I am really excited about the prospect of an article study--I've never participated in one before. I do think, based on the preparation section of the chapter, that an article study requires dedicated teachers more than other forms of PD might. In terms of the facilitation of discussion, I love the idea of starting with "ratings" of the article. I think that facilitating evaluation is a great way to help teachers share their insights. I also really like the idea of text coding; like with our students, it definitely helps to give people focus for their reading and a method for writing down their thoughts quickly.
I like the idea of working closely with the school's principal for faculty meeting PD. I feel like if you decide on a topic in conjunction with the principal, and if the principal is the one to introduce the PD session, teachers are more likely to be receptive to it. Also, I really like the overview samples that this chapter provided. They are very succinct, but still informative. I feel like I would accidentally make the overview too lengthy or detailed.
I love the idea of doing a lesson study! Imagining how it would work in my school, I do think it's a good idea to start with a pre-made lesson plan and tweak it to suit the needs of the group. I would be concerned about developing a rapport among the members of the group so that one member feels comfortable teaching the lesson and discussing their teaching with the rest of the group. I suppose it would just be really important to emphasize the fact that it is the lesson being studied, not the person.
I feel like a lot of strategy 7 is review for us, based on what we've read and discussed so far. I do think that, for me, there were two big take-aways. For one, I think it's important to establish guidelines for working together. My data team at my school did that this year, and it's going a lot more smoothly than it has gone in the past. I also agree that it's important to conclude PD sessions with a heads-up about how you will follow up on the PD topic. I wish I had attended more PD that was followed by further inquiry into the topic.
Questions:
1.) What are some more open-ended questions you could present to an article study group?
2.) When time is severely limited, such as with PD during faculty meetings, how can we prepare for the possibility that the session takes longer than originally planned? What can we do to prevent having to hold people over the time limit?
3.) How can you best prepare a group of teachers to handle a lesson study professionally and seriously, particularly if they are hesitant about being the lesson-teacher?
Angela, I agree that it would take a dedicated group of teachers to conduct an article study correctly because it does require a decent amount of outside preparedness the commitment of coming back together. I also agree that a pre-made lesson would be best to start a lesson study program. I think it would be time consuming and ineffective to try to develop one from scratch until teachers truly understand what all it entails and can come to the table prepared.
ReplyDeleteI think the faculty meeting PD would be one of the more difficult ones to prepare because of the time factor. We hold our faculty meetings in the morning before school to ensure that we end on time. If it does end up taking up more time than allowed, I think having a time dedicated to continue the discussion either during a plan time or after school as close to the original meeting as possible.