Researchers studied what great teachers do differently than good teachers. They defined great teachers as teachers whose students began the year several years behind academically and ended the year caught up or ahead. Researchers found that Great Teachers:


1.Set Big Goals – “teachers know on the 1st day where they want their students to be on the last day. The goals create urgency, focus, and alignment of effort necessary to make tremendous progress”

Crystal Jones “rallied her 1st graders around the idea that by the end of the year they were going to “read, write, and do math like 3rd graders.””

“Meg Stewart challenged her students…to “double their learning” and demonstrate two years of academic growth in one year.”



2.Get students invested in learning – Their students entered the class thinking they were “dumb” and that no amount of hard work would change that. Exceptional teachers convince students that hard work makes all the difference.

These teachers deliberately create a welcoming environment where academic success is highly valued.

They infuse the class with messages supporting academic achievement and clearly communicate student’s academic progress to them.

They empower students with choice and responsibility in their own learning.



3.Purposeful Planning - The most successful teachers are backwards planners. They begin any endeavor, from lesson planning to classroom-management by asking, what result do I want? And How will I know I’ve gotten it?

Julia King’s students average gains of 2.4 – 1.7 years in math. She envisions exactly what her students will know and be able to do at the end of the year and then organizes the units for the year. Each week she looks at the objectives for the unit, writes 5 assessment questions per objective, and only then plans her lesson.



4.What does it mean to effectively implement instruction in the classroom?

“Effective implementation, they insist, is about the adjustments you make to the plan to ensure that you stay on track toward your objectives.”



5.Continually Improving – Teachers who are getting the greatest results treat their classrooms as laboratories

“…If they’re not mastering concepts they need to master, then I need to learn how to teach them more effectively.”



6.Working Relentlessly – dramatically effective teachers say, “If I take my big goals seriously, there is just not enough time in the day, not enough resources in the classroom, to get it all done.” Then, they go on to describe how they find more time and resources.

They have their students in class before and after school, at lunch, and on Saturdays...they do whatever it takes to ensure that students succeed.




Farr, S. (2010). Leadership, not magic. Educational Leadership, 68, 28-33.

2020 Vision: Experts Forecast What the Digital Revolution Will Bring Next

2020 Vision: Experts Forecast What the Digital Revolution Will Bring Next

What does the future of schools look like? That is what was asked of three top educational technology leaders to various experts in the field of education. Their answers were all the same: personal technology for every student. In 1993, surfing the net and wireless ability were scarcely common household terms. Now, wireless ability can even be found at the local McDonalds. According to these technological leaders, the two most important technological developments are the internet and mobility. When these two are combined, they will shape the future of education. Computers should be in the hands of every student, not in computer labs down the hall. Schools are behind the times when it comes to technology. Schools must combine “the use of these technologies that they [students] live in their private lives and make use of them for learning.” Not all of the technological advances have happened as leaders would have hoped. These three educational technology leaders hoped that the technology would personalize instruction to student’s individual needs and learning styles. This has not completely happened. However, instead of wasting money on research proving what we already know, students need to use the technology so that we can see if it is working or not. It becomes a trial and error process. By the students using it, the data is quickly gathered, modified, and then corrected. Technology can also be used in assessment to help students and teachers. Broadband must be funded to be used in the schools to support the technology. When asked what can be seen in the future? The response was, a digital classroom- no textbooks, social networking among students and teachers, smartphones and iPads.

THE Journal. (2010). 2020 Vision: Experts Forecast What the Digital Revolution Will Bring Next. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/11/01/Talkin-about-a-Revolution.aspx?p=1

"Teaching Skillfull Teaching"

Bob Ostrander

December - January Issue / The Effective Educator

What makes one classroom more effective than the rest?

Answer - (1st) Get students to reason and solve problems. (2nd) Try to get all students to achieve this outcome.

Understand this...teaching is complicated. We are required to share what we know well to those, so they can digest it clearly. Easier said than done.

Teaching is unnatural; how? - it demands you take apart what comes easily so others can understand it. It also requires you to help others SEE what they do not SEE. We must discern how to reach them before this can be accomplished.

Noticing the differences of how students learn is the challenge.

To be an effective teacher we are called to continually learn how to teach effectively. "Knowing" and "Doing"teaching are two different animals. It takes classroom experience, constant adapting and using what is proven to be effective.

KEY - Ask good questions!

We challenge the minds more when we respond to what students say - we engage...not just speak to.

When you get an answer - ASK WHY.

We adapt, we tweak, we constantly grow to be more effective...we TEACH!