Teach with Your Strengths: How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students

by JoAnn Miller, Rosanne Liesveld, Jo Ann Miller

Book Overview

Teachers and administrators in many schools across the country have been buying Now, Discover Your Strengths -- which is directed mostly to business managers -- for professional development. Now, they will be able to buy a version of this national bestseller written specifically for teachers.

What do great teachers do differently? What separates the top teachers from all the rest?

As educators -- and American society in...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595620060
• ISBN13: 9781595620064
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Gallup Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Strengths

I believe it is an important step to look at strengths and how to use them to benefit others instead of weaknesses. Good book for teachers and leaders.

This book just makes sense

I was at first apprehensive about buying this book. After all, what would the Gallup Poll know about teaching? Well, it turns out that they know a lot. Being a "highly qualified teacher", i.e. having a license to teach a subject is not enough these days. Good teachers must also be able to "connect" to students. The authors are realistic and their findings are extremely helpful. For example, working on ones weaknesses won't work. If you are an introvert, taking classes in public speaking won't help that much; it certainly won't make you an extrovert. This book is an excellent read for anyone who works with or is interested in working with students.

leaves out my own groundbreaking research

This book is awesome with a capital "E", and I have nothing bad to say about it. It is however, woefully inadequate, as it leaves out my own follow up research on "great" teachers. While they do indeed possess the common characteristics noted in the book (saluting when addressed directly; refering to themselves in the third person plural; loathing humanity; subscribing to Newsweek; and being unusually "voluminous" in their personal lives - I still don't get that one) I have discovered that they have a few other important traits in common as well. Below is an exhaustive list: 1. They sweat easily and profusely 2. They sometimes spit on students when emphasizing something they think is important. They never do this intentionally. It usually comes out during a hard "K" sound. More often than not, it simply lands on the student's picture of their boyfriend on their notebook - the student's boyfriend, not the teacher's. A great teacher would never spit on a picture of their own boyfriend (see appendix 4, section A.b.12.A IV) 3. They think Sweden should be a permanent member off the UN Security Council. Before you "educators" out there run off and douse yourself in someone's sweat in the hopes your principal will be fooled into nominating your for teacher of the year, remember that, while all great teachers sweat, spit and have a thing for Sweden being a permanent member of the security council, not all people who sweat and spit and want Sweden to be able to veto UN resolutions are good teachers. In fact, many of them are simply Swedish. I'm looking forward to reading this book some day.

Teach with your strengths

Teach with your strengths is focused on a strategy of self-discovery first, teaching methodologies second. This may disappoint many who are looking for easy answers to becoming better teachers. However, I found it quite revealing and useful as an adult who teaches innovation and creativity in my professional life, and as an adult who teaches Christianity to adults in my personal life. The Gallup folks are trying to start a positive revolution in many people's lives by focusing on our strengths. Teachers are the prime movers and shakers in that revolution. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to even further materials from Gallup and these authors.

Teach with your strengths

You always hear about these Gallup polls for this or that. I had no idea there was a Gallup Press putting out books based on poll results. Who'd've guessed it? "Teach with Your Strengths" is a good to provoke thought for the most part. After reading it, I'm not so sure whether individuals should teach to their strengths or with their strengths. The distinction is an important one because readers are told to define the important characteristics of their strengths and given over to the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment to help. It is only the final chapter that provides the details on what the assessment measures, and possibly only the final chapter that merits the purchase of the book.