Transcript SO YOU THINK YOU CAN TEACH?

The Questions 1-10
1. What do you read?
2. Do you write?
3. Can you speak?
4. Do your friends bring you down?
5. Can you pass a background check?
6. Are tattoos and piercings appropriate?
7. Are you reliable?
8. Do you have an attitude?
9. Can you manage time?
10. Are you coachable?
The Questions 11-20
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Do you have people skills?
Do you have common sense?
Can you manage conflict?
Are you historically literate?
Are you on top of current events?
Is there balance between your personal and
professional life?
Do you have a teacher mystique??
Are you a multitasking addict?
How extensive is your vocabulary?
Are you mobile?
The Questions 21-30
21. Are you really committed to teaching?
22. Do you have grit?
23. Do you know how to dress like a teacher?
24. Can you envision professional career steps?
25. Do you have a sense of gratitude?
26. Is teaching a job or a profession?
27. Do you have with-it-ness?
28. Are you addicted to your cell phone?
29. What motivates you?
30. Do you have curiosity?
The Questions 31-40
31. Do you take care of yourself?
32. Are you a role model?
33. Do you suffer from stage fright?
34. Do you have a plan for achieving goals?
35. Do you make excuses?
36. Can you communicate with your eyes?
37. Do you have a growth mindset?
38. Are you chemically balanced?
• Read books - fiction and nonfiction
• Read books about teaching
• Read newspapers daily; don’t get news from
Internet clips; visit your library
• Avoid distractions of the pop culture
• Read in depth; do more than skim
• Model effective reading habits for students
What Should the Standard Be?
• Reading should be a daily habit
• Reading should be an integral part of teacher
training
• Reading should be part of ongoing
professional development
• Reading helps use texts creatively
• Reading must be a priority of your school’s
culture
If you don’t read and
don’t like to read,
maybe teaching is not
your calling.
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Talk to your high school teachers/college professors
for reading recommendations.
2. Peruse websites of leading professional organizations
that provide resources for your area of interest.
3. Read Education Week and other current and relative
publications, websites, blogs.
4. Set aside a daily pleasure reading time (30 minutes)
5. Increase your personal and professional vocabulary.
Become familiar with education lingo, jargon, and
acronyms.
• Writing enhances your communication skills
• Writing develops your analytical and rational
skills
• Know the rules of commas
• Utilize online help resources when writing
• Master typing skills
• Avoid texting shortcuts
• Model skills for students
• Cursive is still an important skill
What Should the Standard Be?
• Future teachers need extensive writing
experiences so their teaching of writing is based
on knowledge earned themselves
• Daily writing supports strong skill development
• Writing should be part of every college class and
ongoing professional development
• Write blogs, journals, professional articles
• Writing must be a priority of your school’s
culture
If you dread writing
papers, maybe
teaching is not your
calling.
Learn the Rules for Using Commas
The children who couldn't do the math problem stayed after class for tutoring.
The children, who couldn't do the math problem, stayed after class for tutoring.
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Acquire superior typing/keyboarding skills .
2. Master the basic rules of grammar - use of commas,
sentence structure, etc.
3. Write stories about your personal experiences,
thoughts, etc.
4. Set aside a daily writing time (30 minutes)
5. Transfer critical reading skills to writing. Make the
reading/writing connection.
• Fear of public speaking will hold you back
• Every great speaker started out as a poor one
• Public speaking demonstrates bravery and shows
leadership ability
• Public speaking has similarities with
musical/drama/athletic performance
• Teaching is a performance
• Deep, deliberate practice is the key to
improvement
What Should the Standard Be?
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Future teachers must use correct English grammar
Future teachers should speak in every class
Speak in complete sentences
Speak with conviction and effective vocal
inflections
• Teaching of proper speaking improves students'
communicative skills
• Public speaking must be a priority of your school’s
culture
“Like, eliminate ‘Ums’ and ‘Ahs’,
Right?”
"Like," "Um," "Ah," and “You Know”
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Record your speaking voice reading from a book.
Analyze/critique with an experienced teacher.
2. Master the basic rules of grammar and
pronunciation.
3. Speak publicly about your personal experiences,
thoughts, etc.
4. Critique a variety of public speakers for use of vocal
inflections/nuances.
5. Speak in every class.
• Recognize the differences between good friends
and bad friends
• Bad friends can negatively influence references,
interviews, and hires
• Bad friends miss classes, work, responsibilities
• Bad friends are incapable of visioning
• Good friends support commitments and
responsibilities
What Should the Standard Be?
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Good friends support you always
Good friends are loyal and trustworthy
Good friends make you smile and laugh
Good friends are respectable and never reflect
poorly on you
• Good friends accept criticism and work for
continuous self improvement
• Good friends never make you guilty by
association
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
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Dissolve relationships that drag you down.
Avoid negative peer pressure.
Be a great friend to get a great friend.
Surround yourself with friends that share your values
and career goals.
5. Develop relationships with those who stick by you
when you are at your best and your worst.
6. Ask a critical friend or teacher to give feedback about
your friend selection and your ability to be a friend.
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Avoid dumb actions in college
If your conscience raises a question, don’t do it
Beware of your social media profile
Employers know how to obtain information
from email and the Internet
• Don’t frequent bars/clubs in your community
• Misdemeanors can be as damaging as felonies
What Should the Standard Be?
