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Teach Smarter, Not Harder:
Building A Sound Foundation for a Successful Career
by Sharon Ryback

The following is an excerpt from the book:

Your Teaching Style

Over the years every teacher develops his or her own particular teaching style. During the first years of teaching you will begin to formulate your "type" of teaching. Here are examples.

The KINESTHETIC Teacher
These teachers are on the move. In general they are people who like movement and learn best when they are actively engaged, so they build that type of classroom for their children. The classroom may be filled with centers and the children may have opportunities to move freely about the classroom. This type of teacher may use movement as a transition between subjects and will be out on the playground jumping rope with the student They are generally people who are athletic and enjoy sports. This type of teacher will frequently reward students with pats on the back and physical reinforcement.

If you are a kinesthetic teacher, your principal and staff may wonder about the noise coming from your classroom. Movement always equals noise. Quality activities that create learning and teaching noise is good noise. Learn to listen and WATCH the type of noise being created.

The VISUAL Teacher
Have you ever walked into a classroom that is on visual overdose? There are so many things hanging from the ceiling that it looks like a second grade jungle. This is probably visual teacher who took it one step too far. Visual teachers provide an environment visual attractions for children. Every lesson is accompanied by some sort of picture, chart, chart, picture book, etc. Visual teachers will frequently use the word look.

The AUDITORY Teacher
The auditory teacher will have a classroom that is filled with noise or void of noise. Auditory teachers may like classical music playing in the background or like a quiet classroom where children work in relative silence. These teachers are either attracted or distracted by noise of any kind. They may have listening centers throughout the room and encourage children to work in discussion groups. Auditory teachers frequently use the word listen.

The CLUTTER Teacher
If the stuff piled up on the top of the piano ever avalanched, the clutter teachers could significantly decrease their class size. Some teachers are messy teachers. Their rooms lack neatness and yet they can always put their hands on something with amazing speed. Having a messy room or a clean room has little, if no reflection on a teacher’s ability to teach children. I’ve been in cluttered rooms with wonderful teachers and neat rooms with not so wonderful teachers and vice versa. Of course the mess should be controlled and should not be a distraction to the children’s learning, but some clutter is to be expected.

The NEAT Teacher
If all the children have their boxes of crayons with the colors in rainbow order, beware. Some teachers feel a need to keep the room looking neat which creates a sterile looking classroom. The classroom should have a place for everything and everything in its place. but it should also have some clutter and look like children exist within the four walls Children make messes, spill paint and leave trails of paper. A room should have order but no obsessive order.

The FUN Teacher
Some teachers are fun teachers. They have always got some wild, fun activities going on in their classrooms. The newspaper reporters and the TV cameras are frequently stopping to marvel at what they will think of next. All of the fun activities are great for children and community relations are very important. Caution: If you’re a fun teacher, make sure your fun has clear objectives and expected outcomes. Don’t let the excitement of the project lose its teaching value along the way.

The PASSIVE Teacher
Nothing too much happens in the passive teacher’s classroom. He/She may have tried those new ideas once and found they didn’t work. They keep changing the textbook every few years which means the lesson plans need to be redone again. Teaching is a job. The bulletin boards are the same every year and the children all sort of run together. The children learn, the year passes with a countdown of the number of days that remain.

All Rolled in to One
Each teacher at any particular moment is a part of each of the "teacher types" listed. … Don’t compare your classroom with those of other teachers. They are on another trip with different passengers. Your trip is unique to the individuals you have been entrusted to teach.

Contents of Teach Smarter, Not Harder

I. The Parts and Pieces of Being a Teacher

II. Creating Your Room Environment

III. Before You Meet the Students

IV.  The Art of Instruction

V.   Powerful Instructional Techniques

VI.  Firsts in Your Life as a Teacher

VII. The Real Nitty Gritty of Teaching

VIII. Grades, Grades and More Grades

IX. Accountability

X. You and Your Students

XI. You and the Structure of Schools

XII. In Conclusion

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