Are you wired to teach? Pretend you’re a teacher in these situations. What would you do? Decide if you agree or disagree with the action taken.

1. The school year has just begun. Alex, who fell short of expectations last year, is once again in your class. You help Alex by allowing him to set his own realistic goals and making sure they aren’t too aggressive, as you don’t want Alex to set himself up for failure.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Disagree: Designing highly ambitious goals that require hard work for every student in the class is best. Mastery of ambitious goals will dramatically increase Alex’s opportunities in life. Effective teachers have high expectations, a positive attitude and set big goals for their students to achieve.
2. Pat is a friendly student who rarely acts up in class. Unfortunately, Pat repeatedly fails tests or doesn’t complete the assigned homework. Instead of punishing him, you recognize Pat’s efforts and engage his family to help Pat with his assignments.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Agree: Effective teachers don’t punish a student for repeated failure, but set clear consequences and keep expectations high. These teachers collaborate with the student’s family, friends and role models to identify a plan of action. Sometimes it takes a team to help students see they’re capable of success – and effective teachers are willing to invest the time and effort it takes for each student to value their own accomplishments.
3. Yesterday, Casey arrived to class a few minutes after the bell rang. Today, she arrived late again. You address her repeated tardiness privately, describing the rule and consequence for repeated tardiness. Then you immediately enforce the consequence with Casey.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Agree: An effective teacher wouldn’t ignore the repeated tardiness. Instead, this teacher will have prepared rules and consequences tied to tardiness and will hold students accountable for breaking the rules. The most effective teachers keep the class on task to maximize time spent learning.
   
   
4. Jamie appears to be confused by today’s lesson plan. When you call on Jamie to answer a question, she provides an incorrect response. To protect Jamie from embarrassment and help Jamie better understand the lesson, you move on to another student who appears confident they have the correct response.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Disagree: Instead of moving to the next student, an effective teacher would inquire about how Jamie came up with the answer and ask additional questions in an effort to get her to provide the correct response. Effective teachers are able to determine the students’ patterns of incorrect thinking and help the student. Effective teachers also constantly evaluate and adjust their own approaches based on how students are responding to the material.
5. Your class has completed an assessment test and 25 percent of the class has fallen short of expectations. Rather than focusing on the actions of the students, you approach the situation by thinking about how your actions may be contributing to the students’ lack of progress.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Agree: Effective teachers are reflective and have a desire to continually increase their effectiveness. Highly effective teachers reflect upon their approach to students and consider a range of potential causes for failure before moving on to a new strategy.
6. You are halfway through the school year and, despite your best efforts, Taylor is unable to read. You help Taylor by holding him back a grade – after all, you need more than half a school year to teach a student to read.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Disagree: A better approach is to collaborate with your fellow teachers, schedule additional instructional time with Taylor and work even harder to teach him to read. Taylor can’t afford to miss a year. Effective teachers are highly enthusiastic, persistent and will work relentlessly to help their students succeed.
7. Students are given one month to complete a simple extra credit assignment. They may turn in the assignment at any time, but you make it clear that no late assignments will be accepted. Lizzie is absent from class the day the assignment is due, but turns in the assignment the following day. You accept the assignment, but only provide Lizzie with partial credit.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Disagree: Instead of accepting the late assignment, you should discuss the situation and help Lizzie understand why accepting late assignments would be unfair to others – because it was clear beforehand that late assignments would not be accepted. Effective teachers always strive to be fair – and accepting a late assignment would be unfair to the rest of the class.
8. Reese and Jessie are your favorite students. Reese is an outgoing student who excels in athletics, while Jessie is a quiet student who excels in academics. Showing Reese and Jessie that you care would make it obvious they are your favorite students, so you are reluctant to show interest or concern outside of class.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Disagree: Highly effective teachers are caring – and demonstrate they care about students by listening attentively, showing warmth and encouragement, learning about them as individuals and supporting their unique interests in and out of school. When it comes to great teachers, it’s okay to show that you care!
9. Salma is a new student in your class. On her first day of school, she is wearing a hijab – the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women. A few minutes into class, it’s clear that students are distracted and are talking about the hijab when they should be paying attention. You halt the classroom activity, bring all students together in a circle and spend the lesson discussing diversity and acceptance.
   
   Answer
   
   
   Agree: Instead of punishing the disruptive students and opening Salma up to criticism after class – an effective teacher takes the opportunity to teach the class about respect and diversity. Effective teachers are respectful of every student and sensitive toward the unique needs of different cultures.
10. You are passing out graded tests, when Harper disrupts the class. Harper believes that you have incorrectly marked one of the answers as wrong. After you review his test again, you realize that he is correct. You admit that you were wrong in front of the class, apologize for your mistake and let Harper know you’re proud of his hard work on the test.
    
    Answer
    
    
    Agree: Your willingness to admit a mistake is characteristic of an effective teacher – as is encouraging Harper’s hard work. Highly effective teachers aren’t afraid to admit they’re wrong, and students often appreciate the teacher’s honesty and humility.

If you got 5 or more correct – congratulations, you are clearly wired to teach! Your answers indicate that you know many of the characteristics of a highly effective teacher.

If you got less than 5 correct – you have demonstrated awareness of several characteristics of highly effective teachers. Explore the NExT website to learn more about highly effective teachers and for resources to help you on the journey to becoming a great teacher.

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