Lesson Planning- The one-stop-shop-for teachers who HATE it!
Why Lesson Planning is Important.
If you are a veteran teacher, you probably have all of your lessons in your head. Still, most of us realize we need to write some kind of a plan down somewhere. If you’re like me, you can jot a few things down, but then end up adding new materials, activities and strategies before actually presenting that lesson in class. We do this because we are always striving to provide the very best to our students. Harnessing all of the details into one daily lesson plan is important to gain focus, and for some school districts, it’s required to show to administrators. Sometimes–actually—all the time, writing lesson plans feels like an unnecessary burden. I’m here to offer you an easy solution to this burden with a method I call LESSON PLANNING! 1-STOP-SHOP for teachers who HATE it!.
Greetings! Teaching middle school science is my favorite! I also love to share, collaborate, about all educational ideas, theories and practices! I would love to share some of my practices with you! If you click on the link I will send you my TOTALLY FREE strategy for helping your students raise their test scores! I’ve been using this method for 8 years now, and it WORKS!
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Have you ever started your day without a lesson planning objective?
’ll never forget the time when I wasn’t quite ready for the day. A kind student, who was eager to help me write my objective for the day, came in and prepared to write it on the board for me. I told her I wasn’t ready yet. She waited and waited for me to get my act together. She persisted bugging me to tell her what to write for the objective, and I finally said. “I guess we’re just winging it today.” I thought it was amusing, and of course I was scrambling to figure it out. The bell rang and everyone went to their classes. Before my first class got settled in, I happened to glance at the board and it said….”We’re Winging It” in the objective box…..Yikes! I’m so glad my administrator did not come in before I noticed and erased it!
My first year of teaching…
Do you hate lesson planning? My solution
Lesson Planning Book
Do any of you remember using the spiral bound planners with a 2 inch box for our “Lesson Plans?” Realize that there are 7-10 lesson planning components in a GOOD lesson plan. So, a 2 inch box to account for all components is begging us to take short cuts. This is how we end up “winging it.”
As any practicing teacher knows, after our lesson plans are completed, we have to then transfer them into action! This is where things get messy. Jotting down words quickly into a 2-inch box doesn’t account for everything that actually happens or needs to happen in class, and we are so good at “winging” it, we don’t realize how important each step is….until we have to prepare for a substitute. (That is another blog post!)
Here is an easy way to get your lesson planning done!
LESSON PLANNING OF SCIENCE
Yes, I do teach science. But I believe there is science in everything, and there is a science to lesson planning. Aside from the tried and true, very researched based plans we learned how to make in college, there are other aspects of lesson planning that need attention. My number one hack is to CONSOLIDATE YOUR EFFORTS!
If you are listing all of your lesson planning components in a small box, and then again in different places on student materials such as the white board, in a slideshow presentation, and on worksheets, why not do it ONE TIME AND IN ONE PLACE ONLY???
Lesson Planning using Presentation Slides!
Google Slides or Power Point work GREAT!
That’s right. I accidentally stumbled on this…or should I use a science term and say this method evolved over the past couple of years. I now ONLY write my lesson plans on my bell ringer slide. I can see it WITH the students. The principal can see it when she walks in to observe. The students can see it at ALL times. And I can EASILY copy and paste it into google classroom for their daily work!
You simply post the date, bell ringer, objective, homework, task list, and a content-specific and/or fun graphic, and you will have ALL of your lesson planning components up on the board. While you are writing your lesson plan, you are ALSO preparing a nice graphic and anchor tool for your class. I can leave it up there throughout the period, or just toggle back and forth as needed. Bonus! These slides are stored indefinitely for use next year, so it becomes EVEN easier and quicker! Let me break down the 5 main parts of the bell ringer board.
Lesson Planning Outline
Engaging ALL Students (Anticipatory Set)
Bellringer question/challenge- (I use the term bell work) Insert a textbox in the upper left corner and color the outline GREEN. I like the symbolism here. Green means GO…students should know that they need to start class with the GREEN box. Usually, I add a huge variety of types of questions & challenges to my bell-ringer box, so the student feels sufficiently challenged each day.
