The below quotes are from my book, One-on-One With America's Most Inspiring Teachers. The book can be found on Amazon.com. I hope you enjoy the advice of these inspiring teachers.
MAXIMS OF GREAT
TEACHERS
TEACHING
“It’s not because I’m a great teacher, but
it’s because I met my students where they were.” Dara Feldman
“I started to look at kids
more as individuals as opposed to an entire group that needed the curriculum
checked-off as I taught it.” Jennifer Wilson
“Every student knows that I
give 100% and I expect the same from them.” Amy Dunaway-Haney
“The real measure of a good
teacher is what we give students that last them the rest of their lives.” Rafe
Esquith
“Everyday is different, every
child is different, and the way students learn is different.” Heather Renz
“Teachers are like explorers
searching for the unknown, searching for the treasures for which our students
are to us.” Glenn Lid
“Keep them laughing, involved,
and relate the material to things they already know.” Harriett Ball
“I find that if I rigorously
teach my expectations at the very beginning. I can quickly move my students
forward to where I want them to be by having them function as a cohesive unit.”
Cynthia Pochomis
“Teachers have to get students
up doing things; moving around, working in groups and doing a variety of
activities.” Randy Wormald
“It is very important for a
teacher to realize that the energy you give off is the energy you get back from
your students.” Kim Bearden
“Do not be too attached to
YOUR information. Be more open to finding out what the students want to learn.
You can always tie it to your standards.” Dara Feldman
“At the end of the day I want
my kids to be excited about learning and can’t wait to come back the next day.”
Jennifer Wilson
“Jamie Escalante said it best:
you have to have the ‘ganas’ or desire to teach. I think everything else will
come in time if you have the will, the desire, and the passion for your
students’ learning.” Amy Dunaway-Haney
“My greatest strength is that
I just don’t give up.” Rafe Esquith
“I try to make my teaching
exo-charmic. ‘exo’ meaning out of the box and ‘charmic’ meaning a certain charm
that exudes lots of energy.” Glenn Lid
“Don’t give homework on
anything you have not personally taught yourself.” Harriett Ball
“Don’t give up on a child just
because of their behavior.” Cynthia Pochomis
“Sometimes teaching is more
about getting out of the way and letting the kids come up with the ideas.”
Randy Wormald
“When you see enthusiastic
students, there is an enthusiastic teacher in the classroom first.” Kim Bearden
“I have noticed that one of
the reasons kids act out is because they can’t read and they would rather get
in trouble for acting out than face the humiliation of not being able to read.”
Dara Feldman
“Effective teachers never stop
trying and they never give up.” Amy Dunaway-Haney
“EVERY lesson I explain how
they will be using this skill in their life. There is relevance in my classroom
that is one of the reasons the kids work hard.” Rafe Esquith
“Teachers are explorers of
human-kind; our next year’s class, our next athlete, our next student may be
our greatest discovery of all.” Glenn Lid
“There is nothing worse than a
teacher who doesn’t want to be in the classroom and lacks the will to help
children.” Cynthia Pochomis
“I believe in giving the
students a voice and bringing in some of their ideas while maintaining a
curriculum structure.” Randy Wormald
“I think one of the biggest
disservices that we do for children in our country is to lower the expectations
for children who are struggling.” Kim Bearden
“I get my students to do some
very high level work because I show them exactly what I expect and I do not
allow them to underachieve.” Amy Dunaway-Haney
“If you read well all the
doors are open. If you don’t read well they are all shut. It’s just that
simple.” Rafe Esquith
“Teachers need to look at
their state standards and ask themselves the question, ‘what’s the best way to
deliver this content to students that is going to be motivating, exciting, and most
important relevant?’” Heather Renz
“I try to make my hook
activities result in a student reaction of ‘wow, how did he do that.” Glenn Lid
“Teachers have to look at
children as individuals, meet them where they are, and push them as far as they
can go.” Cynthia Pochomis
“As a teacher you have the
opportunity everyday to inspire and engage students. If you are not doing that
then this career is not for you.” Randy Wormald
“If we treat all students as
gifted learners they will rise to the occasion.” Kim Bearden
“Be a proactive teacher not a
reactive teacher.” Rafe Esquith
“It must be meaningful. If it
is not meaningful why are we teaching it to students? If we cannot connect it
to their life it doesn’t mean anything.” Heather Renz
“In a society where we are
saying that kids don’t pay attention like they used to, music is the great
focuser.” Rafe Esquith
“That’s what I’m looking for
in a teaching colleague, a potential for awesomeness.” Randy Wormald
“Students live in real
fast-paced world where they are bombarded with information. We need to teach
them how to quickly screen right from wrong and propaganda from fact.” Heather
