Lesson study teachers go on air

As UP NISMED starts a new season of the Go, Teacher, Go! (GTG) with DZUP, the community radio of the College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman on 01 August 2013, two groups of science teachers, one from North Fairview High School (NFHS), Quezon City and the other from Tenement Elementary School (TES), Taguig City, shared their experiences as teacher implementers of research lessons in their respective schools. 

Ms. Clotilde Besario and Ms. Regiena Marquesz of TES
at the DZUP booth.

The episodes “Some Like it HOTS” aired during the entire month of August were allotted to the sharing of experiences of the research team under the Project HOTS (Hands-on Teaching and Learning of Science through Inquiry) of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI). Through a phone patch during the first episode, Ms. Amparo Olarte, the coordinator of Project HOTS, together with Dr. Risa L. Reyes, Deputy Director for Research and Extension and anchor Ms. Ma. Lourdes S. Agad shared with the listeners at the radio station. She said that the project aims to empower teachers to collaboratively develop inquiry-based science lessons that will enhance the learners’ inquiry skills as well as help them construct correct science ideas and concepts.

Ms. Clotilde T. Besario and Ms. Regiena F. Marques, Grade III implementing teachers from TES shared their experiences on a lesson study which focused on “The Sense of Hearing.” They highlighted the processes of collaborative lesson planning, consultation, try out of the lesson, critiquing, lesson implementation, revision of the lesson and reflective analyses by the research team during the entire lesson study cycle. Moreover, the teachers mentioned how they incorporated inquiry features with emphasis on hands-on teaching in their lesson. Ms. Sally B. Gutierez, one of the members of the Elementary School Science Group of NISMED discussed how the research lesson was refined towards an inquiry-based lesson from the planning stage to the second implementation. The radio episode was again hosted by Ms. Agad.

“The collaborative method of lesson planning is truly helpful because the lesson becomes better as it is being presented and critiqued by a group, “shared Ms. Besario.In the episode “All is Well that Continues Well”, four chemistry teachers who are members of a lesson study team from NFHS were invited during the airing on 28 August 2013 of Go, Teacher, Go! Two of them, Ms. Melalaine Austria and Ms. Merle Ramos, were original members of the group who completed the three implementations of research lesson while Ms. Carol Sombria and Ms. Noemi Salacsacan were new in the group and joined the team only for the third implementation of the lesson. Similarly, this episode focused on sharing of experiences of the research team, the challenges and realizations they encountered, and the benefits they gained from the lesson study process. It is interesting to note that during the conversation, Ms. Ramos commented that “students participated more actively in the classroom activities.” Equally important to mention is the comment shared by Mrs. Sombria that “wala nang damutan sa aming [Chemistry teachers] lahat. Nagshe-share na kami ng ideas at resources sa pagtuturo ng Chemistry.” This comment simply implies that through lesson study, these teachers became open to collaboration in preparing lessons in Chemistry. This episode of Go, Teacher, Go was joined by Ms. Jacqueline Rose Gutierrez and Mr. Dennis Danipog of the High School Chemistry Group of NISMED. The program was hosted by Ms. Lolita Mondigo.