Lesson Study

1. Lesson Study Middle School Teachers Working Collaboratively to Refine Instruction & Increase Student Achievement Presented by Marion County Staff Development

2. Lesson Study • An all-purpose definition: “Lesson study provides an on-going method to improve instruction based on careful observation of students and their work.” (Lewis) zoomboomgolf.com

3. Lesson Study Cycle 1 5 2 4 3

4. How do we do lesson study? How do we write a research theme and goals? Components & Process

5. Lesson Study Cycle 1 5 2 4 3

6. Phase 1: Setting Goals Find a target. Determine a focus.

7. Phase 1: Setting Goals • The school (or group of teachers) must identify a research theme—this is a broad, long-term goal that guides the lesson study cycle and focuses the work. • The research theme helps to ensure that lesson study addresses important issues that will have an impact on student learning.

8. Phase 1: Setting Goals • Crafting a Research Theme from Existing Goals: 1. Use the school mission statement:

9. Phase 1: Setting Goals • Crafting an Original Research Theme: • Identify ideal student qualities • Compare the ideal to the actual • Examine the gap and consider: What can schools do, and what can teachers do, to close the gap?

10. Phase 1: Setting Goals • Crafting an Original Research Theme:

11. Phase 1: Setting Goals • Most Research Themes are affective goals because they… • Focus on the whole child • Are applicable to multiple content areas and grade levels • Provide a collective aim for the lesson study team • Inspire teachers to examine their practice in new ways

12. Phase 1: Setting Goals • Challenge: The research theme seems like a waste of time. • Solution: This theme connects research lessons through a common focus. The lack of an explicit connection might result in learning that is applied to a single lesson. The idea of lesson study to strengthen and accumulate knowledge of student learning and effective instruction.

13. Phase 2: Planning Planning takes time and focused effort from a team of teachers.

14. Lesson Study Cycle 1 5 2 4 3

15. Phase 2: Planning • Once the research theme, or long-term goal, has been identified, the lesson study team can begin planning. To start: • Identify a topic (i.e. agree on the content area) • Use student data (student learning needs) • Use a topic that teachers want to know more about themselves--curriculum and pedagogy (teacher learning needs) • Study how that topic fits into a larger unit • Identify unit goals (broad, connected to research theme) • Identify a lesson and its goals (specific, connected to unit goals)

16. Phase 2: Planning • Find a lesson that fits with what you’re doing. Use a lesson that already exist in textbook materials, online, or a lesson taught previously. • Examine the unit in which this lesson will be taught to map out a logical progression of student learning. • Focus on improving the chosen lesson so that it is likely to help students achieve the unit and lesson goals.

17. Phase 2: Planning • The lesson should be written explicitly, with each step carefully mapped out. • Group members should speculate what students might do at each stage and look for places the lesson might “go bad” (i.e. anticipate student thinking).

18. Phase 2: Planning • When finished, the improved lesson will be distributed to all members. • Someone volunteers to teach the lesson. • The group should also decide what type of data they want to collect (e.g. “Watch what happens at this point and note whether students are able to connect activity one to activity two” or, more generally, “what is level of student-to-student Q&A?”).

19. Phase 3: Teaching, Observing & Debriefing One teacher from the team agrees to teach the research lesson.

20. Lesson Study Cycle 1 5 2 4 3

21. Phase 3: Teaching & Observing Lesson study is not about the TEACHER; it is about the LESSON.

22. Phase 3: Teaching & Observing • Be sure students understand what’s going to be happening and why the other people are going to be in the room. • The teacher will teach the lesson as planned. Any unplanned diversion needs to be noted and discussed at a later time. • The observers should be as unobtrusive as possible and should not interact in any way. • Observers capture evidence of student learning and are not there to evaluate the teacher.

23. Phase 3: Teaching & Observing • Data collection procedures: • Take notes throughout the whole lesson—this can be on individual student responses, interactions between teacher and student, interaction between students. • Record how students approach the task. • Document misunderstandings and how and when their understanding changes. • The team should also address any questions that were generated during planning.

24. Phase 3: Debriefing The goal of the debriefing is to learn something and be able to apply it to future lessons.

25. Phase 3: Debriefing • The teacher who taught the lesson should speak first, reflecting on the lesson and describing what worked and didn’t work (e.g. “The lesson was effective until we changed materials”). If there were diversions, the teacher should explain them at this time. The rest of the group is silent, listening and taking notes if necessary. • When the teacher has announced he/she is finished, the rest of the group will take turns sharing their data and speculating on what it means. • Finally, the whole group can engage in dialogue.

26. Phase 3: Debriefing • Capture key learning. • Decide whether or not revise the lesson that was taught or to just apply it to the next lesson. • Since the lesson was either developed or refined by the group, the language should be “we” and “our.”

27. Phase 3: Debriefing • Successful debriefing should include supportive and nonjudgmental reflections. • Some suggested discussion openers: • I wonder what would happen if… • What is another way of… • What might explain… • In our planning, did we consider… • Why did we decide to…

28. Phase 3: Debriefing • Challenge 1: The team always feels the lesson went well. • Solution: It is advisable to have a “knowledgeable other” on the team to provide expertise and/or a different perspective • Challenge 2: The comments made during the debriefing are viewed as an attack. • Solution: Revisit the teamwork agreements before beginning. Advise everyone to frame comments or suggestions in the form of a question.