• Must be able to provide a clean BCII record
• Must have an impeccable school/work behavior
record
• Must avoid inappropriate postings on Facebook
• No gossip about your personal relationships
and/or behavior
• An appropriate personal code of ethics
• Don’t do it if your parents wouldn’t be proud
Never Drink and Drive
Never Have These Pictures
Made of You
Cameras are everywhere.
They do not lie.
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Be ever mindful of what is said and written about
you by others.
2. Don’t bully nor allow your friends to bully.
3. Never write an email when you are angry.
4. Avoid parties in high school and college that lack
proper supervision. Never be intoxicated in public.
5. Be aware that everything you do now will reflect
positively or negatively on you when an employer
starts searching your background and references.
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What you do to your body is a personal decision
Professional attire in the workforce is not an option
Teachers are role models
Tattoos send questionable social signaling
messages
• Many parents support conservative values
• When all other factors are equal, the balance might
fall in favor of the professional without
What Should the Standard Be?
• Discretion is the key to tattoos
• Some schools maintain dress codes for teachers
• A tattoo should be something you can wear in 20
years
• Questionable decisions regarding personal attire
and decorum can limit opportunities to get a job
• All U.S. military branches have standards about
where, what, how much, and how many tattoos
their members can have prior to enlistment and
during service
Would you want your child taught be
these people?
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Be ever mindful of how the general public in your
area views tattoos (decoration or mutilation?). Weigh
the pros and cons.
2. Avoid potentially harmful cultural fads.
3. Research the desirable characteristics and
expectations for teachers in your area
4. Talk with a school principal
5. Recognize that a teacher’s personal decisions and
actions must always be reconciled with professional
standards and expectations
Teaching involves adversity
and controversy.
Teachers’ actions are always
a subject of discussion.
Don’t subject yourself to
questionable or needless
forms of attention.
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Attend all classes and attend while in class
Get work done on time
Punctuality is a virtue
Attendance and tardiness records indicate
reliability
• Make no excuses
• Students must be able to trust and count on you
Do what you say you will do when
you say you will do it!
What Should the Standard Be?
• Never be tardy or skip a class
• Always comply with appropriate rules and
regulations
• Never falsify or conceal information
• Never allow your judgment to be viewed as
questionable
• Never associate with anyone involved in criminal
activity
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Maintain a superior attendance record at school and
work.
2. Be known for achievement rather than anything less.
3. Become your teacher’s (boss’s) go-to person when
support is needed.
4. Make sure everything you say and do is credible and
believable.
5. Be authentic.
Be the
link
others
count on
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Smile; show a sense of humor
Use appropriate body language
Carry yourself with confidence
Maintain eye contact
Show enthusiasm
Strive for excellence
Be decisive and take charge of things in a group
Achieve efficiency; be the easiest to work with
Show courtesy; manners; etiquette
What Should the Standard Be?
• Be friendly to everyone, even those you don’t
know.
• Be a good sport when others succeed.
• Motivate others.
• Smile to create a positive atmosphere.
• Give more than you expect to receive.
• Be someone who you would want to be around.
• Choose to be excellent.
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Be someone who others want to be with, because
you lift their energy, attitude, and spirit.
2. Ask a critical friend if you are a source of positive
energy or a downer.
3. Develop an optimistic outlook that allows you to deal
with challenging situations productively.
4. Give yourself a daily pep talk and enjoy your life.
5. Build and maintain strong personal and professional
support systems.
6. Avoid negative people.
Effective time managers…
• Set goals
• Effective scheduling of time is essential
• Keep a "to-do" list of some sort
• Prioritize to achieve desired results
• Avoid procrastination
• Manage interruptions; block out distractions (social
media)
• Put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign when you
absolutely have to get work done
• Understand that time management is a personal
rather than a social issue
What Should the Standard Be?
• Routine use of a personal planner or schedule.
• Understanding of prioritization.
• Capacity to complete grade-level/age
appropriate work independently.
• Work completion that is adequate, accurate,
efficient, and effective.
• Self-responsibility for getting things done.
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Get out of bed at a routine time each day.
2. Do your own work. It is time for helicopter parents to
allow you to fly solo.
3. Postpone unnecessary activities until important work
is done.
4. Never miss assignments or fail to complete work.
5. Do not pull all-nighters.
6. Avoid multitasking.
7. Recognize when you can’t do it alone and seek
outside resources and support to solve problems.
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Do you have experience in team sports?
Do you have experience in music/drama?
Do you have a record of accepting criticism?
Can you explain how you’ve gotten back up
after being knocked down?
• Do you compete against others or yourself?
• Do you have a desire to be the best?
• Are you a team player?
What Should the Standard Be?
• Humility - the ability to change behavior and
outlook.
• Unselfish motivation.
• Desire to get things done working with others.
• Willingness to give up control and work within a
group.
• Faith in the abilities of the group or team.
Coachability is a trait of the heart.
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Learn from the experiences of others.
2. Accept constructive criticism and use it to improve.
3. Willingly commit the time to improve knowledge and
skills.
4. Master the power of deliberate, or deep practice.
5. Gain a variety of experiences in group activities,
sports, and musical/arts endeavors.
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Courtesy
Open-mindedness
Ability to listen
Empathy
Tolerance
Patience
Negotiation skills
Leadership skills
What Should the Standard Be?
