What the Best Teachers Do:

What the Worst Teachers Do:

Provide a classroom environment complete with structures that all students understand.

Example: When the lamp is on, personal technology can be in use. When the lamp is off, personal technology is put away.

Either don’t provide structures or don’t make sure students understand how to work within them.

Tell students very specifically what will happen in the future (schedule of events) and what they will learn, including the class period, week, month, and semester.

Example: At the end of the period / 9 weeks / semester, you will be able to explain/know/do ___.

Either tell students what will happen but fail to follow through or not tell students at all what will happen or what they will learn.

Example: Objective not provided for the class period, unit, 9 weeks, or year.

Provide classroom talk (lectures, conversations, etc.) about the topics of study.

Provide classroom talk about topics unrelated to classroom study.

Example: Classroom talk may be about personal topics OR topics that will not be assessed, which can be even more confusing.

Provide formative assessments (quizzes, etc.) clearly over topics of classroom talk and study.

Provide minor assessments unrelated to classroom talk or study.

Example: Perhaps assessments focus on out of class readings but are unrelated to classroom talk.

Provide summative assessments aligned with formative assessments and topics of classroom talk and study.

Provide major assessments unrelated to topics of classroom talk and study.

Know that student failure equals teacher failure.

Think that student failure means they have succeeded in making the class especially rigorous.

Example: Inexperienced teachers may say, “I taught it, they chose not to learn it.” The truth is, almost all students want to be successful if there is a way while even the best students will give up in an unpredictable environment.

Reteach using different methods if original instruction doesn’t work.

Reteach the same way they originally taught.

Care more about students and their learning than about content.

Care more about content and their own knowledge than about students.