what the best college teachers do

It has been hard to keep up with this blog but here a stab at it.
major conclusions of the book - 1) outstanding teachers know their subjects well - basically, they have something to teach and can articulate fundamental principles and have, at least, an intuitive understanding of human learning.
2) What do you ask yourself when you prepare to teach - more than the mundane (how many students, what to include, what kinds of tests) but questions about student outcomes rather than what the teacher will do
3) Expect more of their students - not piling on but kind of thinking and acting expected for life
4) varied methods - but it's all about a "natural critical learning environment" intriguing, beautiful, important problems, authentic tasks, a sense of control over their own education, belief that their work will be considered fairly and honestly, be able to receive feedback in advance and separate from any sumartive judgement of their efforts
5) a strong trust in students, believe that students want to learn, supply own intellectual journey and challenges and enthusiasm
6) teachers monitor their own efforts and use of assessment (trying to avoid arbitrary standards, but primary learning objectives)
3 points about these individuals - outstanding teachers still come up short (and they do struggle), don't blame students for their difficulties, generally have a strong commitment to academic community (see their efforts as part of larger educational enterprise)

Details - knowledge of discipline -helps to have a keen sense of history of discipline including controversies and how this challenges our comprehension today
basic understandings of how people learn - 1) knowledge is constructed, not received, changes how we think about memory, no longer separate learning the material from thinking about it, we use existing constructs to understand new input, need to stimulate construction not transmit knowledge, higher-order concepts of disciplines often run counter to models of reality that everyday experiences has encouraged us to construct, help build new mental models
2) Mental models change slowly - to go from surface to deep learning (a) face a situation where mental model doesn't work (b) care enough to stop and grapple with the issue at hand (c) be able to handle the emotional trauma that sometimes accompanies challenges to longstanding beliefs.
need to create expectation failure - model leads to faulty expectations, need safe space, need to understand present models and the emotional baggage that comes with them - do not separate learning the facts from thinking about them, must be done in concert

Summary: understanding and balancing product and process in teaching and learning, high standards, core goals and multiples paths to these goals