Key Concepts Key Concepts♦ All teachers, even ineffective teachers, have high expectations for students. The difference is that great teachers also have very high expectations of themselves.
♦ When students are not focused and engaged in the classroom, great teachers ask themselves what they can do differently to improve student engagement.
♦ The main variable in any classroom is not the students, but the teacher.
♦ Effective teachers always strive to improve and they focus on something they can control: their own behavior.
♦ Just as successful students and parents accept responsibility, the most effective teachers accept responsibility for their performance in the classroom.
Discussion Questions1. What is the variable in terms of teacher expectations?
2. Do you feel that it is accurate to state that most principals can predict which teachers will send the most students to the office each year? Explain.
3. How do ineffective teachers and effective teachers react when their students do poorly on an assessment? Is there a difference? If so, why?
4. Why do successful teachers insist on focusing on their own behavior rather than the behavior of others (parents, administrators, students, etc.)?
5. How are effective teachers similar to the effective business managers that the text mentions?
Journal PromptThroughout these two chapters, the book stresses the belief that teachers should take responsibility for what happens in their classrooms. It is suggested that if teachers all look in the mirror each time they ask, “Who is the variable?” they will have made great strides toward school improvement. Take a few moments to write about your thoughts on this concept. Next, reflect in writing about the role of student, parent, and teacher responsibility in ensuring academic success for each student you teach.
Group ActivitiesIn the journal entry for Part 2 of this Study Guide, participants were asked to list three to five expectations for student behavior that they deemed of vital importance. Working in groups of two to five, have them reexamine the issue of expectations from the perspectives of students and parents. What are a few expectations for which all stakeholders should hold all teachers accountable? Ask participants to list these as “We will” statements, such as “We (as teachers) will treat all members of our school community with dignity and respect.” Have them write five “We will” statements to which they would expect teachers to adhere. Then have them share their lists, recording answers on the board, overhead, chart paper, or computer screen. After each group has shared, ask participants to decide which of these statements are the five most important.
Provide a number of mission, vision, and value statements from schools, businesses, and other organizations. Discuss, as a group, the definitions and differences among these three commonly used terms (mission: what your purpose is; vision: what you hope to become; values: what commitments you are willing to adopt in order to make your vision a reality). Divide participants into three groups, a “mission” group, a “vision” group, and a “values” group. Each group will create a mission, vision, or value statement for a great teacher. After sharing these group statements, ask participants to create their own individual mission, vision, and value statements for themselves as a classroom teacher.
ApplicationUpon returning to your classroom, engage in instructional self-reflection for a full week. At the end of each day, identify one teaching activity that did not go as well as you had envisioned. List three adjustments you will try the next time you teach that lesson in order to make the lesson successful for the learners. Looking at yourself should always be the first reflective step of a great teacher. In the next session, you will have the opportunity to discuss your progress during this instructional reflection activity.