Defining Teaching Excellence: The Characteristics, Practices and Experiences of Highly Effective Teachers

by Keith E. Leger

This is an easy, yet very informative read for teachers who want to continuously improve their craft. The ideas, experiences, practices and characteristics shared in this book come directly from highly effective teachers using their exact words. The book is written in such a way that the reader will feel as though he/she is engaged in a comfortable, informal conversation with the featured highly effective teachers. Not only will the reader come away with meaningful insights into how and what these teachers do, the reader will also glean several helpful ideas that can be immediately implemented in any classroom. This book should also be read by school administrators looking for examples on how to improve instruction either in one-to-one improvement conversations with a struggling teacher and/or in general professional learning communities. The study questions and respective answers provided by the highly effective teachers may also serve as reference points when interviewing prospective teachers. Finally, this book should be included in teacher preparation programs. The teachers featured in this book provide years of valuable experiences, ideas and practices that are proven to be effective in any classroom setting. Prospective teachers will benefit greatly from reading about what works from the direct quotes of highly effective teachers as well as the supporting related literature.

205 pages, Paperback

Published March 11, 2018

Reviews

[Lovie Howell]

This book is an excellent opportunity to hear from ten very diverse teachers and soak up their wisdom. Defining Teaching Excellence is extremely interesting and laid out in a format that is easy to read, follow, and understand. Every educator should take advantage of Dr. Leger's guidance. I highly recommend this book!

[Monica]

Good information, but

I believe this book has valuable information. However, I didn’t care for the format. It starts with questions that are subsequently answered by highly effective teachers in a way that was not engaging for me. Then, there’s a chapter dedicated to each teacher in which there are more answers to questions linked to teacher effectiveness.
I learned some useful bits of information like “LCD” company and “Kagan strategies”. The only part of the book that it was worth reading, in my opinion, was the conclusion and implications. I wish the whole book had more of that content, structure. Finally, more descriptions of what those teachers actually do in their classrooms (by being observed by the author) not what they say they do would have been more helpful. Not worth keeping it in my library.