Annette Breaux - Seven Simple Secrets: What the Best Teachers Know and Do!

Want to know a secret? Regardless of what classroom challenges, standards, or initiatives youre faced with from year to year, there are seven keys to great teaching that never changeand that are often overlooked! In this bestselling book, internationally-acclaimed authors Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker reveal the seven simple secrets of effective teaching that can be applied in any classroom. Whether youre a new or experienced teacher, youll gain valuable insights on improving instruction, classroom management, discipline, student motivation, and much, much more! This updated Second Edition contains timely topics such as incorporating technology to enhance your lessons and using social media appropriately.

• Easy-to-use format: The book is divided into seven secrets shared by highly effective teachers. Each secret is then divided into seven parts filled with practical information on why the secret matters and how to implement it effectively.
• Reflection questions: At the end of each section, there are seven questions to help you determine whether you have mastered each secret.
• Bonus lists: This special new section contains lists on the qualities of effective teaching and why these qualities matter. These lists can be copied and used during book studies, PLC meetings, or staff meetings to provoke thoughtful discussions and enhance teaching and learning.
• Study guide: A study guide is available to help you extend your learning independently or with colleagues. www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138783621
• Author website: For more inspiring, informative books from Todd and Annette, check out our special site, www.routledge.com/cw/breaux, going live this summer.

Throughout the book, youll find practical examples and heartfelt advice to encourage you as you implement the seven secrets. As you improve your teaching, you profoundly infl uence the lives of those who matter mostyour students!

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Teaching Matters, Second Edition: How to Keep Your Passion and Thrive in Todays Classroom

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101 Poems for Teachers

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Great Quotes for Great Educators

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Dealing with Difficult Parents: And with Parents in Difficult Situations

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Dealing with Difficult Teachers, Third Edition

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Motivating & Inspiring Teachers, Second Edition: The Educational Leaders Guide for Building Staff Morale

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REAL Teachers, REAL Challenges, REAL Solutions: 25 Ways to Handle the Challenges of the Classroom Effectively

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What the BEST Teachers Know and Do!

Second Edition

Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker

Second edition published 2015

by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2015 Taylor & Francis

The right of the Authors to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Eye On Education 2006

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Breaux, Annette L.

Seven simple secrets: what the best teachers know and do!/Annette Breaux, Todd Whitaker.Second edition.

pages cm

1. TeachingHandbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Classroom managementHandbooks, manuals, etc.

I. Whitaker, Todd, 1959 II. Title.

LB1025.3.B7432014

371.102dc232014001039

ISBN: 978-1-138-01373-5 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-79512-6 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781315795126

Typeset in Palatino

by Apex CoVantage, LLC

All poetry in this book is the original work of Annette Breaux.

To all our fellow teachers, to whom we offer these seven secrets

Seven Simple Secrets

Is a secret still a secret if you tell it to one other?

Because once you tell that other, shell pass it to another

Who tells it to her best friend, who passes it around

And soon enough, this private thing has spread throughout the town

But sometimes its a good thing to spread it far and wide

Some things are better known, than to silently have died

So look into your secret, and decide if you want it known

And if you do, you know how toTell one and its full blown

And so weve seven secrets to share with those who teach

We want to spread them far and wide, hoping they will reach

Every teacher everywhere, who wants to help, who truly cares

And soon we hope that everyone will know what theyre about

You hold those secrets in your handsSo go on, let them out!

Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker

Annette Breaux is one of the most entertaining and informative authors and speakers in education today. She leaves her audiences with practical techniques to implement in their classrooms immediately. Administrators agree that they see results from teachers the next day.

Annette is a former classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator, and author of Louisiana FIRST, a statewide induction program for new teachers. Annette also served as the Teacher Induction Coordinator for Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. She co-authored a book with Dr. Harry K. Wong on new teacher induction.

Her other writings include 101 Answers for New Teachers and Their Mentors; REAL Teachers, REAL Challenges, REAL Solutions; 101 Poems for Teachers; 50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior; Making Good Teaching Great; and The Ten-Minute Inservice.

Teachers who have read Annettes writings or heard Annette speak agree that they come away with user-friendly information, heartfelt inspiration, and a much-needed reminder that theirs is the most noble of all professionsteaching.