Right away, certain patterns emerged. First, great teachers tended to set big goals for their students. They were also perpetually looking for ways to improve their effectiveness. For example, when Farr called up teachers who were making remarkable gains and asked to visit their classrooms, he noticed he\u2019d get a similar response from all of them: \u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018You\u2019re welcome to come, but I have to warn you\u2014I am in the middle of just blowing up my classroom structure and changing my reading workshop because I think it\u2019s not working as well as it could.\u2019 When you hear that over and over, and you don\u2019t hear that from other teachers, you start to form a hypothesis.\u201d Great teachers, he concluded, constantly reevaluate what they are doing.<\/p>\n
Superstar teachers had four other tendencies in common: they avidly recruited students and their families into the process; they maintained focus, ensuring that everything they did contributed to student learning; they planned exhaustively and purposefully\u2014for the next day or the year ahead\u2014by working backward from the desired outcome; and they worked relentlessly, refusing to surrender to the combined menaces of poverty, bureaucracy, and budgetary shortfalls. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So,<\/p>\n
- \n
- Big goals<\/li>\n
- Continuous improvement & reinvention; seen another way, relentless self-editing<\/li>\n
- Alliance building, relationship management<\/li>\n
- Focus<\/li>\n
- Planning, using the reverse sequencing method<\/li>\n
- Grit, determination<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/p>\n
And one more: <\/p>\n
But when Farr took his findings to teachers, they wanted more. \u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018Yeah, yeah. Give me the concrete actions. What does this mean for a lesson plan?\u2019\u201d So Farr and his colleagues made lists of specific teacher actions that fell under the high-level principles they had identified. For example, one way that great teachers ensure that kids are learning is to frequently check for understanding: Are the kids\u2014all of the kids\u2014following what you are saying? Asking \u201cDoes anyone have any questions?\u201d does not work, and it\u2019s a classic rookie mistake. Students are not always the best judges of their own learning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"