By Connie White
I have been fortunate enough to work with outstanding teachers throughout my career in education. Recently, I met with an aspiring teacher eager to have an impact on the world. She earnestly asked the question, “How can I become a truly transformative teacher….you know, one that is extraordinary?” This sincere question caused me to reflect on those things that differentiate good teachers from the extraordinary teachers that so often have a life-changing impact on their students.
It goes without saying that extraordinary teachers have a growth mindset toward students. They are quick to communicate and demonstrate that they care about their students and that they believe their students can be successful. These teachers have developed strong relationships with students based on a foundation of respect, trust, honesty, and communication. Students feel that they are seen and acknowledged as their teacher works to get to know them personally. They create a classroom environment that is safe and encourages dialogue and questioning. Students are gently nurtured to develop their voice and take ownership of their learning.
Extraordinary teachers require their students to think and struggle as they learn new information. These teachers know that with their support students grow and develop to reach higher levels of success than the student could achieve on their own. They challenge and have high expectations for their students and this process of exertion results in dramatically higher levels of learning.
Another characteristic of an extraordinary teacher is their ability to clearly communicate learning expectations. These credible teachers have structured classrooms and their students are confident that their teacher is prepared and highly competent in their subject area. Extraordinary teachers know what they are supposed to be teaching, inform students about what they are supposed to be learning, and reach agreements with students about what success looks like. Their students know what is expected and how it relates to their lives.
Finally, extraordinary teachers make certain that their students are clear about the three conditions Sadler (1989) suggests are necessary for students to improve:
- Students know what high-quality work looks like (“Where am I going?”)
- Students are able to objectively compare their work to the standard (“Where am I now?”)
- Students have a store of tactics to make work better based on their observations (“How do I close the gap?”)
Chappuis (2015) shares two strategies to help students know where they are going. Teachers should provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target and use examples and models of strong and weak work. She highlights two strategies to help students identify where they are now. Teachers should offer regular descriptive feedback during the lesson and should teach students to self-assess and set goals for the next steps. Closing the gap can be accomplished by using evidence of student learning needs to determine the next steps in teaching and focused instruction design. This should be followed by practice with feedback while students are provided opportunities to track, reflect and share their learning progress.
Teaching is not easy and I am grateful to all teachers who strive to become extraordinary!
References:
Sadler, D.R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18, 119-144.
Chappuis, J. (2015). Seven strategies of assessment for learning (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
