In schools we spend a lot of time defining the behavior we want by the negative: "Don't get distracted" " "Stop fooling around" 'That behavior was inappropriate. " These commands are vague, inefficient, and unclear, They force students to guess what you want them to do."

1. Setting and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations 177
harder nOI to comply. requiring a willfulness Ihat few !>tudenls are willing to
pursue.
• Be seen looking. When you ask for compliance, look for it consistently
and be seen looking for il. Every few minutes. scan the room with a calm smile on
your face to en"ure that everything is as it should be. When you give a direclion,
remember to paul>c and scan the room. Narrating your scan-'Thank you. Pcter.
Thank you, Marissa. Eyes right on me, front row"-reinforces that when you
ask. you both look 10 see who's done it and consistently see what individuals do.
• Avoid marginal compliance. It's nOi JUSt whether your slUdenls do what
you've askcd but whether they do II nght. A cena.m number will complete a task
only as fully as you show them you expect it completed. They'll rightly want
to know what exactly "eyes on mc" means. Eycs ncar you? Eyes on yours for
a Heeting second? Eyes locked on yours while you're talking? The difference
among these three interpretations is night and day.
• Leverage the power or unacknowledged behavioral opportunities. Stu-
dents can gain valuable practice behaving in a constnlclive and positive manner
without cven being aware that they are doing so. For examplc, they can practice
making a habit of following their teacher's directions. In a classroom where the
teacher u:.es fun. high-energy Call and Responsl' (technique 23) tcaching, stu-
dents practice doing what they're asked, right on cue, over and over again. They
don't recognize that they are practicing following commands, just that they're
having fun. And they see their peers doing this as well, which nonnalizes follow-
through and compliance with the teacher. Over time this ha~ a powerful effect.
StudeniS not only build up muscle memory of repeated on-cue I,;umpliancc, but
they come to expect that instant compliance from their peers and associate it
wilh positive feelings. They are learning to buy in and behave without even
being aware that they are doing so.
Teachers who find lOIS of opportunities for students 10 practice doing what
they ask when they aren't concerned about behavior ensure a greater likelihood
of thcir success when they are.
,:: -,',0"-;, '" -":~-:- -:.-- TECHNIQUE 37 "
- -
Some portion of student noncompliance- a larger portion than many teachers
ever suppose-is caused not by defiance but by incompetence: by studcnls'
misunderstanding a direction, nOI knowing how to follow it. or tuning out in
178 Teach Like a Champion
a moment of benign distraction. Recognizing this means 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. The name for this
technique is What to Do, and uc:ing it makec: direction" routinely lI~eful and
easy to follow.
In schoofs we spend a fot of
time defining the behavior we
want by the negative: "Don't
get distracted" " "Stop fooling
around" 'That behavior was
inappropriate. " These
commands are vague,
inefficient, and unclear, They
force students to guess what
you want them to do"
Four primary characteristics of What
to Do help reinforce accountability
among students. In addition, a critical
guiding principle emphasi7..cs differen-
tiating between defiance and incompe-
tence. Consistently making this crucial
distinction will have a pervasive effect
on your classroom culturc and relation-
ship with students.
What to Do starts. logically, with
your telling students what to do-that
is, with "ot telling them what I/ot to
do. In schools we l>pend a lot of time
defining the behavior we want by the
negative: "Don't get distracted," "Stop
fooling around." "That behavior was inappropriate." These commands are
vague, inefficient. and unclear. They force :,tudents to gUCl>!> what you want
them to do. What's the "it" in, "Cut it out," for example? Assuming I don't
want to get distrd.ctcd, if all you tell me is not to do that, what should I now
assume the alternative is and how would I have known that?
Evcn when we don't define behnvior by the negative. we are often insuf-
ficiently helpful. When you tell a student to pay attention. ask yourself if she
knows how to pay attention. Has !lnyone ever taught her? Does she know your
specific expectations for paying attention (having her eyes on the speaker, say)?
Has anyone ever helped her learn to avoid and control distl"dctions and distract-
edness? The command "p:ty attention" provides no useful guidance because it
fails to leach.