29. Phase 4: Revising & Re-Teaching Revise the lesson and re-teach it the new and improved version.

30. Lesson Study Cycle 1 5 2 4 3

31. Phase 4: Revising & Re-teaching • This is the opportunity for teachers to think deeply about the content, student learning, and effective instruction. • Revision allows teachers to enact their learning. • Rather than relying on past experiences with a lesson, this process uses real-life classroom data to make changes in student learning.

32. Phase 4: Revising & Re-teaching • At this time, the revised lesson can be taught in another room and the observe, debrief, revise phase can begin again. This can continue until the team is satisfied with the lesson’s outcomes. • The team should retain a copy of the original lesson plan so they can track changes. • The plan is distributed to all members so everyone else can teach the lesson.

33. Phase 4: Revision & Re-teaching • Challenge 1: The lesson was a disaster. We want to start over. • Solution: The purpose was never to produce a perfect lesson. The team has learned something valuable throughout this process. • Challenge 2: The goals we developed didn’t fit. • Solution: Reword the goal so that it is more specific and measurable.

34. Phase 4: Revision & Re-teaching • Challenge 3: The lesson was too hard. • Solution: Think about ways to scaffold learning rather than making the lesson easier. • Challenge 4: The lesson was perfect. No revisions necessary. • Solution: Focus on individual students who may not have been as successful. If there really isn’t anything to change, move on.

35. Why are we doing lesson study? What are the benefits of doing lesson study? Making a case for Lesson Study

36. Making a Case for Lesson Study • The most compelling reason for implementing Lesson Study is best said by someone who’s done it: “I would hope that, particularly as teachers, we would be open to gaining new insight and getting better. I think for the most part, the people who participate in lesson study bring something to it and get something out of it. It absolutely has changed my whole professional life.”--Byron Timms, Middle School math teacher, Detroit, Michigan

37. Making a Case for Lesson Study Teachers have said that this process allows them to… • Think carefully about the goals of a particular lesson, unit and discipline. • Study the best available curriculum materials. • Deepen knowledge of subject matter and of instruction. • Think carefully about long-term goals for students and connect those with daily practice. • Strengthen collaboration with colleagues. • Develop the eyes to see students. Powerful Designs for Professional Developoment, 2008

38. Making a Case for Lesson Study “Teaching is a cultural activity. We learn how to teach indirectly, through years of participation in classroom life, and we are largely unaware of some of the most widespread attributes of teaching in our own culture. The fact that teaching is a cultural activity explains why teaching has been so resistant to change. But recognizing the cultural nature of teaching gives us new insights into what we need to do if we wish to improve it.” --Stigler & Hiebert (The Teaching Gap, 1999, p. 11).

39. Making a Case for Lesson Study • Lesson study… • Reduces isolation • Increases teachers’ capacity to learn together • Allows teachers to develop common understanding of content and the means to improve instruction • Explores different perspectives • Helps teachers understand how their decisions and actions contribute to student learning (intentionality) • Develops an atmosphere of inquiry as teachers investigate their daily practices. • Is focused on student outcomes.

40. Lesson Study Summary

41. Lesson Study Summary • Lesson study provides the opportunity for teachers to 1) bring to life their ideas about effective teaching and 2) carefully record student learning and behavior and give each other feedback on the lesson, the students and on teaching and learning. It is the intersection of curriculum, the student and the teacher. • Lesson study helps teachers build the tools to work together collaboratively, to set student achievement goals, and to plan and to carry out instruction that has the best chance of resulting in goal attainment.

42. Lesson Study Summary • It provides a forum for focused collegial conversations – these conversations should be honest, raw and open. It is important that the norms of the group, the teachers and the facilitator strive to keep the conversations collegial – they should never be evaluative or focus negatively on one person or the team. • Lesson study is a method of improving instruction through collaboration with other teachers to plan, observe and reflect on lessons—with the goal of improving learning for all students. Lesson study requires teachers to work collaboratively as a PLC (professional learning community) to strengthen a lesson, teach it, and collect data about how the lesson worked for students. The teacher who delivers the lesson reflects first, with other group members to follow, sharing their collected data. The group determines whether to revise and re-teach or to apply information to another lesson.

43. Lesson Study Summary • “We” vs. “Me”: The Lesson Study process helps to remove isolation—both in teachers working in isolation, and in skills being taught in isolation. The focus of lesson study is on the lesson; it is NOT about the teacher. Language of an LST: • Did the students achieve our lesson goals? What data supports that? • Which elements of our lesson contributed to student learning outcomes? What data supports that? • What does the data mean in terms of revising our lesson? • How can we apply what we learned from the data to our next lesson? • What did we learn from our experience?

44. More Information… • If you would like to view the Technical Assistance Guide, visit www.flbsi.org. • Leading Lesson Study: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Facilitators (book)