What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards®

Policy Position (Five Core Propositions)

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards seeks to identify and recognize teachers who effectively enhance student learning and demonstrate the high level of knowledge, skills, abilities and commitments reflected in the following five core propositions.

1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning.

Accomplished teachers are dedicated to making knowledge accessible to all students. They act on the belief that all students can learn. They treat students equitably, recognizing the individual differences that distinguish one student from another and taking account of these differences in their practice. They adjust their practice based on observation and knowledge of their students' interests, abilities, skills, knowledge, family circumstances and peer relationships.

Accomplished teachers understand how students develop and learn. They incorporate the prevailing theories of cognition and intelligence in their practice. They are aware of the influence of context and culture on behavior. They develop students' cognitive capacity and their respect for learning. Equally important, they foster students' self-esteem, motivation, character, civic responsibility and their respect for individual, cultural, religious and racial differences.

2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.

Accomplished teachers have a rich understanding of the subject(s) they teach and appreciate how knowledge in their subject is created, organized, linked to other disciplines and applied to real-world settings. While faithfully representing the collective wisdom of our culture and upholding the value of disciplinary knowledge, they also develop the critical and analytical capacities of their students.

Accomplished teachers command specialized knowledge of how to convey and reveal subject matter to students. They are aware of the preconceptions and background knowledge that students typically bring to each subject and of strategies and instructional materials that can be of assistance. They understand where difficulties are likely to arise and modify their practice accordingly.

Their instructional repertoire allows them to create multiple paths to the subjects they teach, and they are adept at teaching students how to pose and solve their own problems.

3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.

Accomplished teachers create, enrich, maintain and alter instructional settings to capture and sustain the interest of their students and to make the most effective use of time. They also are adept at engaging students and adults to assist their teaching and at enlisting their colleagues' knowledge and expertise to complement their own. Accomplished teachers command a range of generic instructional techniques, know when each is appropriate and can implement them as needed. They are as aware of ineffectual or damaging practice as they are devoted to elegant practice.

They know how to engage groups of students to ensure a disciplined learning environment, and how to organize instruction to allow the schools' goals for students to be met. They are adept at setting norms for social interaction among students and between students and teachers. They understand how to motivate students to learn and how to maintain their interest even in the face of temporary failure.

Accomplished teachers can assess the progress of individual students as well as that of the class as a whole. They employ multiple methods for measuring student growth and understanding and can clearly explain student performance to parents.

4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.

Accomplished teachers are models of educated persons, exemplifying the virtues they seek to inspire in students -- curiosity, tolerance, honesty, fairness, respect for diversity and appreciation of cultural differences -- and the capacities that are prerequisites for intellectual growth: the ability to reason and take multiple perspectives to be creative and take risks, and to adopt an experimental and problem solving orientation.

Accomplished teachers draw on their knowledge of human development, subject matter and instruction, and their understanding of their students to make principled judgments about sound practice.

Their decisions are not only grounded in the literature, but also in their experience. They engage in lifelong learning which they seek to encourage in their students.

Striving to strengthen their teaching, accomplished teachers critically examine their practice, seek to expand their repertoire, deepen their knowledge, sharpen their judgment and adapt their teaching to new findings, ideas and theories.

5. Teachers are members of learning communities.

Accomplished teachers contribute to the effectiveness of the school by working collaboratively with other professionals on instructional policy, curriculum development and staff development. They can evaluate school progress and the allocation of school resources in light of their understanding of state and local educational objectives. They are knowledgeable about specialized school and community resources that can be engaged for their students' benefit, and are skilled at employing such resources as needed.

Accomplished teachers find ways to work collaboratively and creatively with parents, engaging them productively in the work of the school.

How to Accentuate Respect And Eliminate Disrespect In Students......Article by Michele Borba, Ed.D Education World®

The secret of learning new character-building behaviors is that such behaviors are "caught" by watching others do them well. The secret of teaching new character-building behaviors is to tune up the behavior you want to be caught and accentuate it.

