A Lesson Study Reflection

Note: This reflection came at the end of the 2010-2011 school year and has been reposted here from DSC's lesson study blog. The author is Suzanne Teague, a veteran first grade teacher from Orange County Public Schools in Florida. So we thank DSC and the author very much.

My classroom has been packed away, books have been sorted, and memories of the past year are in the forefront. Summer is a time for reflection. As I reflect on experiences that would impact how I teach, the opportunity to participate in Lesson Study comes to mind. It was a powerful experience that not only impacted my teaching, but the students in my classroom, and work with my first grade team of teachers.

Spending quality time with my peers for extended periods over two half days was a bonus. We have always considered ourselves a community of teachers who value each other's ideas. Unfortunately, coming together to discuss our students and our practices has become a commodity. This extra time energized our discussion and ultimately the way we teach in our individual classrooms.

Through collaboration we not only considered our own students but all of the first grade students. Determining specific goals for them provided opportunities for thoughtful discussion. We determined what we wanted our students to take away from this specific lesson at this specific time of year.

Planning the lesson provided the unique opportunity to slow down the process. We analyzed every aspect of the lesson chosen from our Making Meaning® curriculum. In examining the questions, predicting their outcomes, and considering our own students, we thought deeply about the best strategies to meet the needs of our students.

When the lesson was actually taught there was a shift from the lesson to the students. Lesson Study gave us opportunities to "zoom in" and observe specific students to collect data. As I sat on the floor with a clipboard recording levels of engagement, conversations between partners, and reactions to the lesson being taught I was amazed at the students' conversations and literally felt like a fly on the wall. Surprisingly, the children didn't seem to notice or care that six extra teachers had entered their room to watch and listen.

After the lesson, we came back together to examine and analyze the data. Compiling the information we individually gathered gave us a picture of the entire class. There were some surprising trends in our findings. Most of the partners had real conversations about the mentor text that was used to guide the lesson. Their connections went further than the surface level we had anticipated. This led to further conversations about what made a positive difference in the lesson.

There were many layers in the impact of Lesson Study. First, I could not wait to teach the identical lesson with my own group of first graders. But even bigger was the impact the experience had on my personal lesson planning. I began to anticipate what might happen during a lesson and make more adjustments during the planning process. Knowing the developmental levels of my students and the goals I set for them empowered the planning process. Lastly, the conversations that took place during the study rejuvenated our team of teachers. We could not wait to share the experience with fellow staff members. But mostly, we consciously made more time during our already busy schedules to discuss curriculum. These rich discussions about our students, lessons, and practices made us think more deeply about our teaching practices as a whole. This not only impacted our team of first grade teachers but an entire group of first grade students.

Best Case PD

Lesson Study as "Best Case" Professional Development

Like most teachers, I would rather have cavities filled sans anesthesia than attend run-of-the-mill, "sit and get" professional development. Fortunately, participation in a different form of PD shifted my thinking about what professional learning can be—dynamic and intriguing.

Hello, Lesson Study!

The days were long and the work was hard, but it was wonderfully worthwhile. Much more valuable than a sit and get, much more fulfilling because of its participatory nature and level playing field, and much more informative and useful for instruction.

During each two-day cycle, we planned one lesson together. We used resources that were already available to us (our Teacher Editions) to plan one lesson with our students' needs in mind. We came to a group consensus about the lesson content and the content was taught as it was written.

Focused on the students

We all planned the lessons as a group, so it wasn't about us as individual educators. It was about the students. In fact, at the conclusion of the first day, we drew names out of a hat to decide who would teach our lesson (and we drew names again to decide whose class that person would instruct) so that we were all vested in the lesson and that the focus remained on the students' engagement and learning.

During the observation/data collection phase, we listened to and recorded conversations as they unfolded between students. We really listened. As a result of our listening, we are even more mindful about our assumptions about what learning should look like. Now we gained specific knowledge into how our students were learning:

• We realized that Johnny, who was often described as "busy," was really listening, while Bobby, who looked as if he was on task at all times, was really zoned out and not paying attention at all! 
  
• We realized the power of our words and that changing one word in the lesson changed students' understanding.
  
• Being able to focus solely on the students, we learned to be adept kid-watchers and data collectors.
  
• We are now more able to think of our students—individually and collectively—to guide our instruction each time we plan.
  

Professional Learning Community

Being already in a thriving Professional Learning Community, this process helped us become more efficient. We take ownership for all learning, both ours and the students of our school. One telling difference is the language that we use to discuss children. Instead of "my class" or "my students," we now say "our classes" or "our students."

Our time was well spent learning through Lesson Study. I learned more in those few months than I had in my entire teaching career. As a group, we gained a better understanding of what works for both students and colleagues in terms of differentiated instruction, learning styles and modalities, and collaborative planning and reflection. Most importantly, we developed a greater sense of ourselves as teachers and learners.

Note: This is a repost from DSC's Blog on 11/18/2010 – Thank you Ms. Rapp (Orange County Public Schools, Florida) and DSC!

Testimonials

Here are some recent testimonials about lesson study in Florida.