One of our primary jobs is to tell students what to do and how to do it. Telling
students what to do rather than what not to do is not only far more efficient
and effective bUI it refocuses us, even in moment:, that arc about b!::havior, on
teaching. II expresses the belief that teaching can solve problems. However, just

2. Setting and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations 179
telling kids what to do is not quite enough. To be effective. directions should be
specific. concrete. sequential. and observable:
• Specific. Effective directions are specific. They focus on manageable and
precisely described actions that students ean take. Instead 01 advIsing a student
to pay attention. for example. I might advise him to put his pencil on his desk or
keep his eyes on me. This provides useful guidance that he can tuke action on
and pay attention to doing. It is easy to remember. solution oriented. and hard
to misundcn.tand.
• Concrete. Effective directions are not just specific: they involve. when
possible. clear. actionable tasks Ihat any sludent knows how to do. If I tell my
student to pay anention. he mayor may not know how 10 do that. but if I tell
him to put his feet under his desk. J have asked him to do something no student
can misunderstand or not know how to do. If he appears to struggle. I ean get
more concrete: "Tum your body to face me. Bring your legs around. Put them
under your desk. Push in your chair." These are real things: physical. simple.
commonplace. There is no gray area in this command and no fines!>t or prior
knowledge re<.julred to follow through. And the eliminillion of such gmy area
allows me to bener understand the intention of my student.
• Sequential. Since a complex skill like paying attention is mrely equated
with a single specific action. effective directions should describe a sequence
of concrete specific IlCtion... In the ca<;e of my student who needs help paying:
attention. I might advise him, ··John. put your feet under your desk. put your
pencil down. and put your eyes on me." In some cases. I might add. "When I
write it on the board, that means you write il in your notes."
• Observable. I was careful to give John not just a sequence of specific
steps to follow. I dcscnbed observable actions: things that I could plainly see
him do. This is critical. Since my directions focused on a series of steps that
were specific and simple enough that any student could reasonably be expected
to do them. the observational component of my directions left John with little
wiggle room in terms of his accountability. If I tell him to pay attention, I can't
really tell whether he has done so and therefore cannot hold him accountable
very effectively. He will protest, "But I was paying attention." Consciously or
unconsciously. students sense and exploit this lack of accountability. However.
if I tell John. "Put your feet under your desk. put your pencil down. and get your
eyes on me," I can see perfectly well whether he has done it. H~ knows perfectly
well that I can see whether he has done it and is therefore more likely to do it.
180 Teach like a Champion
What 10 Do allows you to distinguish between illCompetence and defiance
by making your commands specific enough that they can't be deliberately mis·
interpreted and helpful enough that they explain away any gray areas. However,
it's worth considering a bit more lhe capacity to distinguish between incompe-
tence and defiance. If I ask John 10 pay attention or ..it up or get on ta..k and
he doesn't. knowing whether he will not or cannot maners deeply. If he cannot.
lhe problem is incompetence. If he will not. the problem is defiance. I respond
to these situations differently.
Psychological studies suggest
that learned helplessness-
the process of giving up
because you believe your own
choices and actions are
irrelevant-generally results
from a perception that
consequences are random.
If the issue is incompetence. my
obligation is 10 teach John. If I pun-
ish him for not complying when he is
unable to do so, the consequence will
seem unjust: I will punish him for what
he doesn'l understand or can't do. This
will erode my relationship with John and
teach him that consequences are discon-
nected from his actions. If they happen
for reasons he does not fathom. they
Ilre random 10 him. P<;ychological studico;
suggest that learned helplessness-the
process of giving up because you believe your own choices and actions
are irrelcvant-genernlly results from a perception that consequences are
random.
But if John will not do what I ru.k. the issuc b defiance. and my obligation
is to provide a consequence. Unless I act clearly and decisively in the face of
a challcnge to my authority. John will establish a precedent of impunity. He
and his classmate~ will now know thai John, Ilnd arguably anyone else who's
willing 10. can successfully challenge me for the rest of Ihe year. When I let
go of my authority in this way. I am abdicating my responsibility to protect the
environment in which the rest of the students live and learn-and thus their right
to a quality education. If I respond to defiance with teaching. I am just as bad
off as if I respond to incompetence with punishment.
Therefore. you must distinguiloh betwt."Cn im:ompelcnce and defiance.
responding to incompetence with teaching and defiance with consequence.
