Teach like a champion 3.0: 63 techniques that put students on the path to college - Lemov Doug 2021

Technique 51: Do it again
Procedures and routines

Routines give students a clear model of how to execute common tasks successfully and clear working memory for higher-order tasks. If the transition is quick and automatic, students' minds can be free to roam or to reflect on content, like yours on your drive to work, perhaps. The more familiar the routine, the more it benefits your classroom and your students, in other words. What that implies is lots of practice. Practice with feedback and correction is the only way to build a habit. That's where Do It Again comes in. It is a very simple idea: when we are learning something and need to refine the routine or when we have not done something as well as we might, the most productive response is simply to do it over, a little better, a little sharper. This response—“That wasn't quite right; let's try it again,” or “That was good, but let's try it again and see if we can be great”—is far superior to the alternatives: either ignoring the issue and letting quality of follow-through degrade, or chastening students for poor execution, or loading up their working memory with feedback they don't really get to use. By having students strive to do it over and better, you leverage the power of repetition and practice to painlessly build strong culture and self-discipline.

Do It Again, in other words, is the perfect tool to help maintain proficiency at something your students know how to do. It can as easily be applied to math procedures—“Try that again and make sure your decimals are lined up”—and classroom habits—“Just a minute, guys. Carlton, please start your answer over again and we'll all make sure we're giving you strong eye contact while you're speaking.”

In a range of situations it's effective because:

· It shortens the feedback loop. Behavioral science has shown that the shorter the time lag between an action and a response, the more effective the response will be in changing the behavior. Let's say you have a clear expectation for entering the classroom, and a group of students comes in from recess in a disorderly way. Having the group stay in for recess three hours later is less likely to change their behavior than is a lesser response that occurs right away. If the reaction comes immediately after, while the original action is fresh in the students' minds, the two will be more clearly associated in their memory. In the three-hours-later scenario, they will be more likely to think, “She kept me in for recess.” In the moment, they are more likely to recall and reflect on how they entered the classroom. Doing It Again shortens the feedback loop in comparison to almost any other consequence.

· It sets a standard of excellence, not just minimal follow-through. Do It Again is appropriate not just for times when students do something poorly; it's ideal for times when students do something “just fine” when the goal is excellence. Saying, “That was good, but I want great” or “In this class, we're going to strive to do everything world class; let's see if we can use a bit more expression when we read” enables a teacher to set a standard of excellence, where good can always be better and better can always shoot for best. This can drive your classroom culture by replacing acceptable with excellent, first in the small things and then in all things.

· It promotes group culture and accountability. Although individuals can easily be asked to Do It Again, the technique is especially effective as a response to group endeavors. If three or four students don't bother to engage in the Turn and Talk the best solution may be to pause the whole class and say, “Just a second. A couple of us might have been distracted at the beginning of that Turn and Talk. It's important that we all engage the question and our partner. I'll cue you again and I look forward to seeing your best conversational skills. Go!” As an aside, there are times when it feels wrong to hold groups too accountable for individuals who try to co-opt their purposes. Suffice it to say that because you can leverage group accountability does not mean you should in every situation.

· It ends with success. The last thing you remember of an event often shapes your perception of it more broadly. Do It Again ends a situation where a process was done with insufficient quality with success. The last thing students do in a sequence is to do an activity the right way. This helps engrain the perception and memory of what right looks like. It also helps build muscle memory. Students build the habit of doing it right, over and over. In fact one of the most interesting times to Do It Again is to encode success. As in: “That was perfect. Do it again just like that so you remember just what it feels like.” The “it” could be a math problem or playing a perfect eighth note. In fact, watch the video John Burmeister: Trill. In it, John, who is one of my favorite music teachers, is teaching cello to an individual student. Notice how many times she plays a trill in the course of learning it—eleven times, actually. Sometimes because it's not quite there; sometimes to add a layer of detail; sometimes to encode success—three more just like that.

