Lesson Study , Changes in Professional Development

1. Lesson Study,Changes in Professional Development How two districts have begun the sustainability process.

2. “As the teacher we do not always get to see what our students are thinking and so we make a lot of predictions and assumptions regarding what they have learned. “ Project DELTA Participant

3. What is Lesson Study? Jugyou kenkyuu = Lesson/Instruction • Creating a system in which teachers actively learn from one another, from the curriculum, and from student thinking. “We had been looking at student work, but didn’t realize how important it was to look at students while they were doing work.” Lesson Study Step by Step, C. Lewis and J. Hurd

4. Contrasting Views of PD TraditionalLesson Study - Begins with answer. - Begins with question. - Driven by outside “expert”. - Driven by participants. - Communication Flow: - Communication Flow: Trainer – Teachers Teacher – Teacher - Hierarchical relations - Reciprocal relations among learners. between trainer and learners. -Research informs practice. - Practice is research. Lesson Study: A Handbook, by Catherine C. Lewis

5. Steps in Lesson Study? • Formulate long-term goals. • Study the content and curriculum. • Choose a topic central to the curriculum • Find a compelling problem that encourages all students to participate in problem solving. • Study student responses to an actual lesson. • Learn from colleagues’ observations and interpretations. • Revise the approach to improve instruction.

6. Why Lesson Study? • Lesson study provides a means for teachers to continue to refine lessons so they can respond effectively to the students in their class. • Lesson study reminds us that, over the long term, the quality of students’ learning depends upon the quality of collaboration among a school full of teachers – not just the excellence of a few.

7. How we implemented Lesson Study… • Presentation by Jackie Hurd. • Presentation by Catherine C. Lewis. • IHE or Content Specialist facilitated teachers from a variety of grade levels. • Five separate districts. • Feeder schools to same high school district.

8. DELTA Lesson Study Cycle Two 3 Day Cycles - One in the Fall, and one in the Spring. Day 1 - Research and lesson design. Day 2 - Finish up prep, rehearse with each other, deliver lesson , debrief, and revise. Day 3 - Finish up prep, rehearse with each other, deliver revised lesson, debrief, revise, write up a formal lesson plan, collect student work samples, and any necessary documents.

9. Collaboration • Teachers participate as equals – every teacher, whatever the level of experience, has something valuable to contribute to the study of student learning and development. • Shared ownership and responsibility. • Our lesson not my lesson. • Choose member to teach lesson after planning is completed.

10. Facilitation • Facilitator PD and Meetings • Defined facilitator’s role. • Changed name to “Knowledgeable Other”. • New roles support the move toward sustainability.

11. How DELTA Define • Teacher-driven, not administration-driven. • The overarching learning goal is decided on by the members and is the reason for forming the study group. • Study Cycle: collaboratively plan, research, teach, observe, collect data, reflect, and debrief. • The primary focus is always to define and refine the strategies in lessons that will produce best first teaching. • Provides a platform for professional learning communities to work at profoundly deep levels because participants are personally invested. • The goal is teacher learning, not a typed lesson. • Develops skills that use knowledge for teaching in the classroom. • Emphasis on student learning not perfect delivery by the teacher.

12. Through Project DELTA, I am learning how to truly focus on the student success through the professional collaboration. I am only as good as my team is strong. • I look at students differently, I am now more aware of students who are quiet and "slip through the cracks."  Through observing each other’s lessons - I am alert to the students who nod approval when they actually do not comprehend. Together, we have created lessons which are more interactive and cause me to "catch" these kids.  Working with 7 or 8 professionals makes it easier than doing it alone. Lesson Study has been very helpful in my development as a teacher. • I think student learning is greatly impacted when there are many teachers involved in the lesson. I felt as though I could really get to know what all of my kids were doing by having time to walk around the classroom and help students.

13. Reflections After the Lesson • Providing venues for students to express their thinking is a powerful tool to help them own their learning. • Students learn a lot more when they are given autonomy on how they learn a concept. • I learned that collaboration makes for a powerful lesson. I wasn’t sure when we planned the lesson if we would achieve our objectives but the students’ understanding happened faster than I thought it would.

