Online June 2010 | Volume 67 | Number 9

Good Teaching in Action

Introduction / Self-Improvement 101

Marge Scherer

How to Be an Education Troubleshooter

Allison Zmuda and Jay McTighe

Online education troubleshooting guides enable schools and school districts to pool the collective expertise of their educators to improve teaching and learning. Such guides codify common instructional problems and create interactive databases of tried-and-true solutions. This article provides several examples of troubleshooting guides in action. The authors walk readers through the process of developing troubleshooting guides and point out that this process offers a shared purpose for professional learning communities as teachers and administrators work together to identify, analyze, and address common learning problems.

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Teachers, Learners, Leaders

Ann Lieberman

Lieberman describes the Teacher Leadership and Learning Program (TLLP), a professional development grant-based program for public K–12 teachers that has operated since 2007 in Ontario, Canada. Teachers submit proposals for teacher-designed learning projects—preferably collaborative in nature and extending outside the boundaries of one teacher's classroom. The program was designed and is maintained (including joint decision making about which projects to fund) through cooperation between Ontario's Ministry of Education and the Ontario Teachers Federation. To date, 225 teacher-led projects have been funded. Lieberman describes two sample projects, one in which teachers coached one another on learning to foster students' math discourse and one in which three teachers shared strategies for using graphic novels with a wide circle of English instructors.

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Demonstrating Teaching in a Lab Classroom

Lisa M. Houk

Too often, teachers attend professional development activities but do not ever apply their learning in the classroom. Lapeer Community Schools in Michigan decided to create a teacher learning experience that took place in the classroom, enabling teachers to see effective teaching in action and discuss what they observe with colleagues. The district piloted a lab classroom program for learning about reading and writing workshops. Two exemplary teachers opened their classroom to groups of colleagues who observed how they conducted workshops. The visitors then discussed what they saw and made plans together for following up on their learning. The program was such a success that the district plans to expand the approach to all its elementary schools.

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The Relationship Balance

Cindi Rigsbee

Good teachers create just the right relationship balance in their classrooms. Their students feel cared for but know that they must respect the teacher and that they are expected to learn. Effective teachers have presence, get to know their students and take time out to really listen to them, establish clear learning goals and expectations, create respectful classroom environments, and advocate for students as they interact with parents and other educators in the school.

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The Best Teachers I Have Known

Susan Allred

An educator reflects on the most effective teachers she has known, both as a student and as a teacher and administrator. The teachers shared a common set of characteristics: They were masters of their content, they were insatiable learners, they had a positive outlook, they were problem solvers, and they created communities for success.

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