One hallmark of great teachers is that in their classrooms, very little happens at random. Great teachers have a plan and purpose for everything they do. If things don’t work out the way they had envisioned, they reflect on what they could have done differently and adjust their plans accordingly.
In contrast, their less effective colleagues seem to move through their days by the roll of the dice. In some ways, it almost seems as if they don’t want to have a plan or that they don’t want to take responsibility for what happens. If things don’t work out as well as they had hoped, they look for something or someone else to blame. Here are some examples.
Why Does Jimmy Always Pick Billy?
I can remember hearing one teacher exclaim, “Every time I have group work, Jimmy and Billy pick each other as partners and they never get any work done!” Why do Jimmy and Billy always end up as partners? The teacher allows it to happen. Time and again, the outcome is the same. Time and again, the teacher chooses not to intervene. It’s easier to complain about the results than to plan for a different course of events.
A great teacher may allow students to choose their own work partners. The first time, Jimmy and Billy may choose each other and accomplish little. But this teacher, reflecting on the outcome, will do something differently. Perhaps students will pick a partner’s name from a bucket. In that case, the teacher can manipulate the buckets so Jimmy and Billy are sure to work with new partners. Or students may be paired up alphabetically, or simply instructed to choose a partner they haven’t worked with before. Whatever the plan, the great teacher has taken responsibility.
Several times a year, most schools gather their students in the gymnasium or auditorium for a school assembly. Now, suppose an observer from another planet could detect rays—we’ll call them “teacher-rays” or “T-rays”—between each cluster of students and the teacher responsible for them. I predict that the rays emanating from the great teachers would show a typical and distinctive pattern.
When the best teachers take their students to an assembly, what do they do? They sit by their students—and not just any students, but the students who are most likely to disrupt. The best teachers aren’t rude to these students, but they make their presence felt. Their T-rays send a message that is pleasant but firm. As a result, the students—perhaps to their own amazement—are on their best behavior.
Now by contrast, our extraterrestrial observer is likely to see the less effective teachers sitting with other teachers, leaning against the wall, or even leaving the room. If they do sit with students, they choose their own comfort zone. As a result, their T-rays must travel farther to reach the students most likely to cause a commotion. These teachers have to boost their T-rays with glares, and still some of their charges behave poorly. Then the teachers can complain, “See what I have to put up with!” Their focus is on the behavior of others rather than on their own. They haven’t learned the power of taking responsibility.
I have always been amazed at how many faculty meetings harbor a cluster of negative teachers—the Cynics Club—who sit together in the back and near the door. I am also astonished that principals feel comfortable leading a group like that. I never had the ability to manage a faculty meeting with a group of inattentive or disrespectful people in the back of the room. After a time, I learned to take matters into my own hands. I developed a plan.
Instead of allowing the Cynics Club to retain its traditional seats, I would get rid of every extra chair and then switch the back of the room to the front. When the yawners and grumblers drifted into the meeting late (as usual), the only seats left open were in the front row. Additionally, I would have my assistant principal sit next to the Great High Cynic—the most negative staff member in the school—not in an intimidating way, but very politely. Nevertheless, it had the effect of making that person more uncomfortable, less vocal, and less likely to spread an atmosphere of negativity through the room. By taking responsibility, I managed to change the dynamics of the meeting. This same approach applies in the classroom.
Great teachers intentionally arrange, rearrange, alter, and adjust the structures that frame their teaching. They carefully plan their classroom setup, their instructional approaches, and their time management to promote a productive learning environment. If two students cannot sit by each other peaceably, they no longer sit by each other. If one student tends to be disruptive, the teacher takes steps to minimize that student’s impact on others in the room. If a class spirals into rowdiness by the end of the day, the schedule of activities makes room for them to let off steam appropriately.
Great teachers intentionally arrange, rearrange, alter, and adjust the structures that frame their teaching.
These alterations do not involve a power struggle. They may seem random, but they have a definite underlying intent. There is no advantage to challenging and escalating the events that get in the way of learning. The teacher who needs to prove, over and over, who is in charge of the classroom is wasting precious energy on a losing battle. Great teachers do not try to prove who is in charge in their classrooms because everyone knows that the teacher is in charge.
Great teachers have a plan and purpose for everything they do. If plans don’t work out the way they had envisioned, they reflect on what they could have done differently and adjust accordingly.