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Concern for others
Sensitivity to diversity
Talking effectively and empathizing accurately
Self-awareness and self-management
An ability to establish and maintain relationships
Record of responsible decision making
Record of responsible behavior
What should a preservice
teacher be doing now?
1. Develop a network. Be social.
2. Work in teams and seek feedback on your
effectiveness.
3. Learn to speak up when you think you have been
wronged.
4. Listen to other people and react to how they feel.
5. Express your thoughts and feelings coherently.
6. Accept criticism and strive for improvement.
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What will others say about you?
If others hesitate to respond, consider why.
Define it for yourself.
Those with common sense navigate daily trials
and tribulations without being sidetracked by
fantasies.
• People with common sense are usually popular.
What Should the Standard Be?
• Ability to perceive, understand, and judge
things which are shared by nearly all people.
• Behavior that is reasonably expected of
nearly all people without any need for
debate.
• Skills to distinguish characteristics which are
common to all things.
• Possession of a sensibility shared by all.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
1. Learn things that are basic common sense
(cooking, nutrition, health, dangers in
surroundings, resourcefulness, thinking for
yourself, planning).
2. Make personal judgments based on
common knowledge and established facts.
3. Don’t talk about others behind their backs.
4. Take good care of your body.
5. Avoid getting angry at an irrational person.
• Not all conflict is bad.
• Conflict management/peer mediation can be
learned.
• What do friends say about your ability to handle
conflict?
• Do you share easily and willingly?
• How do you react to stinging criticism? From
peers, teachers, parents?
• Can you mint social currency?
What Should the Standard Be?
• Distinction between the problem and the
person
• Straightforward and concrete communication
with those in conflict
• Ability to look at conflict from the outside
• Understanding of needs and interests that lie
behind concrete positions
• Work to improve relationships in a positive
direction
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
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Enroll in a conflict mediation program to learn skills.
Don’t allow conflicts to fester.
Manage your emotions to resolve conflict successfully.
Realize that conflicts are an opportunity for growth.
When you’re able to resolve conflict in a relationship,
it builds trust. You can feel secure knowing your
relationship can survive challenges and
disagreements.
What could you extemporaneously explain about?
• The location of the 13 English/American colonies?
• The Renaissance
• Civil War Politics
• World War I and II
• Key World Inventions
• American Court Cases Impacting Education
• Science Advancements
• 1492, 1620; 1776; 1812; 1861; 1945; 2001
What Should the Standard Be?
1. Understanding and knowledge about how
to analyze chronological relationships and
patterns
2. Understanding of differing historical
perspectives
3. Knowledge of causes and effects of history
4. Knowledge of world geography
5. Awareness of key individuals in history.
6. Basic historical study and readings
Jaywalking (Jay Leno) and more
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
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Conduct independent historical research
Memorize key descriptors of historical periods
Develop historical timelines
Understand how the study of the past that affects
today
• Learn local community history
• Learn how ideas influence society
• Learn roles of individuals in history
• To be successful, you need to constantly stay
informed about what is going on in the world
• Know about business, politics; sports, arts,
medicine, travel, popular culture, world events
• Synthesize information from a variety of media
outlets
• Learn to spot trends
• Watch news reports, read books and the
newspaper, review trusted websites, talk with
informed people
What Should the Standard Be?
• Demonstrate knowledge of national and
international figures in the news over the past
year.
• Describe the context for the main national and
international news stories of the past year
• Identify and describe major ongoing national
and international issues
• Maintain a broad knowledge of contemporary
topics: politics, business, education, sports,
arts, etc.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Watch the news - really watch it and engage in
discussion with others
• Read the newspaper and listen to the radio
• Subscribe to education publications and specific
interest journals
• Maintain a balance of reliable informative sources and
points of view
• Use technology to stay current with vital information
• Many teachers invest personal time outside
school planning lessons and grading papers
• Millennials hold different work expectations
than babyboomers (the most veteran teachers)
• How do you spend leisure time?
• Couch potatoes do not make effective teachers
• What are your interests? hobbies? travel?
• Do you meditate?
What Should the Standard Be?
• All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
• Teachers need strong support systems outside
school
• It is not unprofessional to have a personal life
• Teaching is not a profession for a perfectionist
• Take care of yourself - exercise, eat a balanced
diet, get plenty of rest, and maintain a
supportive group of friends.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Develop a balanced schedule of classes, work, and
personal time
• Student school commitments require homework time
• Avoid procrastination and multitasking
• Regularly plan social events and activities outside
school (and those you work with)
• Don’t waste time on activities that provide little return
• Learn to manage stress
• Don’t over commit; allow time for SCHOOL & WORK
• Is mystique a good thing? Is it all about
mystery?
• Is it a sign of depth?
• Is there a feminine and/or male mystique?
• Must you conform to society's expectations?
• Mystique means that people are attracted to
you for reasons they can't fully explain and that
they see things in you they do not comprehend
What Should the Standard Be?
• Mysticism is derived from a Greek word meaning
to conceal; there are some aspects of personal life
and belief teachers should not share
• Teachers need to establish a professional line that
students/parents do not cross
• Mystique stereotypes (ex. men teaching
preschool) need to be eliminated
• Teacher mystique is all about creating an aura of
heightened value, interest, or meaning
surrounding something - YOU!
