RBS co-sponsored the conference Lesson Study: Collaborative Teacher-Led Professional Development Focused on Student Thinking with TERC and Global Education Resources on November 20–22, 2002. This conference sought to help educators learn about lesson study as well as offer deeper understanding to those already familiar with this professional development process.
Lesson study can be used to improve teaching and learning in any subject area; however, this conference focused on mathematics, specifically in grades one through seven.
For archival purposes, the conference program can be found here.
Papers & Presentations
These items are organized by category rather than the order in which the presentations occurred in the program.
Please note: In instances where a paper was not available, RBS staff drafted a presentation summary based on notes taken by Joyce Tugel, Penny Venet, and Marjorie Woodwell of TERC and Joan Mast of Scotch Plains-Fanwood Public Schools during the conference.
An Introduction
These three presentations offer explanations of what lesson study is, what makes it useful, and how it may be adapted to the U.S. setting.
A Guide to Making Lesson Study Work
This section provides information on important aspects needed to implement lesson study. The presentations concentrate on planning and writing an effective lesson plan, choosing and using a research theme, and the role of knowledgeable others.
- Planning and Writing a Research Lesson - Akihiko Takahashi
- Presentation Summary
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
- PowerPoint Slide Show (pdf)
- Lesson Plan Template (pdf)
- Whole School Lesson Study as the Basis for Whole School Research - Kenichi Kikuchi and Shin Nagai
- Presentation Summary
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
- Question-and-Answer Session
- School Calendar (pdf)
- The Role of Knowledgeable Others - Tad Watanabe and Patsy Wang-Iverson
- Paper
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
Learning from Experience
In these presentations, educators who have engaged in lesson study offer their reflections on the experience. There are presentations from both elementary and high school teachers, as well as those offering technical assistance to schools using lesson study.
- Lesson Study, It's about Time: A Principal's Perspective - Lynn Liptak
- Paper
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
- Lesson Study at Paterson Public School No. 2: A Teacher/Facilitator's Perspective - Bill Jackson
- Paper
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
- Lesson Study at Watertown High School - Jane Gorman
- Paper
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
The Impact of Lesson Study
The lesson study process helps teachers reflect on their own practice from a different perspective. This section offers an example of useful Japanese teaching practices that have emerged from experiences with lesson study.
- Developing Effective Use of the Blackboard through Lesson Study - Makoto Yoshida
- Paper
- PowerPoint Presentation (pdf)
Lesson Plans
This section contains the plans for the lessons that were taught and observed through simultaneous translation, plus a lesson taught by Paterson Public School No. 2 teachers at the Greenwich Japanese School in Greenwich, CT. Though it was not possible during this conference for attendees to participate in the long-term research and preparation phases of lesson study, observation of the lessons gave them the opportunity to take part in the implementation, reflection, and improvement phases by studying student thinking during the lesson and then debriefing on ways that the lessons might be improved to better support student learning.
- Grade 1: Subtraction (pdf) - Yasushi Abukawa
- Grade 3: Multiplication (pdf) - Masaaki Sato
- Grade 5: Let's Investigate Fractions (pdf) - Hiroki Iwakiri
- Grade 6: Stay or Switch: Fostering Students' Mathematical and Logical Thinking (pdf) - Bill Jackson and Nick Timpone
- Grade 7: Plane Figures (Basic Construction) (pdf) - Motoko Hosokawa