I am apparently considered very good at teaching things, and I would say that some of the most important qualities of a good teacher are to try to explain exactly WHAT it happening from the very beginning, and always make sure that the students have a good intuitive understanding of everything that happens. For example, if you are introducing students to graphs and calculus then the very first thing you should do is to explain exactly what is going on in the simplest graphs, why it is useful and how you can compare it to real-life situations. It is also very important to respect the students, and give them time to consider a problem thoroughly without rushing them so much.
It's a good thing they have a passion for teaching. Without that as a motivating force, we'd have none left. Thank you to all our great teachers out there!
How to make education better? 1. Eliminate poverty. The richest guy in the world probably does not know that many students come to school hungry and some come to school just because they have no food at home. 2. Give students more opportunities to read, fund and support public and school libraries. 3. No more testing. Teaching to the test activates short-term memory, not long-term memory. 4. Implement inquiry-based learning. 5. Make PE, music and art classes mandatory, not optional.
There's more to education than IQ and grades. Emotional awareness, empathy, social responsibility and life skills are equally important for good citizenship and social happiness.
Don't start by blaming the teachers, start by blaming the politicians who allocate funding (or lack of) and the constantly flip flopping, rather BORING educational policies based on testing and constantly subtracting the arts and the things that make school interesting. Politicians and researchers have decided the current educational state in the US. Not the teachers.
Its the teachers who don't care about their job who are the ones truly affecting the system. Our teacher explained how in the last weekly meeting in my high school he can point out about 4 teachers from the math dept who are just there for the $. The other teachers who truly care can teach ANY student willing to learn. The problem is the students who are unmotivated and can care less. I've had great teachers who have F students, but it would be unfair to base those grades on how well they teach.
I could have been a college drop-out, Mr. Gates, just like you, but I chose to go on regardless of the walls placed before me by the system. The school system is bad, but not because of the teachers. It's bad because of the administrators, politicians, and people like you, who do not understand the system. I've been teaching for over 30 years and love it. Please let teachers bring learning back to the students. Help us remove exams and silly graphs that promote false learning.
I'm really glad he addressed this. Although many politicians in the economy are focusing on short run. Cuts for education programs are fairly common. In the long run, this is a disaster.
Teachers are one of the biggest influence on kids/teens. We spend our time around them a lot. And when they aren't good with us we don't like them, therefore we don't like education. Good teachers lead to a happier & more succesful future for young people.
Thank you for posting this video. I know, first hand, that a great teacher can perform miracles in the classroom. I am blessed to work at an elementary school that is filled with great teachers. As a mentor/coach to the K-3 teachers, I have created a You Tube channel so I can share my knowledge and expertise. My passion as a teacher is to help ALL children get a good education.
1) teachers have to know their subject inside out 2) teachers need to have great communication+interpersonal skills 3) this has to be understood by colleges who hire teachers thx
This was an eye opener, due to past bad media coverage, I had Mr.gates pegged all wrong. He makes a lot of good points and all from his heart. Nice video.
The top teachers are the ones who hasn't been beaten down by the education and political system, and the bottom level teachers are the ones who gave up and are surviving on their tenure and seniority.
There are two major flaws in Bill's premise. 1) better teachers get better results, therefore teachers who get better results, get better results. Alistair, you were correct, this is circular logic, and is not helpful in solving America's academic problems. The second flaw is the stated in the title: How do we make teachers great? Well, you can't "make" anybody anything. You can inspire, guide, coerce, etc. this lack of understanding about how human beings learn and change is the real issue.
Great question! The best evidence of the non-circular argument can be found at middle schools that purposely enroll students that are already 2-3 grade levels behind and send them off to high school among the best prepared in the nation. The KIPP schools provide some of the most numerous examples of this outcome. Keep this in mind when you watch Part 2 of Bill Gate’s TED presentation.
this guy needs to be in a position of power. his vision and ideas are world class, he is obviously a great guy - just look at the amount of work he has done and the amount of money he has given to charity. another guy has already said this but i think bill would make a great president. who knows with all that money he has he could create his own party and brake the strangle hold the republicans and democrats currently have over the USA. 2 part states stagnate. bill would rejuvenate America.
. So of course students with the silver spoon in their mouth will have a higher advantage in academic success than the poor children. I feel the success of a student doesn’t just lie in the teacher, but the media, family, environment, school, income, transportation all play a role in the academic success of a student. Thank you
Better teachers = better students…. BRILLIENT!!!! Tell the teacher unions that sonority isn’t important; tell them that good teachers are more important than the teacher that paid union dues for 10+ years. In the words of the wise Homer “your living in a world of make believe.”
As philosophy tells us via the skeptics argument, all reasoning has to be circular at some point. The size of the circle varies, but there always is one.
