I was unsure about this lesson study when I first received the assignment. I had created lesson plans before, plans that had usually turned out pretty well. I was not completely new at this and already had an idea of where I wanted my lesson plan to go.However, as I wrote the lesson study, I realized that it helped me focus my vague thoughts in a cohesive direction. It forced me to look further into my lesson and think about how it might play out in the classroom.
Even though it was a brief overview of an introductory lesson that I did not end up teaching (instead I taught the first lesson of the text book), I was able to think about how this lesson tied to all other lessons I would teach from this Social Studies unit. It helped me to prepare a more meaningful lesson when I actually wrote my lesson plan.
Explaining that lesson study to another person was equally helpful in understanding my own thought process. It has been said that the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else and this is what happened. The more I explained my own lesson and justified my decisions in the lesson, the more I was able to understand the lesson itself and prepare for teaching it to my third graders.
Talk is Talk”
I agree that gaining other people’s perspectives on your lesson plan can help create a more focused lesson plan. That is what I liked most about this assignment. How often do you discuss your lesson plan ideas with others outside of the education community? While you may get some suggestions that aren’t very good, I do like to get a perspective of an outsider from time to time.
It is very true that many teachers do not discuss lesson plans with others. Sometimes outsiders can give you an idea or a perspective that would never have occurred to you because you are so close to the situation. They may have an absolutely fantastic idea that you could not imagine, but might be able to implement.
I also agree that having more than one perspective on your lesson plan is a great way to help make your lesson plan stronger. It also allows you to really justify the reasons why you went with one approach as opposed to another – which, of course, can only help you in the long run. For the class at large, though, I really enjoy hearing your lesson plans because they are so different from mine in terms of age groups – but not so different that I can’t adapt your ideas to my middle or high-schoolers.
I agree. It did prove to be the case that even though I had a clear idea of the lesson I wanted in my head, I was able to clarify and change a few small things to improve its overall effects in the classroom due to the input of my peers. Whether or not we were discussing my lesson, I will definitely be using some ideas that came up in class in my own classroom in the future.