Key Concepts Key Concepts♦ Although it is easy to say “Put students first” and “Make every decision based on what is best for students,” not all teachers manage to do so, yet some do so more consistently than others.
♦ “Superstar” teachers have a broad vision, taking into account the whole school setting in everything they do and every decision they make. They consider how their actions impact the entire school.
♦ “Backbone” teachers—although caring and solid educators—typically have a vision that is limited to their own classroom walls.
♦ The least effective teachers in the school typically have a more narrow vision still—a vision only as wide as the mirror on the wall. They make decisions and respond to change by asking, “What does this mean for me?”
♦ 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.
♦ Teaching is hard. Complaining about school-related problems may feel good momentarily, but it does not make the job of teaching any easier. In fact, when negativity spreads—as it easily can—it actually makes the job much harder. Great teachers avoid falling into the trap of complaining.
♦ One of the best things about being a teacher is that teaching matters—especially to students. What teachers do makes a profound impact in the lives of students. Great teachers, therefore, make it a point to put students first every day, which helps them make a difference all the way to the end of the school year.
Discussion Questions1. What are the three different types of teachers at any school? What are their corresponding visions?
2. Describe how the three different teachers react to the Tuesday morning announcement of the principal at “Riverdale High” and the same situation with two weeks’ advance notice. Whom was the best teacher most concerned about in the scenarios?
3. Name two ways that complaining about your job as a teacher is analogous to the well-known song “Hotel California” by the Eagles. What is Whita-ker’s point in sharing this analogy?
4. How can focusing on “students first” help you maintain a positive attitude about your role as a teacher?
5. Why does Whitaker include a reference to the musical The King and I? Why does he say that Anna is a “great teacher”? How does this reference relate to great teachers who focus on students first?
Journal PromptTeaching is a very demanding profession and teachers are often faced with stressful, even unfair situations. Yet, as Whitaker suggests, although complaining about such situations can be tempting, in the long run it only serves to make the job even more difficult. Anyone who has worked in education—or, for that matter, in any profession—for even a few years has probably worked with colleagues who were chronic complainers. Think of three teachers at your school whom you perceive as chronic complainers. Next, think of three teachers at your school whom you have rarely, if ever, heard complain. Is there a difference between these two groups in terms of their job performance? Do you enjoy being in the company of one group more than the other? Which group seems to be having the most fun at school? Is there a difference in the attendance pattern between the two groups? Do the chronic complainers ever subtly encourage you and others to join in the “gripe fest”? Why is it vitally important that educators remain positive about their jobs and their profession?
Group ActivitiesHave participants identify the characteristics of “students first” teachers and teaching by completing the following activity (have participants begin in table groups):
♦ Step 1: Have each person take four index cards from the table stack, writing one characteristic of “students first” teachers or teaching on each card.
♦ Step 2: Collect and shuffle the cards and deal out three to each participant. Arrange the remaining cards on a table.
♦ Step 3: Ask participants to silently arrange their three cards from “most important” to “least important.”
♦ Step 4: Each participant may pick up better replacement cards from the table, but must discard a card for each one picked up.
♦ Step 5: Participants may now talk and swap cards with one another. Everyone must exchange at least one card.
♦ Step 6: Participants should compare cards and form teams of three to six people who hold similar cards.
♦ Step 7: Have teams reduce the number of cards to no more than three per team.
♦ Step 9: Have each team use flip-chart paper and markers to prepare a graphic poster that reflects the three final cards. This poster should not include any text. (Allow six to eight minutes.)
♦ Step 9: Have each team, in turn, display their poster silently. Members of other teams will guess aloud the characteristics of “students first” teachers and teaching depicted in the poster. After fifteen seconds, ask members of the display team to read the characteristics listed on their cards.
Write each of the following ten statements on an index card (if there are more than twenty participants, create additional statements that probe teacher beliefs about “students first” teachers and teaching):
1. Most students in our school are capable of mastering grade-level learning objectives.
2. Students at our school consistently behave appropriately.
3. Teachers at our school believe that most students are able to master core content standards.
4. My expectations for students influence how well they will perform academically.
5. My expectations for students will influence how well they behave at school.
6. Nearly all of my students will be at or above grade level by the end of the school year.
7. Some of our students are destined to fail classes or fail to meet learning expectations.
8. Teachers at our school consistently base their decisions on what is best for students.
9. Teachers should treat all students with dignity and respect at all times. 10. Complaining about students or their parents is never appropriate.
Ask participants to stand in two concentric circles, facing a partner. Give each participant in the inner circle one of the index cards. Have them ask their partners in the outer circle to discuss their level of agreement with the statement on the index card, based on a scale of 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 4 (“strongly agree”).
After two minutes, have partners in the outer or inner circle rotate to the next partner. (The group leader may call rotation numbers: “Rotate three ahead.”) Continue for three or four rotations.
Collect the index cards and give them to the participants in the outer circle. Repeat the process three or four more times with the roles of speaker and listener reversed. Debrief the process by asking participants to share their thoughts on how these statements may or may not define “students first” teachers and teaching.
ApplicationAs the author notes at the start of this chapter, it is quite easy to say “Make every decision based on what is best for students”; very few, if any, educators would disagree with this statement. Yet in all schools adults make some decisions based on something other than that standard, such as basing the decision on what is easiest, or what is least expensive, or what will result in the least amount of conflict, or what was done in similar situations in the past, or what is best for teachers, administrators, and parents.
Between now and the next study group meeting, keep a list of decisions that have to be made at your school and in your classroom. For each decision, consciously ask yourself, “What would be the best option for the students I teach?” In addition, pose the same question about the following three scenarios, which occur in almost all classrooms in nearly all schools. Scenario 1: A student in your class fails to turn in a major assignment on the due date. Scenario 2: A student misbehaves in your class almost every day, disrupting the learning environment. Scenario 3: A student in your class is often absent and has missed your class four days out of the past ten. For each scenario, how would you respond if your sole standard was to do what was best for the individual student in question? Would your decision be different if you were focusing on what was best for all students in your class? Why or why not? Be prepared to share your answers at the next study group meeting.