NCTCA 2022

Everyone agrees that a great teacher can have an enormous impact. Yet we still don’t know what, precisely, makes a teacher great. Is it a matter of natural-born charisma? Or does great teaching require something more? In this talk, Elizabeth Green introduces a new generation of educators who are revealing the hidden science behind their art. A former principal studies the country’s best teachers and discovers a common set of techniques to help children pay attention. Two math teachers videotape a year of lessons and develop a new approach that has nine-year-olds writing sophisticated mathematical proofs. Through their stories—and the hilarious and heartbreaking theater that unfolds between children and teachers every day—Green examines the dynamics of truly effective teaching. Exploring the astonishingly diverse skills exceptional teachers must develop, she provides a new way for teachers, parents, and policymakers to judge what is needed in the classroom—and considers how to make every teacher great.