Teach like a champion 3.0: 63 techniques that put students on the path to college - Lemov Doug 2021
The keystones
Introduction to the third edition: The art of teaching and Its tools
As I mentioned in the Preface, one major change in this third edition of the book is the inclusion of longer Keystone videos that show how a selection of truly exceptional teachers use and combine techniques over a sustained arc of their lesson. Sharing these videos shows how the pieces fit together and helps balance the inevitable distortion of seeing only a single technique in sharp focus. Here's a list of the Keystone videos and some of the things I appreciate about the craft of the teachers they profile. I hope you will watch them multiple times. If you're the head of a school or train teachers, I think they're ideal for repeated viewing and study.
Julia Addeo (North Star Academy HS, Newark, NJ): Julia's outstanding Checking for Understanding (Chapter Three) is enabled by Exemplar Planning (technique 1). Her review of the Do Now (technique 20) relies on a balance of Means of Participation (technique 36) that includes Cold Call (technique 34) and Show Call (technique 13). There's not a minute of wasted time.
Akilah Bond, then of Leadership Prep Carnasie Elementary School, is reading a Cam Jansen story with her second graders. Her Wait Time is exemplary. She uses All Hands (technique 29), asking students to put their hands down so their classmates don't feel rushed, and she ensures productive Wait Time (technique 33) by prompting thinking skills. She consistently holds out for “all the way right” answers (Right Is Right, technique 16). When Anthony answers you can see both how he uses Habits of Discussion (technique 44) to show he's been listening and how supportive his classmates' Habits of Attention (technique 48) are in making him feel confident as he strives to explain his own thinking. And when Michael crushes it, his triumph is in part brought about by clear Procedures and Routines (Chapter Ten)—students know not to call out while he is thinking.
Jessica Bracey: Reading with her fifth-grade students at North Star Academy Clinton Hill Middle School, Jessica executes gold standard FASE Reading (technique 24), with her students, showing pleasure and skill in bringing the book to life. She Fronts the Writing (technique 40), asking them to respond in writing before they discuss the book. Her exemplary Procedures and Routines (Chapter Ten) mean they transfer all their thinking to the page and her Silent Solo (technique 39) means they're thinking deeply and industriously in complete sentences the whole way. No wonder they're so eager to share out! When they do, you can see a combination of Habits of Attention (technique 48) ensuring that they listen well and Habits of Discussion (technique 44) building the listening skills that make for a real discussion.
Na’Jee Carter: I write about Na'Jee's Cold Calling (technique 34) in the clip extensively in Chapter Seven but note also his outstanding Habits of Discussion (technique 44): his students listen as well as they speak. His impeccable Procedures and Routines (Chapter Ten) not only help keep his reading group on task and make sure transitions are efficient but they ensure that the students not in his reading group are happily and productively engaged the whole time. His Accountable Independent Reading (technique 23) is super productive because he is so clear on the annotation task and this allows him to observe clearly how his readers are doing, but before he sends everyone off to read he Replaces Self-Report (technique 6), asking students a series of questions to assess their understanding of the task instead of merely asking them if they understand.
Denarius Frazier (Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School): I discuss a section of this video extensively in Chapter Three, Check for Understanding. Denarius models almost every technique in the chapter, starting with Active Observation and ending with Show Call in manner that is fundamental to understanding the reality of how productive and enduring relationships are built in the classroom. But notice also how he moves to the corner and uses Radar and Be Seen Looking (technique 53) and a Least Invasive Intervention (technique 55) to ensure that everyone is attentive. And notice how his Emotional Constancy (technique 62) assists him in building a Culture of Error (technique 12) that makes students willing participants in the task of learning from their mistakes.
Arielle Hoo (North Star Vailsburg Middle School) asks her students to write at a key moment in the lesson about how they’ll know a solution is correct. Notice the word “conjectures”—it's a great example of a formative prompt that not only makes it safe to be wrong but socializes students to think of writing as something you do to discover new insights, not just explain them. This is a key aspect of Everybody Writes (technique 38). Notice the Silent Solo (technique 39): Everyone is writing right away. Notice how the exemplary discussion she has, full of keen insights and technical vocabulary, starts with her, like Denarius, moving to “Pastore's Perch” and using Radar and Be Seen Looking (technique 53) to ensure that everyone is with her. Sidney kicks off the discussion (so well!) and the eye contact and pro-social body language she receives (technique 48, Habits of Attention) remind her—and everyone else—that what you are saying is important. Next Sadie speaks, hesitating while using the technical term coincidental to describe two lines. Possibly it's the first time he's used this term. Notice how he persists and takes the risk of doing so. The Habits of Attention help but so do a larger nexus of Procedures and Routines (Chapter Ten): No one shouts out the answer or waves their own hand in the air or says anything distracting while he struggles for the right word. The sequence ends with students revising their original conjectures in writing, an example of the revision you can read about in both Front the Writing and Regular Revision (techniques 40 and 42).
