The foundation of competent teaching is learning how to construct a solid lesson plan. You may kiss that goal of assisting your learners in flourishing goodbye if you don’t have one, and your pupils will ultimately fail in the long run.
When writing a lesson plan, certain elements must be addressed. It isn’t enough to list a standard and bullet point your way through it. It will take effort, and you’ll need to put some thought into the process. Is this to say that serendipitous learning is impossible? Of course not.
It’s simply that a poorly planned lesson, more often than not, turns out to be a turkey.
Let’s look at five steps to better lesson planning since the process might be complicated.
Have a purpose
The most common blunder I found while reviewing lesson plans for my instructors was that they hadn’t planned the lesson out thoroughly. They had the textbook pages quoted and pages to be read ahead of time, but they didn’t have their “eye on the prize.”
What I mean is…they hadn’t taken the time to ask themselves, “When this lesson is over, what will my pupils be able to know and do?” It’s as if they’d gathered all of the ingredients off a recipe card, baked the cake, and then walked away without knowing what it was supposed to look or taste like.
Meaningful learning isn’t going to happen unless you have a clear end goal in mind. Everything will fall into place if you pay attention to the whole lesson plan rather than just its components.
What is the estimated delivery date?
You’ll undoubtedly need a decent materials list to go with that brilliant lesson. That slew of resources, articles, or manipulatives will allow you to make this lesson shine. It’s critical to have everything in place ahead of time so the study may go as smoothly as possible.
There’s nothing worse than walking into a classroom and seeing a teacher fumbling around trying to grab things while instructing a class. Meanwhile, students become increasingly unfocused. Let’s set our expectations for ourselves high and not shortchange our pupils.
Make sure everything is in order and accessible, and be ready to go! Consider having the kids assist you with getting things prepared and inviting them to participate.
What is your Hook?
The lesson plan has been approved, and the materials are finished! Now that you’ve decided on a topic, how will you pique your student’s attention and keep it? Too often observe, instructors rush into the textbook or lecture portion of their lesson without first capturing the students’ attention with a “hook.”
Don’t you think your pupils deserve additional time and concentration in this area? Yes, they do! It doesn’t matter what grade level you’re dealing with; all kids require a connection to the learning process. You can provide that through video, movie clip, or an interesting question in your introduction.
Make it enjoyable and inventive.
Look at your Workflow from Start to Finish
There are a lot of things to consider. It’s critical to figure out how to proceed in your class. We have procedures for adding ingredients to the mixing bowl in the cake recipe example, but we may wind up with a catastrophe if we don’t follow them.
The same can be said about our lessons. Activities of pupils’ prior knowledge, instructional and learning activities, and questions that help students think should all be included in most of our lesson procedures. Are you concerned whether this happens in every one of your classes? You should be.
We’re finished!
The lesson went off without a hitch, and the kids loved it! Was that true? How can you tell if they “got it?” Did you conduct an informal evaluation of students as they left the room? You may employ various activities to assess understanding that doesn’t involve taking a test.
Make sure to check in with your pupils throughout the session. You’ll need to do this to figure out what your subsequent actions will be, even as you’re working within the lesson. Even though ending a task by double-checking understanding is typically neglected in the hectic activity of the day, make sure you don’t lose sight of it.
Conclusion:
A successful lesson plan requires a clear focus, specific goals, and a detailed materials list. Before beginning the lesson, ensure you have everything in place and capture your students’ attention with an engaging hook.
Throughout the study, check in with your students to ensure they understand the content. Finally, end the lesson by assessing student understanding. By following these steps, you will set yourself up for success in creating meaningful learning experiences for your students.
