Teach Like a Champion: Shortest Path and Double Planning

Two other techniques Doug Lemov highlights in his book are to take the Shortest Path and to Double Plan.
Let's look at Shortest Path first. Lemov warns that is easy for teachers to ignore the shortest path for the showiest path. When we do that, we add in extra time and effort for things that do not improve the outcome for students, but might look like more fun. Essentially, when taking the Shortest Path, a teacher is always aware that the goal is to get as many students to the goal as possible in the shortest time. Don't create a lesson around other perceived criteria.

A warning, though, that the shortest path is not alway the same for each activity or lesson. A champion will look for the Shortest Path in many different places and techniques.


In Double Planning, Lemov suggests we always plan not just for what we, the teachers, will be doing during a given lesson, but also for what the students will be doing as well. This is a great place to think about and encourage different active engagement techniques. In fact, Lemov sometimes suggests that teacher write lesson plans on a T chart, with one side being devoted to the teacher's actions, and the other devoted to the student's actions. This will help you see the lesson from the eyes of the student, and again, remind us that learning, not teaching, is the goal.