Math New Mexico

Following the lesson, a minimum of two hours should be set aside for debriefing. Ideally, some time should be set aside for both observers and the lesson study group to take a break and gather their thoughts prior to the debrief discussion. Some questions to think about for the debrief include the following:

What parts of the lesson design helped to achieve the lesson goals?
What examples of student responses/reactions show how they were engaged in the lesson?
What could be added or changed in the lesson to better achieve lesson goals?
How would you expect students to respond to these changes?

The discussion during the debrief should focus on the different aspects of the lesson and how well the planned activities (i.e. introduction, launch, student exploration, etc.) helped achieve the lesson goals. The Lesson Plan itself should be used as a lens for the observation and debriefing. If outside observers were part of the observation, those teachers who planned the lesson should sit together during the debriefing. The purpose of this is to emphasize that the entire group (not just the teacher who taught the lesson) is receiving the feedback.

Once the actual debriefing begins, the teacher who taught the lesson should have the first opportunity to comment of his or her reactions to the lesson followed by others in the planning group. This format allows the teachers to share insights about what was being studied, what worked, what did not work, and what they would change about the lesson.
If the feedback session is after the second implementation of the study lesson, the planning member should clarify what they tried to achieve in the lesson, and how these goals were related the changes made between the two lessons.
Once the teachers who planned the lesson have had opportunity to share their ideas, any outside observer should give feedback that is related to the goals of the lesson.
The teachers who planned/taught the lesson should wait until all feedback about a particular aspect of the lesson has been received before responding to the observers. This waiting etiquette prevents the discussion from becoming a point-volleying session and allows all participants to voice and absorb feedback in a reflective manner.

The processes and documents described above were significantly influenced by the work of James Stigler and James Hiebert, authors of The Teaching Gap, and workshop materials from Clea Fernandez and the Lesson Study Research Group. These processes and materials are continuously evolving as we adjust them to the unique needs and challenges of the teachers, students and environment of New Mexico.

* MathNM would like to acknowledge MathStar for the materials they developed.



Standards Based Resources NM Standards and Benchmarks NCTM Standards Research Textbook Evaluation Resources Math Resources Mathematics Education Organizations NM Math Initiatives NMCTM New Mexico PED Math & Science Bureau STEM Education Group TODOS Teacher Certification Options Mathematics Events Town Hall NMCTM Conference NSF Epscore Conference Essential Events Professional Development Providers MC2 partnerships New Mexico Math Group NM Services and Workshops Assessment Lesson Study PED Text Adoption		Debriefing Guidelines Following the lesson, a minimum of two hours should be set aside for debriefing. Ideally, some time should be set aside for both observers and the lesson study group to take a break and gather their thoughts prior to the debrief discussion. Some questions to think about for the debrief include the following: What parts of the lesson design helped to achieve the lesson goals? What examples of student responses/reactions show how they were engaged in the lesson? What could be added or changed in the lesson to better achieve lesson goals? How would you expect students to respond to these changes? The discussion during the debrief should focus on the different aspects of the lesson and how well the planned activities (i.e. introduction, launch, student exploration, etc.) helped achieve the lesson goals. The Lesson Plan itself should be used as a lens for the observation and debriefing. If outside observers were part of the observation, those teachers who planned the lesson should sit together during the debriefing. The purpose of this is to emphasize that the entire group (not just the teacher who taught the lesson) is receiving the feedback. Once the actual debriefing begins, the teacher who taught the lesson should have the first opportunity to comment of his or her reactions to the lesson followed by others in the planning group. This format allows the teachers to share insights about what was being studied, what worked, what did not work, and what they would change about the lesson. If the feedback session is after the second implementation of the study lesson, the planning member should clarify what they tried to achieve in the lesson, and how these goals were related the changes made between the two lessons. Once the teachers who planned the lesson have had opportunity to share their ideas, any outside observer should give feedback that is related to the goals of the lesson. The teachers who planned/taught the lesson should wait until all feedback about a particular aspect of the lesson has been received before responding to the observers. This waiting etiquette prevents the discussion from becoming a point-volleying session and allows all participants to voice and absorb feedback in a reflective manner. The processes and documents described above were significantly influenced by the work of James Stigler and James Hiebert, authors of The Teaching Gap, and workshop materials from Clea Fernandez and the Lesson Study Research Group. These processes and materials are continuously evolving as we adjust them to the unique needs and challenges of the teachers, students and environment of New Mexico. * MathNM would like to acknowledge MathStar for the materials they developed.

Debriefing Guidelines