The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day

by Bryan Goodwin, Elizabeth Ross Hubbell

Checklists help us work better. They help us manage complex tasks more effectively and ensure we apply what we know correctly and consistently. They've become indispensable for airline pilots and doctors, but can this low-tech approach to planning and problem solving demand a place in the teacher's toolkit? Teaching is complicated, with challenging decisions and important consequences, but it's in the most complex situations that a straightforward checklist can be the most useful. Goodwin and Hubbell present 12 daily touchstones—simple and specific things any teacher can do every day—to keep classroom practice focused on the hallmarks of effective instruction and in line with three essential imperatives for
* Be Align teaching with high expectations for learning.

* Be Provide a nurturing learning environment.

* Be Know why you're doing what you're doing.
If there were one thing you could do each day to help one student succeed, you'd do it, wouldn't you? What about three things to help three students? What if there were 12 things you could do every day to help all of your students succeed? There are, and you'll find them here.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Professional Development

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book as I am working on my National Boards and it speaks to everything I believe about good teaching. If you are a teacher who wants to continue to grow in your practice I would highly recommend this book. The author looked at the research for what works in classrooms to impact student learning and broke it down into 12 "Touchstones" to help us reflect on and refine our teaching in practical ways.

[Adrian J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It all made sense, but there was nothing new. It basically boiled down to ensuring that what you teach is set against defined standards, that it is relevant and appropriate to your students, that you maintain high expectations and build a rapport with your students.

Nothing new, but explained quite succinctly, with some interesting anecdotes. Would be good for teachers in their 3rd of 4th years.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a checklist person, so when I read that this book was full of checklists for teachers to make are they’re doing all the best work they can for their students, I was all in! Teachers should be demanding, supportive, and intentional with their work, and this book outlines exactly how to do that in an engaging and easy-to-read format.

[Lanae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a master's class. It had good things to glean. I think the new teacher would benefit.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Nothing mind blowing in this book however. I felt like a lot of it was common sense.

[MaryEllen Elizabeth Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice ideas for teaching.