10 Qualities of a Great Teacher

COMMENTARY
Attention, Gates Foundation -- 10 Qualities of a Great Teacher
By James D. Starkey

http://tinyurl.com/yc25w27

the punchline?
(1) has a sense of humor;
(2) is intuitive;
(3) knows the subject matter;
(4) listens well;
(5) is articulate;
(6) has an obsessive/compulsive side;
(7) can be subversive;
(8) is arrogant enough to be fearless;
(9) has a performer's instincts;
(10) is a real taskmaster.

Reading Reflection 6 - Instructions

After reading the two book excerpts, post in 300 words or less, your thoughts on what efforts you might pursue to make change in public education.

Blog post instructions / reminders
• Respond in your own course blog page.
• Title your response: Reading Reflection 6 - *replacewithmyname*: Change Agent
• Due: March 8, before class.

WEEK 7 (Mar. 1): Powerful Teaching

First, a brief summary of today's work:
1. Debriefed Ethnography experience, especially considering the use of peer feedback / peer assessment
2. Considered classroom use of Twitter
3. Continued thinking on implementing groupwork. Did Rainbow Logic task, to consider teaching new behaviors in the classroom.
4. Discipline groups designed a task to teach content through Problem Solving
5. We closed with some brief discussion on classroom management and discipline actions observed last week.

Homework - for Mar 8.

• Read Ch. 3 on the "Inquiry Method" of Postman & Weingartner's book Teaching as a Subversive Activity [download pdf here WebCT \ Course Content \ Required Readings]. You may also appreciate Ch. 1.
• Read pp. 63-83 on "Guidelines for Action (for Teachers)" of What's Worth Fighting for in Your School by Fullan & Hargreaves. [download pdf here or WebCT \ Course Content \ Required Readings]
• Complete assignment 5 Classroom Discipline, part C. Post to WebCT.
• Reading Response – write to your own blog
• Tweet – in particular, please share ideas or resources that speak to being an agent of change
• Answer question below

This week’s question: What stress reducing activity have you (re-) discovered in the past week? I relax by doing projects in, or better said on, the house. This weekend we did a lot of repotting and adding to our container gardens. Next weekend will be laying sod in a currently unused portion of the backyard.