With the following tips, you can plan a successful lesson, no matter the subject or content area!
1. Know your audience! This is where knowing your students comes into play. It is critical to know who you are teaching the content to. "What do my students enjoy?," "What prior knowledge do my students have?," "How do students' backgrounds impact the lesson?" "What types of accommodations do I need to add into this lesson?" ... these are just some of the many questions that you can ask yourself as you plan your lessons. Take notes on your students, and track their needs and progress. It is important to understand how your students learn best, and what type of instruction, learning activities, and assessments will most appropriately meet their needs.
2. Get yourself a teacher planner! Staying organized is another critical part of being a teacher. With multiple students to keep track of, meetings, conferences, and so many other things to remember, a planner is a teacher's best friend. You can select a planner that fits your style and needs with all of the choices that are out there! Planners can really help you to stay organized... they are great resources!
3. Check out your state standards and go from there! I like to begin my process of lesson planning by checking the state standards within the curriculum. This helps to ensure that you are truly meeting the standards and aligning your lesson to the standards. They can be seen as a guideline for the lesson. From looking at the standards, you can create the goals and objectives for your lesson, and modify them if they are already established for you within the curriculum! After setting your goals and objectives for the students, you can then align your learning activities with them. Remember the hands-on, minds-on strategy! Hands-on learning ensures that students are interacting with the content, and that it will stick with them. From there, think about assessments, both formative and summative, as well as accommodations and modifications. It is important for all students to have access to the content, so accommodations and modifications provide them with that opportunity. It is all about meeting the needs of your students!
These are some tips that have worked for me when planning lessons. I hope that these tips will help you to plan, prep, repeat! Keep calm and plan on!