Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

03.23.17 Common Opportunities to Build Rigor: Means of Participation

Great teachers are always seeking to make their classrooms as rigorous as possible. Over the next three days, I’ll be sharing  thoughts about three ‘common opportunities’ –things I see in place when I observe great classrooms that can often make a big difference—quickly—in good ones. Common Opportunity #1: Improve the rigor of your classrooms by defining…


04.14.15 Rue Ratray: Frustration and Rigor, Part I

Rue Ratray is Dean of Curriculum and Instruction at UP Academy Oliver in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a district turnaround that’s one part of superintendent Jeff Riley’s bold efforts to revitalize the schools in this small former mill city that’s (previously) been known for under-performing schools. Rue’s an amazing and inspirational teacher.  You can see video of him…


04.22.14 Putting the ‘Great’ in Gatsby: Beth Verrilli’s Disciplined Discussion

Screening video this week, I was reminded of some posts from earlier this year on keeping discussions “disciplined”… that is, “inside the box” and on-topic. They’re, here  here and here in case you missed them, but the idea is that true discussion happens when a group identifies key topics and develops them rigorously and at some…