@yurbud I think the tenure can make sense for college professors, but not the lower school teachers who need to do more than just get assign students textbook pages to read #lol
We need teachers that want to inspire children/teens an pre-adults,give them growth ,make there students aware of whats waiting for them on the outside world. How it really is an how it affects everyone. . That are eager to extract the very best out every student an become there role model. That are passionate humble people. An learn as much as there students learn from them Thats a great teacher.
grade. Was it her teacher's work that did this? It helped, but it was also my wife and I. We read to her everynight for close to five years, asked her questions, discussed the ideas presented in the books. We did and still work on basic math with her, show her art works and discuss. We talk about current events. Have the courage to answer your question with truth Bill Gates: Much of what makes a great teacher is how a student responds to and respects a teacher in the classroom.
This guy got rich and now believes he is KNOWLEDGEABLE of what it takes to be an actual teacher in a classroom. I would challenge him to teach at my school for a full day with this attitude!!
All one can realistically ask a teacher to do is to be prepared, be knowledgable of his or her content, relate the subject matter effectively and finally assess fairly and properly. I am not an expert, but using some common sense, I would hope I am correct in that I think a majority of teachers do this. I think a fair question to ask is if we know if the students are failing to graduate high school or entering a certain grade well below appropriate grade level are actually studying, working
He says that the success of the USA is partly based on the success of its education system. It is just as, if not more, based on an incredibly skewed economic and military global system which makes it very difficult for less 'successful' countries to do well, no matter what their education system.
@californiadajatt: PUSD stands for the Pasadena Unified School District (California). The goal of Altadena Schools is to get every one of Altadena's predominantly low-income students onto the road to and through college by 2020, in part by unifying a school district from the Altadena portion of PUSD territory, dedicated to the 2020 goal. Please Google altadenaschools for more information. Thank you.
The drop out rate? If you graduate top of your class,(4.0) and can not afford college. You are still coming into our workforce at minimum wage, and you can't sustain a family with that. We must prepare our children to enter this society, not just to graduate from high school.
If you work in a district that feels like a 50% growth is not great, get out!! I am an administrator and student growth is the name of the game. The actual scores will take care of themselves. Growth is the name of the game, significant growth. Problem is we have many ineffective teachers that get those kids that are dreadfully behind and use that fact as an excuse as to why they remain dreadfully behind.
I agree. It's based on an assumption, that teachers are becoming worse. He could be right... but he doesn't prove it. It's arbitrary. I expected more from Gates.
I hate it, as a teacher, when the say a good teacher is determined by student outcomes. I am a great teacher - but I teach kids who come to school with 0 knowledge and get them to 50% at a year 1 standard. But its not classified as great because they aren't at a 97%. Its not fair to rate teachers on outcomes. It needs to be on kids improvements. And you know, there is more to teaching than academics - behaviour, attendance, social learning, emotional needs. Although loved Bills talk
More like because of his billions, and he got them for a reason, because he knows how to get people to work. Microsoft wouldn't have gone anywhere if it didn't have a leader who knew how to make people productive, and productivity is what makes the world go round.
As long as we just continue to tell ourselves we are great we will continue to be less than. We have to be able to admit that we can always improve. We must take accountability for the kid with the worst home life and the worst education prior to them reaching our classroom. I support fellow teachers. I don't support the argument that we are doing our best and because of everyone else, it can't get any better.
You cannot interpret Bill's words in saying a good teacher is determined by the student outcomes merely on whether students will achieve something really beneficial for their life. In fact, Bill is trying to say,a teacher is like a bridge which connects two sides of a river, the river may be very deep and has many crocodiles in it. It depends on the students, are they brave enough to cross or not. But the bridge must be strong enough to be crossed.
I'll keep it simple and to the point. You're "blowing" me away with your lack of courage to state that the real problem with education in this country is not the classroom teacher but the likes of poverty, the amounts of time our children and teens spend uselessly exploring the internet, texting, listening to music rather than studying, the lack of attention many parents give their children in respect to homework help or reading. My seven year old reads on a level much higher than second .....
Show your support for what Bill Gates says in this video by supporting the Education Declaration. Please Google "altadenaschools" and click on the Support button. Thank you.
Here we have the gentleman discussing what makes a great teacher; from my understanding of the video one can say good teachers promote good students. Although how can one say that; because some great teachers focus on going to schools that have the most delinquent students while other teachers only want to teach at a prestige school
you are great man good thinking . that is what i always keep thinkig about whether testing is benefitial or not but lets face it what would replace testing i mean come on method of teaching has not found any thing to replace testing till now
@pastafarianprophet I like your point. But I think you missed his point. He is not speaking of top quartile teachers in a quantitative since. He is speaking about them in a qualitative since. What if all of our teachers did what teachers in the top quartile did.