"I seriously loved doing this lesson study!  It has been the most helpful professional development - I enjoyed my colleagues and I learned a lot.  I'm really looking forward to the next cycle!" – Florida K-8 Teacher

"Thanks to everyone that helped to make this a successful Learning Community.  I had my reading department meeting this morning and the teachers were still talking about the experience.  In fact, one teacher shared that many of the participants agreed that this was probably the best PD that they have had in all of the years in the County.  This is something to be said.  They also thought that everyone should have this experience." – High School Lesson Study Lead

"The learning and sharing has not only built friendships but true professional collaboration as well." – Florida K-8 Lesson Study Lead

"Just wanted to let you know that the teachers who participated in Lesson Study the past two days were very positive in their reflection of the process.  They all participated enthusiastically and shared many learnings they are able to take back to their own classrooms.  One of the teachers even said, 'it would be wonderful if prior to a formal observation, both the teacher and administrator worked together in planning the lesson, as this would make the observed lesson very transparent.' This teacher felt the post conference would be much more informative and reflective for both administration and teacher. I know this is unrealistic, but it does speak to the value of this process.  The teachers look forward to participating in this process again!" – High School Teacher Support Specialist

"Our teachers that participated caught the enthusiasm and want more!  It is so exciting." – High School Principal

Further Considering ROI

We saw on a post dated November 29, 2011 that the ROI for lesson study arguably delivers professional development for less money and fewer hours of lost instructional time. Now consider a second lesson study scenario:

 

Lesson Study implementation for 20 Teams (Based on actual costs for a sample district with onsite training):

Initial Facilitator Training:

Facilitator Training: $3,100 (fixed cost for up to 25 people)

Substitutes for Attendees: $150 x 20 = $3,000

Materials: $150 (Facilitator kits) x 20 = $3,000

 

Lesson Study Cycles (20 Teams of 5 people each meet for 3 times during the year):

Teacher Substitutes: $150 x 100 x 3 Cycles = $45,000

Facilitator Substitutes: $150 x 20 x 3 Cycles = $9,000

Materials (1 grade band kit for Facilitator and Teachers): $150 x 120 = $18,000 (This amount could be reduced by sharing materials across teams or eliminating these kits all together.)

Total Estimated Costs for this Lesson Study Scenario = $81,100 (or less with reduced or eliminated grade band kits)

 

Further consider, that for less than $82,000 (or even less), the widespread impact that this investment of would have on district improvement efforts or turning around a high school. Not to mention that the kits could be used for years to come and additional facilitators could be trained in-house without paying for outside consultants. Now that is return on investment!

Training Update

As the dust settles on the 2011 set of lesson study trainings, I thought you may be interested in the numbers. In 2010-2011, we trained 365 people from 56 Districts. In 2011-2012, we trained a little over 400 from 28 of the targeted 30 Districts. (These numbers also include FLDOE personnel, consortia representatives and others from around the state.) So with over 750 educators from all five regions of Florida with the material and training necessary to implement lesson study, we are ready!

Return on Investment

FLICC has just completed another round of lesson study training institutes across Florida. During these recent institutes, the question about lesson study's return on investment continued to come up. So when we finished, I sat down and looked at some numbers. Here is one example for your consideration and comment.

A. The costs of sending 20 people to a popular five-day national conference for professional development (The numbers are actual quotes from the professional development company offering a national conference, with some estimated additional costs to compete the analysis):

Registration: $575 x 20 = $11,500

Lodging: $239 (plus tax, est.) x 5 Days x 10 (rooms, double occupancy) = $11,950

Transportation: $400 (est.) x 20 = $8,000

Meals & Incidentals: $29 (est. Per Diem) x 5 Days x 20 People = $2,900

Total Estimated Costs for A = $34,350

Loss of instructional days = 5 Days each or 100 Days Total

 

B. Lesson Study implementation for 20 people (Based on actual costs for a sample district with onsite training):

Initial Facilitator Training (for 4 facilitators):

Facilitator Training: $3,100

Substitutes for Attendees: $150 x 4 = $600

Materials: $150 (Facilitator kit) x 4 = $600

Loss of instructional days = 2 Days each or 8 Days Total

 

Lesson Study Cycles (4 Teams of 5 people each meet for 3 times during the year)

Substitutes: $150 x 20 x 3 Cycles = $9,000

Materials (1 grade band kit for Facilitator and Teachers): $150 x 20 = $3,000

Total Estimated Costs for B = $16,300

Loss of instructional days = 4.5 Days each (1.5 Days per Cycle) or 90 Days Total (98 w/ Facilitator Training included)

 

So given this scenario, it appears that lesson study arguably delivers more bang for the buck in terms of less money spent and fewer days of lost instructional time. In short, the return on investment may be higher for lesson study as opposed to other forms of professional development.

 

Instructional Leader Supplement

We are half way through our fall institutes and to help those folks who could not make it to one, FLICC's Instructional Leader Supplement for Lesson study has been posted to our website: http://www.ets.org/flicc/pdf/ls_binder.pdf

The Supplement has all sorts of material from the FLDOE, past lesson study institutes and new material developed for principals so that they can better implement lesson study in their schools.