Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

10.06.17 Using the Do Now for Retrieval Practice–An Update from Alex Laney

  A year or so ago I wrote a post about Alex Laney’s Do Nows at Smith’s Wood Academy in Birmingham, England.  Since then Alex has kept in touch and he recently shared some insights about the school’s new approach to Do Nows or (as they call them) DNAs. Most notably, given the very compelling research…


10.03.17 Retrieval Practice: A Teachers’ Definition and Video Examples

  We’ve been reading up a lot on retrieval practice lately.  Hopefully we’re not alone in that. From a cognitive science standpoint it’s absolutely central to improving learning. You might recall  Daniel Willingham’s assertion about the importance of knowledge: Data from the last thirty years lead to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well…


09.28.17 Nick Winkelman on Blocked, Serial and Random Practice

I had the chance to visit a highly successful sports franchise earlier this week. It was the second time in a month I got to visit an elite organization in the sports sector and both visits were amazing because I learned so much- even in the ‘classroom,’ because in both cases the organizations had also brought…