Lesson Study

RBS Currents, Volume 5, Issue 2

Photo Essay: A Look at the Lesson Study Process

Special thanks go to the staff and students of Paterson, New Jersey's School 2—featured in these images--and to Makoto Yoshida for contributing photographs.

	Planning Using school-wide goals and objectives, a study group meets regularly to create a lesson. Here principal Lynn Liptak works alongside mathematics teachers.
	Pre-Briefing Before the lesson is taught, observers gather to prepare for their role as researchers.
	Teaching The moment of truth—will this carefully crafted lesson work? Here Neyda Evans asks first grader Amari Ross to explain what she has learned.
	Observation As students solve problems during the lesson, observers move in to record evidence of student thinking. This lesson took place in a gym to accommodate the large number of observers.
	Lesson This science lesson involving lasers challenged students to demonstrate their understanding of the concept.
	Blackboard After the lesson, the blackboard and other student work is preserved for reflection on the lesson's outcomes. Observers typically return to this room for the debriefing.
	Debriefing Reflecting on the lesson he taught, Japanese master teacher Akihiko Takahashi begins the debriefing and initiates a conversation that carries on well after the lesson study day ends.
	Debriefing Having celebrated their work (not pictured here!), the study group convenes again to document what they have learned and to further refine this lesson and/or to begin planning a new one.