Have you ever been frustrated that students don’t seem to listen to directions the first time, forcing you to repeat yourself?
In this episode, veteran instructional coach Kelley Garris shares her 8 S’s of Clear Instructions, which she uses to coach teachers on this foundational skill:
Strategically Embed Instructions into Lesson Plans
Stand Still and in a Location that Allows for Everyone to See You
State Instructions that are Simple, to the Point, and Sequential
See your Instructions in Action
Set a Time Limit
“Show Me” a Signal
Share Instructions Visually (if possible)
Shhhsh!
Full Transcript:
Justin Baeder (00:08):
Welcome everyone to the Teaching Show. I’m your host Justin Baeder, and I’m honored to welcome to the program today, Kelley Garris to share with us from her article Getting It Right, the eight Ss, to providing clear instructions. Kelley, welcome to the Teaching Show.
Kelley Garris (00:24):
Thank you for having me, Justin.
Justin Baeder (00:26):
Thanks for being here. And Kelley, tell us a little bit about yourself, your professional background, and then we’ll get into the eight s’s of clear instructions.
Kelley Garris (00:36):
I started off as a English teacher at the middle school level and quickly started moving into the instructional coach role around 2005. Didn’t know a lot about instructional coaching at the time, and there wasn’t a lot out there, so I really realized very quickly how much I enjoyed it and started working with some mentor instructional coaches, and we did that in California for quite a while. Then I moved back home to my home in Michigan where I continued coaching and I did a little full-time faculty and adjunct work at the local community college, and I’m still instructionally coaching today.
Justin Baeder (01:12):
Wonderful. And I know you work with a lot of new teachers and a funny thing about educators is that we were all new teachers once, so we’ve all been in that new teacher situation where often things don’t seem to work for us like we thought they would because we saw other people teach successfully and then we try things for ourselves. And you say in this article something that resonated with me very strongly, the idea that I’m going to multitask, I’m going to get my papers organized or passed back and I’m going to give instructions at once, and you say, that does not work. So why is it that multitasking while giving instructions does not work?
Kelley Garris (01:49):
This was one of those moments that I think we all have in teaching where it changes us, and I write about it a little bit in the article that I went to a training and somebody had modeled ferociously going through papers and doing this, and while she was doing it, she was trying to give instructions and it felt so overwhelming as a student at that moment that it hit me that I’m a multitasker. And I know research now says it’s probably not a great idea to do that, but I really was, and I probably still am in some ways, and I had a moment of, oh my goodness, what am I doing for my students? We’re not doing, I am coming across chaotic and rushed and I am not making those instructions be the priority, and thus, why are they then treating them like the priority?
(02:37):
And oftentimes they would be talking or they would be do at something and then I’d stop and go, why are we talking? Well, look what I’m doing. I’m acting all chaotic. I’m trying to get things done quickly because we don’t, we never have enough time. I had to learn that those instructions needed to be treated like you were about to give an Oscar to somebody and you were going to stay steady, were going to talk clear, you were going to be very present. You were going to ensure the audience had your attention, and that was one of the biggest game changers in my entire career.
Justin Baeder (03:09):
I would say the same when my mentor pointed that out to me and said, Hey, Justin, you’re moving around the room. Yes, they can hear you. You’re loud enough. But that’s not what this is about. They need to actually see that you expect them to pay attention and that you’re giving them your full attention. You’re not updating attendance because a kid just came in late. You’re not passing out papers. You are focused on the directions that you’re giving, so they are focused. So let’s just go through the eight essence. I think you have a great framework for helping people give clear instructions. Take us very quickly through the eight Ss.
Kelley Garris (03:43):
The first one is kind of one of the precursors to giving good instructions, and this is something that was given to me as an idea, and the first S is strategically embed instructions into your lesson plans. So as you’re writing your lesson plans or if you’re already using something that’s prescribed, find the places where you need to put the instructions and actually write them down. That’s how important clarity of instructions is, is that we are going to take moment to actually write out exactly what we want to say because the way we say it, how we say it, ensuring that it’s not convoluted matters. So one of the great ways that we can do that is making them just as important as the lesson itself, the content itself. So that’s what I mean when I said strategically embed instructions into lesson plans. The other one stands still, and we just kind of talked about this, a stand still and in a location that allows you to see everyone and everyone to see you again.
(04:39):
We have to make sure that you have everyone’s eye contact and that they can see you and stand still. You are delivering the most important piece of information in the course of this class. So you want to make it count because if you give instructions that are not heard all the way seem convoluted and confused, we can’t assume the student’s going to go and follow those instructions explicitly. We want them to. So another one we talk about is state instructions that are simple to the point and sequential. So I give a great example in here because, and you can all read it, but it talks about a math teacher who’s simultaneously talking about math and also doing other things and kind of jumping in and out of stories and saying, oh, we, let’s not forget about our test at the end. Oh, while I’m reminding you, please do this, and by the way, get out your book and turn to page 63.
(05:33):
And also, I really want to say the student can’t navigate all of that, that input coming at them. That’s a lot to try to discern exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. Then at the end, we all say, well, why aren’t we getting started? Come on. And then we realize, oh my goodness. We have to look at ourselves sometimes and say, did we provide very, very simple, concise instructions and are they in order? Are we asking them to open a book and turn to a page that they’d still have in their backpacks? Are we asking them to go to something on their computer and they haven’t even opened their computers yet? We have to be really mindful that the way in which we give instructions matters and the clarity and the conciseness really does matter for any age of student, not just our elementary school students.
