What Great Teachers Do Differently - 17 Things That Matter Most

Todd puts it simply. The teacher sets the agenda. If they care the classroom will be a place of caring. This gives us permission to care and justifies what educators feel in their hearts. This book is very easy to read and full of take home or take to the classroom advice.

There are some really great suggestions and helpful information in this book if you can get beyond Whitaker's condescending tone. I don't know if the tips are worth putting yourself through the annoyance. Most of it's common sense.

Have you ever wondered why schooling is for so many years? I don’t think it’s the subject matter that matters all that time. Especially in today’s world, if you know how to read and write, and google, you can pretty much learn anything you want to. But there is still an important reason to go to school for so many years. So that we can meet at least one great teacher along the way. After so many years, the chances of meeting that great one gets to be high—one would hope. Some people are super lucky to have had more than one great teacher. Countries, communities, companies, and families are different by the degree of great teachers within them. This book, “What Great Teachers Do Differently”, helps us understand what makes the truly great teachers tick, so that we can amp up that degree to make the world a better place to live in.

Todd Whitaker, the author, goes in depth about seventeen dimensions that radiate the brilliance of great teachers: a teacher recognizing the need to improve; expectations; mean what you say; prevent not revenge; degrees of expectations; knowing what’s constant and what’s the variable; focus what is really important (students); positive environment; being the filter; constant damage control; the skill of ignoring; knowing when to random, and when to “plandom”; critical decisions by the best people for the people (a strong argument for oligarchy? Abraham Lincoln may disagree for a country, but sounds agreeable to a company—then again independence comes after education); knowing comfort levels; empathy; creating a yardstick as reference to measure performance; making it “cool to care”.

Making it “cool to care” is rather an eye opener. At the core of this chapter is the paragraph, “The Great Teacher”. It comes towards the end of the book. It’s climactic, and ties together the previous hundred pages. It’s about a “rough, tough, tattooed” student named, Darin, who could and would intimidate everyone around him, including Whitaker, the principal at the time. Many American cities are filled with people with similar description. We read about these kids in the news. We read that they pull out guns and shoot each other. They pull out knives and stab each other repeatedly. Most of us stay away from these “rough, tough, tattooed” people. We are afraid. Yet, Darin comes up to Mrs. Heart, a teacher in Whitaker’s school. Darin says, “Mrs. Heart, I was working on my poetry last night and I had a hard time with some of the words in the third verse. I was wondering if I could get your help on…”

Whitaker overheard this and his “jaw must have hit the floor.” Whitaker’s real voice of exasperation in his career comes through, “Believe me, Darin was not a fan of poetry.” Whitaker observes the very point of his book, “Darin was a fan of Mrs. Heart.” She made it cool to care. Great teachers are fearless.

After reading the book, the phrase “cool to care” got stuck in my head. Earlier this morning, I was YouTubing Fred Rogers’ congressional testimony in 1969 to Senator John O. Pastore, who was the chairman of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. The Congress was trying to decide if it should pull the plug on Public Broadcasting Service. What Rogers said in that testimony, which brought goosebumps to Pastore, who considered himself to be rather tough, is probably the ultimate demonstration of how to be really, really cool to care.

The book "What Great Teachers Do Differently 17 Things that Matter Most", by Todd Whitaker provided and educator with wisdom and advice regarding how to be a great teacher. Whitaker has been fortunate enough to have had a multitude of experiences in education and his now passing along his inspiration about the importance of teaching, and being a great one. Currently Whitaker is a professor at Indiana State University. Prior to becoming a professor, Whitaker was a math teacher and basketball coach as well as served as a principal. He has written over 10 books - with this one being one of his best!

"What Great Teachers Do Differently 17 Things that Matter Most", is written in three different perspectives that Whitaker has experienced.

1) Through the perspective of his research studies in the effectiveness of a school principal.
2) Through the perspective of him being a consultant and what insight he has gained that leads to success.
3) The perspective of his own experience as a teacher and principal.

Whitaker recognized that there is a distinction between an `average' teacher and an `effective' teacher. What great teachers do sets them apart from others. It is important to keep in mind that he understands it is important to look at `great' because " we find value in examining what effective teachers do that other teachers do not". Whitaker describes the interactions, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes of great teachers and what they do differently - narrowed down to 17 things that every teacher should do. He identifies differences between the more effective and the less effective teachers. Each chapter explains one of the 17 things that set great teachers apart.

The book is an extremely interesting, powerful, and motivating book pertaining around education. It is a very quick read and highlights the simple deals that every teacher should know and implement into their classroom environment - being one of the best books on education I have read. I recommend this book to any teachers or perspective teachers as well as leaders in the field of education. Whitaker takes an approach that is relatable to all and address points with clear points made. Whitaker puts it in perspective for you, providing everyday examples and related it back to the classroom, providing you with a deeper understanding for his reasoning.

I agree with that points Whitaker made throughout the book, in what characteristics make a great teacher. There is not much to challenge him on throughout the book because his points are spot on and very relatable to the field of education.

Three Takeaways:

1. The obvious, the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher goes a long way. Being that great teacher will take your students learning to another level of success and will maximize their learning potential.

