The Worthwhile Lesson

Every classroom at O’Connor has a poster displaying The Worthwhile Lesson.  There is a copy of it embedded in this article.  Hopefully, some of the students have seen these posters.  As teachers, the Worthwhile Lesson Framework has been guiding quite a lot of our professional learning in the last few years.  As a big part of this, all teachers have been visiting each other's classes to observe each other teaching.  This process is called Collaborative Lesson Observations.  In week 1 this term, teachers met in groups of three colleagues.  They then selected an aspect of the Worthwhile Lesson that they wanted feedback on.  During week 2, 3 and 4 of this term, the teachers watched each other and wrote formal feedback centred on the area the teacher was working on.  Each group gives feedback to each other.  This includes the teacher themselves giving their own feedback.  Finally, meet again to reflect on the observed lesson and the feedback.  As a part of this reflection, we will decide as a staff where we can take this process in 2022 and beyond.  This is the third time we have done this as a teaching staff at O’Connor.

Here is the link to the Worthwhile Lesson as a separate document.

At O’Connor, we see the value in incorporating the nine aspects of The Worthwhile Lesson listed above.  These have not been pulled out of thin air, but are instead the result of professional reading, research and us looking to other high performing schools to see what works for them.  The teachers have embraced this framework with enthusiasm, mainly because they see their established practices already there!  

In the writing space I have left, I’ll elaborate on two aspects of this framework; Descriptive Feedback and Student/Self Assessment.

Descriptive feedback is vital in our contemporary classrooms.  Teachers work with each student in class time to find out how they are going with their learning and what they need to move on.  This is FAST FEEDBACK so precious time is not wasted.  

Student/Self-Assessment is so valuable.  This is when students assess their own work or assess a fellow student's work.  This makes the learning so much clearer to all students and allows the teacher to do more of the important work in the classroom.  That is, working with students and giving fast feedback.

What a staff we have here at O’Connor Catholic College!  Like the students, we are always learning.  I am so proud of the enthusiasm our staff shows as they work together to improve student learning at our great school.

Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing  - Jack Lewman

Posted by Mr Stephen Chapman on 15 November 2021