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Develop charisma -- a (1) compelling attractiveness or
charm that can inspire devotion in others, (2) a divinely
conferred power or talent
• Avoid overexposure on social media; maintain some
reserve
• Observe the aura of mystery or mystical power
surrounding effective teachers
• Interview effective teachers about their mystique
• Make obvious connections between an effective
teacher’s role and professionalism
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Multitasking is a myth
Multitaskers are prone to mistakes
Laws are being enacted to curb multitasking
How long is your attention span?
Are you ruining your life with a smart phone?
Many people do stupid things on the Internet
What Should the Standard Be?
• The brain is complex and can perform a myriad
of tasks, but it cannot multitask well
• Structure teaching to allow for both active and
passive switches of the brain
• Teachers who appear to be good multitaskers
are organized, well planned, and experienced
• Teachers who appear to be good multitaskers
are skilled classroom managers who
differentiate instruction
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
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Recognize that multitasking will wear you down
Learn when to multitask and when to avoid it - rest
Limit time and usage of technology when studying
Master personal organization skills
Observe how master teachers deal with individual
students with numerous needs
• Study the concept of active and passive switches
• Understand synchronous work v. multitasking
• Vocabulary helps you understand people
• Vocabulary helps you understand what you read
• Vocabulary increases the ability to grasp ideas and
think logically
• Vocabulary makes you a more informed and
involved citizen
• Vocabulary allows you to communicate effectively
• Vocabulary boosts your powers of persuasion
• Vocabulary creates an impression of intelligence
There are Four Types of Vocabulary
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Reading vocabulary
Listening vocabulary
Speaking vocabulary
Writing vocabulary
What Should the Standard Be?
• A college-level adult may know at least 20,000
words in their primary language
• Master vocabulary for chosen content area in
accordance with Common Core Standards
• Regularly increase vocabulary building through
practice and play
• All teachers must teach vocabulary words and
vocabulary acquisition skills
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Knowing a word, however, is not as simple as simply
being able to recognize or use it. There are several
aspects of word knowledge which are used to measure
word knowledge.
• Learn educational terms, teacher jargon, and acronyms.
• Review website: 100 Words Every High School Graduate
Should Know
• Focus on spelling skills
• This question is not meant to address whether
or not you connected to mobile networks
• The most lucrative job market might be
elsewhere
• Are you tied to a specific geographic area?
• Do you have interests in expanding options in
your career in education?
• Do you have narrow or broad horizons?
What Should the Standard Be?
• This varies with each individual
• Each teacher (and those aspiring) must
establish a radius within which they are willing
to accept a teaching position
• Don’t waste your time and those of
interviewers if you would never accept a
position if one were offered because it would
require you to relocate
• A record of mobility might imply negative
issues about a teacher’s employment record
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Determine the area in which you want to teach
• Review needs and hiring practices in preferred areas
• Acquire certifications/licensure that makes you most
employable
• Learn the key influence makers (kingpins) in preferred
employment region
• Make yourself visible to future employers/references
within that radius
• Determine whether you can afford to relocate and
meet living expenses in selected areas
• Committed teachers hard work, each day, all year
• Committed teachers read each day
• Committed teachers show up at work even when
they don’t feel well
• Committed teachers live the example they want
their students to become
• Committed teachers willingly reach into their own
pocket to help those in need
• Committed teachers are all about serving others
What Should the Standard Be?
• Commitment means feeling dedication and
loyalty to a cause, activity, or profession
• To commit means willingness to be put in
charge; to entrust
• Making a commitment to teaching must be
grounded in reality
• Commitment requires obligation that restricts
freedom of action
• A commitment is an agreement or pledge to
do something in the future
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Honor commitments made to family, friends, and
school
• Strive to acquire a reputation of faithfulness, reliability,
trustworthiness, dependability
• Commit to the tenets of the education profession
• Work 24-7 to acquire the personal characteristics of
effective teachers
• Strive to be more than a purveyor of facts; model how
to be a critical thinker
Do what you say you will do when you say you will do it
• Grit = courage and resolve; strength of character
• Bravery, backbone, spirit, strength of character,
strength of will, moral fiber, steel, nerve,
toughness
• Growing research heralds grit as a key
component to a student's success in college
• Gritty people succeed through deliberate
practice to acquire skills
• Everyone sometime should encounter
frustration and failure and learn from the
experience
What Should the Standard Be?
• What teachers know and do with noncognitive
competencies, known as grit, is just as
important, if not more so, in teaching to the
cognitive domain
• “Overcoming" by developing non-cognitive
skills does not discriminate by class
• Failure must be seen as a learning opportunity
• Everyone is not always a winner
• Teacher are hired for attitudes, trained for
skills
No Pain, No Gain
Discussion Topic
Because the lower-class often deviates from middle-class
culture and values, the education gap persists. Middle
class parents are more likely to teach their children grit.
Those in the lower-class often feel victimized or entitled.
QUESTION: Must it be a priority and a
responsibility of teachers to change the
culture/values of lower-class (or any
class) students, to help them overcome,
perhaps by teaching grit-related skills?
Good character
always trumps
a good caricature.
