Cara shared that her favorite teacher so far in high school was her English teacher. This teacher had a large bulletin board filled with notes and pictures from former students. She highlighted these notes and images as evidence of her success as a teacher, and she  pointed to this board with her current students to make this criteria explicit. An extraordinary teacher gives and scaffolds students into opportunities to communicate about their learning.

My nephew, Greg, who just graduated from high school in the pandemic and will start college (University of Michigan) in the fall, shared this picture to represent “engagement.” When I mentioned the word “studenting” to him, he knew exactly what I meant. He even described this phenomenon--when young people appear to be having on-topic conversations in class (but are not) and when adolescents appear to be listening quietly to a teacher (but are really anywhere but in that classroom). His favorite teacher was like this coach: he got and kept your attention with his demeanor, the way he carried himself, and his humor. The pedagogical practice at work here is more of a "stance": walk and talk and face your students with the belief that what you have to say to them and what you will ask them to do are important, and the expectation that they will participate. And be sure to consider your words, content, and methods from their points of view--first.