ters 3, 4, 5, and 6. As you examine the list and the explanations that follow, consider which
you would give priority to in your teaching and prepare to explain why.
·Planning:Lessons that relate to student interests, involve students in activities, and are
appropriate to their academic performance level are more likely to hold student atten-
tion and involve students in learning. They may even be fun.
·Relationships:Students who feel that their teacher cares about them as human beings,
and is willing to respond to their needs and concerns, will be more willing to cooperate,
even if they do not understand or agree with instructions. When a teacher helps one stu-
dent out, or just gives a student who is having difficulty a break, somehow all the other
students quickly know.
·Organization:As a teacher, you can structure lessons and set up a classroom to mini-
mize conflicts and encourage student participation (e.g., use assignments to settle the
class and establish a context for the lesson; shift desks for group, individual, or full class
activities; limit bathroom visits so that students can be engaged by class work; involve
students in developing reasonable classroom procedures).
·Community:As students develop a sense of relationship with each other and the
teacher, an interest in the topics being explored, and confidence that they will not be put
down, and as they are convinced that their ideas will be heard, they develop a commit-
ment to the success of the class. Individuals become classroom leaders committed to the
class as a democratic community of learners and draw their classmates into the commu-
nity. As a group, they want to learn and they take responsibility for what goes on in their
class.
·Literacy:Preparing students for full participation in a democratic society means empow-
ering them through the enhancement of critical literacies. Student need to learn how to
learn; find and evaluate information available in different formats; think systematically;
support arguments with evidence; present ideas clearly, both orally and in writing; and
evaluate their own work and the work of others.
·Assessment:Nobody makes good choices all of the time. The key to growth as a teacher
is to think about what you are doing and make the best choices you can. Think of your
classroom problems as learning experiences rather than as personal failures. Reflect on
your goals and how you can achieve them with this particular group of students. Think of
student examinations as tests of what you have taught. It is never too late to change what
you are doing. While you spent all night (or all weekend) worrying about a particular inci-
dent and its impact on the class, the students probably haven’t thought about it since
they left the room. Try to relax a little bit.
·Support:Everybody has “bad hair days.” Instead of dumping on students, give them a lit-
tle space. Treat them the way you would want to be treated if you had just had a fight with
your mother, were overtired, or were just plain grumpy. Instead of backing a student into
a corner and provoking an explosion, try a dramatic shrug and taking it up later after ev-
eryone has calmed down. When a troublesome student or class responds, make a big
deal of it. Show them that you care.
·Struggle:There is no magic wand. Change never happens instantaneously. Why should
adolescents behave any differently from other people? Being an effective teacher means
engaging in a long-term struggle to convince students that your goals for the class make
sense and are worth examining.BOOK II: PLANNING 61