A caricature is an image that shows the
features of its subject in a simplified or
exaggerated way
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Read the emerging literature about grit
• Recommendation: How Children Succeed:
Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of
Character. Paul Tough (2012), New York:
Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt
• Acquire a core set of attributes that define
your very essence
• Learn from mistakes; Break bad habits
• Read The Power of Habit. Charles Duhigg.
(2012). New York: Random House
• Dressing for success (each day) has three main
effects for teachers:
 Maintain respect
 Establish credibility
 Establish yourself as an authority figure
• Consult your mentor regarding established dress
expectations in your school
• Professionals are judged upon how well dressed
they appear
What Should the Standard Be?
• Clean, well-laundered clothing
• Professional attire is midway between casual
and formal wear
• Professional attire is modest; avoid exposing
too much skin
• Professional attire generally consists of a
darker colors, such as black, navy blue, and
some shades of gray. Brighter colors can be
used sparingly as accessories, such as
handkerchiefs, scarves, and neckties
Unprofessional Dress Would Include
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T-shirts
T-shirts with inappropriate messages
T-shirts intended to be underwear
Tank tops
Spaghetti strap tops, tube tops
Sheer tops (and dresses)
Low cut tops or clothing that reveals
the midriff
• Short shorts (mini skirts)
• Skirts with front slits
Unprofessional Dress Would Include
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Flip flops
Sandals
Beach clothing
Athletic performance shoes/sneakers
Clothes with holes (jeans)
Sweat/wind shirt/hoodies
Gym shorts/clothes
Cargo pants
Spandex
Pajamas
Common Sense Prevails
There are some policy exceptions for
certain positions, functions, and
circumstances!
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Acquire a professional wardrobe appropriate for school
observations and clinicals
• Acquire clothes that should be ironed or dry-cleaned,
it's probably acceptable professional attire
• Become comfortable wearing professional clothes
• Become aware of the concept of social signaling and
the positive/negative messages you send to people by
what you wear
• Don’t flaunt
• Observe, observe, observe
• Leading a classroom is about influence
• There are five influential steps toward leading a
classroom
1. Position (your training, credentials, and license)
Students attend your class because they have to
2. Permission (building relationships, getting permission)
Students attend your class because they want to
3. Production (attaining results)
Students attend your class because they want to because they see results
4. Person Development (developing students for work)
Students become your mentees, you prepare future teachers (et. al.)
5. Personhood (the pinnacle point of your career)
Students come back to your class to seek your counsel and advice
What Should the Standard Be?
• Teaching is about influence and how to wield it
• Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the
character, development, or behavior of someone
or something
• The act of building relationships is an essential
skill
• Teachers need a career map to continuously
grow
• Teachers continuously work with students (and
others) at all stages of influence & development
To be persuasive, a teacher
must be believable…
To be believable, a teacher
must be credible…
To be credible, a teacher must
be truthful.
Modified from Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965)
CBS Journalist
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Read Leadership 101 by John Maxwell
• Talk with practicing teachers about how
they build relationships
• Observe teachers at the college level;
analyze their skills
• Learn areas/situations where teachers have
1. Direct Control
2. Influence
3. No Control
• Grace is the harmonious integration of the body,
mind, and spirit with the way of natural world
• Teachers with a sense of grace possess skills and
strategies that produce powerful, cordial, and
confident conduct in professional and social
situations
• Grace skills include manners, professional
etiquette, social kindness, and leadership protocol
• You must possess common sense to have a sense of
grace
• A fall from grace means to lose favor; to be
discredited
What Should the Standard Be?
• Effective teachers possess a healthy mind, body, and
soul
• Teachers with a sense of grace bring honor to
themselves and others and enhance the profession
• Teachers with a sense of grace can see who people
(their students) are and what they can become
• Teachers with a sense of grace possess the capacity
to forgive when they are wronged
• Teachers with a sense of grace possess abundant
love
Amazing Grace
inspiring hope in the wake of tragedy, America’s
"spiritual national anthem"
1.
2.
3.
Amazing grace! How sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to
fear, and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and
snares, I have already come; 'tis
grace hath brought me safe thus
far, and grace will lead me home.
Susan Boyle Amazing Grace
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Acquire the social graces - attitude, manners,
etiquette, and people skills - needed to work with the
public
• Express feelings of thankfulness and appreciation
freely
• Count your blessings; show your passion for your
profession
• Learn to address and resolve grievances in a timely
manner
• Learn to forgive and forget
• You can get a job with minimal education
• You get a profession upon acquisition of critical
thinking skills
• Those who view teaching as a job often dread their
responsibilities
• Those who view teaching as a profession like
challenges and desire to return to day after day
• An occupation (job) may require specialized
training, but a profession normally requires
specialized schooling Auto mechanic is an
occupation, but teaching is a profession
What Should the Standard Be?
• Professionals acquire specialized training and act
appropriately and effectively
• Professionals are willing to take risks
• Professionals view work in the long term; a job
view is short term
• Jobs are compensated in wages/hours
• Professions are compensated in salary for job
done regardless of hours
• Professions have high societal value
If you want to make a lot of money,
you should be in business.
If you are called to offer a personalized
service (teaching), you should be in the
education profession.
