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. |