Lesson study is a professional learning tool where teachers collaborate to study standards, instruction, and how students learn, such that all involved can improve instruction and learning in the classroom. Lesson study is the core process of professional learning that Japanese teachers use to continually improve the quality of the educational experiences they provide to their students (Wang-Iverson, 2005, p. 3).
Lesson study begins with a team of teachers and other professionals identifying a challenging concept for students. Keep in mind, this challenging concept may relate to a mathematical practice or an essential standard (Common Core). After identifying the challenge, the team researches to find out more about how students learn the …show more content…
As the group begins preparing for a lesson, they research the standard in question and lessons used by other teachers to develop understanding in students. After picking a lesson that would best suit their students, they begin an in depth discussion of what is expected for the students to learn, how will the teacher know that they have know it, and how does the teacher respond if they don’t know it (Toncheff, 2015). This preparation takes away a lot of pressure from a teacher stepping out of their comfort zone and teaching in a new way. This preparation helps take away the unknown of what will happen in the classroom, but it also helps sustain strong teaching practices throughout other lessons. As John Hattie (2012) states in Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning:
My role as a teacher is to evaluate the effect I have on my students. It is to “know they impact,” it is to understand this impact, and it is to act on this knowing and understanding. This requires that teachers gather defensible and dependable evidence from many sources, and hold collaborative discussions with colleagues and students about this evidence, thus making the effect of their teaching visible to themselves and others. …show more content…
The first thing that really stood out for me when we began reading our course books was that lesson study begins with one lesson (Wang-Iverson, 2005). The teachers at Tsuta Elementary School in Hiroshima Japan took two years to complete their jugyokenkyu (Fernandez, 2004). In America, in my school district for sure, I do not think that the Tsuta time frame would go over well with our school boards and their need to see immediate improvement. With that being said, in all our readings, it was emphasized that this is a quality control process that works slowly, but assures teachers that improvements will occur gradually and continuously (Stigler, 1999). Not only will the essential standard and lesson that was specifically studied improve, but overall teaching will improve through discussions of about student responses and how we respond to
Lesson study begins with a team of teachers and other professionals identifying a challenging concept for students. Keep in mind, this challenging concept may relate to a mathematical practice or an essential standard (Common Core). After identifying the challenge, the team researches to find out more about how students learn the …show more content…
As the group begins preparing for a lesson, they research the standard in question and lessons used by other teachers to develop understanding in students. After picking a lesson that would best suit their students, they begin an in depth discussion of what is expected for the students to learn, how will the teacher know that they have know it, and how does the teacher respond if they don’t know it (Toncheff, 2015). This preparation takes away a lot of pressure from a teacher stepping out of their comfort zone and teaching in a new way. This preparation helps take away the unknown of what will happen in the classroom, but it also helps sustain strong teaching practices throughout other lessons. As John Hattie (2012) states in Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning:
My role as a teacher is to evaluate the effect I have on my students. It is to “know they impact,” it is to understand this impact, and it is to act on this knowing and understanding. This requires that teachers gather defensible and dependable evidence from many sources, and hold collaborative discussions with colleagues and students about this evidence, thus making the effect of their teaching visible to themselves and others. …show more content…
The first thing that really stood out for me when we began reading our course books was that lesson study begins with one lesson (Wang-Iverson, 2005). The teachers at Tsuta Elementary School in Hiroshima Japan took two years to complete their jugyokenkyu (Fernandez, 2004). In America, in my school district for sure, I do not think that the Tsuta time frame would go over well with our school boards and their need to see immediate improvement. With that being said, in all our readings, it was emphasized that this is a quality control process that works slowly, but assures teachers that improvements will occur gradually and continuously (Stigler, 1999). Not only will the essential standard and lesson that was specifically studied improve, but overall teaching will improve through discussions of about student responses and how we respond to