Renz
“The more connections that you
can help a child make between the content and their reality, the more success
you are going to have with the students being able to retain it long term.” Kim
Bearden
RELATIONSHIPS
“The single most important
thing about having a successful classroom is relationship building. If you
don’t have a relationship you can know the content inside and out and it’s not
going to matter.” Randy Wormald
“Once you have built a caring
relationship with your students, they then care about what you have to teach
them.” Harriett Ball
“Starting out the year by
developing a relationship with the whole family is something that good teachers
do.” Dara Feldman
“Kids judge you on your
ability to teach them. If you are not able to teach them, they will not value
you. They will not respect you. Your students will however climb mountains if
you teach them well and build-up their self-esteem.” Harriett Ball
“Build relationships with
teachers that you admire.” Amy Dunaway-Haney
“You have to be the person you
want your kids to be.” Rafe Esquith
“The biggest thing a new
teacher should do is to step back and realize that they child in front of them
is the apple of somebody’s eye and the love of their life.” Heather Renz
“It’s important to keep
telling your students they are an amazing person and that they have great
self-worth.” Heather Renz
“When you stay at one school
for a long time, you just feel like you are becoming part of a community of
teaching kids.” Glenn Lid
“I was their mother,
grandmother, teacher, and friend. I played all the roles as though they were my
children and not just poor kids.” Harriett Ball
“I believe the only way to
truly teach a child is to work with the whole family.” Cynthia Pochomis
“Equal is not equitable.” Dara
Feldman
“Having other teachers that
you respect, love, look-up to, and can bounce ideas off of is nice.” Amy
Dunaway-Haney
“The culture of the school
must be such that students understand the entire design is to promote their
success. To set them free from all the problems they come to us with.” Glenn
Lid
“I try to teach my students to
get along in polite society.” Cynthia Pochomis
“It is really important that
teachers become the guiding light for students when parents, for whatever
reason, are not that guiding light.” Amy Dunaway-Haney
“It’s meaningful to me that I
made a difference in the lives of the kids at this school. I couldn’t be a
doctor, so this is how I used my life to give back.” Glenn Lid
“You must take the time to
know and connect with each child.” Heather Renz
PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING
“Just because a teacher has a
teaching degree, doesn’t mean they are finished learning. On the contrary you
are just beginning to learn about this profession.” Dara Feldman
“When I failed in those early
years I learned to take a look inward, not to blame the kids, not to blame the
parents, or to blame the system.” Rafe Esquith
“The direction of my
professional learning comes from my reflection and my questions and worries
about my effectiveness as a teacher.” Jennifer Wilson
“You can’t be stagnant in this
job. There are just too many variables for which you have to prepare.” Jennifer
Wilson
“New teachers need to learn
from those teachers who are thought of as the most successful.” Glenn Lid
“There are a lot of teachers
who do not have the depth of knowledge to be truly making an impact on some
subject areas like mathematics. We must get the real foundational skills built,
not just teaching from the book.” Heather Renz
“Sharing with other teachers
has always been a significant part of my philosophy.” Cynthia Pochomis
“All teachers should come
together, share ideas and best practices so that we can all go back to our
classrooms and make a difference.” Kim Bearden
“Never stop learning! If you
think you have all the answers it’s time to get out of the profession.”
Jennifer Wilson
“We have to have teachers who
love to read.” Rafe Esquith
EDUCATIONAL
POLICY AND OUR SOCIETY
“I’m all for accountability,
but things that can be measured are not necessarily meaningful, and the things
that are meaningful cannot necessarily be measured.” Dara Feldman
“There is a growing culture in
education that success means passing the test. That opposes everything that I
believe in!” Cynthia Pochomis
“We need a valued and
honorable path for students with disabilities, a path that is not controlled by
the passing of a test.” Cynthia Pochomis
“Just like Finland we need to build a culture
and an attitude around the importance of the teaching profession.” Randy
Wormald
“We have to support our new
teachers. This is the number one thing we have to do in education.” Glenn Lid
“Parents must be the first
ones to emphasize the importance of education.” Harriett Ball
“Teachers are training
children to take a test instead of teaching children to enjoy learning, reading
and to be curious about the world around them.” Cynthia Pochomis
“The better your Fine Arts programs
the better you are across the board academically.” Randy Wormald
“You can’t just say we need to
do better and get better results. You have to support that idea with more
resources.” Heather Renz
