Teachers DO Make a Difference

Judith A. Deiro - Western Washington University, Bellingham

Foreword by Bonnie Benard

Other Titles in:
Classroom Management & Student Behaviour | Counselling At-Risk Students | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

January 2005 | 152 pages | Corwin

Both research and common sense verify that teachers make a difference not only in what students learn about content but in what students learn about life. Grounded in theory and research on adolescent growth and development and teacher-student interactions, this important new book gives classroom teachers guidelines, strategies, and real-life examples of how to build and enrich close and trusting teacher-student relationships based on dignity and respect. Key topics include setting high expectations for students, conveying confidence in student capabilities, creating classroom rituals and traditions, networking with family and community, developing strong interpersonal skills, identifying relational resources, and communicating appropriate caring and respect in the classroom in ways that elicit positive student response. Features teacher quotes, conversations, profiles, resources, and an inventory for assessing teacher-student relationships

Bonnie Benard

Foreword

Preface

About the Author

1. Our Changing Roles as Teachers

Changing Student Needs and the Teacher's Role

Having Healthy Connections With Young People Is Key to Their Healthy Development

Meeting Our Students' Needs: The Caring Teacher

Central Concerns for Caring Teachers

2. Making Healthy Connections With Students

What We Do To Make a Difference

How I Did the Study

Meet the Teachers

Different Ways We Can Make Healthy Connections With Students

Creating One-to-One Time with Students

Using Appropriate Self-Disclosure

Having High Expectations of Students While Conveying a Belief in Their Capabilities

Networking with Family and Friends

Building a Sense of Community Among Students

Providing Rituals and Traditions

Summary of the Ways To Create Healthy Connections with Students

3. Communicating to Our Students That We Care

Treating Students with Dignity and Respect

The Ways We Show Respect to Students

How Students Respond to Respectful Treatment

Summary of How We Communicate Caring

4. What It Takes to Revitalize Ourselves

How We Can Revitalize Ourselves

Feeling Competent Generates Emotional Rewards

Beliefs About the Role of Teacher and Teaching

Personal Qualities That Enhance Connecting With Students

Common Interpersonal Skills and Relational Resources that Enhance Connecting with Students

Support of Family, Friends, and Professionals

Summary of What It Takes to Revitalize Ourselves

5. Yeah, I Hear You, But...

The Good News

Responses to Concerns

Concluding Thoughts

Resources

References

Index

"Deiro has taken a complex topic and made it more manageable, functional, and instructive. For an institution that can be distracted by policies and procedure, this is a crucial reminder of what education really is all about."

Childhood Education, Fall 2005

Journal of the Association for Childhood Education International