14. How two districts are sustaining the Lesson Study process… • Menifee Union School District • Romoland Elementary School District

15. Menifee Union SD Ed Resnick, Principal Hans Christensen Middle School Melinda Conde, 8th Grade Mathematics Teacher Hans Christensen Middle School

16. Menifee Union SD • Menifee Union- ADA 9000 • Three Middle Schools • Content Coaches - 1 Math • DELTA Grant Participants Initiated • Funded at District Level • Lesson Study Groups- by Grade Level (All schools together.) • Administrators Informed and Supportive • Funded at District Level – Substitutes

17. Facilitator’s Role • DELTA Teacher Modeled Process to Each Grade Level Group • Topic Selection • Research • Materials, Manipulatives, and Lesson Supplies • Communication to and Amongst Team Members

18. Our Lesson Study Design • Days per Cycle • Our Cycle of Meetings • Our Time Together • Lesson Sharing /Access to Completed Lessons • Strengths and Struggles

19. How did Menifee fund it? • Funding used: • EIA/SCE- Economic Impact Aid/School Compensatory Education • SLIBG- School and Library Improvement Block Grant

20. Romoland SD Lisa Winberg, Principal Mesa View Elementary Karisa Gleason, 5th Grade Teacher Mesa View Elementary

21. Romoland SD • ADA is Approximately 3,000 • 3 Elementary Schools, and 1 Middle School • DELTA Teachers at all School Sites • PLC Planning Time Funded at District Level Through EIA Funds • 3 Elective Teachers and 3 Aides, Approximately $350,000 • Lesson Study Sustained at 1 Elementary So Far

22. How did we make it work? • PLC planning sessions. • Three to four (1 hr. and 50 min.) • DELTA trained teacher gave a brief overviewoflesson study, and was a part of their team through all phases of the process. • Looked at upcoming key standards to decide what the key concept was. • Formulated an open ended sentence frame (objective) that students would be able to articulate by the end of the lesson (verbally and in writing). • Plan backwards from the objective.

23. Lesson Delivery • One teacher would facilitate the lesson, while the others observed the student interactions and conversations. • Teachers debrief the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson. • Redesign lesson to address the pitfalls. • Make a commitment to teach with your own students. • Debrief again at the following PLC meeting. What role did the PLC elective teachers play on the day of the lesson?

24. Strengths • Collaboration. • Thinking through each part of a lesson to ensure that the needs of all students are being met. • What is the expected response as the lesson unfolds, and what are you going to do if you don’t get it? • The more comfortable teachers become with the lesson study process, the more capable they are of implementing these strategies in their day to day lessons. • Students are receiving electives.

25. Struggles • Planning with a team of teachers with different teaching styles and beliefs. • Choosing the most powerful concept. • Developing teachers’ conceptual understanding of what they teach. • Resources. • Buy-in from all parties. “Why are we ‘wasting’so much time on this?”

26. A Process not Perfection Lesson study is not a quick fix but a slow, steady means for teachers to improve instruction and to build a school and district culture focused on inquiry and improvement.

27. Questions? Contact us : Vicky Kukuruda, Administrator Riverside County Office of Education vlkukuruda@rcoe.us Lisa Winberg, Principal Romoland School District lwinberg@romoland.net Melinda Conde, Teacher Menifee Union School District mconde@menifeeusd.k12.ca.us

28. Project DELTA • Resources: • Lesson Study: A Handbook of Teacher-Led Instructional Change. Catherine C. Lewis. RBS, 2002. • A Mathematics Leader’s Guide to Lesson Study in Practice. Jane Gorman, June Mark, Johannah Nikula. Heinnemann,2010. • Building our Understanding of Lesson Study. Edited by Patsy Wang-Iverson, Makoto Yoshida, Research for Better Schools, 2005. • Lesson Study Step by Step: How Teacher Learning Communities Improve Instruction. Catherine Lewis and Jacqueline Hurd, Heinemann, 2011.