Ending Your Lesson Using Best Practices

 Coaches and administrators throughout the district have been going into classrooms for the yearly spring Data Collection, observing and recording best practices throughout the lesson.  If the observer is in the classroom at the end of the period, he/she looks for best practices in the lesson closure. The benefits of a strong lesson closure are well-documented and can be summarized as follows:  Closure summarizes the current lesson, allows for a check to see “did my kids get it,”and helps inform teacher planning for the next lesson.  Closure provides that critical bridge that brings sense and sequence to a series of lessons within a unit.

What do coaches and administrators look for in a lesson closure?

Coaches and administrators in Tahoma School District look for the following when they are in an end-of-lesson Data Collection:

If you have questions about what these look like in a lesson, please contact your  building coach or administrator.

What do others say about lesson closure?
Dr. Rod Lucero, Associate Professor in the School of Education and the Associate Director for the School of Teacher Education and Principal Preparation (STEPP) at Colorado State University, says that “closure activities also help define both your teaching agenda and the intended learning progression, weaving today's lesson with yesterday's while providing a look ahead at what tomorrow's will bring. As a deliberate part of your planning process, these activities summarize the current lesson, provide it context, and build anticipation for the next. Properly implemented, they will help you establish and maintain course momentum. Reinforcing what students have learned, closure activities also serve as an assessment tool with which to evaluate your students retention level—Did they get it?—as well as your own effectiveness.”   (http://teaching.colostate.edu/tips/tip.cfm?tipid=148).

How do lesson closures relate to TPEP?
Allowing a few minutes for a brief summary and student assessment and/or reflection not only meets Criteria 6.1, “Self-assessment of learning connected to the success criteria,” but also meets 6.3, “Formative Assessment Opportunities”; 6.5, “Student use of assessment data”; and 3.2, “Ownership of Learning.”  All of this for a brief time-out to synthesize the day’s learning!

Next week:  Fun ideas to liven up your closures