This is the first review I've ever written on Amazon, and I'm moved to write it because I am so astounded at the lack of truth in a couple of reviews for this book. I'm not sure what happened in some of the negative reviewers' lives that led them to write such bitter and inaccurate reviews, but I want to assure everyone thinking about Whitakers' books that they are worth reading, and What Great Teachers Do Differently is one of his best.
On almost every page, there are practical ideas, different ways of perceiving issues and their solutions, and fodder for continued discussion. For example, Whitaker reminds principals that the key to successful schools is not so much its newly added programs as it is the people running the school itself -- faculty and staff. For a lot of school leaders who are so mired in finding the next big fix for their problems and keep looking at new programs and configurations, this section of his book is the catalyst they need to start focusing on the development and experiences of teachers and staff -- if they truly want to affect positive change. Sure, it's common sense and, if we've been in education long enough we've seen some of the ideas before (which we can say about every single education book out there!), but many of us in education are overloaded with burdens and anxiety and sometimes we can't see as clearly as Whitaker enables us to see. Heck, if books only contained ideas outside of common sense, there wouldn't be many books. That's often what speaks to readers. We need a reminder of common sense seen through fresh and insightful eyes, which is exactly what Whitaker provides throughout this book.
Not everything in Whitaker's book is based on just common sense. He provides uncommon wisdom born of many years as a building administrator, a teacher, and as a teacher coach. Whitaker helps teachers take a candid look at what they do. Anyone who has gone through National Board Certification will find many similar themes in this book -- particuarly about being a reflective practitioner and analyzing our own performance when our students fail. He writes very accessibly for teachers at all points of career development; neophytes and seasoned veterans will find something significant in this book.
Whitaker is a serious danger to complacency. In several sections of this book he helps us generate a powerful commitment to students' well being, not just getting through the curriculum, and he makes useful connections between students' overlapping worlds of the affect and the academic. Todd is the embodiment of the great teachers he describes: he makes it cool to care.
I've been in education for 28 years and I'm an education book "junkie," reading and applying everything I can get my hands on, and What Great Teachers Do Differently ranks among the most useful. I'm a teacher coach as well, working with schools around the nation, and I see this book on almost all professional library and principal's shelves. I've been in over 500 schools in the past few years alone and not one of them in which Whitaker's books are used has ever mentioned what a waste of time they were. On the contrary, they found his books very helpful. These are thoughtful, dedicated educators reading Whitakers books; there must be something to them.
What a loss to education to think that someone reading the negative reviews would pass up a chance to really explore great teaching and potentially make changes in themselves and classrooms that will ultimately improve student learning. Without hesitation, I recommend What Great Teachers Do Differently for highly accomplished and on-the-way-to-becoming highly accomplished teachers.
-- Rick Wormeli, Herndon, VA, USA
