The Washington Post – Jay Mathews
“We often hear about or see for ourselves teachers who have major weaknesses. The thing that hinders so many, it seems, is that they rush through lessons too fast without stopping long enough to see whether everyone — or anyone — understands. They might ask a quick question of a student or two to determine whether the main points registered, but that’s it. They must stay on schedule. Our schools have standards that demand a lot of material be taught. Checking for understanding is difficult. How to do that has puzzled me, until I opened the latest book by Doug Lemov — the best writer on teaching techniques I have encountered. He has collected dozens of ways from successful urban classroom teachers to keep a lesson moving, but not so fast that students don’t absorb what is being taught.”(more)