It is not my fault!

How many of you have heard a statement like that before?  When you work with kids, you hear that often.  It is usually coupled with "That's not fair!"  As a parent, teacher or school administrator this is a constant struggle. When you work with a student that is always trying to shift blame or make excuses for their behavior your end goal is to get them to take responsibility for their actions.

Many times we run into parents that will attempt to do this for their child.  They often do this I. Earshot of the child and the child internalizes this behavior.  This gets us stuck in a generational loop that is nearly impossible to break. 

As educators we have to be careful that we are not guilty of doing the same thing.  We all know that there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and academic performance. If we continually harp on this fact, others will say we are making excuses and incapable of doing our jobs. 

What we focus on less is the fact that one of the greatest indicators of student success is a highly effective teacher.  What does it take to be an effective teacher?  This is difficult to answer and is definitely not something that can truly be measured with a twenty section rubric.  The rubric is just a starting point.

An effective teacher is great at managing her classroom. She can be working with a group of five students in one corner of the room and keep students focused that are in other corners of the room.   She can do this with just a few words.  This isn't out of fear, but out of respect and because it is routine.  From day one this teacher has been practicing how to handle each task and situation. 

She also has a great relationship with her students. She may not know everything about her students, and she probably doesn't need to know.  She does care about them, knows their interests, and shows an interest in them out of respect.  This relationship builds trust that allows the student to feel safe and willing to share with the teacher. 

She also challenges the students. We don't grow unless we stretch the limits of our abilities. She knows that in order for her students to learn she has to give them tasks they don't understand at first glance.  The task isn't always multiple choice like the high stakes tests, but often involve writing, thinking, creating. She also gives them tasks that don't always have a right or wrong answer, which is challenging for all of us.  We like things to be clear and precise, but if you have lived for any length of time you know life isn't like that.

An effective teacher doesn't live in a bubble.  She shares with others what works and what doesn't.  She is open to the ideas of others.  She models the principle of lifelong learning for her students.  She knows that she doesn't know everything and is comfortable with the fact that there are students in her classroom that may be more knowledgeable about some topics than she is.  She doesn't have to be the expert at everything, but she does have to be open to learning new things.

An effective teacher takes responsibility for her environment.  If she makes a mistake, she apologizes for it.  She often tells her supervisor about it long before the supervisor ever has the opportunity to hear about it from other sources.  If her students are unsuccessful, even when there are outside factors contributing to the lack of success, the effective teacher takes responsibility for it.  She feels like she could have and should have done more to help the student succeed.

She doesn't need an A-F Grade to succeed because she is already grading herself.  She knows her weaknesses and is striving to improve in those areas.  She knows her strengths and is building off of them.  She never says, "It's not my fault!"  Instead she asks, "What could I have done better?"  She also passes that mindset on to her students.