Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

05.03.24 More Ace Footage from Scott Wells’ Classroom

Earlier this week I posted a clip of Scott Wells of Goldsmith Primary Academy as he Checked for Understanding with his students. Justifiably, the clip got rave reviews in a recent workshop and online as well.  No surprise that- you can see how sharp it is (and some of the highlights from my perspective at least)…


05.01.24 My England Travelogue Part 3: A Really Wonderful CFU Workshop in London

  Last week I shared two blog posts here and here about my week-long trip to England the week prior, in which I visited two really fascinating schools. The week ended with a two-day workshop in London on the topic of Checking for Understanding, co-sponsored by Ark Schools (thank you Victor Voutov, the king of workshop…


05.01.24 How Scott Wells Checks for Understanding as His Students Read (with Video)

  We recently shot an amazing round of video in Scott Wells’ classroom at Goldsmith Primary Academy in Walsall…. We generated clip after clip of masterful teaching several of which we’ve already begun sharing in workshops. In fact I had the pleasure of showing a clip of Scott Checking for Understanding to participants at a session…


04.23.24 My England Travelogue, Part 1: Ark Soane Academy

  I’ve just returned a week in England in which I visited schools, talked teaching, led a workshop and learned many useful things. I’ve decided to string together a series of posts in a sort of mini-travel-log. Starting with my visit on Tuesday to Ark Soane Academy in Acton where Pritesh Raichura was my primary host—and…


03.04.24 Lesson Delivery Models and Lesson Prep

In our previous three posts, we described lessons learned from our partnership with Harmony Public Schools as they endeavored to strengthen a culture of Lesson Preparation across their 60 campuses. Our team defines Lesson Preparation as consisting of 3 core practices:  Plan the Exemplar Plan for Error Plan the Means of Participation   (For more on…