2. Success comes from people and not the programs (Never thought about it this way until after reading Todd Whitaker's insights

3. Success is determined by how much focus is placed on students first

If you want to be a GREAT teacher - I strongly recommend reading this book!
Tying together 17 things that teachers can do in order to be great, Whitaker highlights the importance of teaching and mainly keeping students in mind. Addressing many issues teachers face - he provides helpful tips and hints to avoid controversy and keep you on a great path to providing your students with an excellent education. " No matter what others want us to do, we must focus on what is right for our students" - Todd Whitaker

Simplistic in the extreme. If this is what constitutes "great" in education then it's not surprising that so many fall short because the bar is pretty low. I work with educational professionals at the graduate and post grad level and recognize there is a thirst for solid information on best practices, surviving the first few years and implementing quality education...while this provides some nice tips, the overall impact is minimal. It's fluffy. Today's teachers are faced with competition from charter schools, angry parents, overly medicated students presenting with serious mental and medical health issues, violence, burnout and more. They need serious guidance and meaningful intervention not more feel good tidbits.

Since I have been teaching college for 23 years it bugged me when the line read if the lecturer has been boring students for 23 years why should they notice it now? Humph. But really, reading this I realized it was really for those schools where the students are a captive audience and they may not be thrilled being there. As a result, a portion of the advice was concerned with bad behavior on the part of the students. While of course bad behavior could happen in college as well, I have been very fortunate to have avoided it. What helps I suppose is teaching philosophy of all things, since most students tend to become very interested and behavior goes well when students are interested in what is going on. But other wise this book looks like it has very practical advice for teachers that are working with a young captive audience that requires psychological skills on the part of the teacher and I suppose a Drill Sergeant approach might not be best today. Not sure. But the advice seems very commonsensical to me.

Author Todd Whitaker certainly has a great deal of experience in public school education, as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and now as a university education professor. The 17 points that he makes in this book (up from 14 in the first edition) all ring true. Whitaker provides solid evidence for the importance of following these points to help become a great teacher, and the anecdotes from Whitaker's experience really help to put his points into context. The writing is clear and uncluttered and those in education (pre-K--12 and higher ed) should benefit greatly from this book. In the end, Whitaker's focus on how people are treated as being central to the success of the educator is the most valuable lesson. Highly recommended for all educators.

What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most is a book I have given out over the years to new teachers. So many things are so overwhelming in a school year, whether it is your first year of teaching or twentieth. It is also the book I read every year before I enter a classroom. I used to read Summerhill. LOL.

This is an improvement and an expansion of the ideas. It is not three new chapters.

It is still about teacher and student expectations. It is about people.

Useful information for teachers, however, none of it is really new. You can go on virtually any blog online and find similar advice. It boils down to being a good listener, lowering your voice, and observing students as they are, where they are in life. Beyond that, the information has been done before.

Not rocket science, but this nook looks at strategies employed by great teachers and what they do beyond the norm of teachers colleges. I found this humorous, thoughtful, analytical and potentially helpful for teachers or anyone involved in education.

This was a wonderful read for any teacher or perspective teacher. The author speaks candidly with clever stories to illustrate each point. Addresses many issues teachers face with helpful tips, tricks, and incite. He has several studies used as evidence and even addresses controversies in the education system without delving into politics. Overall it's a must read for anyone who wants a better understanding of education or to improve their interpersonal skills.

This book has good strategies, however none of the tips were things I hadn’t heard before. They were things taught in teacher prep programs or common sense advice about building relationships. It wasn’t particularly interesting and I struggled to read to the end.

This is a great book for teachers. Everything is simply stated and concise. It's a great framework with which to create your own personal teaching philosophy. Too often as teachers we see things that are presented as a "silver bullet" that will fix everything. This book shows that there are no silver bullets, only hard work and strong character.

Whether I am mentoring aspiring teachers or reinforcing a concept with veterans, WHAT GREAT TEACHERS DO DIFFERENTLY is my "go to" book. It is filled with anecdotes and written with heart and humor. A great first-read for someone considering education as a career. I print and frame the list of "17 Things That Matter Most" for each of my student teachers as a going away gift.

Not rocket science, but this nook looks at strategies employed by great teachers and what they do beyond the norm of teachers colleges. I found this humorous, thoughtful, analytical and potentially helpful for teachers or anyone involved in education.

This was a wonderful read for any teacher or perspective teacher. The author speaks candidly with clever stories to illustrate each point. Addresses many issues teachers face with helpful tips, tricks, and incite. He has several studies used as evidence and even addresses controversies in the education system without delving into politics. Overall it's a must read for anyone who wants a better understanding of education or to improve their interpersonal skills.

This book has good strategies, however none of the tips were things I hadn’t heard before. They were things taught in teacher prep programs or common sense advice about building relationships. It wasn’t particularly interesting and I struggled to read to the end.

This is a great book for teachers. Everything is simply stated and concise. It's a great framework with which to create your own personal teaching philosophy. Too often as teachers we see things that are presented as a "silver bullet" that will fix everything. This book shows that there are no silver bullets, only hard work and strong character.

Whether I am mentoring aspiring teachers or reinforcing a concept with veterans, WHAT GREAT TEACHERS DO DIFFERENTLY is my "go to" book. It is filled with anecdotes and written with heart and humor. A great first-read for someone considering education as a career. I print and frame the list of "17 Things That Matter Most" for each of my student teachers as a going away gift.

Bulls***, clichéd, bullet point, glib, soundbite ideas about being a teacher. Very arrogant, condescending tone. I tried to find out how many years Whitaker spent in the classroom--hmmm, nothing mentioned. As a teacher, I found this book offensive and wondered if Whitaker was just trying to become famous and make money from speaking engagements--a shallow assessment of what it means to be a teacher. Light the fire in your fireplace with this book. I did!