just as the effective teachers assume they are responsible for the students in their classes, even though they have no voice in selecting them.”

  Accepting responsibility is an essential difference between more effective and less effective employers, teachers, principals—even parents.

  “Now, instead of blaming, let’s see how we can work together so that all of us can be more productive and effective in what we do.”

  Whew! I needed to say that—and to their credit, they listened.

  Accepting responsibility is an essential difference between more effective and less effective employers, teachers, principals—even parents. (Which parents take responsibility for setting expectations about their children’s behavior? Which are quickest to blame others?) As teachers, we must examine our own acceptance of responsibility. More than that: We must help all teachers take responsibility for their classroom performance. If everyone looks in the mirror when they ask, “Who is the variable?” we will have made tremendous strides toward school improvement. This empowering approach raises the level of teacher efficacy and it will eventually reach students. Success in any profession starts with a focus on self. After all, we are the one variable that we can most easily and most productively influence.

  Great teachers know that they are the variable in the classroom. Good teachers consistently strive to improve, and they focus on something they can control: their own performance.

  8

  Focus on Students First

  At first glance, this guideline seems obvious. Every teacher willingly puts students first. Isn’t that why we all chose education as a profession? Unfortunately, in practice the situation is not always so clear. It’s easy to say, “Put kids first,” and, “Make every decision based on what is best for students,” but not all teachers manage to do so.

  Change for Students’ Sake?

  In studying and writing about leading educational change, I have made some interesting discoveries. For one thing, I have found that the greatest challenge is to get everyone—or almost everyone—on board. It might seem that simple logic would prevail. Demonstrate that a proposed change will benefit students, and we can then put it in motion with full support and willing participation. However, as we all know, that’s not what happens. Some people are quick to jump on any new bandwagon. (With all due respect and affection, I sometimes refer to them as, “The Lunatic Fringe.”) Others will more carefully probe and examine a proposal, try it out gradually, and in the end accept it wholeheartedly. But some stubbornly resist change of any kind. They work—or fight—to defeat it, even when it’s clearly better for students. Why does this happen? I have concluded that it all comes down to breadth of vision.

  How Broad Is Your Vision?

  Think about the very best teachers in your school. How broad is their vision? In my experience, these educators take in the whole setting. In everything they do, in every decision they make, they envision its effects throughout the school. They may even consider the district-wide, statewide, or worldwide impact. While they know and value their own programs and areas, they are well aware of competing interests for limited resources.

  How broad is the vision of the caring, solid teachers who constitute the backbone of your school? In my experience, it is often limited by their classroom walls. These teachers consider decisions and view potential changes in terms of how it will directly affect them, their teaching practices and their students. This is not a criticism at all. Many people like living in a smaller world, and twenty-five students can be plenty to focus on!

  Then there is a third group, with a very different focus. Their vision is only as wide as the mirror on their wall. These teachers typically make decisions and respond to change by asking, “What difference does this make for me?” Not “for my students,” or “for my department,” or “for my grade level,” but, “What does it mean for me?”

  Think about how this plays out when change is afoot. Perhaps the district is modifying the yearly schedule, or the school is introducing new technology, or the math department is implementing a new curriculum. The very best teachers—whether they are eager first adopters or a little more cautious—ask themselves one question: “Is this the best thing for students?” If the answer is yes, they will move forward. Others ask, “Is this the best thing for me?” That is one reason getting everyone on board is such a challenge.

  Three Ways to React

  It’s eight o’clock on a Tuesday morning at Riverdale High. As usual, the day begins with the principal’s “remarks and announcements” over the intercom. Apologizing for the late notice, he tells everyone that this afternoon at two, a special all-school assembly will replace the classes ordina
rily held in that block.

  In Room 6, Ms. Marvel feels a great deal of dismay. She had planned for one of her Language Arts sections to present poetry projects that afternoon, and now that can’t happen. She knows that the students will be disappointed. Some of them had even brought in costumes and memorized poems! Ms. Marvel hates to let them down at the last minute like this.

  Across the hall, Mr. Middling is also annoyed; he ordinarily has planning time in the last block (and sometimes he manages to turn it into free time). And next door, Ms. Mediocre mutters under her breath. She teaches five sections of history each day, and the assembly will put her last-period section one day behind the rest. Now she’ll have to find a DVD to show the other four sections so she can get them all back on the same schedule. (It’s just not fair to expect her to keep track when they get out of synch!)

  Now, how do these teachers react when they have two weeks’ advance notice about a scheduling switch like this one?

  Ms. Mediocre starts looking for a DVD so she can keep all her sections doing the same thing on the same day. Next door, Mr. Middling is annoyed, because the assembly interferes with his planning time. And across the hall, Ms. Marvel thinks to herself, “I wonder if there is anything I should do to prepare my students?” Or she asks the principal, “Should I be planning follow-up discussions and activities?” Great teachers focus on students first.

  Focus on Colleagues Second

  An old saying describes teachers as, “a bunch of independent contractors who share some hallways and a parking lot.” Nowadays, it’s much more common to work as teams, coordinate by grade level, and plan as a department. In either situation, it’s natural to value informal interaction with our peers. We gravitate toward each other during recess duty, lunch supervision, and student assemblies. We may chat about a challenging student, swap teaching ideas, or just catch up with each other’s family news. Good stuff.

  In some instances, however, this socializing may start to interfere with our supervisory responsibilities. We realize that it might be safer and better for the students if each of us walked around the playground separately. The cafeteria might be calmer and tidier, with less trash dropped on the floor, if we monitored different sections. And overall behavior at assemblies would probably improve if we sat near the students who tend to act up instead of all standing in the back.

