Doug Lemov's field notes

Probably the smartest investment you could make…

Recently, I wrote about Means of Participation– how at the beginning of the year it’s critically important to design and optimize and make a habit out of the way students answer questions–with attention to the details.

I shared a video of Sadie McCleary’s Turn and Talk/Cold Call procedures and how they deepened and broadened student participation.

And I mentioned that preparation and practice by teachers was a key to achieving that kind of success.

You can see Eric snider and Kirby Jarell doing that in this video:

Kirby and Eric are practicing their Turn and Talks and building their own routine—how will they give directions so they are clear and productive?

Their goal is to give those directions consistently to send student into the task using similar language every time. That way the cue is part of the routine. But also making sure the directions are clear the first times you do it so behaviors are optimal.

But of course each teacher will want to do that slightly differently. Kirby and Eric are both great teachers but they are also slightly different.

So notice that they not only talk about what they should say but they practice as well.  Kirby wants to use some of Eric’s suggested language but 1) not all of it and 2) she wants it to sound and feel like herself. So she rehearses–multiple times, making slight changes, until it feels right and she’s internalized the language she likes in a way the feels like the teacher that she is.

It only takes five minutes. But the rewards they get in clear and productive classroom culture will be worth it a thousand times over.