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5. Teaching the first research lesson
What works
Use the research lesson planner on the following page to
plan the research lesson. It works best blown up to A3. It also
acts as the observation sheet (if photocopied and provided to
the observers in the research lesson) and is the key point of
reference for the post lesson discussion.
Take real care over the joint assessment of the stages which
the three case pupils are working at. You can
make reference
to the Assessing Pupil Progress materials. It is really important
that the group clearly writes what they want each pupil to be
able to do in the focus strand by the end of the lesson and what
they will be looking for as evidenceof this.
Because the research lesson is jointly planned, it is jointly
owned by the group. This means the focus for the observers is
less on the teacher and more on the learners – the focus pupils.
They should try to start each observation as if zoomed-in on
the focus pupil and then pan back to allow a bigger group or
the whole class to come into frame.
Observers should try to capture the focus pupils’ responses
at different points in the lesson – and how they match or differ
from what was predicted at that stage. Note also any critical
incidents. If there is a common pattern (e.g. all focus pupils
misunderstand something in the same way) note it
in the right hand column.
Note the time against each annotation if you can.
At the conclusion, look for the
evidence of progress for
each pupil against what was planned and the extent they are
achieved. What are key points for the next lesson for the focus
pupils, their groups or the class? What might you want to ask
them in their post lesson interview? Jot this down in ‘initial
thoughts’ at the bottom of the page.
Notes
‘
What’s very powerful is that
people felt that because they’d
planned together, it made it okay if it
went wrong..’