Lesson Plans (How I do it better now)

In the past, I really did not give much thought on my lesson planning. I had my textbooks and I just copied on the board what was on the textbook, gave quizzes from chapter summaries, and gave homework from the exercises in the workbooks. Teaching was so easy. But my students' results from benchmark assessments and spring testing were always below basic every year. I had a valid excuse, my students are diagnosed with learning disability, what do you expect? Well, low expectations lead to low achievement.
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For the first time in my 6 years as a teacher my lesson plans were reviewed by my instructional supervisor and Math Professional Developer this school year. I was told that my lessons were not aligned to the standards, I had too many goals, my students get lost in the activities (arrggh!). So I revised the template not just once, and I gave much thought and worked with the activities to make it more interesting this time. It took me at least 8 hours to finish my 12 page lesson plan that I didn't have time anymore to do my laundry and grocery and take care of my family during weekends! Teaching was a lot of paperwork! It was exhausting! It was stressful!
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But why do I have to stress myself? I shared my lesson plan to the lead teacher in my inclusion class and he exclaimed "this is a lot!" and I realized he was right. Where did I go wrong? I found a lesson plan template in my school district's website and used it. I discovered that it does not really restrict my creativity in lesson planning contrary to what one of my colleagues told me. Then I listened to my Math Coach and took into consideration the feedback of my instructional supervisor.
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Now I am only writing 3 page of a week's lesson plan, I can breathe better and have a restful weekend. I am now having quality products from my students targeted to the standards of the lesson. They are scoring better in their quizzes, and they are enjoying their homework. Teaching is more rigorous but is still fun!

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Let me share how I do my lesson plan now:

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- I try to plan at least a week in advance. Here's a weekly lesson plan template which I use. The first time you must unexpectedly be absent, you and your substitute will appreciate it.

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- I use a master lesson plan template (this one) filling in all the details and activities that will remain the same each week. I place these in a 3-ring binder which is always on top of my desk. It is easy for an observer (my coach, mentor, instructional supervisor) to keep track of my lesson when I have my lesson plan ready.

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- The first step in my lesson planning is to focus on the power standards (these are the things that the students should know and be able to do, the core knowledge and skills that they need to succeed, which will come out of the state assessments). These will prove valuable in assessing the degree of alignment of course content with these standards.

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- Then I focus on the specific goal(s) that I hope to accomplish. My Math Coach said that it is better to give less objectives but accomplish it than to give superficial coverage to more content that students quickly forget. Use verbs aligned to Bloom's Taxonomy to create discussion questions and lesson plans that ensure that students' thinking progresses to higher levels.

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- I prefer to develop and store my lesson plans on the computer. This makes revisions much simpler. Of course, a paper copy is always on top of my desk in my classroom.

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- I develop body of the instruction first; I give my students a whole group instruction when I discuss to them the lesson, then I break them into smaller groups of two or three so they can collaborate and apply what they have learned doing some activities/ investigations. I do mixed ability grouping or sometimes group them according to their ability level, it depends on the type of lesson. Then I give special attention to developing a powerful and interesting opening and ending (assessment).

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- I always have several "sponge" activities available in the learning centers for those students who finish first. I was told last Friday to put some BCR (Brief Constructed Response) activities in the learning centers too, broken down into easy, average and difficult, for my diverse learners.

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- I try to have materials for the next day's lesson before I leave school. Even if I have to stay after school to copy handouts or prepare other materials, it will prove less stressful than racing the next morning to complete my preparation. Even early morning preparation periods can't always be counted on to be free to handle those last-minute tasks.

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- I save a few moments at the end of each day to reflect on my day's lesson. Were my goals met? What went well? What clearly needs to be improved? Any ideas on how to make my lesson more effective the next time?

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Remember colleagues, the hallmark of every professional is being prepared. Please add some more lesson planning tips, and please let me know if I was helpful to you. And thanks to the Classroom Teacher's Survival Guide, which has very practical tips that were very helpful for me.