Socratic Seminars: AVID Strategies

A Socratic Seminar is an AVID structure that can help you introduce several elements of WICOR into a lesson: Inquiry, Collaboration, and Reading. The idea behind a Socratic Seminar is that part of our job in education is to teach kids to think, to listen without judging, and to ask great questions.

Socratic Seminars focus on dialogue instead of debate; it's important to talk about the difference with kids before embarking on a Socratic Seminar. This Dialogue vs. Debate Handout is a good starting point.

There are several variations of Socratic Seminars, but they all have four elements. These elements are briefly explained below, and are also available on the Elements of Socratic Seminars Handout. 

1. A Text. The text can be from any subject area and should include a richness of ideas and viewpoints. If there is no text, then it's not a Socratic Seminar (it's likely Philosophical Chairs, another AVID strategy).

2. A Question. In a Socratic Seminar, the discussion starts with a question, preferably generated by students. This question generates new ones and the line of inquiry evolves instead of being planned ahead of time. 

3. A Leader. A student serves as the discussion leader and a participant. The leader keeps the conversation moving along and on topic; the leader also makes sure everyone is involved. While the teacher may model the role of a leader when teaching kids how to participate in a Socratic Seminar, the teacher should not be the leader on a regular basis. This student-friendly handout on the Role of the Leader gives many specific descriptions. You can get creative with how you select a leader. In English, I had kids draw cards from a deck and the person who drew the Joker was the leader for that round. 

4. Participants. Quality participants are prepared (have read and annotated a text), are active listeners, generate insightful questions, share ideas, encourage the participation of others, and reference the text. All students should have a list of Roles and Responsibilities of a Seminar Participant. 

A typical Socratic Seminar takes place in a circle. After reading and annotating an article, the leader starts by asking a question about the text. Then, the leader and participants let the conversation evolve as they look to explore multiple interpretations and points of view. The text is the anchor for the conversation, and participants should reference it frequently. The goal of a Socratic Seminar is not to come to a single, unanimous conclusion. Rather, it is to encourage students to think, support their ideas with the text, ask questions, and observe the rules of dialogue (not debate). 

Tips for to implementing a Socratic Seminar in your classroom: 

- Before introducing Socratic Seminars, kids need practice reading critically, annotating texts, and generating questions from a text. It is also helpful if kids have generated discussion norms. 

- Teach kids the structure of the Socratic Seminar, including roles, before attempting to run a full seminar. Do a few practice rounds with different leaders and give the group feedback. 

- Start with short Socratic Seminars (15-20 minutes), then build up students' stamina for longer ones. 

- Help students plan meaningful questions using the Developing Opening, Core, and Closing Questions Template as well as the Question Planning Template.
- Allow silence. When first implementing a Socratic Seminar, you'll need to coach kids to talk to each other and not to you (the teacher). Also, be ready to allow the awkward silences. Resist the temptation to jump in and save kids by offering a question or steering the conversation: that is the job of the leader and all the participants. It will typically take several seminars before kids fully realize that it is their job to keep things going and that the teacher will not enter the discussion to help them. I have found that taking detailed notes during seminars shows students that I am engaged but not facilitating the conversation. 

- Allow students the opportunity to engage in student to student and student to self feedback by using the Socratic Seminar Debrief or the Socratic Seminar Rubric. You can also do this in the form of an exit ticket by asking students what is one thing the group did well and what is one thing the group can do to improve for the next Socratic Seminar. Then, share these responses next class period. 

There are multiple variations of the Socratic Seminar that do not use the traditional, one-circle format. These including a Fish Bowl and Pilot/Co-Pilot Seminar. In a Fish Bowl (also called Inner/Outer Circle), there is a small circle (5-6 kids) with a leader and a large circle. Only the small circle talks, while the outer circle observes using a tool such as Fish Bowl Observation Tool or the Inner/Outer Discussion Observation. As the topic shifts, new students are brought into the inner circle and kids in the inner circle move to the outer circle. The Fish bowl can be a great way to practice roles of Leader and Participant before trying a whole-class Socratic Seminar right away. The Pilot/Co-Pilot Seminar features groups of students (usually 3) working together to make points to the group. Both of these variations are also excellent for larger classes (25 students or more).

