Dare to Be an Exceptional Teacher

As our world continues to change rapidly, and often chaotically, there is an ever-greater need for more and more exceptional teachers to help positively shape the lives of children and adolescents.

At the same time, it is a challenging time to be a teacher. We have more children arriving at school with developmental delays, increased pressure from standardised testing, a crowded curriculum, high rates of family instability, and less social cohesion. This book from popular Australian parenting author, educator and resilience specialist Maggie Dent is a concise guide for today’s teachers to help them become even more effective, competent and exceptional.

Dare to Be an Exceptional Teacher investigates the six keys to exceptional teaching, 10 secrets to creating a successful classroom culture, communication tips, and helpful information about the brain and how to help it work best.

Based on her own experience as a high school teacher, family and youth counsellor, and now as a parenting and resilience educator, Maggie offers loads of practical tips and strategies for a positive, respectful classroom climate. She inspires teachers to embrace the profession with passion and to remember that exceptional educators with enthusiasm, competence and humour can form meaningful relationships that quite frankly change lives for the better.

55 pages

CONTENTS

Part 1 – Introduction
Why Did You Choose to Become a Teacher?
How Do You Learn Best?
The Power of the Mind
Building Connectedness in the Classroom
Emotional States
The Amazing Brain
Accelerated Learning Helps the Brain to Think and Remember
Why Movement Matters in Our Classrooms
The Unconscious Mind
Life-Enhancing Communication
The Invisible Power of Expectation & Focus
Changing Negative Core Concepts Without Pain
Creative Visualisation
Fabulous Feedback
Six Keys to Exceptional Teaching

Part 2 – 10 Secrets to Creating a Successful Classroom Culture
Conclusion
Matthew’s Story
Appendix 1 – Activities that Build Trust and Inclusion in the Classroom
* Circle Talks
* Creative Visualisation Exercises
* Standing Ovation
Appendix 2 – Classroom Guidelines for the Optimal Learning Environment
Appendix 3 -The Cooperative Classroom
Appendix 4 -Simple Teaching Strategies in the Optimal Learning Environment
Appendix 5 -Success Strategies for the Classroom
Appendix 6 -Developing Trust
Appendix 7 -Linguistic Cues to Help Determine a Person’’s Dominant Representational Communication Mode
Appendix 8 -Building Rapport with NLP
Appendix 9 -Positive Presentation Skills
Appendix 10 -Motivating Students
Appendix 11  Failure & Failure to Please
Resources and Recommended Reading
Recommended Viewing