What makes great teaching? – expert views | Teacher Network | Guardian Professional Popular teaching methods, such as lavishing praise on pupils and grouping students by ability, are not based on evidence and can harm student development, a report has found. The Sutton Trust examined 200 pieces of research on what makes great teaching, concluding that some common practices have no grounding in research while other less popular approaches can be effective. The report found that the two most important elements of great teaching were the quality of instruction and how well a teacher knew their subject. Different methods for evaluating teaching were also examined, including lesson observations and getting students to rate their teachers. Let’s praise children – low self belief is a cancer in the classroom The report has some excellent advice for teachers as they continue on that never-ending journey of professional development. Low self-belief is like a cancer in the classroom; if left unchallenged it will grow until it seems almost incurable.
Reflective Teaching Questions: A Challenge For Teachers Reflective Teaching Questions: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers by TeachThought Staff We’ve talked about “reflective teaching” before, and shared ways to be a more reflective teacher as well. Well, September is Reflective Teacher month at TeachThought, and in celebration some folks from our facebook team have created a blogging challenge for you to take, share with your colleagues, and use as reflective tools for growth. So, beginning September 1st, you’re on the clock. Make it a point to blog every day for 30 days, even if there are days you can only muster a paragraph. Details Blog for the 30 days of September, 2014, using the prompts below.We’ll share a handful of posts per day, but we can’t share them if you don’t send them to us–@teachthought! Day 1 Write your goals for the school year. Day 2 Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. Day 3 Discuss one “observation” area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation. Day 4 Day 5
30 Habits Of Highly Effective Teachers Editor’s Note: We often look at the qualities and characteristics of good teaching and learning, including the recent following pieces: How A Good Teacher Becomes Great What You Owe Your Students Ten Secrets To Surviving As A Teacher The Characteristics Of A Highly Effective Learning Environment How To Be A Mediocre Teacher So it made sense to take a look at the characteristics of a successful educator, which Julie DuNeen does below. 25 Things Successful Teachers Do Differently by Julie DuNeen If you ask a student what makes him or her successful in school, you probably won’t hear about some fantastic new book or video lecture series. What students take away from a successful education usually centers on a personal connection with a teacher who instilled passion and inspiration for their subject. Are teachers reaching their students? 1. How do you know if you are driving the right way when you are traveling somewhere new? 2. We can’t all be blessed with “epic” workdays all the time. 3. 4. 5.
What Makes Teachers Great, From The Perspective of a 10th Grader This article was written by Noa Gutow-Ellis, a high school sophomore in Houston, Texas. She’s passionate about all things related to the Arab Spring and 21st Century Education. As an 8th grader, Noa gave a TEDx talk about the power of social media. Everyone can think back to their years as a student and recall at least one teacher that stood out as a truly outstanding teacher. We’ve all had that teacher at some point in our lives. 1. Whether cheering for us on the field or applauding our curtain call, students appreciate teachers that show us they not only care about how we’re doing in their class, but out of it, too. 2. The best teachers are not always the ones teaching the core classes. 3. My 6th grade Life Science teacher was an incredible teacher. 4. I had an unforgettable teacher during my freshman year of high school. In the end, the best teachers aren’t always the ones doling out the best grades.
The 49 Techniques from Teach Like a Champion The Blogs below continue the chapter "Setting and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations." Technique 39: Do It Again. This technique is perhaps the only negative consequence that truly works. When students fail to meet your standards, you ask them to "Do it again." They model the appropriate behavior, but are eager not to have to do it again. Technique 40: Sweat the Details Building on the "broken window" theory of policing, Lemov notes that maintaining high standards will have positive effects across the classroom environment. Building Character and Trust Technique 43 Part 1: Positive Framing. Teach Like a Champion is an excellent resource for teaching, especially for middle school and high school students.
8 Characteristics Of A Great Teacher 8 Characteristics Of A Great Teacher by Ian Lancaster What makes a teacher strong? What differentiates the best from the rest? 1. Confidence while teaching can mean any number of things, it can range from having confidence in your knowledge of the material being learned to having confidence that your teaching acumen is second to none. It’s the confidence that you know you’re in the right spot doing what you want to be doing and that no matter what transpires, having that time to spend with those young learners is going to be beneficial both for them and for yourself. 2. Having some life experience outside the classroom and outside the realm of education is invaluable for putting learning into context and keeping school activities in perspective. 3. Just as each student has a different set of interests, every student will have a correspondingly different set of motivators. These students run the risk of disengaging altogether. 4. Yes, all teachers are heroes. 5. 6. 7. 8.