Confusing one for the other-and many teachers routinely fail to distinguish
them-has damaging consequences in both cases. and this is why making the
distinction reliably and consistently has such faNcaching ramifications for your
classroom. Making the distinction well is probably the most Important pan

3. Setting and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations 181
of What to Do; arguably it is one of the most imponant tools for building
classroom culture. By giving concrete, specihc. observable directions-simple
and clear enough that anyone of good faith could do them if they wanted-you
can make the distinction consistently and fairly. You can task students who are
struggling with actions that allow you know the difference so you can teach
when you should teach tlnd exert your authority when you mu'"
What to Do, Version 2
When students fail to follow a direction and you know the cause is incompc·
tence or believe that you need funher data to detennine whether it is. revising
the initial direction. this lime by breaking it down into an even mure !'opeclhe
sequence of steps. can help. Let's say I task my students: ''Take out your fold-
ers. Find your homework. Place it at the comer of your dcsk." Two students
fail to do this. They take out their folders but go no further. While the rest of
my citl"" complr_e.. Iht" t:lc;:k , I mi£ht ..ay 10 them. "Open your folder. and look
in the leff.Side pocket for your assignment. Take it out. and place it on your
desk. Now close the folder. Good. And put it away." This reteaches the part
of the task that was difficult for the students: providing more guidance where
they were unclear (perhaps they didn't know where to look in their folders: per·
haps they 'Weren't sure whether I meant they should place their hUlIlcl,ork 01
their folders in the comer of their desks). If that reteaching is unnece~sary. it
reinforces the students' accountability for following through. Yes. I am babying
them a lillIe. but I am being very clear that I am aware of the noncompliance.
am not rattled by ii, and intend to address it. Either way I am more likely 10
cause the successful completion of the task or. if nol. to reveal more clearly a
case of minor defiance that I can handle with a consequence and the confidence
that the decision to do so was just. Since Ihis allows me to administer my conse-
quences wilhout doubt or hesitation. it allows me to administer them with absolute
cun:.i:.ten...:y.
Repeating a Whllt to Do with greater specificity can also be used in crisis
situations. As a dean of students. I was once called to a classroom where a
teacher had tried to send a student to the office. The student. volatile and often
defianl, had refused to move or to acknowledge the teacher when she had been
asked to leave. In:.tead she put her head down and ignored all directions. With
the enlirc classroom watching me. I bent down next to her desk and said. quietly
and finnly, "Christina, come with me please." She didn't move a muscle. I was
glad 1 made the initial command quietly and preserving a modicum of privacy
but I knew time W;IS running out. By luck or instinct-I was not yet aware (If
182 Teach like a Champion
the What 10 Do tcchnique-l said. "Chri:.lina, pUJ.h your chair back from your
desk. and stand up beside it." 1..0 and behold, that's exactly what Christina did.
"Good:' I said. "Now follow me to the door."
After that. I used the technique in a variety of crises and found it one of
my most reliable tools. especially when confronting a group of students who
nceded redirection and were actively reading my level of calm and willingness
to assen my authority. I found it helped me to know what to say in situations
where I might otherwise be nervous. Knowing thaI I would rely on a clear What
'0 Do allowed me to approach tough situations calmly and with a confidence that
increaSL"<imy likelihood of succes:.: "Gcntlemen. plc..se paU'e your conversation
for a moment. I am teaching on the other side of this door. Please pick up your
thing." walk 10 the end of the hall. open thc doors, and step outside. You may
continue your conversation there."
,;.'.... -., TECHNIQUE 38
. . . -. ' .
. ' ,.. ... -~...~ ~ . > _ . .
Some tcachers have "it": they enter a room and are instantly in command. Stu·
dents who moments before seemed beyond the appeal of reason suddenly take
their seats to await instructions. It's hard to say exactly what "it" is and why
~ome teachers have it. Much of it is surely intangible and nontransferable. a
mamfestation of the umque pu""er 01 mdividuals and their abilil) h) earn respect
and credibility. build relationships. and exude confidence and poise. But even if
I can't tell you exactly how to boule "ii," I can describe five concrete things that
"it" teachers consistently use to signal their authority. These are five techniques
:myonc. even the ~{'min~ly meekest and mildcst of novices. can use. Using them
will put you in a position to establish control, command. and the benign aulhor·
itl' that makes the use of cxcessive consequences unnecessary. Mastering these
skills may not make you the "it" teacher, but having a Strong Voice will surely
gel you a lot closer.
Generally Strong VOjC~ teachers follow fivc prindpll!!'o in their interactions
with students-or al least in the interactions where they are trying to establish
control: Economy of Language. 00 Not Talk Over, Do Not Engage. Square
Up/Stand Still, and Quiet Power. They also have a default register--a tone
and demean(r Ihey employ in their interactions-that maximizes the power of
these five principles.