What is your Common Core learning this year?

Which graph best represents your learning this year? 

The Algebra teachers are implementing new curriculum and are focused on developing artifacts that will support student learning.  They are also developing new structures for giving students feedback to track their progress on the Common Core learning outcomes.  The assessment teams are working on creating valid and reliable assessment items that will gauge student learning and preparing for the transition from AIMS to PARCC.  The geometry team is working on developing their common core curriculum and planning for full implementation.  There are also PD opportunities with the Instructional Leaders, Algebra Lab teachers, Navigator teachers, and Active Expression training, just to name a few.  As I have been out working with the teams this year and observing the new learning in action, I realize we all learn at a different rates. 

This week, I was able to participate in a different professional development opportunity, a Lesson study with the Maryvale Algebra team.  We met last Friday and planned a rigorous lesson, that was a balance between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.  On Monday, the teacher who was planning on teaching the lesson (today) Tuesday... well, his wife went into labor 2 weeks early!  Congratulations to Josh and his wife!!! However, thanks to the rest of team, the lesson study went on as planned.  One of the teachers graciously presented the lesson while 5 other teachers observed the student interactions and mathematical thinking during each element of the lesson.  And guess what?  We quickly learned what went well in the lesson and what was not working based on student thinking. When the lesson element was least effective, that is when we learned the most!  We were able to revise the lesson and watch another teacher in action implementing the revised lesson.  I can recall teaching a lesson 5 times in a day and by the last class I might have it perfected.  However, what was lacking in my learning was the multiple perspectives and looking at student thinking that I was able to learn from today.  Some quotes from the teachers' reflections at the end of the lesson study:   

• "Working as a group brought multiple ideas into building more meaningful lesson plans"
• " We collaboratively were able to create and revise a lesson"
• " I benefited from observing my colleagues teach" 
• " Being able to bounce ideas around with other teachers helped create a more focused lesson"

Regardless of your rate of learning, there are four strategies for rich professional development and Lesson Study exemplified each of these strategies.
 
Collaboration:  Learning is better in a group!  The multiple perspectives added to creating a rich lesson.

Practice:  Mistakes are a great way to learn.  We were able to learn from the first lesson to make revisions.  Then, when another teacher taught the revised lesson during 5th hour, we were able to see the revisions in action.

Transparency:  Teaching has traditionally been in isolation.  In our Professional Learning Community culture, our classroom instruction should be transparent.  DuFour et. al. (2008) describes a collaborative culture means that every teacher has teammates who helps them achieve their goals. This shift of teaching in isolation to teaching in collaboration was truly evident as we were progressing through the lesson study. 

Reflection: As we are focusing on the instructional shifts necessary to meet the needs of all students, we must take time to reflect on our successes and our challenges.  If something isn't working, why should we keep doing it? 

Thank you, once again, Maryvale Algebra team.  It was great to learn from you!  You can click HERE to see their revised lesson and artifacts.