ABSTRACT
Mr. Dullard peers over the top of his horn-rimmed glasses in a futile attempt to make eye contact with the blurry-eyed students trying to pay attention as he begins his lesson on the California Missions in the Unit on California History. His body seems frozen to the computer station where he reads the first slide on his PowerPoint presentation. His voice, deep, muffled, and monotone has a numbing affect on the students. Steven is in the back of class, eyes shut, with his head precariously perched on his hand. Several snickering students in the class are watching to see if his hand will slip causing his head to crash on the desk. Another student is sending a text message to his girlfriend in another class. Ana and Esperanza are flirting with Carlos, the star athlete at the school who is in the desk next to them. Desia is sitting straight up grinning and nodding, pretending to listen while he rehearses football plays for Friday’s game. Once more, Mr. Dullard has not achieved his goal to engage his students in his lesson. In this chapter we will provide a framework for increasing teacher efficacy in diverse classrooms.
