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Recognized as a leading presenter in the field of education, Todd Whitaker's message about the importance of teaching has resonated with hundreds of thousands of educators around the world. Todd Whitaker is a professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, and he has spent his life pursuing his love of education by researching and studying effective teachers and principals.

Prior to moving into higher education, he was a math teacher and basketball coach in Missouri, and still holds a school record for most wins in a season at one of the high schools where he coached. Todd then served as a principal at the middle school, junior high, and high school levels. He was also a middle school coordinator in charge of staffing, curriculum, and technology for the opening of new middle schools.

One of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness, Todd has written sixteen educational books including the national best seller, What Great Teachers Do Differently. Other titles include: Dealing With Difficult Teachers, Teaching Matters, Great Quotes for Great Educators, What Great Principals Do Differently, Motivating & Inspiring Teachers, and Dealing With Difficult Parents.

Todd is married to Beth, also a former teacher and principal, who is a professor of Elementary Education at Indiana State University. They are the parents of three children; Katherine, Madeline, and Harrison.

Todd Whitaker's Keynote Topics

It's A Wonderful Life!
Remember when it was so exciting to go to work you would tingle? Do standardized tests, dealing with the same old kids, paperwork, and administration have you down? Do you ever have the "How many more days of school until vacation blues?" Here is a chance to get you and your entire school revitalized, reenergized, and maybe even resuscitated! Included in this motivational presentation are ideas to help your entire faculty rekindle those feelings of why they chose education. This session will provide strategies to help educators recharge their batteries by reminding them that education really is a wonderful life.

Everybody's Been On A Diet: A Workshop For Building Staff Morale
What is it that best keeps you on a diet? Is it when people tell you “You're looking good” or when people say, “It's about time”? Every educator must come to work in a positive frame of mind each day. This session will focus on ways for principals, teachers, and all educators to motivate themselves and everyone in their building. We will learn how to boost morale in our school and motivate ourselves each day.

Cultivating A Culture of Caring
It is essential that in each of our schools every teacher and every student feels important and cares about those around them. This presentation will assist all educators in assisting their schools to have a culture where every staff member and student feels valued and productive.

The Most Important Things In Life Aren't Things
Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible, but sometimes we forget to remind ourselves of that. What we do each day makes a difference in the lives of so many others. This session will help remind us that we have chosen the most important professional of all and assist us in developing ways to continually take a positive outlook of life and of teaching.

The Power of Positive Communication
One of the most essential aspects of being an effective educator is being able to communicate successfully with everyone we come in contact with. Understanding what to say and how to say it are critical components in building relationships with parents, students, and other educators. This workshop will help you develop and refine your skills in effectively communicating every day. You will leave with specific things that will enable you to handle challenging people, initiate communication more confidently, and self-evaluate your personal communication ability.

What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most
What are the specific qualities and practices of great teachers that elevate them above the rest? This workshop reveals what the most effective teachers do differently than their colleagues. Participants will focus on what the most successful educators do that others do not. Everyone will leave knowing what great educators do differently, why they make them more effective, and how to immediately implement each of these into your own classrooms and schools.

Teaching Matters
We have chosen the most important profession that there is, yet sometimes it is difficult to remember that.  How come at times we do not feel as valued as we should?  This session will help all of us regain the spirit and drive that encouraged us to choose teaching as our profession. Everyone will leave with specific things they can implement immediately into their classes and lives that will make a difference to our students and ourselves.  We will be reminded why we chose education and learn what we can do to remember the tremendous influence and positive impact that we have on our students.  With a combination of humor, audience involvement, and emotion, the author of the best selling book by the same name will help all of us regain faith that teaching really does matter.