Key Concepts Key Concepts♦ All effective teachers have a core set of beliefs to which they adhere as educators.
♦ Getting faculty members to go along with the latest trend or mandate has limited value; rather, the key is to develop and establish a schoolwide environment that supports everyone’s efforts to do what is right.
♦ The real challenge—and the real accomplishment—is to get all students to care about what happens in the classroom and to create an atmosphere in which it is “cool to care.”
♦ In great schools, the teachers tell stories about what other teachers have accomplished with students.
♦ Great teachers do what is right, no matter what else is going on.
♦ Great educators understand that behaviors and beliefs are tied to emotion, and they understand the power of emotion to jump-start change.
♦ Students care about great teachers because they know great teachers care about them.
♦ Without a core of firmly held beliefs, it is difficult for teachers to steer a steady course.
♦ With this core, teachers feel secure and confident. More importantly, so do their students.
♦ Every teacher has an impact. Great teachers make a difference.
Discussion Questions1. Why is it so important to establish a classroom environment in which it is “cool to care”?
2. What is one thing that great teachers can choose to do when colleagues make sarcastic, derogatory comments?
3. What must teachers do with students before being able to connect with their minds?
4. As a principal, why did the author decide to cease the practice of collecting lesson plans from teachers? Can you think of current or past practices that may be similar to his story?
5. What is the framework that sustains the work of all great educators?
6. Of the “17 Things That Matter Most,” which do you feel is the foremost essential practice? Why?
Journal PromptOn page 113, the author describes “The Great Teacher” he identifies as “Mrs. Heart.” How did Mrs. Heart motivate Darin to become interested in poetry? What were Mrs. Heart’s attitudes toward state standards, standardized tests, and new initiatives that were inevitably rolled out over the years? In your own words, what was Mrs. Heart’s philosophy of education? Do you agree with this philosophy? Take a moment to describe your own philosophy of education after reading this book.
Group ActivitiesType each of the “17 Things That Matter Most” on a separate slip of paper. Tape each item on a separate desk around the room. Arrange participants into seventeen groups (or have them work individually if there are seventeen or fewer participants). Start each group at one of the seventeen “stations” and have them spend five minutes reflecting on the item at that desk. Have them write examples from the book, or their own experience, that relate to the statement. Have them write why they feel the statement is important.
After five minutes, have each group rotate one desk (moving in numerical order, with those people at desk 17 rotating to desk 1). Repeat the process of reflecting and writing about each statement until each participant or group has moved through all seventeen stations.
After reviewing the author’s core beliefs, ask individuals to think about additional core beliefs not mentioned in the text that are essential components of their personal mission as teachers. Have each participant write two to four additional core beliefs they value as educators. Have participants pair up to share these additional beliefs. Invite volunteers to share these with the whole group.
ApplicationOn page 115 of the text, Whitaker states that in great schools, teachers tell stories about the teaching legends with whom they have worked. Write about one teacher at your current school whom you consider legendary. Also write about a teacher from your own past who positively impacted you and whom you also consider a legend. Share the first story with the teacher you wrote about by placing it in that teacher’s mailbox. Share the second story by mailing your account to your former teacher or to one of that person’s family members.