Want more specifics? This video shows one teacher's specific room set up, grading system, and classroom procedures for his Socratic Seminars. This teacher uses a Fishbowl format. The first 3-4 minutes are the most helpful.

This additional video shows a middle school classroom and how the teacher sets up and runs her Socratic Seminars with the Fishbowl format.

We have several teachers at the 7-9 building who use Socratic Seminars frequently, so our students are familiar with these activities and enjoy them. If you are interested in trying one out and would like support or ideas, please reach out. If you have tips or questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Targeted Questioning: Teach Like a Champion Strategies

Targeted Questioning: A quick series of carefully chosen, open-ended questions directed at a strategic sample of the class and executed in a short period of time.

Targeted Questioning is a Teach Like a Champion Strategy that aims to ensure all students are understanding the most important aspects of a lesson. Targeted Questioning replaces unreliable forms of questioning, like self reporting where a teacher simply asks the class, "Does everyone get it?" and a few kids mumble yes or shake their heads. Self reporting does not really tell a teacher if kids understand, but Targeted Questioning can.

There are a few important principles of Targeted Questioning:

1. Plan Ahead: Choose a few transitional points in your lesson where you know in advance you want to ask a few questions to see if kids learned a concept. This may add time to your lesson, but choosing a few points throughout the lesson instead of one at the end will help you catch points of confusion early in the learning process.

2. Write the Questions in Advance: Prepare questions in advance, ideally when you are lesson planning. While this may take extra time, it frees up your brain power during the lesson to analyze how well kids are understanding the content. For each transitional point, have a few questions ready that will help you assess how well kids have learned the information.

3. Speed Counts: Each time Targeted Questioning is used in a lesson, it should take less than a minute or two. If the questions take longer, it's harder to consistently work Targeted Questioning into your lesson.

4. Sample Strategically: When calling on kids to answer the questions, try to call on 5-6 kids who represent the range of abilities in the room (2 kids who struggle, 2 kids in the middle, and 1-2 kids who get things quickly). Select the specific kids you will call on in advance to save time.

5. Cold Call: Cold Call takes place when the teacher chooses who will answer the questions without asking students to raise their hands. (Cold Call is a separate Teach Like a Champion Strategy.) If you only call on kids raising their hands, you are not getting a strategic sample but rather a group of kids who are all confident that they did learn the material. Use Cold Call with Sample Strategically to get the most accurate data from your class.

This quick clip shows the importance of Strategic Sampling and Cold Call to get an accurate read of what kids know.

If this teacher only called on the students with their hands raised, she would not have known that Kayla did not understand what clever meant.

Targeted Questioning goes well with Feedback because taking the time to question kids in this way allows them to show the teacher what they know. It also gives the teacher an opportunity to let students know how they are doing and what might need to be fixed.

Once you are comfortable working Targeted Questioning into your lessons, you can add more variety to the questions in the form of things like partnering, white boards, clickers/plickers, etc.

What are some of your favorite times and methods for Targeting Questioning? Feel free to leave ideas in the comments below.

Source: Teach Like a Champion 2.0 by Doug Lemov, pages 34-39.

Mentor Texts

Mentor Texts:

A Teacher to Student or Student to Student Feedback Strategy

After our Feedback training, I noticed many questions in the agenda about mentor texts. So, I wanted to dive a little deeper into this technique.

A mentor text is any text that a teacher uses to exemplify and teach a writing strategy or concept.
- Mentor texts can be written by professional authors, or can be revised student exemplars.
- Mentor texts can be used to teach writing skills (like the 6 traits of writing) or mechanics/grammar.
- Mentor texts can be from any genre and can be literary or informational.
- Teachers can use the entire mentor text or just a small part of it during instruction.

