TEACH 1: ENGAGE STUDENTS IN OBJECTIVE-DRIVEN LESSONS BASED ON CONTENT STANDARDS
Technique #
5
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Without Apology
6
Begin with the End
7
4 Ms
8
Post It
12
The Hook
Overview
If we are not on guard, we can
unwittingly apologize for teaching
worthy content and even for the
students themselves.
1. Progressing from unit planning
to lesson planning.
2. Using a well-framed objective
to define the goal of each lesson.
3. Determining how you’ll assess
your effectiveness in reaching
your goal.
4. Deciding on your activity
Effective Objectives should be:
Manageable, Measurable, Made
First, and the Most Important
Once your objective is complete,
Post It in a visible location in your
room – the same location every
day – so everyone who walks into
the room, your students as well as
peers and administrators, can
identify your purpose for teaching
that day in as plain English as
possible.
A short introductory moment that
captures what’s interesting and
engaging about the material and
puts it out front.
TEACH 2: EXPLAIN CONTENT CLEARLY AND ACCURATELY
Technique #
4
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Format Matters
13
Name the Steps
14
Board = Paper
16
Break it Down
N/A
Change the Pace
Overview
Use Format Matters to prepare
your students to succeed by
requiring complete sentences and
proficient grammar every chance
the teacher gets. Basic format
expectations include:
1. Grammatical Format
2. Complete Sentence Format
3. Audible Format
4. Unit Format
Name the Steps entails:
1. Identify the steps
2. Make the “sticky”
3. Build the steps
4. Use the Stairways
One of the most complex and
critical aspects of being a student:
learning to take notes and retain
a record of one’s knowledge.
Expecting students to make an
exact replica in their notes of
what you write on the board is
the right starting point.
A critically important teaching
tool, but it can be challenging to
use because it is primarily a
reactive strategy. You use it in
response to a student error at the
moment the incorrect answer
happens.
To create the illusion of speed by
using a variety of activities to
accomplish your objective and
moving from one to the other
throughout the course of a lesson.
TEACH 3: ENGAGE STUDENTS AT ALL LEARNING LEVELS IN APPROPRIATELY CHALLENGING
WORK
Technique #
9
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Shortest Path
16
Break it Down
19
At Bats
N/A
Simple to Complex
Overview
Teachers should be getting
students to master the objective
and getting their the best and
fastest way.
A critically important teaching
tool, but it can be challenging to
use because it is primarily a
reactive strategy. You use it in
response to a student error at the
moment the incorrect answer
happens.
Students are provided multiple
opportunities to practice.
Effective questions initially
engage students’ thinking about a
topic in contained and concrete
ways and then push them to think
more deeply and broadly.
TEACH 4: PROVIDE STUDENTS MULTIPLE WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH CONTENT
Technique #
9
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Shortest Path
26
Everybody Writes
Overview
Teachers should be getting
students to master the objective
and getting their the best and
fastest way.
A technique in which teachers ask
all students to prepare for more
ambitious thinking and discussion
by reflecting in writing for a short
interval.
TEACH 5: USE STRATEGIES THAT DEVELOP HIGHER-LEVEL THINKING SKILLS
Technique #
3
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Stretch It
17
Ratio
N/A
One At A Time
N/A
Simple to Complex
N/A
N/A
Verbatim (No Bait and Switch)
Clear and Concise
N/A
Stock Questions
N/A
Hit Rate
Overview
The sequence of learning does
not end with a right answer;
reward right answers with followup questions that extend
knowledge and test for reliability.
This technique is especially
important for differentiating
instruction.
Teachers push more and more of
the cognitive work out on
students as soon as they are
ready, with the understanding
that the cognitive work must be
on –task, focused, and productive.
Teachers use when they are
engaged and enthused about the
content and helps focus students
on developing one idea at a time
and focuses you on questioning
with a specific goal or purpose in
mind, not just a generalized
desire to spark (any discussion).
Effective questions initially
engage students’ thinking about a
topic in contained and concrete
ways and then push them to think
more deeply and broadly.
Ask the same question.
Improves the clarity of questions
teachers ask of their students.
Asking one sequence of questions
in a row.
