These Everyday Habits Increase Teaching Impact
Miriam Plotinsky, instructional coach and author of Small but Mighty, describes strategic moves teachers can make to increase impact without adding to their workload.
By Miriam Plotinsky
When I first began teaching, there was no soft landing. Immediately, being in the classroom was relentless and overwhelming. No matter how hard I worked, there would always be something that needed to get done.
Over time, I learned to embrace a reliable routine that included all kinds of organizational pieces: building a daily to-do list that was ranked in priority order, developing a system for grading the endless influx of student work, and keeping track of my professional and personal commitments so that nothing fell by the wayside.
On the days that I was just too tired or discouraged to embrace my work, those small and gradually ingrained habits allowed me to keep chugging along without having to put much energy into thinking about what would happen next.
The power of habit-stacking
While I didn’t realize what I was doing until many years later when habit stacking theory became popular via James Clear’s Atomic Habits, it was much easier to be successful by developing a series of tiny steps that set up my professional day in the most ideal way possible, no matter how much motivation might have been flagging at any particular day or time. (I write more about habit-stacking here at MiddleWeb.)
Unlike extrinsic or intrinsic motivation, which can come and go depending on how we’re feeling, habits are not transient. They have lasting power by the very nature of their rote existence, which is why my book Small but Mighty: How Everyday Habits Add Up to More Manageable and Confident Teaching (ASCD, 2024) explores how teachers can make meaningful changes to practice without adding an even heavier load to their already packed lives.
Ultimately, meaningful shifts occur incrementally through careful planning around both professional and personal needs as we navigate the time before, during and after instruction, as well as any moments in between.
Before instruction
When teachers sit down to plan instruction together, they often fall back on what I call “survival mode,” which is caused by the stress that comes from figuring out what will happen next.
It’s normal to operate with urgency at times, but the feeling of being constantly under pressure shouldn’t represent a continuous state of being. Otherwise, instruction gets too focused on the question of what teachers are doing rather than on what students are learning. The key to breaking this unproductive loop is to be strategic about how we map out instructional time.
In Small but Mighty, I break important pre-teaching time into three categories:
- Beliefs and Philosophies,
- Collaboration, and
- Instructional Planning.
All three of these “buckets” comprise elements of classroom practice that can benefit from strong habits.
For example, we all have internal beliefs about children that need to be interrogated, such as the idea that school is not for everyone. If we consciously build new language around that viewpoint, such as “All students can achieve high outcomes if they are validated,” we interrogate our beliefs with a much more productive lens.
One strategy that I have found useful is to take just a few private minutes to record my educational philosophies on a sheet of paper. If I see anything that might represent a deficit mindset, I can be much more intentional about how I go about changing my perspective and purposefully planning how my thoughts will carry forth into actions.
Another vital piece of preparing for instruction lies in how we collaborate with colleagues. Too often, teaching partnerships or team dynamics are rife with dysfunction. To combat this all-too-common occurrence, developing habits around communication is crucial.
Suppose that one member of a PLC is often silenced or overshadowed and is finally brave enough to express frustration. The team can consciously develop a “round robin” type of meeting structure so that each person gets a designated turn to share ideas. In addition, the team could also adopt rotating roles so that a different individual facilitates the meeting each time.
Once we get into the nitty-gritty of planning instruction, effective habits revolve around traditional backward design. Sometimes teachers (particularly those who are less experienced) plan the activities that guide instruction before solidifying their objectives. Unfortunately, this practice results in methods that are teacher-driven rather than student-centered, and that may also lack a clear focus.
However, if we develop the steadfast habit of backward mapping, then instruction will be planned to match a specific learning outcome. Therefore, the ideal order of planning is to identify an objective for each day’s learning, include a measurable opportunity (formal or informal) to assess whether students have met that target, and then to plan the activities that will support the identified outcome.
During instruction
For most teachers, instructional time is precious. When the steps taken to plan instruction are solidly established, the stage is properly set for teaching and learning. However, no process is foolproof. Therefore, we must consider how those “bell to bell” minutes can be kept as focused and effective as possible.
In Small but Mighty, I identify three specific components of instructional time:
- Management,
- Engagement, and
- Assessment.
Classroom management is typically an area where teachers feel a lot of understandable anxiety, especially when they are newer to the profession. One idea to bear in mind is that when instruction is well-planned and executed, students are less likely to become distracted or uncooperative.
Having said that, it is still wise to develop strong practices that support ideal conditions for behavior. For example, one doable habit to adopt is to start each lesson with an accessible entry point for learning that all students can be part of. That way, even if students are working toward a challenging new concept that day that stretches their academic skillset, the activator meets everyone in a place they can relate to.
One illustration might be asking students in a history class to share what they know about a specific time period with one another in partnerships or in small groups before introducing more unfamiliar information. A related strategy is to focus on increasing background knowledge in those early minutes of class so that all students are prepared for what comes next.