When a teacher uses a mentor text to show students what is expected, that is teacher to student feedback. When revised student work is used as a mentor text, that is a student to student feedback strategy.

Here are some videos:

This is a great introduction to mentor texts. The second half of the video, she talks through popular texts that can be used as mentor texts for specific skills or concepts.

This video shows the use of mentor text to teach one specific grammar rule (adding -ed to past tense verbs).

This is a longer video without HD quality, but it is worth the time to view it. It shows a complete mini-lesson on 6th grade narrative writing. The teacher uses a mentor text to help students revise ending to narrative pieces. This video is also a good example of partnering during large group instruction.

Finally, here are a few more helpful links:
- Scholastic resources with 6 traits of writing. You can click on each of the 6 traits and find a detailed list of books that can be used as mentor texts for that trait and suggestions for using them: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/mentor-texts-traits-writing
- For those of you on Pinterest, this board is one of the most complete I could find on mentor texts: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/mentor-texts/

I love using mentor texts. In fact, my entire 9th grade short story unit was designed around them. During the unit, kids read several short stories that exemplified various writing techniques (unreliable narrator, irony, unusual setting, etc). Then, during the final project, kids choose one technique to work on in their own writing. During this process, they also accessed mentor texts from other students: short stories from previous years that were exceptional. However, mentor text are absolutely not just for Language Arts. They can be employed anytime you want to show kids an expert example of a specific type of writing.

Do you use mentor texts in your class? Feel free to share your ideas below.

WICOR Magnents

For those of you who were unable to attend the October 1st Friday PD, this post is a review of Essential Questions, WICOR, and how to use the Essential Question and WICOR magnets in 4th-9th grade classrooms.

Essential Questions and WICOR are key components of the AVID program. This year, our AVID site team wants to work on expanding AVID strategies school-wide. While we have always included these in the AVID elective and in some classrooms, our next step is to integrate AVID into all areas of our school (when age appropriate).


Essential Questions:

• Essential Questions are objectives for the day that are in student-friendly language and written as questions. 
• Kids should be able to answer the question when the lesson is done.
• They can be easily transferred to Cornell Notes. 
• They can replace “I can” statements or traditional objectives. 

Examples of Essential Questions:

• What were at least three main factors that contributed to the Great Depression? 
• What are the procedures for Read to Self during Daily 5?
• What is the main conflict of the story Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle? 
• What are the four states of matter, and what is an example of each? 

How some teachers are using EQs:

• Kids write the EQ in their planners before beginning bell work. 
• Kids write an answer to the EQ as an exit ticket.
• The teacher references the EQ at the beginning and end of class. 

Why use WICOR in your classroom? 
• It increases rigor so kids are more prepared for high school and college. 
• It promotes higher-level thinking. 
• It increases student accountability and opportunities to respond.
• WICOR strategies can be used in any subject area.  
Why use the WICOR magnets to label your WICOR? 
• It builds the AVID culture of our school
• It builds a common language
• It sends the message to kids that some skills transfer from class to class
Examples of how teachers are using the WICOR magnets in their class: 


          


     


Thank you to Mrs. Banta, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Means, and Mrs. Darby for the great examples.

Get a downloadable copy of the handout presented Friday 10/7 with dozens of WICOR ideas here: WICOR Ideas Handout.


Feel free to post and questions or comments below!

Collaborative Study Groups: AVID Strategies

Collaborative Study Groups (CSGs) are an excellent way to get students working together in a format that is less rigid than an official AVID tutorial. In CSGs, students work together to identify gaps in their learning, use inquiry and discussion to fill in these gaps, and apply their knowledge to the course and content. CSGs don't just help with content knowledge, they also help integrate all the aspects of WICOR into your lesson.