If you want to avoid risk, seek a job with
hourly rate of pay for your employment.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Discern the pros and cons of dedicating your life to a
job or the stressors of the teaching profession
• Learn and evaluate numerous aspects of what is
means to be part of the teaching profession
• Professionals thrive within strong networks - begin to
build yours now
• Seek work and work-related experience that support
your development of professional skills rather than
job skills
• Professionals go the extra mile and do tasks beyond
your minimum job description - show initiative
• With-It-Ness - being able to envision possible
classroom and curriculum events
• Planning with an awareness of the objectives
and the conditions
• Being aware of what is happening in a
classroom at all times (eyes in the back of the
head)
• When necessary, flexibility to respond with a
change in pace, move about the room, and
interact with students to redirect and refocus
“With-it-ness” is a term coined
by researcher Jacob Kounin (1970)
What Should the Standard Be?
Effective teachers…
• Monitor the classroom regularly
• Position themselves to see all students
• Continuously scan the room to keep track of
what is going on, no matter what students are
doing
• Occupy the entire room
• Notice potential problems
• Use a series of graduated actions
• Forecast problems
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Become aware of multiple senses: the random sounds
in the classroom, the voices of students, smells, people
walking past the classroom door—all while conducting
a lesson
• Practice looking around classrooms - a teacher has
with-it-ness seems to have x-ray vision
• Practice maintaining composure while dealing with the
demands of several students at the same time
• Develop the ability to stop misconduct with a look
• Learn the “ripple effect” - correcting one student’s
misbehavior while positively influencing the behavior
of other nearby students
• Studies at the University of Arkansas suggest that
constant cell phone use is an obsessive-compulsive
disorder rather than an addiction.
• Signs of abnormal cell phone use may include some of
the following symptoms:
1. Experience anxiety when phone is misplaced.
2. Feel uncomfortable if more than two hours pass without checking phone.
3. Experience extreme emotions when a cell phone connection is lost.
4. Initiate and/or answer calls and text messages while driving.
5. Check phone for messages upon waking
6. Sleep next to phone that is on and wake up to return late night texts
7. Answer cell phone while in an intimate embrace with a loved one.
What Should the Standard Be?
• Use a cell phone in private places (not in a public
restroom, restaurant, class, church, etc.)
• At work, show respect for your co-workers, boss,
and ability to get your work done. Follow policies
and guidelines.
• Never look at a cell phone while teaching,
attending a class or meetings, driving, etc.
• Embrace cell phones only as a legitimate tool for
learning.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• If you recognize that you have an unhealthy
dependence on a cell phone, consciously modify
behaviors. Extreme cases require professional
treatment.
• Train yourself to check for cell phone messages during
appropriate times.
• Engage in face-to-face conversations more than texting,
social media, talking on a phone, etc.
• Show respect for others’ time and professional position.
• Limit the hours using a cell phone. Engage in more
productive pursuits.
Follow Coach Pitino’s Advice
• Establish focus as a discipline in
everything you do: planning, strategy,
priorities, and career advancement.
• Discover the true key to success Humility - not ambition, not wealth, not
power.
• Use technology wisely. Don't let it
replace personal connection with the
people you work and live with.
• Own up to your problems, tell the truth
and they will become part of your past.
Lie and they become part of your future.
• Make small changes and add value to
every minute of your life.
Rick Pitino,
Head Basketball Coach
University of Louisville
• Motivation is literally the desire to do things.
• Extrinsic motivation - Rewards for a desired positive
behavior (i.e. money or grades), and the threat of
punishment following misbehavior.
• Intrinsic motivation - driven by a desire to do well or
enjoyment for a task.
• Social psychological research has shown that extrinsic
rewards can lead to overjustification and a subsequent
reduction in intrinsic motivation.
• The self-control aspect of motivation is increasingly
considered to be a subset of emotional intelligence.
What Should the Standard Be?
• Teachers should understand how to best utilize
incentive theory promoted by behavioral psychologists
such as B.F. Skinner, content theory of human
motivation, such as Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of
needs, and Herzberg's two-factor theory. Maslow's
theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of
motivation.
• Teachers must possess self-determination to make good
choices and exercise a high degree of control.
• The right amount of sleep enables individuals to keep
their motivation.
Maslow’s Theory of Motivation
B.F. Skinner’s
Principle of Reinforcement
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Motivating ourselves with external rewards (the carrot
and stick approach) is misleading.
• Develop your sense of intrinsic motivation - most
teachers are not motivated by the mere need for
money. Discover your purpose for teaching.
• Understand the differences in how generations view the
workforce and professional motivators.
• Develop mastery of basic content and skills.
• Develop a sense of individual autonomy, the capacity to
be your own person and live life according to your own
terms.
• Curiosity is an important trait of teachers.
• Curiosity positively correlates with intelligence.
• Curiosity makes your mind active rather than passive
and observant of new ideas.
• Curiosity opens up new worlds and possibilities and
brings excitement into your life.
• Curiosity impacts health, intelligence, social
relationships, happiness, and purpose for life.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
Albert Einstein
What Should the Standard Be?
•
•
•
•
Ask questions every day
Build knowledge
Keep an open mind - learn, unlearn, and relearn
View learning as being fun so that you naturally want to
know more.
• Avoid skimming the surface. Never take things for
granted. Dig deep.
• Our pursuit of happiness needs some elements of
surprise.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• What, why, when, who, where, and how should be well
worn words of every curious pre-service teacher.
• Avoid making blind assumptions. Investigate for
yourself.
• Avoid boredom, allow curiosity to create an
adventurous life. If bored, make changes.
