____ PIP For Teachers

PIP (Positive Interpersonal Programming) for Teachers is intended specifically for classroom teachers, but may be useful to anyone who is in a student/teacher relationship with someone else. The traits, qualities, and principles reflect “good teaching” regardless of the setting or situation.

The thirty-four statements are also a useful guide for parents or others who are interested in evaluating a specific teacher.

Teachers may develop a “teaching quotient” for themselves by reading each of the thirty-four statements. Decide if the statement is, for you, almost always true (5), usually true (4), sometimes true (3), seldom true (2), or never true (1).

Place your rating in the blank at the left of the statement. Once you have completed this process for all thirty-four statements, add together your ratings for all thirty-four statements and divide the total by 34. This will give you your teaching quotient on a scale from 5 to 1.

Since teachers are intimately involved in the lives of their students and clearly responsible for the education of those students, your teaching quotient goal should be at least 4.5.

1. ____ I check to be sure that the student knows what is expected before holding him/her to the expectation.

2. ____ I check to be sure that the student knows how to do what is expected before holding him/her to the expectation.

3. ____ I relate new materials and learning experiences to things the student already knows or has experienced.

4. ____ I emphasize how much the student is learning instead of how much he/she has yet to learn.

5. ____ I give more emphasis to the student’s learning well than to his/her behaving well.

6. ____ I know at least as much about the student I am teaching as I know about the subject being taught.

7. ____ I check to be sure that the student understands why work he/she has done is wrong or incorrect when there is a problem with that work.

8. ____ I make sure that it is easier for the student to succeed than it is for him/her to fail.

9. ____ I do not see a student’s recurring failure as justified or acceptable.

10. ____ I understand and use what actually motivates the student.

11. ____ I see myself as being at least as responsible as the student is when he/she fails or is less than fully successful.

12. ____ My evaluation of the student is based as much on my professional intuition and judgment as on formal evaluation and test scores.

13. ____ When teaching, I operate at a fairly high energy level.

14. ____ I give more emphasis to the student’s personal growth and learning than to his/her winning or achieving “high marks”.

15. ____ I use logical thinking and problem solving skills when working with the student.

16. ____ I am calm and self-controlled when teaching.

17. ____ I am well organized and self-disciplined when teaching.

18. ____ I set a good example for the child in the areas of personal care, posture and grooming, language and speech, relationships with other people, etc.

19. ____ I am friendly and outgoing with other people where I teach.

20. ____ I am as courteous and respectful with the student as I expect him/her to be with me.

21. ____ I respond differentially to small problems, medium-sized problems, and big problems that the student is experiencing.

22. ____ I believe that I can teach and work with the student.

23. ____ I have a strong positive self-image.

24. ____ I like and am liked by the other people where I teach.

25. ____ I do not let personal problems or issues interfere with my work with the student.

26. ____ I stop to figure out why a particular problem or issue has come up before beginning to do anything about it.

27. ____ I do not use ridicule, sarcasm, or other negative techniques with the student.

28. ____ I assume and expect that the student will learn and will be successful.

29. ____ I give the student the freedom to make mistakes, try things his/her way the first time, be experimental, and to just “goof off” and be unproductive at times.

30. ____ I place more importance on my relating to the student than on his/her relating to me.

31. ____ I spend most of my time with the student in direct teaching and developing learning skills.

32. ____ I take care to be sure that the time the student spends with me is a good investment of his/her time and energy.

33. ____ I use that mix of teaching techniques, procedures, and patterns that is most useful to the student.

34. ____ I am well acquainted with and thoroughly understand all of the subjects and skills I am teaching to the student.