Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

07.13.24 Better Questioning for Athletes Starts with Clear Principles of Play

  I’m prepping this weekend to narrate the audiobook version of The Coach’s Guide to Teaching… which basically means reading my own book. Obviously that means noticing a lot of small things I’d like to change. But also noticing some passages that, as I learn more, I see even more value in. Here’s one, from the…


01.24.21 The Coach’s Guide to Teaching: What’s Inside?

My latest book, The Coach’s Guide to Teaching hit the shelves in December. Yes, it’s about coaching athletes. I tried to take what I know about teaching, combine it with what cognitive science says about learning shoot it through the lens of the game I love: soccer/football. Hope that doesn’t sound narrow; It’s for coaches but…


08.22.20 Book Excerpt: On Sideline Coaching and Post-Game Talks

I’m happy to say we’re still tracking for a December release for my book for sports coaches, The Coach’s Guide to Teaching. I’m trying to post some excerpts here. Though most of the book focuses on what we can do during training and practice to accelerate learning, in Chapter 6 I try to reflect on two…


07.27.20 An Excerpt from The Coach’s Guide to Teaching, Chapter 5: Building Culture

The Coach’s Guide to Teaching, my book for sports coaches on developing athletes through better teaching, hits the shelves this winter. Meanwhile I’m trying to get the manuscript buttoned up. I’ve shared examples from some of the other chapters here, here and here. This excerpt is from the beginning of the chapter on Building Culture which…