The rate at which students
answer a teachers questions
correctly (or adequately and
thoroughly, in the case of
questions where there’s no firm
right answer).
TEACH 6: CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND RESPOND APPROPRIATELY DURING THE LESSON
Technique #
3
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Stretch It
15
Circulate
18
Checking for Understanding
20
Exit Ticket
21
Take A Stand
22
Cold Call
23
Call and Response
24
Pepper
Overview
The sequence of learning does
not end with a right answer;
reward right answers with followup questions that extend
knowledge and test for reliability.
This technique is especially
important for differentiating
instruction.
A technique for moving
strategically around the room
during all parts of the lesson.
Effective Check for Understanding
equals gathering data constantly
and acting on them immediately.
The second part of (acting on the
data quickly) is both harder to do
and at least as important.
Teachers end the lesson with a
single question or maybe short
sequence of problems, to solve at
the close of class.
This technique involves pushing
students to actively engage in the
ideas around them by making
judgments about the answers
their peers provide.
In order to make engaged
participating the expectation, call
on students regardless of whether
they have raised their hands.
Use group choral response – you
ask; they answer in unison – to
build a culture of energetic,
positive engagement.
A teaching technique using fastpaced group-oriented activities to
review familiar information and
foundational skills. The teacher
tosses questions to a group of
students quickly, and students
answer back.
25
Wait Time
N/A
Simple to Complex
N/A
Verbatim (No Bait and Switch)
Delaying a few strategic seconds
after a teacher finishes asking a
question and before a teacher
asks a student to begin answering
it.
Effective questions initially
engage students’ thinking about a
topic in contained and concrete
ways and then push them to think
more deeply and broadly.
When repeating the question to a
student, it is important to ask the
same question.
TEACH 7: MAXIMIZE INSTRUCTIONAL TIME
Technique #
29
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Do Now
32
SLANT
33
On Your Mark
48
Explain Everything
N/A
All Hands
N/A
Look Forward
N/A
Brighten Lines
N/A
Change the Pace
Overview
A short activity that a teacher has
written on the board or is waiting
at their desks before they enter.
Five key behaviors that maximize
students’ ability to pay attention
are in the acronym SLANT
Sit Up, Listen, Ask and answer
questions, Nod your head, and
Track the Speaker.
Teachers’ use On Your Mark to
show students how to prepare
before it begins and then expect
them to do so every day.
If there’s a pace that needs to be
maintained in order to achieve
the day’s objective, the Explain
Everything teacher tells her
students.
Create the illusion of speed by
shifting rapidly among and
involving a wide array of
participants by using All Hands.
This technique makes pacing feel
more vibrant.
When starting an activity in a
lesson, a teacher is presented
with an opportunity to Brighten
Lines: to draw bright, clear lines
at the beginning and end. Making
activities begin and end crisply
and clearly rather than melding
together in an undifferentiated
stew can have a positive effect on
pacing.
Creating the illusion of speed by
using a variety of activities to
accomplish your objective and
moving from one to the other
throughout the course of a lesson.
N/A
Work the Clock
N/A
Every Minute Matters
This technique focuses on time in
teachers’ classrooms. Teachers
count down, parcel it on highly
specific increments, often
announcing an allotted time for
each activity. The countdown
allows them to acknowledge
productive behavior in an
especially effective way. Using
countdowns can allow teachers to
continually set goals for the
class’s speed in meeting
expectations.
Use Every Minute Matters and
reward students for their hard
work with a high-energy review of
all they’ve learned or with a
challenge problem. Teachers
should keep a series of short
learning activities ready so they
are prepared when a two minute
opportunity emerges: at the end
of class, in the hallway, or while
waiting for buses.
CULTIVATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 1: BUILD A RESPECTFUL, LEARNING-FOCUSED
CLASSROOM COMMUNITY
Technique #
1
Teach Like a Champion Technique
No Opt Out
5
Without Apology
22
Cold Call
32
SLANT
33
On Your Mark
35
Props
46
The J-Factor
47
Emotional Constancy
Overview
A sequence that begins with a
student unable to answer a
question should end with the
student answering that question
as often as possible.
