Bev... For me, the lesson study isn't about passing on my great lessons. It is about the learning that occurs. I would say that looking at and reading Marilyn Burns lessons are second best for long term impact on our own teaching. The lessons are great and sure, you'd get great results, but without doing the talking and thinking from the development of the lesson I am thinking the likelihood of long term improvements in teaching skills is less. Just one opinion!
Jennifer Palmer Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure. Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge. It is thinking that makes what we read ours. -John Locke From: Beverlee Paul Sent: Wed 4/9/2008 3:19 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Understand] Understand Digest, Vol 2, Issue 19 I've been wondering as we progress through this discussion if the Marilyn Burns group (Math Solutions) has done extensive work with lesson study because what she continuously provides is the finessed lesson that you all are talking about. It's both encouraging and discouraging, though, to wonder how deeply the thinking about teaching is when it isn't constructed by teachers involved. It's very nice to have wonderful lessons "modeled" for you in a book, and nicer still when you see her videos, but can it ever come close to the professional development open to us if we construct our own. This may be something that second best (trying to replicate Marilyn's fabuous lessons gained through a receptive process only) is a far distant second from The Real Deal. Of course, I've known many teachers that have indeed become more thoughtful, reflective practitioners after living a Marilyn lesson, so who knows? No easy answer for this one, but fascinating to think about. Bev > Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 12:03:47 -0700> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: > [email protected]> CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: > [Understand] Understand Digest, Vol 2, Issue 19> > > > Bonita> > I would > agree that the planning and the debriefing is where the learning occurs but > also in the private reflection time afterwards. Once the conversation has > ended, the hours afterward, when I have to digest what I have learned, when I > am preparing mentally for teaching the next round...the learning strengthens. > I have to say that originally we were trying to design the 'perfect' > comprehension lessons. We got some pretty decent lessons, but that would be > selling the process short. There is so much about teaching and learning that > I learned that I take with me to EVERY lesson I teach. So, to me, it was > about the process...talking about the most minute moments in an individual > lesson and what the impact of it was on kids, that helped take my teaching > and move it forward. It is about striving to UNDERSTAND the teaching and > learning process and there is much value in the struggle.> > > > Jennifer > Palmer> > Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher> > Yes, > Jennifer--thank you for clarifying that. What I meant was the dialogue > between teachers, the sharing of ideas and observations led to deep learning > on our parts. But you are so right that the real learning continues in the > silence (and not silence) afterwards...just as To Understand is teaching me. > My lesson study group continued to think on that single first lesson for > YEARS after. It infiltrates all teaching (and that--not the perfect > lesson--is the real goal of lesson study). How do I know it infiltrated their > thinking as well as mine?--we would see each other in the halls months later > and suddenly start talking about connections between our lesson study lesson > and things happening in our rooms ... Japanese teachers say the same things. > They say that although many of their lesson study developed lessons run like > poetry to those of us observing, the real potency of lesson study is the way > it affects teacher thinking for all lessons and all lesson preparation. We > become attuned to students.> > You so make me wish I had a lesson study group > right now. It is so time consuming and difficult to manage without > administrative support and teacher commitment that our team disbanded. I miss > it. > > > > _______________________________________________> Understand > mailing list> [email protected]> > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org _________________________________________________________________ Get in touch in an instant. Get Windows Live Messenger now. http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_getintouch_042008 _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
