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Professional Development

KEEN EYE WORKSHOPS

Developing a Keen Eye for the Essence of the Mathematics in a Lesson: Translating Teacher Learning into Student Learning

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About This Program

All teachers of mathematics need support to learn to teach mathematics more ambitiously with greater attention to core mathematical practices (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSM], 2010; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2000). Ambitious teaching emphasizes the development of significant conceptual understandings and responds to student thinking (Lampert, Beasley, Ghousseini, Kazemi, & Franke, 2010).

Keen Eye Coaching Workshop Series

Smyrna School District K-12 Mathematics Specialists Phil Wandless reflects out loud about how he prioritizes making time for engaging in content-focused lesson study cycles with the teachers in his schools.

Promoting More Ambitious Mathematics Teaching

Keen Eye workshops are purposefully designed to help instructional leaders develop the skills and knowledge to support their teachers in achieving more ambitious mathematics teaching by maximizing the impact of their pre and post-lesson video analysis conversations.

As part of the professional learning, teacher leaders, coaches, connectors, and mathematics specialists will explore the essential elements of high quality conceptually-focused mathematics teaching that translate into more ambitious teaching by experiencing “keen eye” learning cycles. Workshop participants will:

  • Engage with colleagues in mathematically intense conversations around standards-aligned target lessons.
  • Go beyond the nuts and bolts of lesson planning by sharpening the focus of pre and post-lesson discussions as a means of preparing to teach.
  • Prepare to teach a target lesson by unpacking the learning goals and anticipating critical moments of the lesson.
  • Make informed mathematical predictions about how students will engage in the key ideas of the lesson.
  • Analyze student thinking with attention to when key moments to advance mathematical thinking about the learning goal occur during the lesson.
2023-2024 FLYER

Evidence suggests that teachers can be taught to analyze teaching in ways that change both the way they think about and implement mathematics instruction (Borko, Jacobs, Eiteljorg, & Pittman, 2008; Magagnosc & Feighan, 2017, 2018; Santagata & Bray, 2016; Sun & van Es, 2015). But the path teachers follow as they acquire this competency and translate their learning in support of deeper student understanding has yet to be unpacked and explained.

“I appreciate the revision of the questions and letting us role play. The most important element is to unpack the lesson before and unpack the lesson together with the teacher. The word collaborate came up a lot in our debrief. It was important that the questions brought the coach and teacher together and made the conversation non-judgmental."
Keen Eye Participant
Keen Eye Participant
“There is no substitute for doing the math and unpacking a lesson for you and your students. In coaching conversations, move from using 'you' and 'your' to using 'we' and 'our'."
Keen Eye Participant
Keen Eye Participant
"One of my biggest take-aways was analyzing where students grappled and how we respond to their struggle without taking away their learning opportunity."
Keen Eye Participant
Keen Eye Participant
“I found it very valuable to engage in a debrief around a video and see how it played out - by that I mean where I (as the coach) grappled with what to say, when, and how, and what answers my partner gave to the questions I asked, which then led me to grapple with what to say next and why."
Keen Eye Participant
Keen Eye Participant
“Keeping for the focus on the lesson and student is a huge help! plus being part of the planning really helps to feel more like a thought partner than an 'expert' or coach."
Keen Eye Participant
Keen Eye Participant
“Powerful day!! So glad to be a part of this very educative work!"
Keen Eye Participant
"It is absolutely critical for coaches to plan for pre-lesson conversations as well as the post-lesson conversation. These conversations will only be productive and lead to reflection on and change in instruction."
Keen Eye Participant
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