Another component of instruction that often stymies even the most experienced teachers is how to effectively engage students in learning. While there are many small habits that can be built to support heightened involvement, one of the most effective (and quick) ways to increase student output is to simply talk less. If we prioritize instructional moves that necessitate far less teacher voice and therefore rely on students to lead elements of each day, then they will naturally become more engaged with time.
It might be more fun to plan for engagement than for assessment, but the importance of determining what kids know on a regular basis cannot be denied. The word “assessment” often elicits thoughts of lengthy exams or standardized tests, but most experienced teachers know that something as simple as one question that students complete as an exit ticket at the end of class can provide vital information about what they have learned.
To get the most out of any assessment, one habit that goes a long way is to be very explicit with students about the criteria for success. For example, if a class is writing an essay, it makes a huge difference to give everyone the criteria in advance so that kids can see clearly what they must do to be successful. An example might look like this:
Your paragraph:
✔︎ Has a central message
✔︎ Uses two cited examples from the text as support for the central message
✔︎ Clearly addresses the prompt
Then, when we grade their work, we can clearly point to any criteria that are unmet, which communicates how any assignment is evaluated with transparency and eliminates any perceptions that grading is a game of chance rather than precision.
After instruction
Depending on how a lesson plan manifests in a classroom with real kids, the results can make or break any teacher’s day. Being reflective is important regardless of outcomes, but forcing ourselves to be analytical is difficult when a lesson ends and there is no urgent need to unpack what just happened. However, taking that reflective time is not just about improving a specific lesson; it is also about making shifts that will influence overall practice. In Small but Mighty, I place particular emphasis on the feedback loop we engage in with students, as well as how we examine the effectiveness of our teaching to identify next steps.
While feedback can be an exhausting process, there are many habits we can develop to streamline how we communicate with students. For example, one of the quickest ways to determine whether the class has met a desired outcome is to sort the entire class holistically into categories such as “Met” or “Not Yet.”
As we look at student work in this way, we can also record notes that reflect patterns. Suppose that on a math test, a significant portion of students missed the same problem, or perhaps the same step within several problems. Seeing what emerges can help the teacher develop next steps to provide instruction that specifically addresses the issues that have cropped up, rather than reteaching everything.
Wellbeing and belonging
Every school under the sun has its own vibe and its own way of building community. Sometimes, students and teachers blend into a school culture with no issues whatsoever. In many instances, however, too many people wander around feeling isolated, even when they are surrounded by others. For that reason, building habits that support wellbeing and belonging for everyone is key.
Teaching is a profession that often lacks several basic elements of wellness, whether that takes the form of only being able to take rare bathroom breaks or having little chance to pause and eat. In Small but Mighty, I recommend planning and carrying out small daily moments that have the power to recharge, such as taking a ten-minute walk outside halfway through the day or finding a more private space for a coffee break.
For students, wellbeing often looks a little different. To help kids thrive, the best thing we can do is create safe spaces for learning. For example, the urge to put anyone on the spot by “cold calling” is often counterproductive and engenders a classroom environment of fear or anxiety. By contrast, giving students processing time with classmates so they do not feel that answering a question constitutes a “gotcha” typically produces far better results.
We can make many smaller moves to reduce negative feelings in our students. As licensed clinical social worker Phyllis Fagell recommends in Small but Mighty, “Spend five minutes a day having kids pulling out calendars and decide what they have to do together.” Practices like this empower students to make choices about their own learning and reduce some of the stress associated with feeling disorganized.
As for building habits around belonging, teachers often feel disconnected from their colleagues or from school initiatives. We can be active participants in our communities by sponsoring clubs, by connecting positively with colleagues for social purposes, or by giving students a trusted adult to rely upon in the building when times get rough and venting is needed.
Not everyone can have all the conditions that are ideal for feeling as though they belong in a school, but even one move toward getting more involved can make a big difference.
Consistency builds effective habits
The consistency with which we implement any habits is ultimately the primary determinant of whether we make changes for the better.
At the end of the day, motivation can be helpful, but it is also transient. Building small but mighty habits that we commit to without having to overthink what we’re doing is a far more effective and lasting approach to not just getting each day done and dusted, but to also retaining feelings of accomplishment and productivity.
Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools and the author of Writing Their Future Selves: Instructional Strategies to Affirm Student Identity (WW Norton, 2023), Lead Like a Teacher: How to Elevate Expertise in Your School (WW Norton, 2023), and Teach More, Hover Less: How to Stop Micromanaging Your Secondary Classroom (WW Norton, 2022).
Miriam’s latest book Small but Mighty: How Everyday Habits Add Up to More Manageable and Confident Teaching (2024) is available from ASCD.
Miriam is also a National Board Certified Teacher and certified administrator and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her articles have appeared at MiddleWeb, Edutopia, ASCD Express, Education Week, EdSurge and other outlets. Visit her website and follow her on X/Twitter @MirPloMCPS.
