Start. Right. Now.: Teach and Lead for Excellence

by Todd Whitaker

From Amazon:
Are You Ready to Take the First Step Toward Excellence?
What does it take to be the very best teacher--or the very best leader? What sets excellent educators apart from their peers? And how can you join their ranks? In their work leading up to Start. Right. Now. Todd Whitaker, Jeff Zoul, and Jimmy Casas studied educators from across the nation and discovered four key behaviors of excellence:
Excellent Leaders and Teachers...
Know the Way
From their content to best practices, these educators know their stuff.
Show the Way
Casting a bright vision for the future, these educators see possibilities where others see problems.
Go the Way
Leading by example is a way of life for the very best.
and Grow Each Day
A focus on personal and professional development helps these educators succeed.
Wherever you are on your journey as an educator, choose to become even greater still--our kids are worth it.
Start. Right. Now.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Professional Development, Nonfiction, Leadership

242 pages, Paperback

Published January 17, 2017

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many books on teaching, Start. Right. Now. is all about what "excellent teachers" do and how you can be like them. The fatal problem is that the authors never explain what "excellent teachers" are. They also don't explain how they gathered this data other than mentioning their "many years of observing such educators." As a result, "excellent teacher" can mean whatever they want it to and is ultimately a useless descriptive.

This book does have some good things to say. It's section on following your gut was quite helpful, for example. But mostly the book is circular reasoning used to reinforce the authors' opinions.

For an example of a book that uses this concept of "excellent teachers" but actually bases it on data, see What the Best College Teachers Do.

[Kris Patrick]

Yeah yeah yeah ...

[Asa Brunk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a graduate class, solid advice but one of the corniest things I have ever read. This provides a good framework for great teachers but also does not really focus on support for teachers from administrators, districts, or communities and defers to position that teachers should just have a positive mindset and not complain. There are far better resources for teachers to read than this.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very good points in here. I like to consider myself a lifelong learner but I have a ways to go.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent book, but nothing new really here. Like most education books it lacks enough practical tips to really be worth a read.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about teaching and leading and for both teachers and educational leaders. The same standards work for both.

[John F Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for teachers looking for simple things to do to up their teaching game. It is also a great book to help you take your teaching to the next level.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful reminder and framework for excellence in education. Very inspiring read for anyone in the educational field.