• Drive a different route to school or work. Create
change.
• Never lose your inner child. Absorb the world around
you.
•
•
•
•
•
Get 6-8 hours of sleep
Eat a balanced diet
Exercise regularly
Maintain healthy body weight
Develop good habits (prudence, persistence, and
organization)
• Keep stress levels in check
• Stay connected in a positive social network
• Feed your mind, body, and soul
What Should the Standard Be?
• Teachers must always be at the top of their
game.
• Teaching requires stamina.
• You can’t help others if you first don’t take care
of yourself.
• Follow the airline’s flight safety guideline:
If you are traveling with children, or are
seated next to someone who needs
assistance, place the oxygen mask on
yourself first, then offer assistance.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Maintain regular checkups with your doctor
Aim for a healthy body weight and body mass index
Train your body’s clock with regular sleep habits
Avoid fast foods and unhealthy eating habits, binges
Don’t smoke or take drugs
Limit intake of alcohol
Avoid unsafe sexual encounters
Deal effectively with stress, emotions, and mental
health
• Accept the things you cannot change
• Teachers must be role models for how to live a decent,
productive life in a democratic society.
• As role models, teachers must commit to a life of higher
standards.
• Role models have influence. They must lead effectively.
• Role models clearly communicate expectations
• Role models reflect upon their individual acts,
encourage teamwork and cooperation, support others
in their growth and development.
• Teacher role models demonstrate confidence in
themselves.
What Should the Standard Be?
Teacher/role models must always…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
display kindness
be encouraging
display etiquette and good manners
make good choices
show generosity
share with others
honor commitments
develop appropriate, productive relationships
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Show passion for your learning/work. Your passion
should be infectious.
• Live your values.
• Become active in your community/school/work.
• Develop skills and abilities necessary to overcome
obstacles.
• Become a hero to someone (young relative neighbor,
student).
• Never lose sight of where you came from and how you
got where you are. Share your story to help/inspire
others.
• Everyone feels nervous from time to time in front of a
crowd, but for some, it is very scary, even debilitating.
• The clinical term for stage fright is performance anxiety.
• Teaching is a performance.
• Performance anxiety includes public speaking and
competing in front of others.
• Severe performance anxiety can mar delivery of a
lesson.
• The good news, performance does improve with
excitement (adrenaline flow).
What Should the Standard Be?
• A little stage fright can be a good thing.
• Continuously work to improve speaking or
performance skills.
• Learn skills that reduce and manage fear and
anxiety. Eliminate distracters (the tendency to rock,
sway, wave your arms, move pointlessly around, or
use verbal graffiti).
• Avoid using medication or natural products to
alleviate nervousness.
• Develop mindfulness, a state of active, open
attention on the present (with-it-ness).
Tips for Reducing Stage Fright
• Shift the focus from yourself and your fear to your true purpose—teaching.
• Avoid thoughts about what might go wrong. Focus on thoughts and images
that are calming and reassuring.
• Refuse to think thoughts that create self-doubt and low confidence.
• Calm and relax your mind and body with deep breathing, relaxation
exercises, yoga, and meditation.
• Exercise, eat well, and practice other healthful lifestyle habits. Limit caffeine,
sugar, and alcohol as much as possible.
• Visualize your success. Always focus on your strength and ability to handle
challenging situations.
• Prepare your lesson in advance and rehearse it aloud to hear your voice.
• Make connections with your students. Smile.
• Stand or sit in a self-assured, confident posture. Remain warm and open and
make eye contact.
• Give up trying to be perfect and know that it is OK to make mistakes. Be
natural, be yourself.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Practice public speaking at every available opportunity.
Seek feedback from a critical friend
Self-critique public speaking in college classes.
Create time to practice social skills.
Force yourself to speak in uncomfortable situations.
Stop self-labeling yourself as a shy person.
Develop a desire to change.
Overcoming shyness requires acquisition of skills, an
attitude, and a state of mind, all of which can be
learned.
• By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you
know where you have to concentrate your efforts.
• Follow the acronym LEAD
• L - Learn to assess strengths and weakness
analyze, assess, plan, and then put a plan into action
• E - Evidence - demonstrate what you learn
• A - Attitude - make choices that demonstrate a positive
work ethic and good character
• D - Decisions - continuously show evidence of good
decision making leading to the goal
What Should the Standard Be?
• Continuously clarify what you want to achieve in
multiple areas
• Use the LEAD acronym to set goals for:
 Education
 Career
 Finance
 Family
 Health
 Pleasure
 Service
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Brainstorm goals with friends and colleagues
• Make goals more powerful by using the LEAD process
and the SMART mnemonic.
S – Specific (or Significant).
M – Measurable (or Meaningful).
A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
R – Relevant (or Rewarding).
T – Time-bound (or Trackable).
• Set goals to help separate what's important from
what's irrelevant, or a distraction
• As a generation, Millennials have been labeled and
characterized by the response, “Yeah, but.”
• Excuse makers are often procrastinators.
• Excuse makers don’t understand priorities.
• Excuse makers are quick to place blame on others.
• Excuse makers fail to learn from their mistakes and
from those of others.
• Excuse makers don’t take care of themselves.
• Excuse makers are always tired.
• Effective teachers don’t make or accept excuses.
What Should the Standard Be?