This 3-minute video gives you a great introduction to Collaborative Study Groups and references some of the resources below: Collaborative Study Group Intro Video

There are 4 roles in a CSG. The three required roles are Teacher, Student Group Member, and Student Presenter. The fourth role is the Student Leader/Group Facilitator, and this role is optional. View or download a guide to these roles with this link: Collaborative Study Groups Roles & Responsibilities

CSGs have 3 main parts:

• Before: The teacher or students choose a topic/question. It's ideal if students can review the topic/question individually before the study groups start.
• During: Students collaborate to deepen their knowledge of the topic. The teacher circulates and supports.
• After: Students reflect on their learning and their participation in the groups. 

This document gives a teacher overview of CSGs: Collaborative Study Groups Overview. The overview also provides many links to great downloadable resources to use before, during, and after the study groups (links are in the Resource Guide on page 3). You need a MyAVID.org username and password in order to access these printables. Many Site Team Members and/or those who have attended AVID conferences in the past already have one. Debbie and I would be happy to provide you with a username and password for this site if you do not already have one and want one. Just email us! Here are examples of the types of documents on the MyAVID.org site that you can access with a username and password. I downloaded these so you could open them.

• Collaborative Study Groups Grouping Guide
• Teacher Implementation Guide
• Collaborative Study Group Pre-Work

Here's an additional video that shows how one teacher uses CSGs in her calculus classroom: Collaborative Study Groups Math Video

If you have used CSGs in your classroom, please feel free to share your tips and success stories below!

Effective TA Use: Part 2

Last week, I posted a set of questions for TAs to ask teachers, and questions for teachers to ask TAs. I hope some of you have had the opportunity to use these conversation starters to improve the way you and your TA work together to help kids. 

This week, I want to focus on specific ideas for using a TA in your classroom. Many of these ideas will be focused on 5th-9th, but I hope that some of the younger grades can get ideas also. 

At the elementary level (K-4), the primary roles of a TA should be...

1. To support differentiated instruction. This means that within your classroom, your TA works with individuals or small groups to support your overall objectives and learning goals. 
2. To implement interventions. Interventions take place in addition to normal classroom instruction. When a TA implements interventions, she is working with an individual or small group during additional time on a subject area or concept of concern. 

Most of a TA's time should be spent on one of the two areas above. However, occasionally it is appropriate for a TA to assist with the following duties if they do not take away from their work in the areas mentioned above...

1. Supporting instruction by making copies or preparing lesson materials (during prep time or other times). 
2. Collecting, recording, and/or organizing student data, including grading. 
3. Assisting with discipline issues as coordinated with the lead teacher. 

At the secondary building, the role of a TA becomes a bit more flexible. The main purpose of a TA at the secondary building is still to work with students. There may be times when other types of work are appropriate, but the majority of the time needs to be spent helping kids. Here are some ideas I have used in my own classroom, or ones I have seen other people use successfully: 