Sadie McCleary (Western Guilford High School): Sadie’s Pacing (Chapter Six) and Means of Participation (technique 36) are brilliant—perhaps the latter leading to the former—and I discuss them both at length later in the book, not to mention her Board = Paper (technique 22), Turn and Talk (technique 43), and Call and Response (technique 35). She's successful at all of these because her What to Do directions (technique 52) make it just so clear to students how to participate and be successful. Sadie's easy, warm, gracious style expresses loving accountability.
Narlene Pacheco: Working with her kindergartners at the Immaculate Conception School in the Bronx, Narlene is crystal clear on how to participate successfully through a combination of economy of language (see technique 58, Strong Voice) and What to Do (technique 52) directions, which she combines with immense warmth. She's also great at carefully observing for errors (Active Observation, technique 9) while building a Culture of Error (technique 12), correcting mistakes without a hint of judgment or negativity.
BreOnna Tindall: Watching this class at Denver School of Science and Technology first led me to coin the term “bright mirror”—the idea that BreOnna is changing students while also letting them reveal themselves. She is both bringing out something that is new and giving students the chance to show what is already there. She begins with an impeccable Turn and Talk (technique 43), but notice how her system allows her to vary shoulder partners (next to you) and desk partners (across from you). All of this is built into habit and shows how impeccable Procedures and Routines (Chapter Ten) lead to a warm, trusting, and supportive environment. The warmth of her Cold Call (technique 34) shows just how inclusive this technique really is.
Christine Torres: You've already read a bit about Christine's teaching at Springfield Prep in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the Preface—the magic with which she brings Format Matters (technique 18), Habits of Attention (technique 48), and Habits of Discussion (technique 44) to life. Chapter Two starts with a discussion of her preparation. To make the keystone I had to cut from two sections of her lesson—the vocabulary review and the discussion—because I've rarely seen a class where students participated with such effort and openness and her playful personal style combined with constant loving accountability makes this class sing.
Nicole Warren: This lesson with her third graders at Leadership Prep Ocean Hill Elementary Academy positively crackles to life from the outset. There's a quick chant that everyone is all-in on (Procedures and Routines, Chapter Ten, will help you do this). Then it's right into a Turn and Talk (technique 43). She Cold Calls coming out of it (technique 34) before transitioning to independent practice. It's also Retrieval Practice (technique 7). The movement from each activity to the next is a model of the sort of flow that a well-paced lesson can build (Chapter Six). Notice in particular how well she Brightens the Lines (technique 28) with lightning transitions like “Tell your partner” and “Go to work!” as well as economy of language (part of technique 58, Strong Voice). The tiny Call and Response (technique 35) of “Happy Birthday” leaves Crystal smiling. There's also top-of-the-line Active Observation (technique 9) and Standardizing the Format (technique 8) that allow her to know how students are doing and to build the positive and warm relationships you will undoubtedly notice.
Gabby Woolf: Reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with her year 10 English class at King Solomon Academy in London, Gabby models FASE Reading (technique 24) beautifully as her students make meaning audible. Next there's a bit of Cold Call (technique 34) as she Replaces Self-Report (technique 6) with targeted questions to review the passage. She makes sure to reinforce that discussion starts with being heard by stressing audible format from Format Matters (technique 18). Her Circulate (technique 25) is outstanding and her What to Do directions (technique 52) keep everyone on task: “Text in front of you, please.” There's a great Stretch It (technique 17) in there too when she asks, “What are we imagining when we read the word ’clubbed’?” “Neanderthal,” replies an astute student. It's a good answer and Gabby honors it by following up with more questions: “Why?” and when he explains, “So that links to the character of Hyde how?” The message is: The reward for right answers is harder questions, though his answer—he notes that Hyde has devolved—is a sort of reward too.
Sarah Wright: Reading Esperanza Rising with her fifth-grade boys at Chattanooga Prep in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sarah proves that the best way to have students take pleasure in learning is to have clear procedures (Chapter Ten, Procedures and Routines) so things work right and students know how to do things. Her students write first before bursting into a Turn and Talk (technique 43). Her circulation here allows her to overhear some great answers and she honors one student by Cold Calling him. Notice also how when Akheem reads his sentence, everyone in class is looking at him and showing with their body language that his words matter (technique 48, Habits of Attention). Notice how the Turn and Talk snaps to life because she has such a clear in-cue for it, because students have practiced it, and because they know every classmate is going to join in enthusiastically along with them. Notice how the Turn and Talk ends quickly when needed because she also has a clear, practiced procedure for calling the class back to order. Notice how she has a system that she uses to let students celebrate one another's work and how, as eager as they are to answer, the boys don't shout out their answers; this lets Sarah Cold Call and give Akheem just the right chance at just the right time. The joy is palpable, and the clear procedures, the structure, the systems, and routines are not its antithesis but part of its source.