The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes by Richard M. Felder, North Carolina State University and Rebecca Brent, Education Designs, Inc. Reprinted from TOMORROW'S PROFESSORsm eMAIL NEWSLETTER You may download a PDF version of this document. Like most faculty members, we began our academic careers with zero prior instruction on college teaching and quickly made almost every possible blunder. We've also been peer reviewers and mentors to colleagues, and that experience on top of our own early stumbling has given us a good sense of the most common mistakes college teachers make. Mistake #10. You know what happens when you do that. Mistake #9. You stop in mid-lecture and point your finger abruptly: "Joe, what's the next step?" Mistake #8. It has become common for instructors to put their lecture notes into PowerPoint and to spend their class time mainly droning through the slides. Mistake #7. Mistake #6. All students and instructors who have ever been involved with group work know the potential downside. Mistake #5. Mistake #4.
8 Essential Skills for New Teachers This summer, Teaching Channel will be helping beginning teachers countdown to their first year of teaching. We’ll walk you through the steps you’ll need to take before the first day of school. Before getting a classroom of my own, I spent two years student teaching in the classrooms of veteran teachers. I had gone to professional development sessions and seen experienced teachers share their amazing practices. But I had never seen a beginning teacher in action before. Often times we learn from master teachers, but it can also be helpful to see what the beginning teacher experience looks like. 1. Grades 9-12 / ELA / Lesson Planning Please enable Javascript to watch this video 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Watching these videos gives insight into the new teacher experience, but also act as a testament to the power of mentoring. What did you learn from this series? Lily Jones taught K/1 for seven years in Northern California.
To Help Students Learn, Appeal to What They Value A Hunger for Recognition Greg was among my toughest students in a tough year of teaching high school. Physically he attended class, but academically he was missing. He was a freshman invested in his image with older students he deemed cool, and academic achievement was not a group value. He was disruptive and disengaged. His face smoothed in surprise. The start of Greg's visible respect for school was simultaneous with my visible respect for him as he wanted to be seen: wild, misunderstood and in need. To know why it is important to understand what students value, I encourage everyone to reflect on how they feel -- and perform -- when a school leader knows and acts on what is important to team members. Now think about when a leader ignores or disrespects team and individual values. I have learned this: discovering and appealing to what students value has the power of a "return on investment" of their eagerly engaging in and owning their learning. Getting Inside Their Heads 1. 2. 3.
7 Characteristics of an Innovative Educator Written by Rachelle Wootten What are the characteristics of an innovative educator? Reflective – As an educator, it is important to reflect on what is working and what is not. Even though it can be a little uncomfortable, we have to admit when a great lesson was really a flop. We must constantly examine our processes and our concepts to make sure they are what is best for the students we teach. Learners- An innovative educator is always learning, reading, listening. Creative- When I say creative I don’t mean in the sense of artistic even though some innovative educators fall in this category. Connected- It’s hard to be classified as innovative when you are disconnected from your students and trends in the profession. Collaborative- Education is one industry where sharing is necessary and vital to true innovation in the classroom. Inquisitive- How can I improve? Principled- Innovative educators live life according to strong values. Rachelle Wootten (1 Posts)
Teachers’ Instructional Strategies Infographic Teacher Infographics Instructional methods are used by teachers to create learning environments and to specify the nature of the activity in which the teacher and learner will be involved during the lesson. While particular methods are often associated with certain strategies, some methods may by found within a variety of strategies. Instructional strategies determine the approach a teacher may take to achieve learning objectives. The Instructional Strategies Infographic presents a variety of strategies for monitoring progress, staying active, comparing and contrasting ideas, forming groups, fostering cooperation/collaboration, adapting content and taking notes. Via: www.fortheteachersblog.org Embed This Education Infographic on your Site or Blog!
The 10 Biggest Educational Trends (And What Teachers Think) We hear a lot about what things are popular in terms of technology, the cool new devices that are coming out, and trends that are happening with classroom technology integration. But just because something is a trend (or even a requirement) doesn’t that it is popular or liked. It doesn’t mean you won’t hear people grumbling about it. Often times, trends become trends because a lot of people like them, but in the case of education, trends can happen easily in the following scenario: administrators like the idea and think it is great, and teachers have to implement said idea regardless of if it is a great fit with their classroom and students.