Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

12.14.21 A Keystone Video: Watching Hasan Clayton Start Class

    One of the key changes in the 3.0 version of TLAC is the inclusion of Keystone Videos – longer more complex videos that illustrate how teachers combine and decide among techniques. We see great value in Keystone videos to support not just better teaching generally but better execution of curriculum—including our own Reading Reconsidered…


09.04.20 Reading Online with Stephanie Le

I wanted to share this great little video of Stephanie Le’s classroom at Libertas College Prep in Los Angeles. She does a good job of maintaining a dynamic pace to her lesson while keeping students engaged and on their toes through a variety of forms of participation. The video starts out with her reading aloud with…


05.15.19 How Does Pacing Work? Ask Ben Esser!

Next year we’re re-working our Engaging Academics workshop to spend more time on the techniques teachers use to manage their Pacing–to make a lesson feel fresh,exciting and new even while it lingers on a key topic for a sustained period of time–to make learning substantive and rigorous but to also ensure sustained attention from students. This…


06.12.15 Portrait of a Teacher (Beth Brannon) in 8 Scenes (Video)

Here’s a rundown of that video of Amarillo Texas Caprock High’s Beth Brannon that I promised in my recent post about unexpectedness. Beth uses, by my count, 11 techniques from Teach Like a Champion 2.0 in the clip (!), though you might never know it unless you watched carefully.  Her productive class seems like a happy…