Many of today's students lack an understanding of respect because their experiences with that essential character trait have been minimal. Think about it: If you are rarely around people who display respect, and if you aren't treated as though you are a valued and worthwhile individual, how can you possible "catch the behavior?" That's the secret of learning new character-building behaviors -- they're "caught" by watching others do them well. Today's schools and classrooms are enormously significant institutions because for many students those might be the only places where appropriate character building traits can be taught. If you recognize that premise, you'll also recognize the power of educators. Tune up the behavior you want to be caught and accentuate it. Here's how:

Model respectful statements. Never forget how you impact your students -- you might very well be their only model of respect. You might wish to say respectful statements so the class can hear you: "Thank you, Aisha, for sharing your slides with us. We really appreciated them." Or, "Excuse me, Ibrahim, I didn't mean to interrupt you." For many students, that might be the only time they hear what respect sounds like.

Accentuate respect. In any environment, establish a firm commandment: "You may not talk hurtfully about yourself or others." Put it in your own words if you like, but post it in a highly visible location, such as on the door, along the length of the chalkboard, or on a bulletin board.

Build awareness of respectful language. Like it or not, we have become a negative, disrespectful society that too often emphasizes sarcasm, put-downs, and disrespect. Listen to the popular sit-coms on television and count the frequency of statements based on negativity, ridicule, and sarcasm. Why not brainstorm with them lists of statements that show respect, and post the list as a reminder that choices exist other than disrespect. "Thank you for sharing." "Are you okay?" "Thank you."

Reinforce respectful statements. Reinforce what you want to be repeated. Try to key in on students' respectful statements and forget the disrespectful ones for a while. It's easier to change behavior by focusing on the positive aspects instead of the negative. Some students, however, make that very tough to do; they'll almost provoke you to put them down. If you remember that you're only hooking into their game if you do, it'll be easier to stay focused on the respectful.

STEPS TO ELIMINATE DISRESPECT

We all know that changing habits takes time and effort. Many students have been locked into saying disrespectful words and displaying disrespectful behaviors for years. We certainly can't expect overnight success. So do expect backsliding for a while -- in which a child will start to demonstrate the new skill, and then -- just when you think they have moved up a notch on the respect ladder -- they're right back to where they had been, or even worse off than they were before. Those are normal patterns to expect. Human behavior tends to revert to what we're most comfortable with -- that's why habits are so difficult to break. Don't despair and never give up! You can help students learn more respectful behavior by slowly replacing their disrespectful habits. The techniques below show ways to replace old habits with newer, more appropriate ones. The most important rule for success is this: "Be Consistent."

Draw awareness to disrespect. Whenever students go against your classroom "respect commandment," be careful not to be negative toward their already disrespectful disposition. Disrespect quickly breeds disrespect. Casually mention, "Remember, we only say respectful words." Some teachers use a private code or signal between themselves and certain students. Each time a student makes a disrespectful comment, the teacher uses a quiet signal -- such as raising one finger -- as a reminder to stop.

Often students are not aware of how many disrespectful statements they're making. One way to bring them to that awareness is to use a simple tally system. On paper, designate one column for respectful statements, the other for disrespectful ones. Each time a student makes either a respectful or disrespectful comment, add a stamp or mark to the appropriate side. The key to the activity is to keep the tallying private. It never should be published for other students to see.

Teach skills to defuse disrespect. "Defuser" skills can calm disrespectful behaviors before they detonate into a full explosion (usually physical or verbal retaliation). Make it a rule that disrespectful statements are not allowed. Whenever a put-down is said, teach the rule that the sender must then change the put-down into a "put-up." The rule is: One Put-Down = One Put-Up, or One Disrespectful Statement = One Respectful Statement.

Teach skills to replace negativity. Many students are locked into disrespectful, inappropriate behavior patterns simply because they don't know what to do instead. Asking them to "Be more respectful" or "Act nicer" has no value if the student does not know how to demonstrate the skills of respect or kindness. Those skills need to be taught. Keep in mind, however, that new behaviors take a tremendous amount of repetition and commitment before they can replace older, more comfortable habits. Students will slip back easily into older disrespectful behavior patterns unless the newer skills of respect are continually reinforced and practiced. Consistency and reinforcement are critical. Don't give up, though! Respectful attitudes are contagious.