"Teach Like a Champion" Book Study: Chapter 1

We are doing a book study at my school which I LOVE!! It's great to read new content and have time to discuss with your peers. My school has been placed on a Priority School List which means we are in the lowest 5% of achieving schools and our students do not make adequate progress from year to year. We had a major staff overhaul this year (I'm new plus about 10 other teachers and a new Principal and Vice Principal) so we are all really excited to change things around for these kiddos and our book study is part of our efforts :) Our vice principal selected this book:

"Teach Like a Champion" by Doug Lemov, you can buy it here at  Amazon . I read this book  a few years ago and really liked it. I didn't read it though with the vigor I am choosing to read it this time (isn't the second time you read a book always so much better than the first!) and I thought I'd share our teams insights with you. So many of us are working hard to close the Achievement/Opportunity Gap and Doug Lemov's techniques are easy, yet powerful and effective. The main theory of the book is that teachers can implement these techniques to level the playing field for students of poverty with the ultimate goal of college and life success. A great thing about this book is that it comes with a DVD that SHOWS the techniques in action. If you are a visual learner like me, this is critical for complete understanding of the content so I love that it's included. Onto Chapter 1.

Chapter 1 is Setting High Academic Expectations. Each chapter includes techniques that allow you to reach the goal of the chapter, in this case, setting high academic expectations. This chapter includes 4 techniques; No Opt Out, Right is Right, Stretch It, Format Matters, and Without Apology. I'll highlight the main idea of each technique so you can get a feel for the book, but I strongly encourage you to read the book, either buying it or checking it out from your library, because not only do you get the DVD, but they outline each technique much more deeply as well as some sequences and variations for each technique that I know I will be referring to throughout the year.

"No Opt Out" is just what it sounds like. The teacher creates a culture in the classroom where no student is allowed to shrug their shoulders and say, "I don't know." When the student does say they don't know, the teacher uses certain techniques to help them arrive at the answer and then ends the sequence with the student saying the correct answer.

"Right is Right"is something that I struggle with. Doug Lemov suggests teachers often "round up" for students. A student gives a partially correct answer, possibly not giving enough detail or using a vocabulary word incorrectly, and teachers often will say it's correct and then add onto the answer themselves instead of making the student do the heavy lifting. He encourages teachers to praise students for effort, but not to confuse effort with mastery. The book includes great sentence stems for teachers to prompt students to go further as well as explains the various ways students answer questions that are not exactly right and how to address them

"Stretch It" is a technique where the learning does not end with a right answer, but instead keeps going with questions that extend learning and test students understanding on different levels. It's a great differentiation technique and lends itself well to higher level thinking as well as "how" and"why" questions.

"Format Matters" is really about making sure students are using the correct grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, and volume when speaking because that is what will be required and make them able to compete in the college and professional worlds.

"Without Apology" is the notion that all content is interesting if taught in an engaging way so stop making excuses for why you are teaching it. It breaks down 4 common ways we "apologize" to our students for the content we teach them and the message it sends them. For example, we often tell students, "Sorry, this is boring, but we just have to learn it." Really think about what message you are sending to your students when you say this. I know I've said it before and want to focus on never again delivering content with an apology because I'd much rather instill a love of learning and curiosity about the world than the idea that anything about life is boring.

That's Chapter 1 for you!! These were great techniques to start thinking about when starting a new year. We have our book discussion next week; I'll let you know any great insights my team shares with me. Happy Day!