100 Percent

How not to draw an owl

When people talk about “100 percent” as a classroom management tool it often feels like the owl meme above. Step one: insist on 100 percent of students following your directions. Step two: have amazing classroom management. Lots of teachers try this 100 percent thing and crash and burn because it's vague and easily misused advice. Here’s some more specific advice that goes beyond “insist on 100 percent.”

If you accept less than 100 percent, you risk a slippery slope. First it's 90 percent, then it's 80 percent, then it's 50 percent

"There's one suitable percentage of students following a direction given in your classroom: 100 Percent. If you don't do this, you make your authority subject to interpretation, situation, and motivation. Students have cause to ask themselves: "Did she mean that? For everyone? Do I feel like going along with her today?"

-Doug Lemov, Teach Like a Champion

Lemov's basic observation is accurate. Here's an example. If I am going to give directions or explain something to the class, it's best if I wait for every student to be quiet. If I start giving directions while one student is still talking to their neighbor, I send the message that it's ok to talk while the teacher is talking. Maybe that side conversation was something important! I don't know. But an important side conversation becomes a casual chat with a friend and the issue multiplies. Anything less than 100 percent is a slippery slope. That’s the key observation. It’s not “insist on 100 percent every time,” it’s “beware the slippery slope.”

A quick reminder, a bit of patience, and explaining why go a long way

Here's a second situation. I use mini whiteboards a lot to check for understanding or give some quick practice. I give students a problem, give them a minute to work on it, then ask them to hold up their answers. If a few students don't hold up their whiteboards, soon a few students becomes half the class and the practice isn't nearly as valuable for me to check for understanding. The first step is to remind students to hold their whiteboards up, and also remind them why we're doing this: so I can see who understands and who doesn't, and either spend more time on a topic or help students who need extra support. This strategy probably won't get every kid holding up their whiteboard; I'll address that next. But when I’m getting students to be quiet for directions, a quick reminder and some patience work well. For small stuff, remind students without calling them out by name, and you'll often get there. For bigger stuff, it’s a good place to start even if it doesn’t get you to 100 percent.

Don't get into power struggles

You're probably thinking, "ok, that's nice, but some students still won't hold their whiteboards up. What do you do then?" The most important thing is not to get into a power struggle in front of the class. This is where the 100 percent advice leads a lot of teachers astray. They think "ok, I need to get 100 percent" and try to coerce any remaining students to hold up their whiteboards. This is a power struggle: does the teacher's power to coerce match the student's power over their own actions? There are no good outcomes here. Even if the student listens you have eroded your relationship with that student by publicly humiliating them. If the student doesn't listen you have broadcasted the conflict to the entire class. Calling students out publicly also creates issues of fairness. Are you going to do the same thing for every student every time? Probably not. That type of public unfairness is a great way to turn students against you.

Caring about 100 percent doesn't mean solving it right that moment

This is the most important piece. I want to make sure that 90 percent of students holding up their whiteboards doesn't erode to 80 percent and then 60 percent and then 30 percent. The best way to do this isn't to get into a power struggle in front of the class, it's to check in with the student individually to understand what's going on. Maybe another kid keeps teasing him for getting questions wrong. Maybe he feels confused and doesn't see the point in holding up a blank whiteboard. Maybe he's having a bad day. Regardless, it's worth finding a moment to check in. Maybe that means giving the class three questions to work on so you have a bit longer to check in with a few students. Maybe it means following up later in class. I keep sticky notes handy to write names down so I don’t forget. That individual followup is a much better strategy to avoid power struggles and also avoid the slippery slope. The message is "I care about you and your learning, let's figure out what's going on and how I can help you participate fully."

Do a full-class reset if there are too many students opting out to follow up with individually

Sometimes it's not 2 or 3 students but 10 or 15 students who aren't holding up their whiteboards. Reminders and patience will help a bit, but I can't go and check in with all of them. Here's where I need to stop class and have a larger conversation, reiterating both what I'm asking them to do and why I'm asking them to do it. Teachers should never overestimate their direction-giving skills. Lots of these situations happen because the directions were vague or confusing. Other times students don’t understand why they’re supposed to do something. Make sure students know what to do and why it's worth doing. This won't solve all of the problems teachers have, but it’s the best solution in this situation and sometimes it makes a big difference.

Pick your battles

The first mistake teachers make with 100 percent is getting into power struggles in front of the class. The second mistake is pushing for 100 percent in every single little thing that happens in class. Or worse, being inconsistent — insisting on 100 percent with one thing but then letting that slide the next day while insisting on 100 percent with something else. It's not feasible for a typical class at a typical school to do everything every time. Pick a few things that you really care about. Send the message to students that 100 percent participation matters in these moments. Pick things that have the biggest impact on student learning. I've chosen to push for 100 percent quiet when I'm giving directions because when I don't, I see that slippery slope — often only a few minutes later — of kids chatting and then not knowing what to do. I've chosen to push for 100 percent participation using mini whiteboards because I use them a ton, and high participation is key to making that part of class useful for students. I don't push for 100 percent of eyes on me when I'm explaining something. I would end up interrupting my teaching too often to remind students and it’s perfectly possible to listen without having your eyes on the teacher every second. It's not good for learning if I have to keep pausing class to give students reminders and reset. The specific places to use 100 will vary by teacher and school. If your colleagues all have an expectation it will be easier for you to push for it too. If no one else in your school does something you do it might be an uphill battle. This is where new teachers, and teachers who are new to a school, often struggle: it's hard to know at the beginning of the year which expectations will be easy and which will be hard. Less is more: pick a few things you care about and do them well, especially when you’re new.

Coda

The big idea here is that teachers should care about each student doing their best in class, but avoid getting into power struggles in public. I’ve found a similar principle applies to learning. All teachers want their students to learn things. When a student is struggling to learn something we want to help them. But a situation I avoid is trying to help a confused student in front of the entire class. You don’t want to just say “it’s ok to be confused” and move on, that’s not good for class culture. But getting into a long conversation in front of everyone can be embarrassing, and convince other kids it’s not worth speaking up when you’re confused. It also doesn’t work very well; it’s much easier to understand where a student is confused by pulling up a chair and talking through a few problems with them. Instead, just say “let’s talk one-on-one” and follow up with the student once there’s a bit of independent work. If a ton of students are confused, it’s time to take a step back and reteach or move onto something else and circle back the next day. Same idea — I don’t need to solve every problem in the moment, but it does make a big difference to talk to students individually, communicate that I care, and own when something is my fault.