Doug Lemov

Teachers do the most important work in society (IMO). They do it with little fanfare--often in the face of immense challenge. And though many of them do it with incredible skill they rarely get studied. That's what I try to do: watch great teachers and describe what they do that makes them a little different. Teach Like a Champion--which is now completely revised in a much improved version called Teach Like Champion 2.0 that I recommend over the original version--is my most popular book. It's got twelve chapters about every facet of teaching. And be sure to also check out the companion workbook, the Teach Like a Champion Field Guide 2.0, which is chockful of hands-on activities and includes brand new video content. Practice Perfect, written with my colleagues Erica Woolway and Katie Yezzi, is a meditation on preparing and developing teachers--and others--through practice. Teaching is a performance profession. You do it live. That observation is what got us started in writing the book. My newest book is Reading Reconsidered--a look at the toughest and most critical part of teaching: literacy. It's written with Erica Woolway and Colleen Driggs and I'm so happy to have had the chance ot work with co-authors with such knowledge and insight. I should note that I see all of my books as being about tools, not systems. Teaching is a problem-solving endeavor. You use tools, adapt them to the setting and context of your classroom and your personal style. You like some and not others. I believe most of all in the problem solving skills of teachers and offer them tools for that, knowing they will find the best way to apply,adapt, even ignore some of the ideas in my books.