The ABC's High School Teachers Really Need to Know

Effective teachers keep the valley small between students and themselves.  Relatability and involvement are crucial in generating great student outcomes.  Be present.   Be involved.  Be happy.  Be an advocate.  Be willing to get your hands dirty.  In almost every struggling classroom, you will find that some or all of those things are missing.  

If you have been living to work or find yourself consumed primarily by your school duties, it's time to join the living!  Effective teachers know the importance of balance and perspective.  Don't put your own life on hold...even to focus on serving others.  Both can and should be done!  

My grandmother said it all the time...."Once an adult, and twice a child."  When we are called into the principal's office, it can feel like we are children once again.  Don't let it!  You are a professional, a content specialist, and a human being.  If you have messed up or fallen short of expectations, own it, learn from it, and move on!  If you need to advocate for yourself, your process, or for your content, then do it!  Regardless, leave that office with your self-respect intact and a stronger relationship with everyone involved.  Sometimes, certain administrators  can make that seemingly impossible.  Don't lose sleep over something you can't control.  Keep growing and changing lives!

If we don't effectively land helicopter parents, we will likely fail our students and ourselves.  In this episode, we will discuss crucial strategies, approaches, and policies that will absolutely help you win the battle...before it's a battle. 

It is difficult to be an effective teacher without developing productive and healthy relationships with students.  These relationships, along with the connections that students form with other students, serve as the basis for building a strong classroom community.  As educators, we need to make sure we balance the needs of the individual with those of the community.  Effective educators build a process that drives and supports individuality but also ensures that the needs of one student or group of students doesn't disproportionately impact the community.  

Do you consider yourself a more traditional or modern teacher instructionally?  The truth is that our most effective teachers are both.  Our students need you to be both.  We need them to be able to learn from both.  If you find the balance, the learning will happen.  

Funding is important for the education system, but inside the classroom, budget should NEVER dictate the effectiveness of a lesson.  Effective teachers innovate, create, and build meaningful lessons no matter the obstacles.  The opportunity to learn should NEVER stop.  

When did differentiating students and speaking truth about where they are in the learning process become four-letter words?  As effective educators, we need to ensure that our process bolsters the individual.  We can't do that if we don't clearly communicate where kids are in that process.  Disproportionately focussing on students at the bottom, inflating grades, and standardizing instruction and assessment are all killers of individualized, meaningful learning.  If we don't know where students are in the process, how can we help them find success, regardless of where they are on the learning spectrum?  

I'm not sure when it happens for every teacher, but at some point, you will (or should) realize the incredible opportunity we have been given as educators.  We have the ability to positively affect lives every single day!  As part of this realization, we sort of "come of age."  We reach a peace about what we do and our impact.  We tune more of the negative noise out, let the small stuff go, and focus on our students and our process.  Teaching becomes more organic and meaningful.  What's empowering is that you don't have to teach for 30 years to come of age.  You can start right now by focusing more on your attitude, perspective, and yes - people.       

Ever had a lesson go way south or messed up an activity so bad you wanted to run away and hide?  Well, congratulations you're a teacher!  The key is to adapt and improve.  The worst thing you can do is stop innovating or being creative.  Effective teachers know that botched executions can turn into some of the most inspiring and insightful experiences for educators.  Never stop growing and learning.  It's the mistakes that lead to great learning.