  Great teachers resist the temptation to socialize when they should be supervising. They know the value of interacting with other teachers, and so they treat their colleagues as the second most important group of people in the school.

  The Hotel California

  I don’t have to tell you that teaching is an incredibly rewarding profession. You also know that it is very hard work. Many teachers remain positive and upbeat despite the bumps in the road. Others slip into negativity and complaining. In almost every school, Negative Nancy and Downer Don have a habit of getting together to gripe, and they don’t mind if you join them. When you’re tired, it’s easy to feel the tug.

  And, after all, sometimes they may have a point. The principal should have given you more warning about the schedule change. It isn’t fair that the cafeteria schedule doesn’t rotate, leaving you stuck with the late lunch. Maybe you’d feel better if you could let off steam.

  Of course, you could take the high road. You could approach the person in charge of scheduling and express your concerns in a professional way. But that takes time and effort. It would be so much easier to join the gripe fest!

  Please don’t.

  Teaching is hard enough. Complaining may feel good at the time, but it doesn’t make the job any easier. When negativity spreads, as it easily can, it actually makes the job harder.

  And be warned: Once you join the Complainers Club, it’s hard to quit. Any time Negative Nancy and Downer Don have something to complain about, they’ll seek you out and share it with you, hoping to add fuel to their dangerous fire. I’m reminded of a couple of lines in the Eagles song “Hotel California.” When it comes to complaining, “Any time of year/ you can find it here.” And the last line spells out the warning: “You can check out any time you like/ but you can never leave.”

  Remember What Matters

  Focusing on students first can help you maintain a positive attitude. It can also help you maintain the practices and habits that support your best work. Unfortunately, the very best teachers often hear comments such as “Why do you get here so early?” or “Why do you care so much?” Questions like this can be discouraging, especially to teachers who are new to the profession (or even just new to the school). As the year goes along and everyone gets more and more worn down, you also may begin to wonder why you care so much or try so hard. At that point, it’s important to remember the reasons you chose education in the first place.

  One of the best things about being a teacher is that teaching matters and makes a difference. What makes teaching hard is that it matters every day.

  One of the best things about being a teacher is that teaching matters and makes a difference, especially to the students. What makes teaching hard is that it matters every day. It makes a difference every day. Focusing on students and putting them first helps great teachers make the right decisions every day, all the way to the end of the year.

  How Do You View Your Siam?

  One of my favorite classic films is the musical The King and I, starring Yul Brynner as the king of Siam and Deborah Kerr as the British woman he hires to teach his flock of children. The king, though he can be charming, is a haughty man and very proud of his country. Now, every world map in the classroom depicts Siam as a huge country, right in the center, with the rest of the world around the edges. Anna won’t teach geography that way; she brings in a real map that shows Siam as a very small part of a much bigger world.

  I like this scene because it illustrates the very human tendency to put ourselves at the center of the universe. The challenge is one of perspective and proportion. How does each of us fit in with the big picture? How do we view our personal importance?

  Anna has the self-confidence to stand up for herself. At the same time, she understands and appreciates the importance of each person in the king’s household. By focusing on what matters, she brings a wider perspective to the king’s view of reality. I won’t give away the rest of the plot, but I will say this: Anna is a great teacher.

  Great teachers focus on students first, with a broad vision that keeps everything in perspective.

  9

  Ten Days Out of Ten

  One of the hallmarks of effective teachers is that they create a positive atmosphere in their classrooms and schools. So many things can bring teachers down: an upset parent, a troubled student, limited resources. These are facts of the job (and of life). As educators, our role is to take a positive approach—ten days out of ten.

  Effective teachers treat everyone with respect, every day. Even the best teachers may not like all of their students, but they act as if they do. And great teachers understand the power of praise.

  We Never Forget That One Time

  It’s not difficult to treat some people with respect, or even to treat most people with respect. It’s even possible to treat all people with respect quite a bit of the time. The real challenge is to treat everyone with respect every day. Each of us can remember at least one occasion in our professional lives when someone in a leadership role treated us inappropriately. No matter how long ago it was, or how often that person treated us well, we remember. The same thing is true in our schools. If just once in a month, or even once in a year, we choose to make a sarcastic comment or cutting remark to a student or colleague, we might as well have carved it in stone. They may pretend to have forgotten that moment, but they will never forget. What’s more, anyone else who witnessed it will probably remember, too.

  You Do Not Have to Like the Students

  In my talks to educators, I often give this example from my years as a principal. Every year, it was my practice to remind my faculty: “Y
ou don’t have to like the students; you just have to act as if you like them.” The reason is simple: If you don’t act as if you like them, then your students won’t think you care for them, even if you do. And if you act as if you like them, then your true feelings towards them are irrelevant.

  Think of the teachers you most admire. Do they like some of their students less than others? Of course they do. But ask yourself this: How do they treat the students they like least? The best teachers treat them just like all the other students. Every student might as well be their favorite student. Whether they like a student or not, they act as if they do.

  Now think of the worst teachers you have known. Surely they had students they liked—some better than others—but from their behavior, you would think they didn’t like any students very much at all! Our behaviors are much more obvious than our beliefs. We will expand on this concept a little later in the book, but it is important in the context of how we treat people every day of the year.

  The Power of Praise

  Effective teachers treat their students with positive regard. In particular, effective teachers understand the power of praise.

  Learning how to praise may be a challenge for many of us. As teachers, we find it all too easy to spend our time looking for what is wrong, pointing out errors, and focusing on mistakes. However, an effective teacher looks for opportunities to find people doing things right and knows how to praise those people so they’ll keep on doing things right.