Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

01.14.14 And Then There Was Action: Nikki Bridges puts Art of the Sentence to work. Fast

People really seemed to like Sunday’s post  on Art of the Sentence, in which Dan, Joaquin and I described our Friday workshop and how we gleaned insights about how to build mastery of the complete sentence–and complete thought–via Art of the Sentence. Nikki Bridges, principal at Leadership Prep Ocean Hill in Brooklyn was at the workshop…


11.12.13 Do You Use “Slates” to Check For Understanding? Tell me more (Video)

I’m looking for some tales of Implementation as I write TLAC 2.0.  The topic is what I call “slates.” It’s a small (but mighty) part of Checking for Understanding where students show you objective data on their work in unison in order for you to be able to more simply and quickly assess it. More on…


04.03.13 TLaC 2.0: Adding Stretch It to No Opt Out (video)

I’m in California this week so have been slow to post and respond to comments…. but the great news (for me) is that I am out here to do a two-day workshop for teachers and leaders at the highly–and justifyably–vaunted Aspire Public Schools. I’m especially excited because I always learn a ton from the smart and reflective…


01.14.13 Writing in Math Class

My colleague Paul Powell has been working on a training for teachers on writing in math class—how to include more of it and how to use it to deepen understanding and rigor.  He’s done some great work in laying out and thinking about all the different types of writing that can happen in a math class…