While on Twitter, I saw some tweets between Rick Allison and Sefu Bernard that referenced “Teach Like A Champion.”
I pre-ordered the book before it was released a year or two ago. Actually, I bought it for my wife, but after it was sitting on her nightstand for a week, I asked her if I could read it and she let me. I loved it. It reinforced a lot of great things I already believed in and it will surely add great teaching techniques to your coaching arsenal as it did to mine.
The premise behind the book is that Doug Lemov studies teachers that are outliers. Basically, he studies teachers that greatly exceed their expectations based on certain criteria like poverty level and location. After studying the outliers (teachers), he puts together 49 teaching techniques that were quite common among the teachers. Not all 49 teaching techniques apply to coaching basketball, but most of the techniques were still very helpful.
They focus on the little things that engage students and enhance learning. Something as subtle as the way you ask questions. He uses techniques such as “right is right” and “cold call”. After you implement their strategies, you can see the progress with your athletes or students.
Due to the reminder on Twitter, I hope to re-read this over the next month and post some articles with the tips and techniques I learned from the book.
Another bonus is that the book includes a CD that has short video clips of the teachers using the teaching techniques in action.
I advise you pick up a copy if you have not already!
Our principal had the entire staff read this as part of our professional development. As you say, it reinforces and labels a lot of teaching techniques that we all have been using for some time. My personal favorite, “No Opt Out,” is found early in the book and yielded immediate results for me in both teaching and coaching.