What Great Teachers Do Differently : 14 Things That Matter Most » (1st Edition)

This book describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that form the fabric of life in our best classrooms and schools. It focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not.

Readers of author Todd Whitaker's best-selling WHAT GREAT PRINCIPALS DO DIFFERENTLY asked him for a companion volume focusing on great teachers and their classrooms. This book is his response to those requests.

This book focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not. It answers these essential questions:
• Is it high expectations for students that matter?
• How do great teachers respond when students misbehave?
• Do great teachers filter differently than their peers?
• How do the best teachers approach standardized testing?
• How can your teachers gain the same advantages?

"This book is easy to read and provides essential information. I've ordered copies for every one of my teachers."
• Ann Ferrell, Principal, Autrey Mill Middle School, Georgia

One of the nation's leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness, Todd Whitaker is a former middle and high school teacher, now a professor at Indiana State University.
130 pages, paperback, 2004

About the Author v Acknowledgements vii Introduction xiii
1 Why Look at Great? 1 Studying Effective Teachers 4
2 It's People, Not Programs 7 It's People, Not Programs 9 How Open Classrooms Got Started 10 Assertive Discipline-the Problem or the Solution? 11 It's Not What You Do, It's How You Do It 13 The Poor Lecturer's Classroom 13
3 The Power of Expectations 15 Expectations 17 Rules 18 Stop the Thumping! 18 Consequences 19 Set Expectations at the Start of the Year 19 We Are Still Undefeated 20
4 Prevention Versus Revenge 21 When a Student Misbehaves 23 Sending Students to the Office 24
"Nuthin' Happened" 24 A Teacher's Bag of Tricks 25 Respect Your Students, Their Parents-and Yourself 27 Twenty-Four Students on the Side of the Teacher 28 Restoring Trust 28
5 High Expectations-for Whom? 31 Are High Expectations Important? 33
6 Who Is the Variable? 35 Who Is the Variable in the Classroom? 37 What If the Students Do Poorly? 37 Hey, Who's Responsible Around Here? 38 How Do We Deal With the Demands of Others? 40
7 Ten Days out of Ten 43 We Never Forget That One Time 45 You Do Not Have to Like the Students 46 The Power of Praise 46 Five Things That Help Praise Work 46 Too Much Nice 51
8 The Teacher Is the Filter 53 How Is Your Day Going? 55 The Angry Parent 55 When the Teacher Sneezes 56 One Goal, Every Day 57 Where the Elite Meet? 57 The World Outside School 58 This Is the Worst Group of Kids We've Ever Had 59 Perception Can Become Reality 59
9 Don't Need to Repair-Always Do Repair 63 Some Never Need to Repair-But Always Do 65 Some Always Need to Repair-But Never Do 66 I Am Sorry That Happened 67 The Highway Patrol 68
10 Ability to Ignore 73 Hey, PretzelFace! 75 Ignoring Minor Errors 76 Handling the High Achievers 78
11 Random or Plandom? 81 Why Does Jimmy Always Pick Billy? 83 The All-school Assembly 84 The Faculty Meeting 84
12 Base Every Decision on the Best People 87 Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted! 90 This Means You! 90 What Will My Best Students Think? 91 My Best Students "Will Be Fine" No Matter What 93 The Teacher's Pet 93
13 In Every Situation, Ask Who Is Most Comfortable and Who Is Least Comfortable 95 Treat Everyone As If They Were Good 96 Uncomfortable Feelings Make People Change-One Way or Another 99 Pay for Performance 100
14 What About These Darn Standardized Tests? 103 Without Success, Tests Become the School 105 Raise Those Test Scores! 108 Effective Teachers Keep Testing in Perspective 109 So, You Want to Improve Your Reading Scores? 110
15 Make It Cool to Care 111 Make It Cool to Care 113 The Great Teacher 114 Merry Christmas, Everyone! 115 Who Are the Legends? 117 Touch the Heart, Then Teach the Child 118
16 Clarifying Your Core 121 Fourteen Things That Matter Most 125 References 127