Hey there! Thank you for joining me. I’m Charlotte from Colourful Teaching For You.
Whether you write detailed lesson plans or make quick notes in your Day Plan, effective and efficient lesson planning requires thought and pedagogical strategy.
At first, lesson planning can be a chore, but as you become more seasoned at it, with practice, this process will become easier.
Create lessons that jive with your personality while keeping the following five steps in mind.
Unless it’s required from your administration, your lessons don’t need to be detailed. Keep them to the point but make sure to have a solid plan in mind.
If time is not on your side, focus on steps #1 and #3 to ensure that your students get a solid foundation for the topic at hand.
If you don’t want to waste your time and create a new lesson template, use the same one over and over again. Here are two options for you:
Instead of constantly creating a new template and wasting your time, use the same one over and over again. If you have one, go for it. If you don’t, here are two options:
The following are five steps to efficiently plan a lesson as a teacher.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Learning Objectives
Think about the big picture. What are the main strategies and content that you want to teach your students. Making a note of these is not just for you, but for your students as well. After step #2, you can tell your students what the learning objectives for the lesson are so that they’re set up for success.
#2. The Hook
Find a creative way to start your lessons so that your students are instantly captivated. It doesn’t have to be momentous. You can turn on some music or tell them a joke based on your topic.
#3. Activities
What 2-3 activities can your students engage in to deepen their understanding of the topic that you’re teaching? You can find a lot of resources on the internet so you don’t need to spend time creating them from scratch.
Remember to differentiate the activities to meet different students where they are at. If this is too much for you, find done-for-you resources online. You may also check out my store by CLICKING HERE to see resources that are either already differentiated or one for various grade levels.
#4. Assessment
It’s important to have some form of assessment either during or at the very least, at the end of your lesson to gauge understanding of the topic.
If you’re ending the unit, this will be your summative assessment.
If this is one lesson in a unit, then this is your formative assessment. In this case, you can use an exit ticket at the end of the lesson to see what students learned. You could also have students think-pair-share to gauge their learning during your lesson. This way you can make changes if it’s needed.
Don’t overcomplicate formative assessment. Make it light and easy so that there’s less marking for you but you and your students still get a clear picture of where they’re at with their learning.
#5. Closure
So many teachers end their lessons with step number four, but integrating an actual closure to your lesson will make it more memorable. This is what your students will remember and tell their parents about.
Like the hook, make it fun or at least recap what they learned during your lesson.
If you don’t have time to create a closure, recall your hook with your students so as to bring some fun without having to do too much on your part.
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The importance of focusing on only five planning strategies to enhance your lesson plans.
- Five ways to enhance your lesson planning skills: learning objectives, the hook, activities, assessment closure.
Free Resources:
In the mean time, if planning so that you’re ahead is not your jam, then check out the following: FREE MASTERCLASS: Systematic Plan to Super Passionate.
Next Steps:
I’d love to hear from you. In the comments below, please answer the following:
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I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