1. Daily classroom usage of TAs:
• Have TAs assist with daily procedures (attendance, distributing bell-work, signing planners for students, etc.). The TAs schedule and availability may dictate which procedures will work best.
• Make-up/absent work facilitation. First, you'll need a clear system for absent/make-up work. Then, ask the TA to be the point person for students who have questions while gathering or completing their work upon their return to class.
• Have TAs assist in contacting parents when students have low grades. As a reminder, teachers should be contacting parents when their kids have a D+ or lower. This needs to be done with care. To use a TA in this way, please be sure the TA is a constant in your classroom, has access to your gradebook (to view missing assignments), and is comfortable making the initial call to parents. The TA should clearly identify him/herself as an educator in the room, explain the grade and any specific missing assignments, give ideas for how the kid can bring up the grade, and then ask if the parent would like a follow-up call/email from the teacher. Providing a sample script to the TA is a good idea.
• Grading. Like in the elementary, grading is not the primary use of a TA. However, in the case of items like multiple choice tests, it can be appropriate for a TA to help with grading as long as the teacher reviews all grades before putting them in the gradebook.
2. During direct instruction:
• If there are students who need significant help with note-taking or other tasks, have the TA closely monitor and assist these students. I would caution against having a TA sit next to one specific student for the entire hour. Instead, have the TA float between a few students. This builds more autonomy within the student while still supporting him/her.
• Have your TA circulate throughout the room monitoring the work and behavior of all kids. It’s best if the TA can use nonverbals to keep kids on task because nonverbals limit disruption to the direct instruction. For example, the TA can point to sections that need to be completed, redirect attention, etc. It's important for TAs and teachers to clearly discuss expectations for this type of work (Ex: should kids with questions raise their hands and ask the lecturing teacher, or can they flag down the TA and whisper the question.)
• Use your TA to gather classroom data for you. This could potentially be data you will bring to your CTT or any other data to help your practice. Ask the TA to look for just one thing in the classroom: How many kids wrote down the essential question in their notes correctly? When kids pair/shared, how many kids were not engaged in speaking to their partners? How many kids were highlighting key terms in their notes? You can use the classroom worksheet on Aspire to quickly print check sheets for TAs to use. Another way to gather data is to have the TA take pictures/videos for you. The TA can also look for good examples to project to show other kids. For instance, an example of a high-quality summary after taking Cornell Notes.
• Have your TA create a master copy of the notes or a list of what was learned for students who were absent. (This is only a good use of the TA in classes where student notes cannot be used for this purpose).
3. During group or partner work:
• Have the TA set up a binder check station in the hall. Then, one by one, the TA calls kids or groups out with their binders. Binders are checked for required materials. If needed, the TA helps the student(s) organize the binder(s).
• TAs can set up a grade-check station in the hall. Like with the binder station, TAs call kids out one by one or in small groups. Each kid logs into Aspire and checks their grades. If necessary, the TA can help the student make a plan to get the work completed and turned in. The TA can also make sure the student knows what each assignment means and has the necessary paperwork.
• Have the TA work with a specific group of kids. Note that the TA does not always need to work with a group that struggles. The TA can work with a higher group and give them opportunities to stretch, while the classroom teacher works with the lower group that will need the most help.  

This is not a complete list, but hopefully it gives you some ideas. Thanks to Teryl Young and Darby Evans for contributing ideas for this list. Do you have a great idea for using your TA? Please post it below.

Effective TA Use: Part 1

I have been getting many excellent questions about TA usage, especially at the secondary building. So, I want to do a series of posts to help teachers and TAs work together effectively. 

The first step to working well together is to have an extended conversation about everything that goes on in the classroom. I've put together two lists below: questions for TAs to ask teachers, and questions for teachers to ask TAs. In order to create a list that could apply to both elementary and secondary, there will be some questions that might not apply to your specific situation. 

Questions for Teachers to ask TAs:

Logistics:

• What class do you work in before this hour?
• Can you reasonably get to this class before students arrive?
• When will you typically be in the classroom?
• When will you need to leave the classroom to get to your next class?
• How will I know if you are sick, absent, or not able to come to class on a given day?
• What daily routines would you be willing to help with?
• What type of technology are you able to operate in the classroom (iPad, Apple TV, etc.)?
• What are some of your “pet peeves” in the classroom?
• How will we build trust and maintain confidentiality in the classroom?
• What will we do when conflicts, mis-understandings, or opportunities for clarification come up?

Management:

• What classroom management experience do you have?
• What type of management activities are you comfortable with? Which are you uncomfortable with?
• Circulating throughout the room?
• Nonverbal cues to students?
• Verbally redirecting students?
• Temporarily removing students from the classroom?
• One-on-one conversations with students?
• Giving detentions?
• Calling parents?
• Taking students to the office?
• Other (specify)?

Content & Instruction:

• What subject areas and concepts do you feel most comfortable assisting students with?
• Area there subject areas or concepts that you do not feel comfortable assisting students with?
• What intervention programs, software, technology, etc. are you comfortable using?
• What training or expertise would you like to gain?
• What experience do you have providing accommodations (like read-alouds) to students?
• What content/instructional activities are you comfortable doing...
• Helping small groups?
• Grading tests/quizzes?
• Binder checks with students?
• Helping students one-on-one?
• Other (specify)?

