From the Guardian, Ian Leslie writes about Doug Lemov and his efforts to develop teachers by training them in what he describes as a performance profession. Ian writes:
“Sports coaches know that what looks effortlessly achieved, like the way Roger Federer hits a backhand, is in fact the product of countless hours of practice and analysis. Faced with a problem – a weakness in their game – they break it down into parts and work on the execution of each one before putting it all back together. Successful sportspeople have what the psychologist Carol Dweck calls a “growth mindset” – the belief that talent is intelligently applied effort in disguise. The ones who understand this principle best are those born without the supreme talent of a Federer – the ones who have had to strive for every millimetre of improvement.
The best teachers do not necessarily understand how teaching works, because their own technique is invisible to them; sports psychologists call this “expert-induced amnesia”. When the Los Angeles Times asked some of the teachers who topped their list what made them so effective, one replied that great teachers simply love their students and love their job: “You can’t bottle that, and you can’t teach it.”
Doug Lemov is on a mission to prove that talented teacher wrong….”
Read the full story at The revolution that’s changing the way your child is taught
As a mother of 3 girls, my husband and I made the decision to put our youngest in a charter school for the 1st time last year. With my oldest, she benefited from a regular public school, excelled even because she put forth the effort. With my middle, she had some issues and we saw how the school dealt with them and wasn’t too happy. And now with my youngest being the only one home now, we made the decision to put her into a charter school because we felt she could do better at one. She’s had some issues with classes this past year, but her teachers at the school were very supportive and the communication was excellent with them. We are planning to keep her at this school because we like how they’ll separate those who are very good in school from those who have some problems. Taking the stress out of classroom participation is a plus, and doesn’t make the kids feel they are lacking. And the teachers are all younger (under 40) and can really relate to the kids as they get into their teen years. We saw some vast improvements this past year, and expect her to continue the excitement she’s now found.