Today marks the fifth anniversary of The SECRET SAUCE: Essential Ingredients for Exceptional Teaching. I’m most proud of this book because it gives a novice teacher everything they need to step into the classroom and commit to what’s meaningful. Even if you are a veteran teacher, you can discover something that helps you commit to more meaningful teaching.
In honor of the 5th anniversary, here are five important takeaways from the book:
- When teaching students, concentrate on soft skills in the classroom. Build a classroom environment that encourages creativity, resilience, empathy, perseverance, and divergent thinking. Allowing students to toil in the learning process. Teach kids about being kind and resilient in addition to succeeding academically.
- Take things off of your plate. I know your plate is completely full right now. But not everything that you are completing is of the utmost importance to you or your students. Get rid of the things that don’t provide any value. Clear your schedule and work on only the things that are super-important.
- Believe in fresh starts. When you hold a past transgression over a student’s head, you weaken your relationship with them. Give students endless opportunities to prove themselves. Every student gets a fresh start every day. Help them work to rebuild and restore and mend relationships.
- Let students solve real problems. Students are tasked with answering made-up math questions and responding to fictitious writing prompts when plenty of real-world problems need to be solved. There is a disconnect when students spend hours a day in school disengaged, and then go home each night to focus on what really matters to them. The best solution is to let students tackle the real world from their place in your classroom.
- Find those who will help you grow. As an educator, you need to find the exact people who will help you grow. It might be a teacher from down the hall, or a building supervisor who visits you occasionally. If the people you are surrounded by are bringing you down with constant negativity and pessimism, find those that will uplift you. Spend the majority of your time with those who are making you better.
Happy Book Birthday SECRET SAUCE!
Rich