Data:

• What students will you be collecting data on this year?
• How will you organize that data?
• How can I help you gather or keep data on those students?

Questions for TAs to ask Teachers:

Logistics:

• How will I know if you are sick, absent, or not able to come to class on a given day?
• What is my role in the classroom in your absence?
• Where can I find seating charts, sub plans (if needed), etc?
• What are your daily routines for...

• Starting class?
• Bell work?

• Checking homework?
• Sharpening pencils?
• Students coming to class without materials or homework?
• Recess?
• Lunch?
• Dismissing for restroom, office, or guidance counselor?
• Turning in work (on-time and late work)?
• Students requesting help?
• Ending class?
• Other procedures?
• Will I help with any of the daily routines? If so, how?
• Can you provide me with a copy of your disclosure statement?
• What are some of your “pet peeves” in the classroom?
• How will we build trust and maintain confidentiality in the classroom?
• What will we do when conflicts, mis-understandings, or opportunities for clarification come up?

Management:

• Describe your discipline style.
• What are some reinforcements/consequences you offer in your classroom?
• What is the acceptable level of noise in your classroom?
• What are your policies of student movement in your class?
• Where there is a behavior issue, at what point should I assist you during…
• Lecture?
• Partner work?
• Small group work?
• Other?
• During the situations above, what type of actions do you want me to take to intervene in behavior issues?
• What activities would you like me to do daily in order to actively manage the class?

Content & Instruction:

• What assistance do you allow students to receive during different types of work (group work, partner work, independent work, assessments)?

• What are your expectations for me when providing accommodations, like read-alouds?
• Explain your homework/late-work policy.
• What instructional styles will I see in the classroom (lecture, group work, etc.)?
• What type of assessments do you use?
• How do you group students for group work in your class?
• How do you provide for varied student needs during a lesson?

Data:

• How do you grade...
• Homework?
• Assessments?
• Projects?
• Participation?
• Other: specify?
• How do you maintain records of grades and progress...
• Grade book procedures?
• Computer grade book?
• Written feedback to students?
• Other: specify?
• What type of student data can I have access to (journals, gradebook, writing samples, test scores)?
• What is the best time and method for me to get that data?

Some of the questions above were adapted from the following sources: 
- http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/career_resources/stepping_stones2.pdf
- Walther-Thomas, Bryant, & Land, 1996

Even if you have already worked with your TA in previous years, I encourage you to find some time to have this conversation. In the next installment, I'll give specific ideas for using your TA in a 5th-9th grade classroom. 

Can you think of any other topics that TAs and teachers should discuss? Feel free to leave ideas in the comments below. 

Curriculum Maps

Now that we all have settled into our classes, I wanted to take some time to remind teachers our expectations at OPA for curriculum maps.

During back to school week, the necessity for good curriculum maps became evident. Like all schools, we welcomed new teachers this year. They ranged from individuals with decades of classroom experience to first year teachers. One of the first things they all asked me was this: Did the teacher I am replacing have a curriculum map?

In many cases, I was able to hand over an invaluable resource to a new teacher. Having a map as a guide allowed these new teachers to hit the ground running. Unfortunately, in many cases there were no maps. This was especially problematic with elective courses because there are so many ways to cover those standards and newer teachers need to know what was done in the past and what resources are available.

Supporting new teachers is just one purpose of our curriculum maps. Others include:
- Giving each teacher a roadmap for his/her year.
- Ensuring that OPA's curriculum aligns with the state standards (remember, there are standards for every subject area including electives).
- Promoting collaboration between subject and grade level teams (maps can be used at CTT meetings).
- Allowing administration to communicate curriculum to parents while still giving teachers the freedom to design their own curricula.

So, as a reminder, we need curriculum maps submitted for all teachers and teaching TAs unless you are specifically told otherwise.

