I’ve occasionally been asked what one piece of advice I’d give to all teachers.
It’s a daunting question.
Truth be told, I’d want to mention a dozen or so core areas that work together to create a productive, well-behaved classroom.
(In other words, become an expert at classroom management.)
However, there is one thing that by itself may have the greatest impact.
The reason, quite simply, is that it addresses a mistake I see being made by the largest number of teachers.
The mistake is this:
Failing to teach lessons, routines, rules, and expectations—or anything else for that matter—with enough detail.
Most teachers just don’t go far enough, deep enough, or explicit enough.
But to be maximally effective, you must go the extra mile (or two) and focus on the nitty-gritty details.
Here’s why:
It’s the ‘how’ of high expectations.
In the educational world, we often hear about high expectations and why it’s important to have them, but there is very little talk about how to actually get students to reach those expectations.
The answer is highly detailed teaching. It’s to break down everything you want your students to be able to do or know into their smallest components.
In this way, by building one detail (and success) upon another, you’re able to guide your class to whatever academic and behavioral high bar you set.
It leaves no question as to what it takes to succeed.
In many, many classrooms, students have no idea of how to become better students other than to “work hard,” which is difficult for them to conceptualize.
Details—taught, modeled, and practiced—provide a roadmap.
They eliminate confusion and leave no question as to what needs to be done to get from where they are now to where they want to be (or where you want them to be).
It builds confidence.
By focusing on details, you’re able to make the most challenging and complex subjects, concepts, and assignments doable for all students, which builds confidence like nothing else.
For every time you prove to them that they can do something difficult, that they didn’t think they could do, you empower them with genuine belief in themselves and their abilities.
Knowing that they can isn’t just half the battle, it is without a doubt the most critical ingredient to success.
It’s interesting.
Most teachers I observe tend to focus on the big picture. They linger on broad conceptual whats and whys because they assume that smaller, fact-heavy details are boring.
But the opposite is true. Details are inherently interesting and where you’ll find one of the secrets to making your instruction a magnet for students.
For the most part, the big picture is best left for them to draw their own conclusions about, whereas details inspire fascination and the desire to learn more and more and more.
It causes careful, attentive, and fully independent work.
Details best prepare students to perform independently because they remove all fears, concerns, and questions over what, specifically, they need to do to succeed.
Knowing every in and out ahead of time causes students to attack their work with tenacity and become truly and fully independent.
The result is silent concentration—or excited collaboration if doing group work—and the wonderful feeling of flow, where time speeds up and students become lost in their work.
It transfers to everything they do.
Mining the details of each lesson cause students to become detail-oriented themselves. It’s a trait that grows day by day into a habit you’ll notice them applying to whatever they do.
It’s also a success skill few of them have or will ever attain without someone like you to instill it within them.
But once they have it, once they embrace its value, they’ll carry it with them well beyond the time they spend in your classroom and on into the rest of their lives.
It keeps students far away from misbehavior and failure.
As mentioned before, detailed teaching allows you to raise the bar of excellence to heights previously unknown by your students and well past what most teachers consider acceptable.
Done right, which we’ll be sure to cover in future articles, this all but guarantees their success.
It keeps the distance between them and failure and them and misbehavior far, far away, resulting in a peaceful, productive classroom.
Intrinsically Motivating
Highly detailed teaching develops strong intrinsic motivation.
—Because doing anything well feels good and causes students to want more and more of it, which is the most powerful force you can ever bring about in your classroom.
Thus, preparing your students to devour whatever you put in front of them should be your number one goal for each lesson.
So shine a light into every crook and cranny. Bridge every gap with incremental stepping stones. Draw them in with details, which are what we all find so compelling in our favorite books and TV shows.
And your students will learn and attend and behave because they want to.
For the feeling it gives them.
For the hurly-burly excellence they feel blooming inside.
PS – I was a guest this week on the Art Class Curator podcast. The host, Cindy Ingram, and I covered many classroom management topics of interest to all teachers. To listen, click here.
Also, if you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.
Great article but I’d love examples-what ARE the details to focus on?
Hi Sally,
Ask and you shall receive. 🙂
https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2009/06/07/supercharge-your-classroom-management-plan-through-modeling/
https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2012/02/18/how-to-be-a-great-teacher/
This is so true. This week in my year 1 class (I’m a student teacher on my final professional experience block) I was teaching a writing unit and went really deep into what I expected and what they had to do. They went back to their desks to work independently, and you could have heard a pin drop. Another teacher walked in thinking we were out of the room. They wrote some great stories for 6 and 7 year olds. I was so proud of them.
Way to go, Mrs. Colley! Your first school is going to be lucky to have you.
