Lesson Study:Collaborating with Our Colleagues in Other

Languages

Adlai E. Stevenson High School – Lincolnshire, IL

ACTFL 2013

Kirstin Erickson, Justin Fisk, Justin Frieman, Carla Wood

Discussion

What does professional development look like in your school?

In your department?

Begins with answer Driven by expert Communication trainer

-> teachers Relationships

hierarchical Research informs

practice

Professional Development

Begins with question Driven by

participants Communication

among teachers Relationship

reciprocal Practice is research

RESEARCH LESSONSTRADITIONAL

By Lynn Liptak, Paterson School #2, New Jersey.

What is Lesson Study?

Lesson Study is a professional development process that Japanese teachers engage in to systematically examine their practice. The goal of lesson study is to improve the effectiveness of the experiences that the teachers provide to their students.

Lesson Study provides an opportunity to:

●examine, build, and share our knowledge about teaching

●deepen our knowledge of subject matter

●develop our knowledge of students and student thinking

●see our own teaching through the eyes of students and colleagues

● think carefully about our goals in teaching a particular lesson, unit, and subject area

●ask and seek answers to our own pressing questions

●carefully consider our long-term goals for students

●build professional community & team building

Teachers’ Activities to Improve Instruction

Choose curriculum,write curriculum, align curriculum, write local standards

U.S. JAPAN

Plan lessons individually

Plan lessons collaboratively

Watch and discuss each other’s classroom lessons

Lesson Study is not meant to provide a “perfect” lesson.Though you do get a really nice one out of it.

Before You Start:

●Develop a shared understanding of Lesson Study

●Take a learning stance

●Share ownership and responsibility

●Put emphasis on students, not the teacher

●Develop group norms

●Make a time commitment and set a schedule

Roles of Group Members during Lesson Study

●Facilitator

●Recorder

●Note-taker

●Norm Monitor

●Researcher

●Convener

The Process for Setting Levels of Goals in Lesson Study

Step 1 • The teachers select an overarching lesson study goal

Step 2 • The teachers identify content-specific goals to focus on in the study lesson

Step 3• The teachers think about the relationship between the study

lesson’s content-specific goals and the overarching lesson study goal.

Step 4 • The teachers identify areas to focus on for the content-specific goals.

Examples of the Levels of Lesson Study Goals

Step 1• Students will become independent problem solvers.

(Overarching lesson study goal)

Step 2• How to conjugate the regular forms of the preterit indicative in

Spanish. (Content-specific goal)

Step 3• Students will independently discover how to conjugate the forms of

the preterit indicative in Spanish.(Connect overarching goal to content goal)

Step 4 • To explore how concept attainment or discovery activities can encourage acquisition of discrete grammar.

(Explore areas on which to focus specific to content)

What is Lesson Study?

1. Consider goals for student learning

2. Identify a pressing issue in student learning

3. Examine research related to the issue

4. Plan a “research lesson”

5. Conduct the research lesson

Process:

Develop a Research Theme●Ideally, what qualities will students have when

they graduate from our school?

●What are the actual qualities of our students now?

Choose a Topic●What topics are persistently difficult for, or

disliked by, students?

●What topics do teachers find most difficult to teach?

●Are there new curricula, frameworks, or standards that teachers want to understand and master?

1. STUDY CURRICULUM

AND FORMULATE

GOALS

4. REFLECT

3. CONDUCTRESEARCH

LESSON

2. PLAN

Lesson Study Cycle:1. Study Curriculum and Formulate Goals

Consider long-term goals for student learning and development

Study curriculum and standards, identify topic of interest

1. STUDY CURRICULU

M AND FORMULATE

GOALS

4. REFLECT

3. CONDUCTRESEARC

H LESSON

2. PLAN

Lesson Study Cycle:2. Plan

Select or revise research lesson

Write instruction plan that includes:

●Long-term goals

●Anticipated student thinking

●Data collection plan

●Model of learning trajectory

●Rationale for chosen approach

1. STUDY CURRICULU

M AND FORMULATE

GOALS

4. REFLECT

3. CONDUCTRESEARC

H LESSON

2. PLAN

Lesson Study Cycle:3. Conduct Research Lesson

One team member conducts research lesson, others observe and collect data.

1. STUDY CURRICULU

M AND FORMULATE

GOALS

4. REFLECT

3. CONDUCTRESEARC

H LESSON

2. PLAN

Lesson Study Cycle:4. ReflectFormal lesson colloquium in which observers:

●Share data from lesson

●Use the data to illuminate student learning, disciplinary content, lesson and unit design, and broader issues in teaching-learning

Documentation of cycle, to consolidate and carry forward learnings, new questions into next cycle of lesson study

1. STUDY CURRICULU

M AND FORMULATE

GOALS

4. REFLECT

3. CONDUCTRESEARCH

LESSON

2. PLAN

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group Norms

●We will invite and accept constructive feedback from peers.

●We will actively engage in structured and goal-oriented discussions while maintaining a friendly environment.

●We will be open to trying anything: no idea is a bad idea!

● In true support of our synergism, we will respectfully limit our own personal distractions.

●We will be guided by our shared and clear vision.

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group’s Research Themes●Students will implement specific action steps to

achieve their goals.

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group’s Topics●Students will use the target language during

travel.

Research Theme:

Unit Plan:

Students will implement specific action steps to

achieve their goals.

Students will use target

language during travel.

Research

Lesson Plan

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group

Social Emotional Learning GoalDiscipline: French 1

●8th year French teacher(taught levels 1 & 3)

●1st year Spanish teacher(taught level 2)

●2nd year Spanish teacher(taught levels 1 & 2)

●12th year Spanish teacher(taught AP and AP Lit.)

