Dr. Soledad A. Ulep, Director of UP NISMED, together with the UP NISMED staff, paid a courtesy call to the new principal of North Fairview High School (NFHS), Mrs. Sheridan G. Evangelista on 17 August 2012. During the meeting, Dr. Ulep, introduced the Collaborative Lesson Research and Development (CLRD) project of UP NISMED to the new principal. CLRD aims to promote lesson study and teaching science through inquiry and mathematics through problem solving. Lesson study is a school-based teacher-led continuing professional development model. She discussed the key features of lesson study, namely: (1) lesson study provides teachers a concrete opportunity to see teaching and learning in the classroom; (2) lesson study keeps students at the heart of professional development activities; and (3) in lesson study, teachers can be actively involved in instructional change and curriculum development.
In addition, some UP NISMED staff recounted the NFHS Lesson Study groups’ experiences during the first two cycles. They briefly explained a typical lesson study cycle which involves the planning of a research lesson, implementation of the research lesson and post-lesson reflection and discussion. They emphasized that these stages were collaboratively done by the NFHS Science teachers (Chemistry and Physics) and UP NISMED staff in accordance to the lesson study sub-goal. The sub-goal formulate was for the students to participate actively in communicating their ideas by asking questions and finding answers to their own questions.
During the meeting, the benefits gained by the NFHS Chemistry and Physics teachers and their students from the CLRD project were also highlighted. It was mentioned that an improvement in the collaboration among teachers in lesson development was observed. It developed a harmonious working relationship among them. Moreover, the performance of the students in the 2011-2012 Division Achievement Test for Chemistry also improved. With this, Mrs. Evangelista, signified full support to the CLRD project for its third implementation in NFHS, stating that “I’ve been looking forward for this kind of activity.”
The meeting was also attended by the NFHS Science Department head, Mr. Michael A. Nazareth and UP NISMED staff, May R. Chavez, Dennis L. Danipog, Jacqueline Rose M. Gutierrez, Cerilina M. Maramag and Rolando M. Tan.
By Dennis Danipog
By Dennis Danipog
