Educational Leadership - December 2010/January 2011

Teacher talk. I was delighted to find some of my homegrown talk techniques in the book: responding to student behavior in a constructive and positive way (Technique 43); insisting that students answer questions thoroughly (Technique 1); and pushing for student talk that requires students to listen to one another and think critically ( Technique 3). We don’t recognize enough the power of register, tone, and discourse in the classroom, particularly when questioning students. And yet this may be the essential teacher skill. Lemov’s microscopic attention to detail pays off here.

Respectful discipline. One might
be concerned that the top-down
classroom style Lemov endorses is
demeaning, but this is not inherently
the case. Kids are treated with strong
doses of caring and consistency. Much
of what Lemov suggests, such as
explaining everything (Technique 48);
using precise praise (Technique 44);
and normalizing error (Technique 49)
is backed up by the research of Carol
Dweck (2007) and Ed Deci (1996),
two of my heroes. These psychologists
emphasize effort, positive mind-set,
and the importance of building stu-
dents’ sense of competence.

Dina Strasser teaches 7th grade English at Roth Middle School in Henrietta, New York. She blogs at http://theline . edublogs.org.

Dr. K Princi Elem Compton U 2

Educational Leadership for Today’s Schools.

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