Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

Welcome to Field Notes. I’ve named this blog to emphasize the idea that just about everything in my books is someone else’s brilliant idea. My idea was just to write it down. I like the role of the observer and think there’s a lot of power in it. Think about it—there isn’t a problem in teaching or learning that someone somewhere hasn’t solved. We just need to find them and take some field notes. So, join me here for discussion and observations related to Teach Like a Champion, Practice Perfect, and whatever else fits under the banner of teaching and practice.

My England Travelogue, Part 1: Ark Soane Academy

I’ve just returned a week in England in which I visited schools, talked teaching, led a workshop and learned many useful things. I’ve decided to string together a series of posts in a sort of mini-travel-log. Starting with my visit on Tuesday to Ark Soane Academy in Acton where Pritesh Raichura was my primary host—and... The post My England Travelogue, Part 1: Ark Soane Academy appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Memo Sifuentes’ Halftime Framework for Young Athletes

Memo Sifuentes coaches the u14s (and formerly the u12s) at Austin FC’s Youth Academy. I always find him incredibly thoughtful and intentional about the teaching part of his job. We’ve been talking a bit over the past year about game day coaching: what to do to maximize long-term learning at halftime, in pregame talks, during... The post Memo Sifuentes’ Halftime Framework for Young Athletes appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Lesson Delivery Models and Lesson Prep

In our previous three posts, we described lessons learned from our partnership with Harmony Public Schools as they endeavored to strengthen a culture of Lesson Preparation across their 60 campuses. Our team defines Lesson Preparation as consisting of 3 core practices: Plan the Exemplar Plan for Error Plan the Means of Participation (For more on... The post Lesson Delivery Models and Lesson Prep appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Seeing Change: Harmony’s Artifact Study System

Studying implementation with network leaders As we’ve shared in our first and second posts, we were fortunate to partner with Harmony Public Schools as they endeavored to deliver high quality professional development systems focused on Lesson Preparation for 300+ instructional leaders across 60 campuses. In this post Dan Cotton and Dillon Fisher discuss how they worked... The post Seeing Change: Harmony’s Artifact Study System appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

The Protocol Paradox: Scaling Effectiveness and Authenticity at Harmony Public Schools

This is the second of four posts on the challenges of achieving lasting change in instructional leadership at-scale via professional development. The series is based on our work with Harmony Public Schools in Texas. In this post Dan Cotton and Dillon Fisher address an important theme: that consistency is necessary to success at-scale and, perhaps... The post The Protocol Paradox: Scaling Effectiveness and Authenticity at Harmony Public Schools appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Look Mom, I’m a Podcaster

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” my 15 year old daughter said, pressing pause, “But I really expected this to be boring. I’m kind of pleasantly surprised.” We were in the car. “This” was an interview I’d done with Amy Forrester and Adam Boxer, two teachers from the UK whose help I’d asked comparing the... The post Look Mom, I’m a Podcaster appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Attention Contagion: One of the Primary Drivers of Learning is Mutual, Social & Collective.

We know that attention is central to every learning task and the quality of attention paid by learners shapes the outcome of learning endeavors. Part of attentiveness is individual. Some people are more attentive than others and have better skills/habits in terms of their attention. But is attention also partly social? Does the environment in which... The post Attention Contagion: One of the Primary Drivers of Learning is Mutual, Social & Collective. appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Managing (Your Own) Working Memory: How Julia Uses Her “Monitoring Key”

Yesterday I posted about the challenges of managing limits on Working Memory for teachers. We know we’ve got to design our teaching to respond to the challenges the classrooms presents for student’s Working Memory, but we’ve also got to be thinking about the under-acknowledge issue of our own working memory overloads. Walking around the classroom... The post Managing (Your Own) Working Memory: How Julia Uses Her “Monitoring Key” appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Working Memory, Teachers and Tracking Data

Posted a quick note on Twitter the other day about working memory and teachers- how using a clip board to note observations could allow teachers to free their working memory and thus be more responsive to students as they interacted. Having an exemplar–an ideal student answer you’d like to get to–written out and carried around with... The post Working Memory, Teachers and Tracking Data appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

Lasting Change at Scale: Lessons From Our Work With Harmony Public Schools

42,000 students and counting… In October, our Consulting & Partnerships team completed a 30-month partnership (March 2021-September 2023) with Texas’ largest charter school network, Harmony Public Schools. Our role was to help the network refine its vision for instructional leadership, then build training and systems to study progress across its 55 (now 60) schools. ... The post Lasting Change at Scale: Lessons From Our Work With Harmony Public Schools appeared first on Teach Like a Champion.

CONNECT WITH US

LEARN MORE

Training
Books
Blog
Resources

Practice Perfect
About
Contact
FAQ

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Uncommon Schools. All rights reserved.

Build a Mobile Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: