"When Stanford Professor Lee Shulman was first enmeshed in the research that led to Board certification of teachers by NBPTS, I asked him – in a hotel bathroom, of all places – what interesting findings were turning up about great teachers as compared to the rest. He replied: 'Well, you might not find this such a big deal, but a big indicator is the degree to which a teacher accurately describes what happens in her classroom.'"
Focuses on effective assessment for learning.
I taught a lesson on blind spots, highlighting the blind spot that we have physically due to our optic nerve, as well as the spiritual blind spot that we have at times. The eye is a fantastic organ and yet the mind can be deceived very easily. When this concept is applied to teaching, a highly effective teacher needs to be aware of the blind spots in his or her classroom.
Self-evaluation is key, as is keeping your eyes “off the ball,” as the article suggests. We need to train ourselves to look past the obvious, the routine assessments that we use formally and informally to gauge student understanding. The article offers several strategies that a teacher could purposefully adopt in the classroom schedule that will ensure a more realistic view of concept comprehension.