What is lesson study? "Knowledge for teaching is embodied in instruction and is spread and refined as teachers watch and discuss practice" - Lewis & Hurtd, 2011
Lesson study allows teachers to look at student work and discuss teaching practices. Lesson study begins with a question where content is driven by inquiry and teaching is practice.
How Lesson Study Influenced My Teaching
At first I was apprehensive to be a part of lesson study. But as we begun, I realized that I can learn from any teacher in any context.
In the first round of lesson study I was the host teacher in the first semester of my teaching career. I was nervous, yet excited to have an audience in my classroom. I appreciate consistent feedback, and during lesson study I appreciated the feedback and co-planning from my group and my peers.
I also think I grew as a teacher interviewing other teachers and receiving advice from different teachers in different grades and subjects. I noticed that the interview always began as an interview, but eventually moved towards a conversation between two educators. In the teaching field, I do not think we have a lot of time to sit down, talk, and reflect on our practice. Lesson study allowed me to slow down, take a step back, and learn and reflect from my co-workers.
Lesson Study 1, 2, and 3
Takeaway(s) from Cycle 1: 1. The importance of a student created vocabulary wall that can be referred back to frequently between the teacher and the students. 2. Consistently built in structures for students to discuss mathematics (comprehension question, sentence starters, math partners, and discourse) are essential in effective discourse.
Takeaway from Cycle 2: A culturally responsive teacher who wants children to grapple with inequities will have good rapport with their students. Discussions about equity can take place at any age if the teacher is familiar with their students and their background. It is a teacher's job to thorough plan out the discussion, activities, and discourse by anticipating what their students might say.
Takeaway from Cycle 3: Higher order thinking questions CAN be done in an online environment. It is important to plan questions ahead in order to use your time online effectively.
Imagining the Future
Future Inquiry I want to continue to explore academic language in math instruction. Over the past two years I have become passionate about teaching math due to my experience as a math student. At HTeNC we have 29% English Language Learner's. In recent years, HTeNC has been sending teachers to Project GLAD training. Project GLAD help teachers develop a cross-culturally sensitive environment where Language Learners can acquire academic language. Although the program is used within classroom projects, I am curious how the design and frameworks can be used within math instruction. I think it could be beneficial for the school to use the expertise of the Project GLAD certified teachers and do lesson studies, conduct research, etc. on the effects of Project GLAD strategies in math instruction. Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a beautiful student-centered approach to teaching math that has changed the way I think about math instruction and the way I teach it. However, CGI heavily relies on auditory learning. For a student learning English as a second language, it can be difficult to learn and build academic language. I believe that Project GLAD strategies, that are geared toward the visual and kinesthetic learner, are paired with CGI strategies, students' academic language will develop and grow. I do not know this for sure, however I would like to conduct research and a lesson study in the future to see how this inquiry lends itself to the learners at HTeNC.
A Project GLAD literacy strategy that could be used in math