Doug Lemov's field notes

The TLAC team will be in London April 20 and 21 for a two-day workshop on Engaging Academics.

I thought I’d tell you a bit about what we’ll be working on those days.

First the content:  We’ll take a deep dive into a series of key techniques focused around the skill of questioning and how it can be used to cause students to engage fully in thinking rigorously about content. The techniques we’ll study include Wait Time, Cold Call, Everybody Writes. We’ll talk about how to cue students, so they know HOW to engage the questions implicit in a lesson via Means of Participation. We’ll talk about how to ask follow-up questions after initial student responses via Right is Right, Stretch It, and No Opt out. And we’ll talk about how to prepare a lesson to ensure full engagement from students.

Here’s one example of a clip we’ll study. This is Ian Bristo of Piper’s Vale Primary in Ipswich with his Year 1 students:

Notice how he shifts deftly from Volunteers (i.e. taking hands of students who want to answer) to Cold Call (selecting himself who answers) to Turn and Talk to Call and Response. His students are happy and thinking hard, the fast and unpredictable shift in HOW they answer belying their deep and sustained thinking about the math.

But notice too how well he’s embedded his systems. Students know NOT to call out their answers when he’s taking hands but they know TO call out their answers when Ian uses Call and Response.

When he makes the Turn and Talk gesture with his fingers, off they go in a well-rehearsed routine.

Making the primary tools for thinking about questions well-oiled routines and making it clear and transparent which routine students should use allows them to engage un-selfconsciously and helps Ian’s lesson achieve a kind of “flow” state where students are “happily lost” in the work of learning.

After we watch videos we’ll engage in practice, with activities designed to help teachers and leaders reflect on how to cause what they WANT to happen during their lessons to ACTUALLY HAPPEN.

So we’ll watch this video of BreOnna TIndall Cold Calling

And then we’ll practice Cold Calling after letting students prepare–as BreOnna does–and with a warm smile–as BreOnna uses so that each teacher adapts the ideas to their own style and setting.

Finally we’ll reflect on how to build environments back at our schools that help teachers prepare and practice and succeed so they become the teachers they want to be.

Our goal is not only to study the craft of teaching but to work hard and have a great time doing it. We think teachers deserve to love professional development. To have their minds lit on fire, to prepare to succeed, and to have a great time doing that.

If you want to know more or sign up to join us, the details are here.

Hope to see you there!

-Doug