Author: Todd Whitaker

This book describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that form the fabric of life in our best classrooms and schools. It focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not.

Readers of author Todd Whitaker’s best-selling WHAT GREAT PRINCIPALS DO DIFFERENTLY asked him for a companion volume focusing on great teachers and their classrooms. This book is his response to those requests.

This book focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not. It answers these essential questions:
- Is it high expectations for students that matter?
- How do great teachers respond when students misbehave?
- Do great teachers filter differently than their peers?
- How do the best teachers approach standardized testing?
- How can your teachers gain the same advantages?

"This book is easy to read and provides essential information. I've ordered copies for every one of my teachers."
- Ann Ferrell, Principal
Autrey Mill Middle School, Georgia

One of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness, Todd Whitaker is a former middle and high school teacher, now a professor at Indiana State University.
130 pages, paperback, 2004

Contents

About the Author
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Why Look at Great?
Studying Effective Teachers
2 It’s People, Not Programs
Assertive Discipline—the Problem or the Solution?
It’s Not What You Do, It’s How You Do It
The Poor Lecturer’s Classroom
3 The Power of Expectations
Stop the Thumping!
Consequences
Set Expectations at the Start of the Year
We Are Still Undefeated
4 Prevention Versus Revenge
When a Student Misbehaves
Sending Students to the Office
“Nuthin’ Happened”
A Teacher’s Bag of Tricks
Respect Your Students, Their Parents—and Yourself
Twenty-Four Students on the Side of the Teacher
Restoring Trust
5 High Expectations—for Whom?
Are High Expectations Important?
6 Who Is the Variable in the Classroom?
What If the Students Do Poorly?
Hey, Who’s Responsible Around Here?
How Do We Deal With the Demands of Others?
7 Ten Days Out of Ten
We Never Forget That One Time
You Do Not Have to Like the Students
The Power of Praise
Five Things That Help Praise Work
Too Much Nice
8 The Teacher Is the Filter
How Is Your Day Going?
The Angry Parent
When the Teacher Sneezes
One Goal, Every Day
Where the Elite Meet?
The World Outside School
This Is the Worst Group of Kids We’ve Ever Had
Perception Can Become Reality
9 Don’t Need to Repair—Always Do Repair
Some Never Need to Repair—But Always Do
Some Always Need to Repair—But Never Do
I Am Sorry That Happened
The Highway Patrol
10 Ability to Ignore
Hey, Pretzel Face!
Ignoring Minor Errors
Handling the High Achievers
11 Random or Plandom?
Why Does Jimmy Always Pick Billy?
The All-school Assembly
The Faculty Meeting
12 Base Every Decision on the Best People
Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted!
This Means You!
What Will My Best Students Think?
My Best Students “Will Be Fine” No Matter What
The Teacher’s Pet
13 In Every Situation, Ask Who Is Most Comfortable and Who Is Least Comfortable
Treat Everyone As If They Were Good
Uncomfortable Feelings Make People Change—One Way or Another
Pay for Performance
14 What About These Darn Standardized Tests?
Without Success, Tests Become the School
Raise Those Test Scores!
Effective Teachers Keep Testing in Perspective
So, You Want to Improve Your Reading Scores?
15 Make It Cool to Care
The Great Teacher
Who Are the Legends?
Touch the Heart, Then Teach the Child
16 Clarifying Your Core
Fourteen Things That Matter Most
References

Now available-- What Great Teachers Do Differently: Study Guide by Todd Whitaker and Beth Whitaker. Click here

To visit Todd Whitaker's website, click here

144 pages © 2004

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