If we are not on guard, we can
unwittingly apologize for teaching
worthy content and even for the
students themselves.
In order to make engaged
participating the expectation, call
on students regardless of whether
they have raised their hands.
Five key behaviors that maximize
students’ ability to pay attention
are in the acronym SLANT
Sit Up, Listen, Ask and answer
questions, Nod your head, and
Track the Speaker.
Teachers showing students how
to prepare before it begins and
expecting them to do so every
day.
Are also called “shout-outs” and
“ups”. Props are public praise for
students who demonstrate
excellence or exemplify virtues.
The key driver not just of a happy
classroom but of a high-achieving
classroom. When work is
punctuated regularly by moments
of exultation and joy.
Teachers with Emotional
Constancy trend cautiously
around much of the language that
other teachers use as a habit,
thinking carefully about what they
imply the goal of student
decisions to be.
49
Normalize Error
N/A
Every Minute Matters
N/A
All Hands
Getting it wrong and then getting
it right is one of the fundamental
processes for schooling. Respond
to both parts of this sequence,
the wrong and the right, as
completely normal.
Use Every Minute Matters and
reward students for their hard
work with a high-energy review of
all they’ve learned or with a
challenge problem. Teachers
should keep a series of short
learning activities ready so they
are prepared when a two minute
opportunity emerges: at the end
of class, in the hallway, or while
waiting for buses.
Create the illusion of speed by
shifting rapidly among and
involving a wide array of
participants by using All Hands.
CULTIVATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 2: DEVELOP CLASSROOM PROCEDURES AND ROUTINES
Technique #
28
Teach Like a Champion Technique
Entry Routines
30
Tight Transitions
31
Binder Control
34
Seat Signals
Overview
Making a habit out of what is
efficient, productive, and
scholarly after the greeting and as
students take their seats and class
begins.
Quick and routine transitions that
students can execute without
extensive narration by the
teacher.
Teacher demonstrates the
importance of what they teach by
building a system for the storage,
organization, and recall of what
students have learned.
Teachers develop a set of signals
for common needs, especially
those that require or allow
students to get out of their seats.
CULTIVATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 3: USE CLASSROOM SPACE AND RESOURCES TO SUPPORT
INSTRUCTION
No Strategies Identified
CULTIVATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 4: MANAGE STUDENT BEHAVIOR
Technique #
36
Teach Like a Champion Technique
100%
37
What To Do
38
Strong Voice
39
Do It Again
40
Sweat the Details
41
Threshold
42
No Warnings
Overview
The goal is for a teacher to get
100% compliance so they can
teach. Interventions must be fast
and invisible.
Giving directions to students in a
way that provides clear and useful
guidance – enough of it to allow
any student who wanted to do as
asked to do so easily.
Enables teachers to establish
control, command, and the
benign authority that makes the
use of excessive consequences
unnecessary. There are five
principles teachers can use in
their interactions with students to
try to establish control: Economy
of Language, Do Not Talk Over, Do
Not Engage, Square Up/Stand
Still, and Quiet Power.
Doing it again and doing it right,
or better, or perfect is often the
best consequence.
To reach the highest standards,
teachers must create a perception
of order.
The most important moment to
set expectations in the classroom
is the minute when students
enter the classroom or they are
transitioning within a classroom,
when the lesson formally begins.
Threshold ensures that the
teacher makes the habit of
getting it right from the outset
each day.
Using minor interventions and
small consequences that teachers
can administer fairly and without
hesitation before a situation gets
emotional is the key to
maintaining control and earning
students’ respect.
43
Positive Framing
44
Precise Praise
45
Warm/Strict
47
Emotional Constancy
Make corrections consistently and
positively. Narrate the world you
want your students to see even
while you are relentlessly
improving it.
1. Differentiate acknowledgment
and praise.
2. Praise (and acknowledge) loud;
fix soft.
3. Praise must be genuine.
This technique shows that you
must be both: caring, funny,
warm, concerned, and nurturing –
and also strict, by the book,
relentless, and sometimes
inflexible.
Teachers with Emotional
Constancy trend cautiously
around much of the language that
other teachers use as a habit,
thinking carefully about what they
imply the goal of student
decisions to be.