Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

12.07.25 Ask Doug: On Graphic Organizers

  Doug recently got a note from a teacher in Texas who had read our recent book, The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading, and was especially interested in making social studies classes more writing intensive. This teacher was curious that we don’t show many graphic organizers in the book, unless blank…


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12.11.17 On Increasing ‘Positive Variance’ in Teaching and Curriculum

In their new book The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath describe a principle some high performing organizations use to grow successfully: “Reduce negative variance and increase positive variance.”  This idea is relevant in at least two aspects of running and improving schools. First, one of the strongest ways a school can make a difference…


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