1. Giving Clear, Specific Directions
What to Do
Giving Clear, Specific Directions

2. Do Now
Following an observation by your Compass coordinator, you receive the feedback written on the chalkboard. After reading the feedback, answer the following questions:
List two problems you have with this feedback.
What other information would you like the coordinator to provide?
Observation Notes
Your students are out of control when they enter the room and they do not pay attention. You need to work on classroom management. Come up with a plan to fix this problem before I return next week. Make sure to read the article I gave you as well, it has some great ideas!

3. Lesson Objectives
Identify the four primary characteristics of effective What to Do directions during instruction
Revise insufficient directions to meet all of the criteria for effective directions and practice delivering the revised directions
Practice providing effective directions that you can utilize in your classroom

4. Session Overview Key Idea Four characteristics of What to Do:
Specific- Directions focus on manageable and precisely described actions that students can take
Concrete- Directions involve, when possible, clear actionable tasks that any student knows how to do.
Sequential- These directions should describe a sequence of concrete specific student actions.
Observable- When students know that you can see whether they are obeying or not, they are more likely to comply with your directives.
Key Idea
Give directions in a format that clearly describes what you want in concrete terms- as opposed to giving directions in vague or confusing terms, or telling students what NOT to do.
A student’s failure to comply with your directives is not always an act of defiance. Very often, the problem is incompetence: the student does not understand a direction, does not know how to follow it, or is distracted when the directions are given.
You must give 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.
When giving directions to students, it is important to not only tell them what to do, but you must also tell them HOW to do it.
This technique makes directions routinely useful and easy to follow. There are four primary characteristics of What to Do that help reinforce accountability among students.

5. Specific Directions Not Specific Very Specific
Effective directions must be very specific. Specific directions are easy to remember, solution oriented, and hard to misunderstand.
Not Specific
Very Specific
“Time’s up. Stop working.”
“Pay attention.”
“Do not cheat.”
“Stop talking.”
“Put your pencil down on your desk.”
“Keep your eyes on me.”
“Keep your eyes on your own paper.”
“Do not open your mouth or make a sound.”

6. Concrete Directions Examples “Turn your body around to face me.”
Concrete directions require no prior knowledge. This eliminates the sort of gray area wherein a student might claim not to know what to do or HOW.
Examples
“Turn your body around to face me.”
“Push in your chair.”
“Put your book underneath your desk.”
“Put the map pencils back into the pencil box.”
“Place your spiral on top of your desk.”
Effective directions are not just specific, they are concrete.

7. Sequential Directions
Sequential directions are necessary when teaching a complex skill or explaining a multi-step task. They help break down your directions into simple steps that students can follow easily.
Examples
Close your books, place them under the desk, put your pencils down on top of your paper, keep your eyes on me, very good.
Turn your shoulders to face me, bring your legs around, put them under your desk, pull in your chair, thank you.
Line up one behind the other in front of the lockers, keep your eyes on me, make a fist with your right hand and raise it high when you are done, awesome.

8. Observable Directions
Observable directions leave little doubt about whether or not a student is behaving accountably.
By giving directions that observable, things you can plainly see students do, you can see whether or not students are compliant.

9. Video- Ashley Buroff, Rochester Prep

10. What to Do Practice Practice (1 minute) Fast Feedback (45 seconds)
Re-Teach

11. Homework Assignment
Read pages of Teach Like a Champion to prepare for Monday’s technique- 100%, Part 1.