Doug Lemov's field notes

“Shea, you mentioned the word “equal”…

In a few weeks I’ll be in Miami with my colleague Hannah Solomon talking about techniques to Check for Understanding (There’s still room to join us: info and registration here). 

One of the things we’ll talk about is the power of Active Observation–the idea that building systems to harvest data and observations about student thinking during independent work is one of a teacher’s most powerful tools.

Here’s a great example of what that looks like and one reason why it can be so powerful, courtesy of Laura Brettle, a Year 6 (5th grade) teacher at Manor Way Primary in Halesowen, England.

Laura starts by giving her students the task of describing the relationship between two fractions, which are equivalent.

They’ve got two minutes to answer in a “silent solo stop and jot.” Here Laura is cue-ing a familiar routine. Whenever students think in writing it’s called a stop and jot. Having a name for it reminds them that it’s a familiar routine and familiarity is important- when a procedure is familiar to the point of routine, students can complete the task with no additional load on working memory. All their thinking is on the math, rather than the logistics of what Laura has asked them to do.

But Laura has some great routines here too! As her students write she circulates and takes careful notes on her clipboard.  She’s able to spot students who need a bit of prompting and to take note of students whose work is exemplary. Because she has notes on what many of her students think, she’ll be able to start the discussion intentionally.

“During the active observation,” my colleague Alonte Johnson-James noted when we watched the video with our team, “Laura monitors student thinking/writing in her first lap. As she launches into the second lap she begins to drop in feedback. First, to push a student to make their answer better and more precise. Additionally, she challenges students who might have finished early to push their thinking to identify additional equivalent fractions. She also recognizes where students struggle and uses intentional, appreciative Cold Calls of Shea and Joanna to explain how and why 5/6 and 10/12 are equivalent.”

And of course she does that in the most appreciative of ways.

First she asks students to track Shea: “Shea, you mentioned the word equal.”  In doing so she’s let Shea know that the Cold Call is a result of her good work– she’s done well and this is her reward. And she also tells Shea what part of her answer she wants her to talk about.  It’s a great way to honor students and make them feel seen for their hard work and to make Cold Call fell like an honor.

But you can see that Laura’s notes were really comprehensive. She also credits Finn for using the word double in his answer too.

Side note for one of my favorite moves–she magnifies the positive peer to peer symbol of the hand gestures students give to show they agree–“I can see people appreciating…” this helps Shea to see how much her peers approve of her good work!

Next Laura goes to Joanna. “What I liked about your answer is that you showed the calculation…. we know it’s double but what calculation did you use?”

Another super-positive Cold Call that makes a student feel honored for her work. And a very efficient discussion of the problem in which Jen has let students discuss the key points but avoided wasting any time.

We often refer to this as “hunting not fishing”: while students work, Laura “hunts” for useful answers and tracks them. When she calls on students she can be ultra-strategic and efficient, rather than calling on students and “fishing” for a good answer: that is, merely hoping that they’ll have something on-point to say.

Her simple but beautifully implemented systems for gathering data during independent work allow her to work efficiently and honor the best of student thinking.

If you’re as inspired by Laura’s work as we are (Thank you, Laura!!) please come join us in Miami to study this and other techniques for getting the most out of your classroom!