Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

05.05.23 Phil and Me, The Final Chapter: Toward Redemption

  I’ve posted twice this week about my journey through the valley of darkness after Phil Beadle got me in his crosshairs. Sure there was a brief high when I realized that of all the people in the world he could have foisted a shallow ill-conceived and hypocritical attack on, he’d chosen me. Me! But mostly…


05.05.23 Phil and Me, Part 2: Deeper Into the Master’s Words

  Recently I shared a mortifying secret: I had been the subject of a full-scale take down–a full scale multimedia take down–at the hands of Phil Beadle himself. It hurt, I have to say, to hear the things one of the heroes of the movement had to say about me. [Silver lining: he did say I…


05.04.23 Phil and Me

Well, it’s been a bit of a tough week for me! Phil Beadle, a highly renowned master teacher and author of teaching advice books sort of lowered the boom on my work in the most unceremonious way! This was devastating of course. Imagine how it felt to have the master himself accuse me of perpetuating  “symbolic…


05.04.23 Tracking in Classrooms: What I Really Think (and Wrote)

Every so often Teacher Twitter turns itself to the topic of tracking and “SLANTing” in the classroom- basically whether student can and should or can be asked to look at one another when they are speaking in the classroom and whether its reasonable to ask them to sit up.  That time has arrived again over in…