Five to Thrive: Essential Tier I Practices for High-Performing Classrooms
In the last two years, our team at Get Your Teach On visited over 500 classrooms across districts of every size.
We wanted to answer a critical question:
Why do some classrooms see consistent student growth while others, despite having hardworking teachers and capable students, struggle to make gains?
The answer wasn’t about the kids.
It was about the instructional practices students experienced day in and day out.
From those observations, we developed Five to Thrive, the five practices consistently present in the highest-performing classrooms.
Five to Thrive: The Core of Tier I Instruction
Clear & Consistent Learning Targets: Students knew what success looked like, and teachers anchored instruction to mastery, not just activity.
Student Accountability for Engagement: Every student, every lesson, every time. Participation wasn’t optional; it was expected.
Motion & Movement: Students moved, interacted, and engaged physically with content, boosting retention and energy.
Proximity & Pacing: Teachers managed transitions and pacing with intentionality, maintaining rigor while keeping students on track.
Data-Informed Instruction: The best teachers used real-time checks for understanding to adjust instruction immediately, not weeks later.
Across districts, the consistent implementation of these practices led to:
Higher student achievement
Stronger engagement
Increased teacher confidence and morale
Here’s the key takeaway:
Curriculum will change. Standards will shift. But timeless instructional practices remain.
As leaders, we cannot intervene our way out of Tier I challenges.
We have to teach our way through them.
That’s the heart of Five to Thrive.
Every lesson. Every student. Every time.
