“What Great TeachersDo
Differently”
“Seven Simple Secrets: What the
Best Teachers Know and Do”
Todd Whitaker (2004)
Annette Breaux and Todd
Whitaker (2006)
2.
“One of thebest-kept
secrets of the very
best teachers is that
they have very few
discipline problems.”
Seven Secrets pg. 98
How could youuse information
like this in your school?
Think to yourself and then we’ll share
ideas
Editor's Notes
#2 They do have discipline challenges
As long as there are students there will always be discipline challenges
Never allow those challenges to become problems
#3 Establish very clear expectations
Follow them consistently / Consistently reinforced
Don’t focus on “What am I going to do if students misbehave?” / Focus on the future
Expect good behavior
Have procedures – a consistent way that they expect something to be done
In Contrast Rules
Often focus on undesirable behaviors
Made for the few
#4 Very few rules and lots of procedures - both stated in positive terms
Procedures are rehearsed over and over
When a student “forgets” they are gently reminded
When more than one student is forgetting the procedure there is re-teaching and practice
Actions communicate that the teacher assumes they have simply forgotten and need a little more practice and it is handled quickly and effectively
For repeat “forgetters” they used short private conversations (0bserved in teachers of all ages)
Student told that the teacher would be happy to provide as much practice as necessary to help the student become proficient
Consequences used as last resort and rare
Everyone knows what to do and how to do it.
Four prompts: Tell them what they were doing, ask them what is the expectation, have them show you the behavior, ask if they need more practice
#6 Goal: to keep it from happening again
Motivated to prevent
Don’t want students angry as a solution
Is concerned with how student behaves in future
#7 Share list:
Which of these approaches always work?
Does every teacher have the same options?
What is the difference between good classroom managers and poor classroom managers?
#8 Don’t
Yell Argue Use sarcasm
Treat students with respect
Students we are tempted to yell at have been yelled at so much, why would we think this would be effective with them?
As professional adults, we never win an argument with a student … We would like to win but the student has to win
Great teachers know it is never appropriate in the classroom…
Found in the thesaurus for sarcasm -
mockery
scorn
disdain
cynicism
Read from page 28 Twenty-four students on the side of the teacher
#9 The best and the worst teachers have high expectations for students
Great teachers have high expectations for themselves
The variable is not what teachers expect of students
The variable – what really matters- is what teachers expect of themselves
The main variable in the classroom is the teacher – the only behavior in the classroom that the teacher can control is their own
#10 Treat everyone with respect –
Even the best teachers may not like all their students – but they act as if they do.
If you act like you don’t like them, then it doesn’t matter how much you like them
If you act like you like them, then whether you like them at all becomes irrelevant
#11 Treat students with positive regard
Understand the power of praise
Looks for opportunities to find students doing things right
#12 Authentic means praising for something that is genuine, recognizing them for something that is true
if recognition is authentic it never grows weary
Effective praise is specific – behavior we acknowledge is often becomes the behavior that is continued
You can identify those areas that do have merit and acknowledge them
Immediate means recognizing positive efforts and contributions in a timely manner – providing authentic and specific feedback when good things happen or soon afterward is important element to making reinforcement effective
Clean – means several things
Not related to something else – good homework doesn’t relate to rude remark made later
Cannot include the word “but” – remember only the part after the but
need to separate statements and not join with but
Private – vast majority given in private, sometimes not “cool” in front of other students - when in doubt always do in private