Just 1% Better: A More Sustainable Approach to Teacher Growth

I have always been an action-oriented person. When I see a problem, my instinct is to fix it.

Early in my teaching career, one of those problems was getting students what they needed for class.

Getting materials passed out at the beginning of class always made me feel frazzled. Even worse was trying to keep track of work for students who were absent. Inevitably, a student would return and ask, “What did I miss yesterday?” while I was simultaneously taking attendance (usually a lost cause), answering another student’s question, getting everyone started on the warm-up, and trying to remember where I had put yesterday’s handouts. Needless to say, it wasn’t working.

So I changed one small thing. I created a folder for each day of the week and put copies of every student handout in the appropriate folder. Then, I taught students a new routine. If you needed a paper, you got it yourself. If you were absent, you checked the folder for the day you missed and retrieved your work. That was it. It wasn’t an innovative instructional strategy. It didn’t require professional development, a new curriculum, or hours of planning. But that tiny change made the beginning of class noticeably better.

Students became more responsible for getting what they needed. I was no longer the keeper and distributor of every missing piece of paper. Most importantly, I could use those first few minutes of class to greet students and check in with them instead of frantically managing materials. One small change improved the whole tone of my class.

What If Professional Growth Looked More Like That?

In Atomic Habits, James Clear writes about the power of getting 1% better each day. Small improvements may seem insignificant in the moment, but repeated over time, they compound. I think there is something important in that idea for teachers.

We talk frequently about educators being lifelong learners. Yet sometimes the way we approach teacher growth makes lifelong learning sound exhausting.

Implement this new district initiative. Attend this professional development. Read this book. Try these six strategies. Completely redesign this unit.

Meanwhile, you have lessons to plan, assignments to grade, emails to answer, meetings to attend, and actual students sitting in front of you every day. Professional growth does not have to mean reinventing your practice. Sometimes it just means noticing one thing that could work a little better and intentionally changing it.

The Honeymoon Is Over. Now What?

It's nearly October, and the beginning-of-the-year honeymoon period has worn off. Students are more comfortable with you and with each other. Your routines have been tested by actual children rather than the wonderfully compliant versions of themselves who showed up during the first week of school, and some things probably are not working quite the way you envisioned in August.

Actually, that's good because it gives you something to learn from. Instead of choosing a broad goal for the rest of the year, try a short improvement cycle focused on one specific problem.

Imagine, for example, that you have noticed that student participation is uneven. You ask questions, but the same five hands go up. A few students dominate group conversations. Others have figured out exactly how to make it through an entire class period without saying much of anything. “Get students to participate more” sounds like a goal, but it is still too broad to act on.

So make it smaller.

Try a Two-Week, 1% Improvement Cycle

Step 1: Notice

Spend a few class periods paying attention before changing anything.

• Who participates?

• When?

• How are students being asked to participate?

• Does participation change during whole-group instruction, partner work, or small groups?

You do not need an elaborate spreadsheet. Make a quick tally on your seating chart or jot down a few observations after class. You are looking for patterns, not conducting a research study.

Step 2: Narrow

Choose one specific behavior you want to change.

Instead of:

I want my students to participate more.

Try:

I want more students to verbally rehearse their thinking before whole-class discussion.

Now you have something you can actually work on.

Step 3: Try One Change

Choose one strategy and use it consistently for a week.

You might give students thirty seconds of individual think time before asking them to talk with a partner. You could use a structured turn-and-talk in which both partners are expected to share, or ask students to jot down an idea before the discussion so they have something to reference when they speak.

The strategy itself matters less than your consistency. Resist the temptation to try three new things at once (if you're like me, this may be especially difficult). If you change everything, it becomes difficult to know what actually made a difference.

Step 4: Look for Evidence

At the end of the week, ask yourself what changed.

Did more students talk?

Were different students contributing?

Did the quality of whole-class responses improve after students had an opportunity to rehearse their thinking?

Did students need less prompting as the routine became familiar?

This is where professional growth becomes more than “I tried a new strategy and liked it.”

You are looking at the effect of a change in your practice on what students actually did.

Step 5: Keep, Tweak, or Toss

If it worked beautifully, great! Keep it.

Maybe students talked more, but one partner still dominated the conversation. Tweak it.

If the strategy added three minutes to your lesson and gave you nothing useful in return, toss it without guilt.

Trying something and deciding it does not work for your students is not failed professional growth. That reflection is professional growth.

Then choose your next 1%.

Lifelong Learning Does Not Mean Constant Reinvention

Being a lifelong learner does not mean constantly chasing the newest strategy or assuming everything about your current practice needs improvement, but it does mean remaining curious about your own teaching. Reflecting on what's working, what isn't, and what could be better is a great first step (and great for that Danielson Domain 4).

Sometimes answering those questions on your own is enough. Other times, another set of eyes can help us notice patterns we cannot see while we are in the thick of it. A colleague, PLC partner, or instructional coach can help us collect evidence, think through a small change, and reflect on what happened.

Again, professional growth does not have to begin with a major initiative, and you can start at any time. Sometimes it starts because you notice that the same five kids answer every question, and sometimes it starts because you are tired of passing out papers.

You do not need to become a completely different teacher tomorrow.

Just find your 1%.