Great Teaching

Robert DiGiulio is Education Professor at Johnson State College in Vermont. He earned his Ph.D. in human development from the University of Connecticut, and recently earned his D.Ed. in socio-education from the University of South Africa. He began his teaching career in the New York City public school system, where he taught for a number of years. His 33-year career as an educator includes teaching at the elementary, middle, junior high and college levels, with experience ranging from crowded urban schools to a one-room schoolhouse. He has also served as a school principal educational researcher, consultant, and writer. As an educational consultant, he co-developed Teen Test, a vocational counseling program for adolescents. He coauthored educational computer software called Language Activities Courseware and authored its teachers guide. His Teacher magazine article The Guaranteed Behavior Improvement Plan was recognized as having one of the highest total readership scores of any of that magazines articles. He has authored numerous books including When You Are a Single Parent, Effective Parenting, Beyond Widowhood, and After Loss, selected by Readers Digest as their featured condensed book in May 1994. He is a contributing author to The Oxford Companion to Womens Writing in the United States, and Marriage and Family in a Changing Society, and is the coauthor of Straight Talk about Death and Dying. Most recently, he has written Nonviolent Interventions in Secondary Schools: Administrative Perspectives, a chapter in Peacebuilding for Adolescents: Strategies for Educators and Community Leaders, edited by Ian H. Harris and Linda R. Forcey. Dr. DiGiulio's most recent books are Great Teaching: What Matters Most in Helping Students Succeed, Educate, Medicate, or Litigate? What Teachers, Parents, and Administrators Must Do About Student Behavior, and Positive Classroom Management: A Step-by-Step Guide to Successfully Running the Show Without Destroying Student Dignity, both published by Corwin Press. Dr. DiGiulio's interests include international education, child behavior, and teacher education. He won a 2002-2003 Fulbright Scholar Award to the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. He was a Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2003 Conference on Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding. Dr. DiGiulio is also a member of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education, and serves on the Project Harmonys Advisory Board on Education Programs. He resides with his family in northern Vermont.

Preface What This Book Is, and Is Not A Word About Schools And a Word About Teachers Reviewer Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Introduction: What Makes a Skillful, Caring Teacher? Great Teaching is Still Great Teaching (And It's the Teaching that Matters Most!) "But we hardly have the time!" First Self Assessment: What Can be Tossed, What Must be Kept The Complete Teacher: Knowledge and Skills and Qualities Key Teacher Skills and Qualities 2. Key Teacher Skills: What Teachers Do Key Teacher Skills, Prior to Teaching Key Teacher Skills, While Teaching Key Teacher Skills, After Teaching Growing in Teaching: Key Teacher Skills Self-Assessment 3. Key Teacher Qualities: How Teachers Do It Key Teacher Quality #1--Efficacy Key Teacher Quality #2--Caring Growing in Teaching: Key Teacher Qualities Self-Assessment 4. Summary and Conclusion: Beyond Great to Memorable Summary of Skills and Qualities Checklists Plans of Action Follow-up Assessment Conclusion Resources Guidelines for student success in academics and socialization: A school-wide qualitative assessment References Index

Great Teaching offers a compass for teachers seeking direction, reorientation, and renewal. DiGiulio strips away the distractions and has put together an exceedingly readable, valuable, and affirming guide for preservice and classroom teachers to reflect upon their practice. -- Alan Canestrari, Assistant Professor of Education Finally . . . a forthright, down-to-earth look at what is really important in our schools and in our society: great teachers and great teaching! -- Marilyn Page, Social Studies Education/Curriculum and Instruction Great Teaching is packed with tips that speak directly to the nitty gritty reality of classrooms, helping teachers to be skillful and thoughtful in creating conditions for the teaching-learning compact. -- Susan Ohanian, Senior Fellow Finally! Someone who acknowledges the vital skills that good teachers possess. We need this type of acknowledgment more often. -- Diane Wolfe, Special Education Teacher Trainer Bravo! This is a true educator's handbook. This book finally puts in print what is a quality teacher, providing quality education. This should be the Bible for every educator's library! -- Pricilla Fisk, Interim Acting Assistant Principal Amid the 'high-stakes' climate of public education today, DiGiulio's gem of a book reminds us of far more important outcomes than politicized test scores. Plain and simple, the book resonates with common sense. -- Gregg Humphrey, Director of Elementary Education