Teach Like a Champion

As a college student it is not unusual to spend an unlawful amount of money on unnecessary books for a plethora of different courses. However, the books for classroom management are a different story. One book in particular, Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov foreword by Norman Atkins, is one textbook that I can honestly say I read all of the way through with great enthusiasm and interest. The funny thing? There are absolutely no pictures. A textbook that is completely full of words, no not just words, incredibly fantastic ideas to prepare any level student for college and a successful life. After highlighting, writing in margins, and bookmarking almost every page, I can happily say that this book will stay in my possession for as long as I see necessary (and that's looking like forever)!

I'd like to discuss a few ideas that I pulled from this book that I believe are going to work wonders in my future classroom. The first, the 4 M's. The objective you are trying to reach with your students should be manageable, measurable, made first, and most important. An effective objective can by taught in a single lesson (Lemov 60). There may be an over-all content objective they need to reach in a whole unit. Don't be afraid to break an objective down into smaller objectives for each lesson to reach mastery of the whole content objective. Have a way to measure your student's success. Exit tickets are a quick and easy strategy to use. Set your objective first. How will you know what lesson to teach if you do not know the goal that you are aiming for? "An effective objective should focus on what's most important on the path to college, and nothing else." The ultimate goal is to get our students ready for college and this crazy thing called life. In order to do that we need to ensure that our lessons are preparing them for the future and not just keeping them busy until the bell rings.

Not only does this book provide awesome ideas for developing a strategic and worthwhile lesson, it also helps you with discipline and classroom management strategies. For example, always expect 100% of your students to reach 100% of your expectations 100% of the time. Set your goals high. It is our job to educate, not to parent or be a friend, but to teach our students what will be expected from them for years to come as they enter into society and adulthood. Expecting 100% and not backing down is difficult, but think of the path you'll pave for their future.

One last thing, do not chastise a student for not knowing. After all, it is YOUR job to teach them what to do. Prepare yourself to go over every little detail. Things that are common sense to you may not yet be common sense to them. Teach them how to accomplish a task that may be simple to you, like taking notes. Tell them why it is important. Everything you do and they do should have meaning tied to it. Students need to know why they're doing what they're doing so that their actions hold meaning. Use phrases like, "Daryl, please put away your book. The reason I need you to put away your book is so we can move on to our new math lesson of triangles." Give direction, give reason, move on with the good life.

This book is completely full of amazing tips and tricks. It also comes with a  DVD so you can view all 49 techniques in action. Awesome buy! You can purchase it here on amazon.