If you taught at OPA last year and are using the same maps, then please just send me a quick email letting me know you are using the maps from last year. However, if you have made changes to your maps, please send me updated ones.

If you are new to OPA, I would like a map from you during the first week of September if possible. I consider these maps living documents: they do not have to be perfect. In fact, you should tweak them throughout the year. Please do not feel you need to reinvent the wheel. Talk to your team members and me if you need guidance or samples to look at. OPA is a team and we are here to support you. If the September date is not going to work for you, please just let me know what will.

The GoogleSlide presentation I gave to new teachers and all of the map templates can be found on the Dashboard:

https://sites.google.com/a/ogdenprep.org/internal-site/documents/curriculum-pd-resources/curriculum-maps

Please let me know how I can support you with your maps. If using curriculum maps at OPA has already helped you, I would love to hear how in the comments below.

100%: Teach Like a Champion Strategies

As we begin the school year, I have found myself talking to a lot of teachers about the importance of 100%, a technique from Doug Lemov's Teach Like a Champion.

According to Lemov, "There's one suitable percentage of students following a given direction in your classroom: 100 percent. If you don't achieve this, you make your authority subject to interpretation, situation, and motivation."

100% is not about being overly dominant or mean to students; it simply means that all kids must follow the directions you give, and that you will help them to do that. In fact, Teach Like a Champion suggests using a variety of non-threatening techniques such as non-verbals, positive group correction, anonymous individual correction, and private individual correction.

There are so many excellent videos out there that demonstrate 100%. Here are a few:

This video is an example of one teacher using variety of techniques from Teach Like A Champion, including 100%. Notice how the teacher takes the time to look around his entire class to ensure they have followed his direction to put their pencils down. He also uses quick, clear language ("Track up here") to anonymously correct students who are not following directions. Finally, he ensures all students are listening before students give responses. In the last instance, he doesn't even have to say the student's name. He just says "We're waiting for..." and then he gets 100%.



In the next video, notice how the teacher uses silent hand signals to redirect her students' attention to the speaker.

BC.100%.GR3.Hinton.'Montage.'Clip1961 from Uncommon Schools on Vimeo.

Here's another example. Watch the way the teacher constantly looks around his class to ensure all students have followed his directions, both when he asks them to put down their pens and when he asks them to turn to page 5 in their packets.

BC.100%.GR9.Gavin.'Pens down in four.'Clip2334 from Uncommon Schools on Vimeo.

Finally, here is a video of some younger students in a small literacy group with their teacher. Even in a small group with elementary kids, 100% should still be the goal:



Note that in all of these examples, individual students were not called out by name, reprimanded in front of the class, or given a consequence. They were simply held accountable to the behavior standard. Publicly correcting a student in a way that is negative or threatening can lead to a power struggle, and that is not something you want to engage in. If a student is consistently not reaching 100%, that's the time to have a one-on-one private conversation with the student.

There are several steps to achieving 100%:
1. Notice. Observe your classroom constantly as students are both learning procedures and following the directions you give them.
2. Hold the line. If you notice students are not following a direction, you must help them correct their behaviors. Even if a student does not seem to be distracting others with his/her noncompliance, the bottom line is that you gave a direction and it was not followed. If you allow this student to refuse the direction, then you open the door for every student to question every direction you give. In short, directions become optional.
3. Don't accept half compliance. Make sure you are clear to your students about what it looks like/sounds like when they follow a direction. The book uses the example of a common management technique: a teacher raises his/her hand and students raise their hands and stop talking n response. In this case, how high does the hand need to be? Can the elbow rest on the desk? Do they have to follow both parts of the direction (silence and raised hand)? It's important to clarify these ideas with students at the beginning of the school year. Then, continue to enforce 100% as the year goes on.

The 100% technique, when done consistently, will prevent many management problems you may run into throughout the year. The Teach Like a Champion book spends about 10 pages on this one technique and gives many other tips. That book is available in the professional section of the Elementary Library if you are interested in reading more.