Featured Presentations

Learning from Lesson Study
Kaye Stacey, Faculty of Education - Science and Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia
Lesson study provides a rich opportunity for teachers to observe both teaching and learning in action. During lesson study, teachers can gain insight into students' conceptual structures, students' thinking processes, and the ways in which students ideas change in response to a well designed activity. I will use examples from lesson study experiences to illustrate these observations. Teachers gain practical benefit from observing lesson study by increasing their repertoire of successful lessons and teaching strategies, but the deeper benefits are gained by using the lesson as a research and development tool, to set up together a hypothesis about learning and then test it in the crucible of practice.
http://staff.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/~kayecs/

Use of Lesson Study to Implement Singapore Revised National Curriculum
YEAP Ban Har, National Institute of Education (Singapore)
Mathematics Syllabus (Ministry of Education Singapore, 2006) emphasizes that the Singapore students should have opportunities to discover, reason and communicate mathematics by engaging in stimulating discussions and meaningful mathematical activities. As a project of the National Institute of Education, Singapore, primary and secondary teachers has been using lesson study to examine their classroom practice to implement this revised curriculum to improve teaching and learning of mathematics. I will use some video clips from Singapore teachers’ lesson study activities to discuss issues in implementing the revised curriculum and improving students’ learning.
http://math.nie.edu.sg/people/acad/staffdetail/bhyeap.html

Issues in Implementing Curricula That Focus on Students' Learning Process (Panel Discussion)
Toshiakira Fujii, Tokyo Gakugei University
Takashi Nakamura, Yamanashi University, Japan
Kaye Stacey, University of Melbourne, Australia
Tad Watanabe, Kennesaw State University, Georgia
YEAP Ban Har, National Institute of Education, Singapore
Makoto Yoshida, William Paterson University, New Jersey

Moderator: Akihiko Takahashi, DePaul University, Illinois

Three Major Ways to Develop Lesson Plans for Teaching through Problem Solving
Akihiko Takahashi, School of Education, DePaul University, Chicago

Concurrent Sessions:

• Research Lesson I: 3rd grade mathematics lesson "Probability"
  - Lesson written by Oscar Mayer Elementary School Lesson Study Group
• Research Lesson II: 3rd grade mathematics lesson "Decimal Number
  - Lesson written by Chicago Lesson Study Group

• Akihiko Takahashi, DePaul University, Illinois
• Tad Watanabe, Kennesaw State University, Georgia
• Makoto Yoshida, Director of the Center for Lesson Study, William Paterson University, New Jersey

Tentative Agenda as of March 31

Thursday, May 8, 2008

 Friday, May 9, 2008

 Saturday, May 10, 2008

Registration

The registration fee is $275 for all three days and $130/$80 for one day, including breakfasts and refreshments.

• Registration for all three days $275
• Registration for Day 1 only $130
• Registration for Day 2 only $130
• Registration for Day 3 only $80

Visit Global Education Resources’ website to register for the conference. We accept payment by major credit cards. Confirmation of the registration will be sent by e-mail.
Deadline for registration is Wednesday, April 30, 2008. Because of the nature of lesson study process, we may limit the number of participants BEFORE April 30.

Click Here to Register Now!

Cancellation: Cancellation notices must be submitted by April 30, 2008 for a partial refund of $245 for the registration for all three days, for $100 for Day 1 or Day 2, and $50 for Day 3. No refunds are available for cancellations after April 30.

Accommodations and In-Town Travel

Many hotels in Chicago are within a easy public transportation commute or taxi ride from the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus.
For discounted hotel rooms in the DePaul area, please visit,
http://www.depaul.edu/about/visit_depaul/places_to_stay.asp

Ask for the DePaul rate and book early to ensure availability.

Parking at the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus

Parking spaces are available Sheffield Parking Garage at 2331 N. Sheffield or Clifton Parking Deck located at 2330 N. Clifton. The DePaul rate will be given if a validated ticket is presented to the attendant. Parking validation machines are located throughout campus including School of Music, Student Center 1st floor, SAC, Commons, and Richardson Library.

What is Lesson Study?

Lesson study, widely viewed in Japan as the primary form of professional development, has been the critical systemic feature that enabled Japanese elementary teachers to improve classroom instruction. In lesson study, teachers work collaboratively to: 1) formulate long-term goals for student learning and development, 2) plan, conduct, and observe a ‘research lesson’ designed to bring these long-term goals to life as well as to teach a particular academic content, 3) carefully observe student learning, engagement, and behavior during the lesson, and 4) discuss and revise the lesson and the approach to instruction based on these observations. The research lesson is taught in a regular classroom with students, and participants observe as the lesson unfolds in the actual teaching-learning context. Discussion following the lesson is developed around the student-learning data collected during the observation. Through the process, teachers are given opportunities to reflect on their teaching and student learning.

Lesson study has become increasingly visible in state, national, and international conferences, open houses, high-profile policy reports, and special journal issues in recent years in the United States. Moreover, some school districts in the United States have attempted to use it to change their practice and impact student.