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.