Decimal Madness - Anatomy of a Lesson Study

Last week, a group of teachers from three schools within our supervisory union came together to participate in a lesson study at Calais Elementary School.  In this blogpost, I share that experience with you addressing:

• What is lesson study?  Why is it valuable professional development?
• What happened during our fifth grade lesson study at Calais?
• How to get started with lesson study?

What is lesson study and why is it valuable professional development?

You can click below for a quick and dirty presentation on lesson study in WCSU.

In a nutshell, lesson study is collaborative lesson planning, analysis of the lesson and analysis of student learning.  One of the reasons that I find lesson study exciting is that it provides nearly perfect conditions for us to grow as teachers.

To maximize our growth as teachers, we have needs that our professional development opportunities must address.  We need opportunities to see and analyze models of practice (pedagogies of investigation).  We also need opportunities to rehearse practices in a graduated sequence (trying something out with a group of teachers, then trying it out with an individual or small group of students, then trying it out with a larger group of students).  Most of all we need high depth interactions with our peers.  These are conversations that take us beyond surface structures, procedures and resources into underlying pedagogical principles and the very nature of our disciplines.  This two-way table below highlights practices and interactions that promote our growth (the top, bolded row).

What happened during our fifth grade lesson study at Calais?

Our lesson study group included teachers from Calais, East Montpelier Elementary School and U-32 and took place February 16-17, 2017.  Calais fifth and sixth grade teacher, Stacey Rupp facilitated the lesson for us (Thanks, Stacey!). For a detailed look at what we did the two days, you can check out our detailed agenda linked below:

• Agenda for Fifth Grade Math Lesson Study @ Calais.

We spent time together on Thursday, February 16 looking at best practices and student work and designing a lesson collaboratively.  Initially, we were thinking that our primary learning target would involve multiplying decimals since the class had been working on the area of a rectangle model for multiplying fractions in the weeks preceding our lesson study.  However, after Stacey and I collected the data on this entry card (linked here) and cross referenced that with the proficiency scale (levels of knowing) for the relevant performance indicator (non-negotiable skill) (linked here), the group saw that we needed to address the relationship between decimals and fractions first.  With this as our primary learning target, we developed a lesson (linked here) together.

Then, on then next day, we observed and collected data on the lesson that we designed together.  I videoed the lesson and created this playlist for those who are interested in seeing the lesson that Stacey facilitated for us (again, HUGE THANKS, to Stacey).

 


During the lesson, we collected data on the timing, questions, student understanding and misconceptions.  After we observed the lesson, we looked at the data and student work, discussed next steps for instruction and debriefed the lesson study process.

All of us participating got a lot out of the experience.  For example, Stacey reflected:

We're always doing these pre-tests, but then what do we actually do with them? It was good to have the experience of effectively taking these results and using them to plan the next lesson.

We also appreciated the opportunity to reflect on how our lesson aligned with best practices, keeping in mind what we know about how the brain learns math and high leverage instructional practices.

How to get started with lesson study?

Hopefully, we will extend lesson study to other content areas and collaborative teams throughout our supervisory union.  An easy way to get started is to volunteer to participate in one.  If there are individuals or teams in WCSU interested in giving it a whirl in whatever content area (and/or transferable skill) that interests you, please send me an email (edorsey@u32.org).   I'd love to figure out how to get you involved.