Doug Lemov believes great teachers are made, not born | Hacker News Reader

Doug Lemov believes great teachers are made, not born

theguardian.com

43 pointshunghuuhoang22 comments

See also the NYT magazine article "Building a Better Teacher" from 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html...

Man, I thought that calling on people at random was just sort of standard practice. At the college level it forces people to be ready or at least think even if they aren't. Glad someone is actually going in an measuring these things. The political problem is still there, but having the words to actually talk about technique is vital for improving it.

Related point: a study found that science teachers call on boys more often than girls, even when they think they are being fair. To combat this, it helps to keep a list of names (even an attendance sheet) and make a tiny mark when you call on someone. Then you can see who you haven't called on in a while. http://www.narst.org/publications/research/gender.cfm

This seems like it is begging for a small app that can be on a smartphone/watch/whatever and will randomly provide a name.

Even better are classroom response systems which let all students answer at the same time using their phones or computers. Examples include Socrative or Poll Everywhere.

Are you certain these are better? I would love to see studies and whatnot.

I can't see JustAnotherApp™ helping in a meaningful way. How would that work? I fear the teacher would need to bring another device or pull out their phone, distracting the lecture.

It sounds like the biggest problem's awareness (teacher bias). From there, a class roster and a pen would address tracking in the simplest form.

My main take home from the article is that it is important to get all the kids to think. Which requires them to focus and not become distracted. To me introducing technology into the situation actually makes the situation worse because it is far more likely to serve as a distraction regardless of any good intentions. Kids need to learn to sit with their thoughts and really mull over them.

Really all the teacher would need is a RNG for the number of kids in class that would pick randomly with the restriction that you discard numbers that have been picked 2 (or n) addition times from the lowest picked number. That way there is still some fear that even though you have been called on you may still be called on before everyone else has been.

> How would that work? I fear the teacher would need to bring another device or pull out their phone, distracting the lecture.

How is using a phone/tablet for this purpose any more distracting from the lecture than using a paper + writing instrument + writing? A mobile device isn't going to get in the way than keeping an attendance sheet on a desk/podium/clipboard and using that.

I disagree. Think about the implications of using an app v. pen + paper. I assume the device would need to remain unlocked, have notifications turned off (e.g. email), and the screen isn't currently synched with a projector among other assumptions. Are these reasonable? If so, can you elaborate on what you're envisioning for both scenarios (app v. pen)?

In either case, the instructor would need training to do the actions discretely. Waiting for a teacher to go jot down any notes is annoying.

A teacher would need training to explain class participation and write a checkmark? Students are too clever to not notice. There's nothing to hide.

Yes, a teacher would need training for this. Did you read the article linked? One of the initial points was praise for the teacher addressing a kids behavior without the rest of the class noticing. This isn't something that is just natural. It is a skill that is built. Some people have just been building it for so long that it seems natural

Huh?

This sub-thread isn't about ways to correct student behavior (Doug Lemov article). We're talking about the NARST article, which explicitly lists a process where you call on students, using a roster. There's nothing discreet about that.

Right, I'm saying for this to be effective and not a distraction, training it would large boon.

Agreed it would be bad if distracting. This is why I said it would be good for the watch or some other ubiquitous item. Basically key it so that the phone doesn't show anything as it is sitting on the desk. If the teacher wants to call on someone, tap a button on their watch (discretely) and it will show someone's name/seat number.

Over the summer I went through an alternative teacher certification program. The program focused a lot on the techniques in Doug Lemov's book, Teach Like a Champion. I have implemented a few of Lemov's techniques and they have been very helpful in managing classroom behavior.

So believes any second year student of cognitive sciences, I suppose - genes and environment, while environment dominates.

Title made me think of this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=GEmuEWjHr5c (from someone with PhD in teaching physics).

Man, this makes me wish even more than I usually do that independent study for programming was a class that actually existed.

> from someone with PhD in teaching physics

Although there's no harm in mentioning it, and there may certainly be a correlation, it's worthwhile to note that the credential doesn't make the man: having a Ph.D. in physics education is no more a guarantee that one is a good teacher than having a Ph.D. in English is that one is a good writer.

This looks like a substantive article. Can anyone suggest a more substantive title?

Edit: we'll use the subtitle for now.

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