•
•
•
•
•
Acknowledge the problem, face the facts
Don’t allow others to take advantage of you
Create a positive mindset
Stop complaining
Don’t celebrate a problem, instead create
solutions
• Gain support from a professional network
• Don’t rationalization to avoid admitting
disappointment, mistakes, and failure
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Use the library - never make an excuse for not having
Internet or email access or an available printer.
• See a physician if you are depressed or ill. Take care of
yourself.
• Develop a buddy system to complete goals (network).
• You'll be happier and healthier if you opt for honesty,
integrity and confidence instead of finding excuses for
yourself or blaming others.
• Avoid over rationalization which can become an
informal fallacy of reasoning.
• Teachers with darting eyes or who look over the heads
of students show uncertainty or self-centeredness.
• People are keeping their eyes glued to their computers
and phones rather than making effective eye contact.
• Eye contact can communicate respect, interest,
appreciation, understanding.
• Students want and need eye contact from their teacher.
• In every class, make eye contact with each student for
3-5 seconds.
What Should the Standard Be?
• Making eye contact when speaking must be a natural
action
• Eyes enhance conversations and deliver words more
effectively
• Good eye contact must be recognized as a critical social
and non-verbal communication skill for teachers
• Eye contact is a teacher’s most important
communication tool
Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)
reverse for left-handed people
•
•
•
•
•
Up and to the right - remembering a picture image
Up and to the left - constructing a visual image
To the right - remembering sounds or conversations
To the left - constructing sounds or conversations
Down and to the right - experiencing an internal
dialogue
• Down and to the left - accessing kinesthetic feelings,
tastes and smells
The Eyes Speak Volumes
• Pupils get bigger when people are aroused, interested, or
receptive. That can be positive feedback for teachers.
• According to training experts, when people look up and to the
right, they’re probably lying; if they look up and to the left
they’re telling the truth. When people are lying they actually
engage in more eye contact.
• People normally blink between eight and 21 blinks per minute
at rest, more when under stress.
• People narrow their eyes in response to something they find
disgusting or distasteful.
• Arched eyebrows convey positive emotions.
• Wide open eyes without a smile come across as fear.
• Boredom is communicated by drooping eyelids.
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Practice making eye contact with yourself in a mirror,
focusing for 3-5 seconds (to realize how long it is).
• Look people in the eye when they’re talking to you to
avoid seeming aloof, disinterested, or confused.
• Perfect the people skill of knowing when to lock eyes
and when to look away.
• When talking to a group of people, focus on direct
contact with your listeners. Seek out feedback from a
critical friend.
• Maintain eye contact with every professor and class
speaker.
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
(a desire to look
(a desire to learn
smart and just get and grow)
by)
Challenges
avoid them
embrace them
Obstacles
give up easily
persist with grit
Effort
fruitless
the path to mastery
Criticism
ignore, even if useful
learn from it
Success of Others
feel threatened by it
become inspired by it
From the work of Carol S. Dweck
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, 2006
What Should the Standard Be?
• Teachers must believe that their students (as well as
their own) basic abilities can be developed through
• Motivation is often more important than an individual’s
initial ability in determining long term success.
• Effort is more important to learning than brains and
talent.
• Learning requires as commitment to work.
• To achieve professional success, you’ll need to be able
to demonstrate
Influences of a Mindset
Growth Mindset
• Performance quality is
indicative of work habits,
preparation, training, and
past and current effort
• Lack of effort and
insufficient practice equates
to poor performance, not
ability
• Hard work pays off
• Produces optimism
Adapted from the work of Carol Dweck
Fixed Mindset
• Performance quality is
indicative of inherent traits
(bad grade, not smart; can’t
sing, no talent)
• IQ level and perceived
abilities equate to
performance, not effort
• Talent and perception
matter
• Consumes capacity to take
risks and face challenges
What Will Your Mindset Be as a Teacher?
Fixed v. Growth Mindset Teachers
Fixed Mindset
Students have permanent
traits and my job is to
judge/evaluate them
*************************
Lavish praise in hopes of
encouraging confidence
and achievement and boosting
self-esteem
Growth Mindset
Students are in differing
developmental stages and my
job is to nurture and guide that
development, whatever it
takes
*************************
Use constructive criticism
(based on trust) to promote
effort and growth
What should a preservice teacher be
doing now?
• Engage in vision indulging… imagining the future you
would like to achieve.
• Allow time to focus and prepare a growth mindset
before every class every day.
• Pair up with an inspirational friend who has a growth
mindset.
• Develop a vocabulary of grit words that others say
describe you (ex. moxie, spunk, ambitious, zest/zeal,
pluck, fortitude, diligent, tenacity, hard worker, resolve).
• Practice gratitude every day.
• The evolution and survival of our species is dependent
upon humans’ ability to work together
• The human brain connects the nervous system to the
endocrine system via the pituitary gland.
• Mother nature equipped the human body with four
primary chemicals to help us survive and thrive:
1. Endorphin (runner’s high)
2. Dopamine (instant gratification; accomplishment)
3. Serotonin (feeling of pride)
4. Oxytocin (friendship, love, trust)
What Should the Standard Be?
• Teachers must understand how bodily chemicals
interplay with each other and influence human
feelings.
• Teachers must create safe classroom environments
where students’ release of chemicals will be balanced.