EDCI 5070 Lemov Reflection

In Teach Like A Champion Lemov (2010) defines specific tools which a teacher can use to “unlock the latent talent and skill” (p.2) of a student. Lemov (2010) summarizes four strategies that are standard practice for good teachers and challenges them to become great teachers through the application and perfecting of techniques.

Lemov (2010) defends his belief in these techniques by providing standardized test results. He concedes that while not sufficient “state test results are necessary” (Lemov, 2010, p.17) and informative. The value of standardized testing is controversial but Lemov (2010) defends that a student’s state assessments are “predictive of their success not just getting into college but of their succeeding there” (p.18). This begs the question, what is wrong with the idea of teaching to the test? If the assessments are used as a measure of a student’s understanding and even predictive of their success it seems logical that they are an essential element in measuring achievement.

Lemov (2010) believes students need to have basic skills and the ability to apply those skills in a critical way to life experiences. He maintains that once students are proficient in the basics then they are able to “observe that a more abstract principle is at work in a problem or that there is another way to solve it” (Lemov, 2010, p.19). Just as teachers need techniques to perfect the art of teaching, students first need skill proficiency in order to make broader application.

Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.