Justin Baeder (06:26):
Yeah, and you say fourth point that you should be able to see those instructions in action. They should be visible in a way that is, you can tell if kids are following those instructions.
Kelley Garris (06:37):
Yeah, I mean, to your point, you just said, if I was to say follow along, unless we’ve acknowledged that or established that maybe at the beginning of the school year what that means, what that could mean for one student could be inherently different than another student. So we really want to be careful about these kind of broad gray terms and instead say, I need you to follow along by whatever strategy you want them to do. Another one is get ready to start class. That could be so different student to student because maybe in the previous class they were in getting started looked this way, so they tried to do it that same way here, but that’s not what you want. So tell them exactly what you want and make it so clear that you can use your own eyes to see exactly what is or what is not occurring for that instruction.
(07:34):
One of the other ones we talk about is set a time limits. Setting a time limit and giving students a certain amount of time to work in this transition or work to complete these instructions is crucial. It’s crucial anywhere really to keep us timely. Remember that idea? We never have enough time. The timer just keeps us on track, but it also gives them that sense of urgency that I think some students need. If they only know they have 10 seconds to do X, y, and Z, that will give them a little more sense to complete it a little faster. And that’s going to close our transitions a little bit more and make ‘em a little tighter. One of the other pieces is show me a signal at the end of any series of instructions, again, we lean on that observable piece too. Come up with something that the student can say, I’m done. I’m ready to roll. Let’s do this kind of thing. It can be a thumbs up. It can be something really small but observable. Something that you can scan the room and say, okay, how many do we have ready? Okay. Oh, we have everybody ready and you’ll be able to go. That’s really for both of us. Keep those things moving. And also I can check and I have a really great visual of something that shows I’m done and that I’m done can become a habit not only with that instruction, but throughout the entire class.
(08:52):
Share instructions visually. I said if possible, sometimes when we end up with too many instructions, that’s a lot of load to put on a student to remember everything. So I always think about if you’re already going to be embedding some of these instructions into your lesson plans and really thinking thoughtfully about how to write them out, why not throw them on a Google slide while you’re doing it just to make sure that students not only hear what you have to say, but also then if they forget, which it’s okay if they do, they have something to refer back to where they don’t have to go, what do we do? What do we do? What do we do? Now they have, all I would have to do as a teacher is do a nonverbal gesture to point up to the board. And if they aren’t at that reading level yet, that’s okay.
(09:34):
Maybe some symbols could help. Most teachers at that age have certain symbols for things. Why not incorporate those into the instructions as well? One of the other ones is simply, so this is another piece that I really draw from my own experiences because as I was growing in this space early on, I was doing okay with the concise steps, but then what would I do that I would say, okay, you have 10 seconds, go. And then what did I do? In those 10 seconds? I would pull a student aside. I would say, oh, don’t let me forget about this. So who wants to erase the board today? Oh, don’t let me forget to, and what am I doing? What am I doing? And I kept just going, Kelley, honor the space. It’s almost like honoring a good wait time. Honor that space as silent because we don’t want to put too much load. We don’t want to give them too much cognitive load to take on. We’re already asking ‘em potentially to do multi-step instructions independently with none of my help, and here I go talking. So now they have to make a choice. Do I complete what the teacher, which he just asked me to do or do I listen to the things that she’s going to say? Either way, no one wins when that happens. So honoring that quiet space though, sometimes uncomfortable, that quiet space will move them through the instructions faster.
Justin Baeder (10:58):
Very well said. Very well said. If we want kids to listen, we’ve got to show them by staying focused ourselves, not multitasking, but really maintaining that presence in the room as we give directions. And really everything builds on that, right? Everything that we want kids to do to learn depends on them getting clear directions from us. So there’s huge leverage here in helping teachers get this right and helping people develop habits that will get their kids on track with whatever the instructions for the activity are. Well, Kelley, I think this is a great framework for anyone, but especially for people who are helping new teachers figure out their routines and procedures and those fundamentals of running the classroom. Tell us briefly just how you coach newer teachers through the practice of learning the eight S’s and mastering the art of giving clear directions.
Kelley Garris (11:46):
Well, I have the pleasure to be an instructional coach at sme, and I get an opportunity to work with new teachers and seasoned teachers and instructional coaches. But when we work with new teachers, I really take on the thought about small goals, big wins. So those eight s’s though, all important, and I hope that they would use all eight. I really like to start our teachers with the small goal after they read the article. For example, pick one or two and let’s set a goal around that. Let’s set a goal to what that’s going to look like. Let’s set a measurement for success, and then we can, as we achieve those small goals, we can keep adding to them so that by the time I am done talking with them about classroom management, that they’ll have all those eight s’s down pat and be able to apply them in all different facets of their teaching practice
Justin Baeder (12:38):
Goals. One at a time, one down, and move on to the next one. Love it. Well, Kelley, thank you so much for joining me on the teaching show. It’s been a pleasure.
Kelley Garris (12:47):
Thank you, Justin.
