Doug Lemov's field notes

Last week, 180 teachers and leaders from charter, district and even a few private schools located everywhere from California to Oklahoma to Florida (not to mention Singapore and Chile) joined us for our Behavior and Culture workshop here in Albany. As always, we left with tons of takeaways about great teaching gleaned from participants. We talked about how classroom culture is more about what you want to have happen than what you want to keep from happening, technique shapes your ability to be the person you want to be in front of the classroom.

I especially enjoyed showing a brand new clip of Megan Broome, a 2^nd grade teacher at Leadership Prep Ocean Hill, who took a keen insight and applied it in all sorts of clever ways.  The keen insight was that once made habit, classroom procedures and routines could become a great opportunity to reinforce academic skills at the same time. Having taught her students to do them quickly and efficiently on their own, Megan uses every transition in her classroom (whether it’s moving students from their desks to the carpet, or while she passes out papers) as an opportunity to reinforce content that students are still working to master.

In case you were curious, here are some of the reflections participants had about the clip:

• Ideas for Going from “Good” to “Great”: This clip illustrates how teachers who already have strong Systems and Routines in place can continue to stretch their skill set and their kids’ brains in the process.
• Every Minute Matters: This clip showcases just how deliberate and intentional teachers have to be to truly make Every Minute Matter. Megan doesn’t just Cold Call during transitions because she can; she’s intentional about what she’ll be Cold Calling for as well as when and why.
• There’s Joy in Structure: Effective Systems and Routines don’t stifle joy and learning, they enable it. And with enough imagination and practice, teachers help students grow to love them.

What takeaways would you add? How else might you apply what you learned from her clip to your own classroom and/or to your work with other educators?

Megan Broome, Systems and Routines, Video