Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better
By Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway, and Katie Yezzi with a forward by Dan Heath 
(Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2012  Learn more)

Reviewed by Renee Masterson

“Admitting Error clears the Score, And proves you Wiser than before.”
–Arthur Guiterman

The first step of improving any practice often begins with admitting that things could be done differently. In Doug Lemov’s book, Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better, teachers are thoroughly exposed to the importance of honing teaching skills inside and outside the classroom in order to more effectively serve students.

Several times in this book, teachers in the classroom are paralleled to coaches on the playing field. Both are influential in a young person’s life; however, unlike coaches, Lemov notes that teachers often fail to practice ways to enrich their methods to better facilitate student learning.

Lemov offers 42 explicit guidelines for becoming a better teacher. These rules are designed to be rehearsed with colleagues; moreover, most of these improvement strategies can be carried out in as little as ten minutes each day. They include making a plan to practice, modeling and describing your teaching style, isolating a skill set, shortening the feedback loop, and creating a fun atmosphere for teachers to hone their teaching skills. Though these practices are simple (yet powerful when applied), Lemov stresses a quality work ethic because “practice makes permanent.” People may “assume that practice is something that stops when you get good. Practice implies a judgment. It assumes a lack of competence. But of course this isn’t true.”

This book allows teachers to reflect practicing before teaching, provides example plans of how to practice with fellow educators, outlines models for teaching, describes ways to constructively communicate feedback to colleagues, attempts to change the culture of schools and the attitudes of teachers, and illustrates proven ways in which educators can make the newly learned skills second nature.  The guidelines in Practice Perfect, Lemov says, must be applied and carried out in the classroom on a daily basis in order for students to personalize their learning experience and for teachers to effectively support the learning environment.

I personally appreciated the insight that this book provided for functional application within the classroom. I was able to find positive ideas that allowed me to shift my focus from one of no need to practice my skills outside the typical school day, to one that thrives on actively practicing and implementing these techniques in the classroom with the expectation of improving instruction.

Because deliberate practice to become a better teacher was essentially a foreign concept to me, this book was revelatory. And it also showed how I could practice with and learn from fellow teachers. Lemov does not just say, “Here’s a bunch of things you should and shouldn’t do as an educator. Good luck.” Thankfully, he gives a detailed outline of how I can incorporate these practices within my school and describes real-world examples of how practicing has created better educators.

In the Appendix, Lemov generously provides practice activities to carry out with other teachers. Just as students gain from feedback, teachers, too, need to receive feedback on their teaching styles from time to time. Lemov not only provides helpful hints for interpreting feedback, but also for supplying feedback to my colleagues when we practice becoming better teachers. We are all responsible for providing the best education for our students, and working together to ensure that our methods are top-notch for our students is imperative.

As a pre-service teacher, I am just beginning to see how practicing specific elements of an educator’s role will be vital to my teaching efficacy. Practice Perfect opened my eyes to the need for this profession to be practiced just as doctors need to practice their surgical skills and athletes need to practice the particulars of their respective sports. I would recommend this book to every teacher dedicated to his or her students. There is so much to be learned, and the 42 rules Lemov recommends provide an excellent framework to pursue our professional growth.

Renee Masterson, a native of Indiana, is currently a graduate student at Mississippi State University where she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Secondary Education. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 2012 at the same institution. Renee aspires to actively engage high school students in the learning process of various science disciplines for real-world preparation and application.

Finding Mrs. Warnecke: The Difference Teachers Make
by Cindi Rigsbee
(Wiley/Jossey Bass, 2010 – Learn more)

Reviewed by José Vilson

Dear Cindi Rigsbee,

As a teacher in urban schools, I often prefer the timbre of a roar instead of the melody of a heart-to-heart. These days, I expect any teacher within five feet of a mic to get on there and list their grievances about a job that, to anyone watching closely, has become more thankless than at any other time in recent memory. Thus, books of note have almost exclusively fallen under two categories: educational policy papers or instructional manuals. Rarely do books veer off the edge and back to the heart of why teachers do what they do.

Yours does that, and then some.

Finding Mrs. Warnecke: The Difference Teachers Make tackles the teacher memoir with aplomb, a spiritual template for those who seek to answer the question of who first inspired them to teach. Your own journey from an awkward first grade student to accomplished educator became a dedication to the first teacher you encountered who made her classroom into a center for academic and person growth, Mrs. Warnecke. You dedicate a good portion of your manuscript to your mistakes, fears, pains, and insecurities — for every reader to see — a risky endeavor for any “Teacher of the Year.” You also opened up the book to others who shared their own stories of the remarkable teachers who taught them.

This, like so few education books these days, was a book of love.

I particularly enjoyed the last portion of the book where we get treated to what comedians call “the big reveal.” I don’t intend on ruining the surprise. Suffice it to say that everyone who needs a multi-page burst of inspiration should get your book. I shouldn’t be surprised. Ever since I met you, you’ve shown nothing but a natural affinity for the profession, a warm temperament, and the ability to frame the national discussion of the tumult and rumble of today’s teaching profession with a grace that is evident from the very first page of this story. You’ve actually made the rest of us feel like we can do this.

Seems like you found Mrs. Warnecke long before you met her again.

Sincerely,

José

José Luis Vilson teaches middle grades math in the Inwood-Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. He’s a graduate of Syracuse University (computer science) and the City College of New York (masters, mathematics education), and a prominent blogger on matters of education, race, Black Latino culture, life in urban America and, most recently, fatherhood. See his article The Homeroom Is a Home here at MiddleWeb.