I am in desperate need of help. I am an ISS teacher. Please don’t be like everyone else and judge that ISS is a waiste of time for students. I make sure the students not only keep up with their assignments but catch up on assignments they’re behind on. Academics doesn’t even need to be a factor on what my plea for help is. The kids like coming to ISS because it’s quiet in there and they like being able to work on their assignments and getting caught up on what they are missing. I don’t let students in ISS talk, sleep, sit and do nothing, get on computer, and I take their phones away. The problem is… they like the structure and they like being in ISS. Unfortunately I have students begging me to come to my room. I’m flattered they like me and want my daily help but the behavior problems are getting worse and worse. Being sent to ISS is no punishment anymore. Yes i want students to stay caught up with their assignments when they come to ISS but my main job and what I want to concentrate on is for them to STOP misbehaveing in class. They need to learn to behave and learn they need to stay in class and that coming to ISS is not an option for not dealing with a teacher they don’t care for. In class is where they need to be.
I need help balenceing keeping them caught up while being “punished” in ISS and letting them see ISS as a punishment not as a place to escape a class they don’t care for.
Help Me please
Hi Ginny,
I wish I could just give you some fast advice, but there is a lot here to respond to. I would also need to ask you some questions before I’d be comfortable giving any recommendation. There is a cost involved, but you may want to consider personal coaching. For more info, check out the link along the menu bar.
Nice article,
Completely agree. Nobody is a mind reader. It’s funny that how some teachers and educators think that once you get to the higher grades, you stop modelling or giving details. Well, no. You still need to show children exactly what is required and explain every step along the way.
Thank you so much for your site. I love it, use it and encourage my colleagues to use it as well.
I have never had a reply like this though and wondered how you would respond:
I follow a behaviour plan very similar to yours and have done so for the past few years in my Year 1 (NSW, Australia) classroom with excellent success. I use your letter as a template and have sent it home when necessary during that time.
Last week the parent who received their first letter for the year responded:
“Interference with rights is very strong wording and in three years I have not received a letter such as this.
I’m sure you can imagine this has me extremely concerned.”
I met with the parent and we sorted out her concerns…
I find it interesting, that some parents think teaching is a breeze and their child’s ‘cute’ behaviour is just that!
I have been teaching for 35 years and it has actually gotten harder not easier, however I have to say that since following your approach I am enjoying teaching again and my students are enjoying learning. Many thanks.
Hi Margaret,
This is why it’s so important to send your policies and procedures packet home the first week of school to be signed by parents, and then conduct a back-to-school night or afternoon to answer questions and address any concerns. This way there are no surprises, complaints, or misunderstandings during the year. Here are a couple articles on the topic:
https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2016/02/06/how-to-avoid-angry-parent-complaints/
https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2018/03/31/how-to-handle-parents-who-complain-about-their-child-being-held-accountable/
Great article. I’ve searched the archives and am having trouble finding articles on how to handle arguments, peer disrespect and meanness, and just emotional friendship issues (which disrupt work). Are there any resources on the site?
Hi Jessica,
Search “friendship drama.”
Hi Michael,
Thank you very much for the post. This was much needed. I agree with you 100 %, but struggle with this due to the following thought: How do I respect individual differences, while setting detailed and high expectations?
I teach elementary school now, and I have students who drag on, take longer than everyone else in doing the routines, going to lunch, going outside— pretty much everything. They literally move slowly and take their sweet time. This is not a result of any phisical handicap, they can be really fast and timely on their good days. But when they wish, which is often, they do the routines very slowly. They know that I will get impatient and will remind, and I suspect/believe that their behavior is deliberate. A lot of little “emergencies” will also be reported at tight times: “my finger hurts, could you please check”, “I need to use the bathroom”. Someone may drop pen or notebooks making noise, and others complain that it distracted them. My difficulty in addressing these is that these deliberate delays may theoretically happen by accident? How do I hold a student accountable for dropping stuff, although I know that they did it on purpose? I can’t.
How do I hold them accountable for complaining of pain, (at strategically selected times)? How do I set detailed, high expectations with modeling on with the time required to complete a task? After all real emergencies may happen, but in my class these are massively and regularly misused. Should I set a time limit for each task, such as lining up and then count seconds?
What am I doing wrong? I would greatly appreciate advice.
Sara
Hi Sara,
These are great questions that I’ll try to address in a future article. However, to be specific to your situation I’d have questions for you. You may want to consider personal coaching. And yes, you can give a time limit. Using music is perfect for this, which we’ve written about in the past. Also, if a student is purposely trying to sabotage a routine, you can indeed enforce a consequence. This too has been covered. Search “proof.”
Hello Michael,
I used The Classroom Management Secret with success this past year. Thank you. I teach 7th grade science and when I gave my end of the year survey I had a couple of students say that they thought that my method (I used yellow and red cards for warning and step 2) seemed childish. I was thinking about downloading your High School Plan but noted that overall you felt it applied best to 8th – 12th.
Thank you in advance for your feedback,
Libby