Teach Like a Champion 2.0
Teach Like A Champion 2.0 by Doug Lemov is a practical teaching book. Unlike many others that go into detail on the theory of education or how we learn, Teach Like A Champion is solely focused on techniques that teachers can implement in their classroom.
Lemov states early on that many of these techniques are not ground breaking, but they are what he and his team regularly saw when they sat down to watch thousands of hours of teachers teaching. He is clear about the fact that we probably incorporate elements of many of these techniques into our teaching, but that he is giving ideas to make these even better. What Lemov calls Champion teachers will do these things either more regularly or just more effectively. And this book details how they do that, and provides clips of them actually doing it too.
The book is split into 4 Parts, and each Part is broken into chapters. Within the chapters there are about 5 techniques, totaling 62 techniques. Most of the techniques are broken down into further constituent parts that make them successful or more effective than the standard use of them. As mentioned above, there are also video clips linked to many of the techniques, so you can see it in action.
Each chapter finishes with some reflection questions for the reader to implement, as a guide to making the most of the techniques just seen.
Given the nature of the book, it is a great one to read through, but also excellent for dipping into a particular technique or chapter if you want to work on something in particular.
The best summary I have seen is given in this excellent placemat created by Jillian Robinson from Nanango State School, Australia. It clearly shows the break down of the Parts, chapters and techniques, as well as giving a brief overview of each technique.
I really can't recommend this book highly enough for all teachers to read. The guidance is useful and practical, but clearly grounded in both research and thousands of hours of observations. There are hundreds of nuggets of useful ideas to try in your classroom. Lemov clearly values education very highly, and wants all children to receive the best education they can, and he has put together this book to help teachers be the best they can be, to give students (or scholars, as he calls them) the best opportunities later in life.
Be it teaching new content, building more student thinking, checking if students understand, or just managing a classroom, Lemov has something that will help.