Learning goals should describe cognitive change

A surprisingly difficult but critically important part of designing a lesson is establishing the learning goals. Many teachers write learning goals in the form of behavioral outcomes: “Students will be able to…” Frequently this is what their administrators want, and...
The choice of numbers matters!

The choice of numbers matters!

I am looking at a lesson research proposal for grade 5 on division of decimal values by a whole number. The problem the team plans to use is 4.26 ÷ 3, and their goal is for students to discover that the same processes they use to model division with whole numbers...
Read the documentary on Lesson Study

Read the documentary on Lesson Study

For anyone who found it difficult to find time to listen to the terrific radio documentary by American RadioWorks, you can read the segment about Lesson Study here. Some of my favorite quotes: “We need to shift from thinking about how to improve teachers to...
Meaning of ‘3/4’

Meaning of ‘3/4’

How do we want students to understand a fraction such as 3/4? Yesterday I had the privilege of working with an elementary team that is starting lesson study for the first time. They decided their theme would be around developing persistence in their students through...