Research Lesson Final Draft:Teacher’s support Points of

evaluationAnticipated Student Responses

1. Introduction Warm-up

“I Want to Go to France!” -All Write-Round Robin-Table forms a list.-Compare lists and prioritize order.-Thanks to you all, I’m now in France!-Students will create their own personal or academic goal which will be revisited at the end of class.(10 min.)

Students will be able to prioritize actions step to make travel plans to France.  Students are showing that they can think of particular action steps to achieve a known goal.

“Why to France?”

“What type of goal?”

Research Lesson Final Draft:Teacher’s support Points of

evaluationAnticipated Student Responses

1.5 Refresh of the turning directions.    

Direct instruction of tournez, continuez, traversez, rue, avenue, boulevard, quai, and pont(<2 min.)

   

1.75Agenda

    Why are we doing these activities?

Research Lesson Final Draft:Teacher’s support Points of

evaluationAnticipated Student Responses

2. Posing the Problem How are action steps to a goal as a map is to a destination?

Activity#1: seven folders, each containing a destination with specific instructions on how to get there. One partner of the pair grabs a set of instructions and reads them to their partner, who is then going to use their map to figure out what the location is. When they have reached their destination they switch roles and retrieve a new set of instructions found in that place’s folder. Repeat until time expires. (10 min)

Students will converse in English after the instructions are given to reaffirm or clarify the activity. 

Students will arrive at the correct folder with the route traced on their maps. 

Students will be checking partners map for accuracy and intervening if wrong.

What are we supposed to be doing? I don’t get this! 

What’s the piscine? 

We’re done.

Research Lesson Final Draft:Teacher’s support Points of

evaluationAnticipated Student Responses

2. Posing the Problem How are action steps to a goal as a map is to a destination?

Activity#2: In same pairs, they will give directions to and from the same locations but from a different starting point and order. (assign different start folder for each pair). (15 min.)

We will see speaker trace the map while giving directions and the listener doing the same as they interpret the instructions. Student maps should match up. 

Students rephrasing directions. 

Hand gestures. 

Asking for clarification / restate

What are we supposed to be doing? What folder should I go to? Her directions don’t make any sense! What’s a pont?

Research Lesson Final Draft:Teacher’s support Points of

evaluationAnticipated Student Responses

2. Posing the Problem How are action steps to a goal as a map is to a destination?

Activity#3 Post Assessment:Students are given the task to write directions (5 steps) to a specific location to a friend.

Students are instructed on how to tie back their original goal and create action steps to achieve it.(10 min)

Students are looking at the map and writing independently.

Which way is north?

Do I have to write five directions?

Do I have to write this in French?

Roles of Groups Members during Research Lesson

●Teacher of Research Lesson

●Observer of Student Engagement

●Observer of Questioning & Discussion Techniques

●Observer of Understanding & Following Directions

Reflection on Research LessonCHANGES MADE TO FIRST LESSON

●From the first to the second lesson we added essential question on the first slide.

●Added transitions in between activities that discussed.

●We made the instructions more explicit, with modeling, in activities.

●Questions students after instructions were given to re explain.

RESULTS IN SECOND LESSON

●We are unsure what tangible impact this made but we agree that it framed the lesson more appropriately. In addition, it created clarity for why we were doing these particular activities.

●More time was spent explaining and modeling, which resulted in less work time for students, but the instructions were clearer than the first class.

●Demonstrated that they understood the instructions and helped clarify it for others.

Reflection on Research LessonCHANGES MADE TO FIRST LESSON

●We more explicitly linked action steps with goals.

●Closing activity required them to write a response to the original three questions.

●Closing activity was expanded to include 2 more questions about referring to the essential question.

RESULTS IN SECOND LESSON

●Created a stronger connection with goals and activities.

●Accountability of student participation.

●Using the essential questions at the end provided the connection needed to tie together the activities and the goals.

Research Theme:

Unit Plan:

Students will demonstrate perseverance and

adaptability when faced with challenges.

Students will use target

language during travel.

Research

Lesson Plan

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group’s Research Themes●Students will demonstrate perseverance and

adaptability when faced with challenges.

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group’s Topics●Students will use the target language during

travel.

2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study Group

Social Emotional Learning GoalDiscipline: Spanish 2-3 Accelerated

●1st year Hebrew teacher(taught levels 1 - 4)

●5th year Spanish teacher(taught levels 1 & 2)

●9th year Spanish teacher(taught levels 2-3x & 4)

●11th year Spanish teacher(taught level 2 & AP)

Learning Objective: Students will demonstrate perseverance and adaptability when faced with challenges.

● Transfer Goal for end of the lesson: Students will be able to distinguish between good and bad advice so that in the future they will be able to make educated decisions about travel that best fit their needs.

● Plan backwards from post-assessment: Conflict situation where the students had to react and come up with possible good suggestions for the scenario in a conversation

Lesson Sequence1. Pre-assessment: Students looked at a list of “good advice” and ordered them 1-7 based on their personal preferences.

2. Mid-assessment: Students create a list of top pieces of advice for travelers.

3. What are characteristics of good advice?

4. Post-assessment: Conflict situation where the students had to react and come up with possible good suggestions for the scenario in a conversation “You and a friend are in Spain traveling by train, and there’s a strike. What do you do?”

Roles of Groups Members during Research Lesson

●2 teachers of research lesson

●Observers looked for the following evidence:

● the justification of personal priorities

● student questions that occur during the activity

● types of conversations in which students are engaged

● thought process and rationale

● connection that students made to the learning target

Reflection

1. Be sure to make a realistic amount of changes in between the first and second lesson.

2. Be sure to focus on a research theme that will be achievable in one lesson.

3. This lesson allowed for students to improve SEL (Social Emotional Learning) through content.

4. Be sure that everyone has a vested interest in the research goal.