Why lesson plans

Planning helps us outline how objectives will be met. Planning will allow you to tie particular standards to an activity and document that. Planning helps us organize our thoughts. We may have some ideas of carrying out an activity with children, but if we can actually write it out in a lesson plan, it helps us not forget key elements, it helps us make sure that everything's developmentally appropriate, and that we have the right types of materials to carry out the activity.

Lesson plans can also help us see how a particular activity is connected to other curricular areas or how it's connected to other themes or ideas that we're using in a particular classroom or setting. This pulls in the whole idea of integration and that everything goes together. Lesson plans can almost function as a shopping list or a road map for gathering materials and helping make sure that you are well planned and rehearsed before you actually carry out the lesson plan.

My undergraduate students use lesson plans as a roadmap that they carry close to them sometimes when they are teaching a lesson because it's security. Once you've written a lesson plan, you know what your plans are. It will help you carry out those plans to make it the best possible experience for young children. Lesson plans also help you see the big picture of how you're addressing the needs of every child.

Lesson planning helps you differentiate and plan for the many different ability levels and needs of students in your classrooms. While the material and delivery will change with each lesson, the broader flow — from recap of previous knowledge to introduction of new concepts to reinforcement and conclusion — should remain the same.

Consistency helps students know what to expect and build good classroom habits while making the planning process more efficient and less time-consuming for teachers. What should students know or be able to do at the end of each lesson? A lesson should never be a one-way flow of information from teacher to student.

The same goes for questions your students have, as well. Setting time aside in-class to answer fuels dialogue and gives teachers an extra opportunity to check for understanding. What did students think of that last learning activity?

Do they feel like they understand that core concept? Is there a particular place where students seem to repeatedly get stuck? What could be done better next time? A good plan considers how much time the class needs to spend on each learning activity, and how those activities are spread out. Front-load the class with too much information, and students might not have enough time to absorb the material.

Move too slowly through the plan, and the last part of class will be rushed. If the pace is too slow, students may lose attention. Even the most carefully planned lessons can go awry under unforeseen circumstances. Teaching from the front cover all the way to the end of the text book does not meet your teaching goals. A lesson plan here sheds light on what topics are considerable as against those which are secondary.

Many a times, teachers either omit or repeat the subjects taught earlier. This situation arises because of the absence of a lesson plan. With a lesson plan at your disposal, you will be able to avoid casual omissions or repetitions that emerge as a result of students getting promoted from one grade into another. Once the semester ends, earlier teacher with the new class teacher can review the lesson plan in action. This will help to come up with recommendations to aid struggling students.

A well-organized teacher will be able to attract the attention of students who will pattern after your planning traits. You can set an example to students who will follow your footsteps. This way, you will be able to lead the students by setting an example of the benefits of planning.

You will be instrumental in helping your students complete assignments with little or no supervision. A lesson plan comes handy in assessing the level of mastery of your students. It allows you to concentrate on struggling students. This way, you will be able to check their level of understanding and match your teaching style with what your class needs.

Teachers rely on teaching mechanisms like a game, a video clipping or an industrial tour. This creates a sense of expectation among students.

You can also engage your students in a focused discussion about a particular topic. This could be a preparation for what is coming up next. Imagine the excitement of students of English Literature when they are asked to pen down their thoughts about their failed college love.

Right before proceeding to value the world famous love story of Romeo and Juliet! A substitute teacher will be able to take the position of a class teacher in a much shorter time, thanks to the lesson plan. The assisting teacher will have all the details of lessons covered and the topics yet to be touched. A lesson plan helps a supporting teacher be perceptive to the teaching style of the earlier faculty. This fosters easy comfort between students and new teacher.

With a well-chalked out plan of learning activities and routines, you will be able to present the subject matter straight and clean. It is always an advantage to have a clear lesson plan so that, it can be used by substitute teachers at times. The set of lesson plans can be used to handling over to new teachers, it acts as a guideline for them to follow. Irrespective of all these, it can also be used to support annual performance evaluation of individual teachers. Even when applying for new job, teachers can attach these lesson plans as a sample to show them your content understanding and organizational skills.

There are many excellent guides with good resources using the syllabus that enables a teacher to prepare an effective lesson plan. Each step is accompanied by a set of questions meant to prompt reflection and aid you in designing your teaching and learning activities. The first step is to determine what you want students to learn and be able to do at the end of class. To help you specify your objectives for student learning, answer the following questions:. Once you outline the learning objectives for the class meeting, rank them in terms of their importance.

This step will prepare you for managing class time and accomplishing the more important learning objectives in case you are pressed for time. Consider the following questions:.

Now that you have your learning objectives in order of their importance, design the specific activities you will use to get students to understand and apply what they have learned. Because you will have a diverse body of students with different academic and personal experiences, they may already be familiar with the topic. Raise your hand if you have. This additional information can help shape your introduction, learning activities, etc. Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and encourage thinking.

You can use a variety of approaches to engage students e. Consider the following questions when planning your introduction:. Prepare several different ways of explaining the material real-life examples, analogies, visuals, etc. As you plan your examples and activities, estimate how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for extended explanation or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different applications or problems, and to identify strategies that check for understanding.

These questions would help you design the learning activities you will use:. Now that you have explained the topic and illustrated it with different examples, you need to check for student understanding — how will you know that students are learning?

Think about specific questions you can ask students in order to check for understanding, write them down, and then paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different ways.