@lgaara1321l Actually, a lot of private schools are very poorly run. I've been to public and private schools (secondary, undergrad, grad) and the public schools have always had much higher standards and accountability.
@AKQJ40 argumentative is good to a degree, sleeping is inconsequential as it doesn't interfere with the other students.(unless the teacher wants to get all offended and make a ruckus.) disruptive is really the only one that needs to go.
@bleucheese14 Anyone can have an opinion on education. Anyone can research data in education. This is something he is passionate for and want to make a change. The amount of time he has spent reading and discussing the issue makes him an expert. Plus, most of the things he brings up are true!
Thank you Friends, Subscribers, and Viewers! Together, you’ve made Altadena Schools "viral" this week! For more frequent updates regarding the Altadena Schools’ effort to get Every Child To And Through College By 2020, please visit the Altadena Schools Facebook page.
Search for the following videos: (After you have watched a few, tell me if you still blame the inner-city teachers & police officers?) Little League Brawls Maury Povich DNA Tests The Best of Cheaters Flavor of Love Fights Bad Girl Club Fights COPS Schools are a reflection of their communities! Moral values are passed on to the children by their PARENTS! God bless the hard-working, under-appreciated inner-city teachers and police officers who risk their lives daily!
Hello Panel, Since this question was asked; "How Do You Make a Teacher Great?" I will offer my insight into this enquiry- BE GREAT STUDENTS & BE GREAT TEACHERS, thus results will appear and solutions will be at a minimal where problems lessen. p.s. Dear Bill Gates: I will paint your portrait for free because it's GEEK WEEK on RU-vid, signed, GreatestPotential
He focuses on the shockingly high dropout rate, which seems like a real problem, but then skips to the idea that a so-called great teacher can increase test scores by 10%. But is there any evidence that these great teachers have any impact on the dropout rate?
@nightswimmer99 Totally agree on all the points , I was a drop out last year , i was getting bored , i knew allot of the things we were going to learn the first half year of school , and the teachers would not take 1-2 hours of their time making a program suit for me so i cud learn something i did not already know , And it was about computers hardware and software , I knew allot but not the Small not-important Details on small things so they did not allow me to get a Program that suited me ,
He's got enough wealth that he can "afford" to "care". He's at the age where he's concerned about how he will be remembered. What ever he says, and does, it will never make up for the fact that the company that he created has a monopoly on the operating system of "choice" that everyone in the world has to use. Not to mention all the people that lost their jobs because of his company, all the businesses he bankrupted and all the opportunity in IT marketplace that doesn't exist anymore. Think...
Start with eliminating of funding to the Department of Education. Funnel that income to financially rewarding statewide teaching performance. All teachers are performance driven. Performance evals are written based on make up of their class each year. Currently education reform leaders are too lazy or too inept to write a performance eval that will effectively capture the teachers classroom performance. Fire those so called experts. Start there...
This argument, it seems to me, is dangerously close to being circular: 1. Great teachers get better results. 2. How do we classify great teachers? As those who get better results. Therefore, in essence, is he saying nothing more than 'Teachers who get better results, get better results'? Have I missed something in his argument?
@yurbud TOTAL B.S. Definitely TAKE AWAY JOB SECURITY. You fail, you're out!! Take away unions that protect incompetence. NO Administrator will terminate a talented teacher that improves students educational growth. Creativity better produce results. Creativity should never be used as an excuse for mediocre performance as mediocre teachers will proclaim. This is the business of schooling our future generations. Those who are dynamite never feel the pressure. Don't like the pressure? Get out!
All we need is top teachers. The same could be said in the business world. If only everyone was as great as Bill Gates, we would all be millionaires. What is wrong with the business world that it can't create more Bill Gates?! Maybe we could have a biology teacher help the business world.
@cmisigaro he is a great man, I respect him to the max , But he do not need to care about money anymore , he got more money then he can spend, he dos not need to think twice to buy something, He dont need to think about Economy for the rest of his life ,Now he uses his skill and knowledge to make people think big , he takes his skill out to people so that they can learn from him , and knowledge is a bigger then anything else , You can have allot of money , but with no knowledge it dos not work
looking over their notes at home. Are their parent's taking a bit of time at home to help them? How much is the media and popular culture taking away from study time, etc, etc. Why don't you talk about this Bill?
I'd like to know how many of the "top quartile" students are teaching the lower-achieving, socioeconomically depressed, and students of color... How many Bill?
Does Bill gates know whether being a "top quartile" teacher will _attract_ better students so the performance of that class therefore improve because the better students bring their abilities with them? Or does he know that the teacher changes an under-performing student into a better-performing student?
