I know, I know I am beating a dead horse. But it is a Lemov horse so one last go around here. On Friday some anonymous comments were left deriding me, praising the heck out of Doug Lemov, and just being so sycophantal in tone I couldn't let them be. I should take my mothers advice. Wear clean underwear, don't argue with crazy people, and don't pay attention to Lemov's paid supporters.

But there are some things that need be cleared up. Some comments that need attention.

Sorry you disrespectful, hostile little man, not Doug, but thanks for the laugh. He wouldn't bother giving someone like you the time of day I'm sure. He's too busy running schools and training teachers.

OK. Maybe not Dougie, but close enough to Dougie that Dougie that a roof is shared. Remember, IP addresses do not lie. And I doubt Dougie or Dougie sycophant you have the knowledge or ability to spoof an IP. The proof is in the pudding (click to enlarge)

So, let's look at the time stamps from above and the time stamps the comments had been left and it is a match. What else is a match. The town. So Dougie what gives?

It's like you are jealous that you didn't write the book yourself.

Honestly, I don't care. Diane Ravitch wrote a book and I am not jealous, though I have yet to read it. There are other bloggers and I am not jealous. What I think it is Dougie is you feel you have a certain Freudian physical shortcoming that you feel you must make up for. Write all the books you want. Just be original is all we ask.

The crap you are spewing is just that, crap. I'd love to see your performance data and compare it to a Doug Lemov run school.

This goes back to the Freudian physical shortcoming you have Dougie. So freaking what about performance data. Not all teachers are in a position to have performance data. Know what makes me feel good? When a student is having a real crappy day and that student seeks me out to know that I can and will make him feel better. That is performance data that does not show up anywhere accept in the heart. As for a Doug Lemov run school, if teachers could only have 12 students in a class..........

Why anyone in the education field would disrespect someone who has dedicated his life to improving education (there is proof, try doing some research)is just a sorry excuse for an "educator".

Respect is earned, not given. Come work in the South Bronx for a year, and then we'll talk.

Have you tried prozac?

No, have you? I think we are projecting Dougie, don't you? Hey, I heard that men who Prozac have issues with, well you know. Oh I guess that goes hand in hand with that Freudian physical shortcoming you have.

And this piece from one of Dougie's supporters, not Dougie.

You seem to have a lot to say (all negative) and call out a lot of people. I don't see your name anywhere though

My name is known. Besides Jay, Hamilton and Madison wrote the Federalist Papers anonymously and Jefferson skewered John Adams anonymously during the 1800 election. So Pfftt.

Now just remember Dougie you are more than welcome to email me and leave comments here. Just please, stop denying who you are. IP's never lie.

Not beating a dead horse here, but just some final thoughts on Doug Lemov.

Last night, Dougie, or one of his minions, commented; You're suffering from delusions of grandeur if you honestly believe Doug has the time or interest in commenting on your site,

No I have no delusions of grandeur. A facts a fact Jack, from Nome to Rome. Dougie has obsessively read this blog ten times today, and five times yesterday. You sir, or madam, have been to the blog a shitload of times. So nerts to you. Pfft.

I came across this blog, PageSlap last night. In it, the blogger writes regarding Dougie;

Here are some short video clips of teachers Lemov admires, in action. I showed these to a teacher friend, who argues that this kind of classroom management is too behaviour-focussed, and while getting kids to sit quietly and listen does help them learn facts, the kids aren’t challenged to construct knowledge from their own observations and experience when learning this way. Which I thought was also good food for thought. This whole thing is very complicated. I wish someone would just teach me how to think.

And then the Pièce de résistance. From the Democratic Underground, the real liberals can see what a neo-liberal elitist Dougie is. My favorite quote:

like anyone who's ever been even *vaguely* associated with education doesn't know about that technique for examining & improving one's presentation, class management, & teaching technique. i hate these fuckwits.

That is today's word children. Fucktwit. It has two, count them, two consonant blends. CK and TW.

Who would care to use the word in a sentence? I will use the "Cold Call" to pick a student. Hmmm, OK, you Harvey, use the word Fucktwit in a sentence.

"Ah, Mmm, OK. Doug Lemov is a fucktwit."

Very good. Come here and let me put a happy face sticker on your forehead.

Dougie, you are welcome anytime. Just show some cojones and join in the discussion and learn something.

This is going back and forth in the Whitney (Gosh! Why did his parents give him a girls name? Recess must have been hell for him) Tilson Loves Doug Lemov post. Dougie's anonymous defender, or as I believe the legend in his own mind, Doug Lemov as been virulently defending Dougie. The last comment, deserves its own post.

I think all three of you (SBS blogger, Primadonna, and Ed) are missing the point.

No, you are.

My mother taught public school for three decades,

Wow. Impressive. My mother was a LPN for a cardiologist. I guess when I criticize doctors I can bring this tidbit up. I also believe I am no qualified to do EKG's Where was mummsy a teacher? What did mummsy teach?

I've spent a couple years as a public school teacher myself.
Wow. Impressive. Again, see the questions above about mummsy.

I'm familiar with administrative bureaucracy and the insanity of school politics.

No, you are not.

I've also gone to bat against school boards more concerned with the bottom line than the actual quality of education.

You do what I did in regards to my school in doing the right thing, then we can speak. I once caused a near international incident between the USSR and the US in 1985. Seriously. True story. Did you go that far with the school board? Or was it just holding your breath until your face turned red?

I define quality as more than reading scores.

Define it. Explain it to Whitney.

You're preaching to the choir when you lament the plight of the urban teacher, truly a thankless job.

No, it is not a thankless job. Or do you have that stereotype of what it is like to teach in an urban setting? Yeah we bitch and kvetch and all that but we love it.

