Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College

by Doug Lemov
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 CDs + 1 DVD
genre: non-fiction, teaching profession

I didn't finish this book . . . but I found it quite interesting. Lemov did quite a bit of research in classrooms across the country. He took the examples of teachers who dramatically improved their students' learning experience and distilled common factors. Things like "No Opt Out" give teachers tools for getting students who say "I don't know" a safe way to participate and learn. I watched a part of the DVD and appreciated seeing examples. I simply don't have time to read everything I have from the library right now. I may return to this one . . . however, most of the example so far (first fifth of the book) apply to whole-classroom instruction. This is something we are getting away from at my school. I am going to focus on other books right now.

Added 8/14/15 (original post was 7/29/15):
Found a note with a quote that came from this book . . . "Reluctant students quickly come to recognize that 'I don't know' is the Rosetta Stone of work avoidance." The section that I listened to with the advice on how to make certain that students participate in a positive way has really stuck with me. I may need to get this book back and spend time with it. Just this little piece - not letting kids off the hook if they respond, "I don't know" is huge.

Comments below added 10/6/15

I found a scrap of paper. "Demography is not destiny" - this is interesting in that so many researchers say that where and to whom kids belong (nature vs nurture) determines a lot of what their future lives will be like.
Also, I made a note that the author highlighted an exemplary professional. The example was of Julie, an administrator who left her home at 5:50 a.m. (so she could ride a bus with her students) and returned home at 8:00 p.m. Wow. She may be an excellent educator, but she's a crappy mom. How can a parent justify being away from family for more than 14 hours a day on a regular basis? That's horrible!