Key Concepts Key Concepts♦ The teacher is the filter who models appropriate behavior in the classroom. If the model teachers establish is positive and professional, students will match it; if the teacher’s attitude is negative and confrontational, students will respond in kind.
♦ The teacher’s goal in class should be to make students more excited about learning tomorrow than they were today.
♦ Great teachers realize that teaching is a demanding job, yet they focus on its rewards and challenges in a positive way rather than complaining.
♦ The best teachers are professionals who keep personal issues private and also keep school issues in their place. They do not involve students in inappropriate topics.
♦ Teachers’ own perceptions of their school and their students impact the reality of their school and students. Teachers have the power to decide the tone of their school and how they view their students.
Discussion Questions1. In what ways do teachers serve as “filters” at the schools in which they teach?
2. In what ways can choosing not to share information with colleagues create a more productive environment?
3. Explain the statement “When the teacher sneezes, the whole class catches a cold.”
4. How can great teachers counteract colleagues prone to complaining about teaching, students, and administration?
5. Examine the often heard refrain “This is the worst group of kids we’ve ever had.” Why do some teachers say this? What are the effects of saying this? How can teachers change this mentality?
Journal PromptTake a moment to consider the negative comments you might hear during the course of a week from students, other teachers, administrators, and parents. Recall from the text that by constantly filtering out such negatives that do not matter and instead maintaining a positive attitude, teachers can create a much more successful school environment. Write about typical negatives you might hear from any of these groups of school stakeholders and how you could, in the future, filter out such comments and even alter these perceptions by offering a different perception.
Group ActivitiesArrange participants into two concentric circles with partners facing each other. Have the people in the inner circle relate an example of negativity at their school. The person in the outer circle should listen carefully and offer suggestions for dealing with this difficult and negative person and/or situation. After five minutes, have the inner circle rotate three places to the right. Repeat the activity, this time asking the people in the outer circle to share their negative scenarios. Repeat once or twice. Then, have the entire group share what was learned. Did most participants share similar stories? What were the most useful strategies for dealing with negative people and situations?
Post this sentence on the board or chart paper:
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULTS OF YEARS
OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
Ask participants to count aloud the Fs in the sentence and count them only once. Participants should not try to look back and count them a second time.
How many Fs did everyone count? Many people count three or four, but there are actually six. The reason that nearly everyone undercounts is that the mind automatically filters out the Fs in the word of, which is included three times in the sentence. Have participants pair up with a partner and discuss how this activity is analogous to filtering out the negatives at school. Like the word of, negativity is rampant; if teachers focus on every of or every negative thing they hear, they will miss the big picture—the meaning of what it is they are involved in, whether that is reading or teaching.
ApplicationMake a conscious decision, upon your return to your school, to filter out negative situations that inevitably face you, whether they come from inside or outside the school. Respond cheerfully to any colleague who asks you how you are doing. Politely dismiss any negative comments made by your teaching peers. Brag about your students each day to anyone who will listen. Tell your students at the end of each day that you can’t wait to return to school the following day because you are so excited about what they will be learning tomorrow. After doing this for several consecutive days, record in your study guide any changes you have noticed in your own perspective or those of others, including students you teach and your colleagues.