While their (specifically Uncommon Schools) ability to provide their students with a better education than other students from identical backgrounds is undeniable

BOLLOCKS!!! Give me or any other teacher a class with 12-15 students and you will see the same exact results. Give me or any other teacher parents that take their child's education seriously you will see the same exact results. Give me or any other teacher or school the revenue flow, the donations, the corporate involvement you will see the same exact results.

part of the reason why Charters are so successful is that they can reject the truly dangerous and deranged.

Someone admits it. Now go tell that to Bloomberg, Klein, and Moskowitz.

I understand how you can look at Doug Lemov as someone locked in an ivory tower

He is. Why not come spend time, oops, I meant have Dougie spend time in the projects. Live in the projects. Or you, sorry again, or Dougie can come teach a 6th grade class in the 'hood which the kids are packing, and wearing colors and bling and see how far his shite gets him.

Lemov's taxonomy wasn't created in a vacuum, and you'd be challenged to find anyone outside this blog who claims that it sprung whole from his head.

I never said it sprung from his head, at the very worse he stole intellectual property and his profiting from it. At the very least, he is acting and obtaining credit for what are not original ideas.

He collected the best techniques he saw from master teachers, and put them in a format that's easy for beginning teachers to replicate.

Did he attribute these ideas? Are others sharing in the profits? Give me some $$ I saw some stuff I did as a summer camp counselor in 1983.

The point is not that "his ideas are better than your ideas"

Yes you do. You got fawned over in the Times, you have never gotten your hands dirty.

the point is that struggling teachers will do better when armed with his techniques.

Where's the money for mentors that the DOE keeps promising? You learn from experience. My very first day of teaching I sent 35 kids to the closet to get their coats at once. You do, you react, you learn.

However, the point is that a first year teacher would teach better with, rather than without, the techniques in Lemov's taxonomy.

Dougie's ideas are not original. Stop calling them LEMOV'S TAXONOMY!!

I know you want to lash out at Doug and Green's article because it reminds you of your frustration with insulated elitist reformers

Yep! And because they all know jack.

Yet, for this particular situation, this is not the case.

Yes it is the case.

I can walk into any class in my school that is out of control, and I have, and stand in the doorway and not utter one single solitary word and the entire class will settle down immediately. And guess what? No one, or no book taught be that.

What makes it worse is a turd like Whitney Tilson fawns all over Dougie to the point of having some unrequited man love school girl type crush over him.



Now if you will excuse me I want to watch South Park. Butters loses his virginity tonight.

I wasn't planning on blogging tonight. The White Sox are playing the Dodgers on MLB Network. I really wanted to see it. Pre-season baseball at its finest. But I got another of Whitney Tilson's convoluted; hyperactive mass emails today and just couldn't pass up on commenting.

In tomorrow's New York Times, Elizabeth Green of Gotham Schools has a story in the magazine (I am really starting to question Gotham Schools objectivity). I read a few paragraphs already and thought that it was going to be another hit job on teachers. However, I was holding out judgment till I read the entire story. That was until today. Whitney Tilson praised it. Therefore it must not be a good reflection on teachers. Thanks Whitney.

But one thing Whitney mentioned was the praise this dude, Doug Lemov receives by Elizabeth Green. Just who is Doug Lemov? Dougie is Managing Director, True North Public School, some charter school wasteland. Dougie's background is quite impressive.

.......Founder of School Performance, an Albany-based non-profit that provides diagnostic assessments, performance data analysis, and academic consulting to high performing charter schools. He is a founder and the former principal of the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School in Boston, regarded as one of the highest performing urban charter schools in the country. After leaving Academy of the Pacific Rim, Mr. Lemov served as the Vice President for Accountability at the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, the leading authorizer of charters in New York, where he designed and implemented a rigorous school accountability system. He has since served as a consultant to such organizations as KIPP, New Leaders for New Schools, and Building Excellent Schools. Mr. Lemov is a Trustee of the New York Charter Schools Association and of KIPP Tech Valley Charter School. He has a B.A. from Hamilton College, an M.A. from Indiana University, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Funny, nowhere do I see anything regarding any actual teaching experience. I also find it ironic that Whitney likes someone who has some RIM in their background. Whitney, what two adults do is their own business. I suggest that you invest in several dental dams.

But what is it that Whitney gets so girlishly excited about Dougie? Seems Dougie has written a special kind of article. Whitney even praised it in his blog. Dougie's article is, The Taxonomy of Effective Teaching Practices. WOW!!!! And just what is included in this taxonomy? The crack team here at SBSB delved into it, some of these techniques can be seen here.

In Strong Voice, according to Dougie, a teacher can easily silence a disruptive student by silence and a strong look. We here at SBSB have a three word reaction to Dougie's discovery. D.U.H!

Another revelation by Dougie, one that the crack team here at SBSB found so funny we had to go to go CVS to buy adult diapers, for we had wet ourselves laughing so hard, is entitled, Cold Call. In this a teacher is encouraged to call on students who are not raising their hands. WOW! Thank you so much Dougie for that teaching tidbit.

But the the funniest, one that has been ripped off, is Precise Praise. In this a teacher praises specifically a student's good behavior and/or answer. Also, when a student is seen not paying attention, the teacher quietly goes up to the student, whispers in his ear and corrects this. Where have we seen this before?

We have seen it with Lee Canter and his Assertive Discipline. Gee, Dougie, ever here of Intellectual Property?

There will be more tomorrow about Dougie, and whatever strangeness Whitney feels for him after a thorough reading is done, and the article is used to help line the kitty litter box.

Whitney, you are such a poo poo head. You fall for everything don't you? And Dougie just go on thinking how wonderful you think you are.