· It is reusable. As John's cello video shows, Do It Again can be reused frequently so you always have a way to respond that's productive. You don't need to keep inventing new responses. You can be positive in administering the third iteration: “I still think we can do this even better. Let's give it one more shot!” Add a stopwatch to some routines, and the challenge of Do It Again (and do it better) only becomes more powerful.

However, it's important to execute the technique well. Do It Again should be positive whenever possible, with a keen focus on getting better and, in a great classroom, informed by a constant narrative of “good, better, best.” That is, “just doing it” gets replaced by doing it well. In fact, one colleague suggested that a better name for this technique is Do It Better, as better captures the idea that doing things over again to be as good as you can be is what school is about. The goal is not merely compliance but excellence, even in the little things.

Do It Again can be an effective tool for managing affect. Sometimes people's attitudes change from the outside in. Asking a low-energy class to repeat something with enthusiasm (especially, and critically, while modeling those attributes yourself) can start to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Do It Again is a great opportunity to challenge students positively to show you their best. Saying, “Oooh, let's line up again and prove why we're the best reading group in the school” is often better than saying, “Class, that was very sloppy. We're going to do it again until we get it exactly right,” even if the purpose in both cases is to Do It Again until you get it exactly right. You can see Kirby Jarrell do a lovely job of that in Kirby Jarrell: Go Brown. The class is timing themselves at how long it takes to get materials from the previous class put away and to have their novels out and ready. Michaela is running the clock and she reports that it took 48 seconds, an excellent time, so Kirby playfully decides to celebrate by having her kids say, “48 seconds? Go Brown!” [They're nicknamed after the university]. Students do it and the energy is a bit mixed. With a warm smile and a bit of bravery—everyone wants to cut bait when an idea appears not to work—Kirby playfully asks students to do it again with more enthusiasm. And they do it! And the energy level rises in the class and students appear energized a bit. It's a tiny throwaway moment but imagine—maybe Kirby keeps the chant for next class, maybe she doesn't—but imagine the message if she'd just let the mediocre follow-through remain the end point. The message might have been Oh, that was awkward. If Ms. Jarrell asks you to do something silly just wait it out and we'll give up on it. Here it ends pleasant and off-handed but at no loss to her enthusiastic and playful classroom culture.

Lastly, teachers sometimes think they need to wait until an entire routine or activity is done before asking the class to try it again. In fact, you should have students go back and try it again as soon as you know that the level of execution will not meet the standard you set for it. Don't wait for the routine to end. Again, this will better connect the stimulus to the response. Let's say students are lining up for lunch, and the drill is to stand up quietly, push in their chairs, turn to face the door, and then follow the table leader to the door. If students forget to push in their chairs, have them sit back down and try it again right then. This saves time and reinforces instant accountability.

Putting It All Together

In the video Montage: Do It Again, you can see a few intriguing video examples of Do It Again in the classroom. You'll have to watch carefully because they come and go fast, which is part of the point. The less fuss, less disruption, and less censuring of students, the better. Simple and clear, nonjudgmental, and even positive when possible. You can see that in Erica Lim's class. She's starting for the day and wants to make sure to set expectations for follow-through on the greeting. It's not a big thing, yet you don't have to do it if you don't want to make follow-through questionable on all tasks. So she offers a simple and quick and emotionally constant reminder of what she knows her high schoolers know how to do. Denarius Frazier, too, is emotionally constant. If we're going to try to use tools that build positive culture and show appreciation for success, they'll be positive only if they are universal. When the response is spotty, Denarius asks quickly for a redo—the quicker the better—and is almost deadpan, showing a hint of a surprise. Much better, he says, when students follow through. He's reinforced this routine and the norm of follow-through on all such routines. It's a tiny but important movement and it's the simplicity of the responses and Denarius's lack of fuss that makes it successful. Sarah Ott's approach is similar and different. When students are slow in wrapping up and responding to her, she’s playful and upbeat and energetic rather than steady, but she still gets her Do It Again done fast. It's a technique that usually gets more out of less.