You may choose to ask them to compare a concept to something familiar to them. Or you could just have them recall some facts from their notes. When I do this, I allow them to use their notes, as this is a great way for them to appreciate their own note-taking skills! This can also be used it as a pre-assessment tool. It’s a great way to find out how much they know about a topic before you start teaching a new topic. This way, you can pace your lesson accordingly. If the students show me they are very familiar, you can speed it up, and slow it down if they are utterly clueless.
Another way to use it is to give them challenges and have them turn and talk with their table/elbow partners. This helps all students get involved, because typically at least one of the students in each pair will be invested enough to prod the less invested partner to get this assignment done. When I’m done with attendance and other housekeeping tasks, I randomly call students out to share their answers. I use random calling methods because it keeps students on their toes. They are much more likely to invest in this daily assignment if they think they may be called on in class. Occasionally, I ask every single student for their response, to keep them from taking a gamble in hopes that I won’t call on them!
Never forget to post your objective again! (objective, essential question, standards)
Posting the objective for the day is a great way to be clear about your goals as a teacher. That is probably why teachers in most districts are required to post their objectives and standards. In the middle on the left-hand side of the slide, insert a text box and outline it black. Using a black box Black is my symbol for business. (use black ink to fill out forms etc.) I use student friendly language and then reference the state objective verbatim in smaller print underneath. Then to satisfy the requirement of “posting” my objective and accompanying standard, I will shrink this and add it to the slide for my principal to see that I am using the state standards.
For example, if the standard says: (Taken from Idaho State Standards/Middle School/Science)
“ESS2-MS-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process,”
I will write a student-friendly objective that says:
“Describe the processes of melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s materials.”
The student-friendly part is the part that is telling students what they will do (describe) by the end of the lesson, or a series of lessons. The tasks that further break down the objective is in another box on the slide. (keep reading!) This objective is for 8th graders, so obviously younger learners should have an age-appropriately worded objective. There is so much more to writing objectives. I teach middle school science, so the example is very focused here. To read more about writing objectives, check out
how-to-write-clear-lesson-objectiveshttps://ozobot.com/blog/
NO EXCUSES! HOMEWORK! (assessment, independent practice, closure)
At the bottom left of the page I use a RED box labeled HOMEWORK. I use red as my symbol for ALERT!! I will write the homework in the box along with the due date. If there is no homework, I will write “Any unfinished work.” Or “NONE.” And occasionally, I just say “Have a GREAT weekend.” In this box. One major advantage to this box is parent/student communication. Because I post my daily bell ringer slide to google classroom, students and parents can see what we do every day. This won’t eliminate a student from telling their parents “She never told us about that assignment,” but it gives you the BEST leverage EVER when parents, students or principals come asking about it! You can tell them that it was literally glowing on a huge screen during class. I even get some students say that they were “absent.” Most of my assignments are posted for multiple days, and even if they aren’t, I post this to google classroom, and students are instructed to look there daily to check. I have all the power! (Insert evil laugh here)
TASK LIST-AGENDA-
(assessment, materials, links, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, closure)
Regardless of what you call it, your students need to be on task, and not everyone listens to your instructions. Repeating them is probably the real reason for high turnover rates with teachers. (ha-ha) But listing and posting all items that need to be done in class each day helps you NOT have to repeat many things. My lists always start the same. Since Covid, I’ve had 1. Wash tables, 2. Complete bell ringer 3. Discuss bell ringer 4. Take notes about Earth’s Layers. 4. Content Links (s)- I will display links for any content used on this day, such as a video or google slides. When it’s time to show your class a quick video or go to a presentation, you can access it from the slide. 5. Complete lab about Earth’s Layers- Using the Earth’s Layers Nacho Lab. 6. Exit Ticket
* I use a purple outline for the task box—because I like purple.
Content-Related Graphic or Comic (anticipatory set)
Student engagement is UP & READY! (This can be in addition to- or- part of the bellringer. This is a fun way to grab the attention of the students, and/or to engage them immediately in the topic of the day. I love to use a little humor to start off the day. Sometimes, there isn’t a comic available for a specific content, so I create my own, or use an infographic. Infographics or diagrams are great to have the student’s utilize the very important skill of analyzing. Sometimes the bell ringer can ask them to explain why the comic is funny which challenges the students to make connections! These are both great ways to get the students thinking outside of the box, and not just expect them to fill in a blank. The outline for the comic is in neon yellow. This draws attention, and serves as a “highlighter” for the presentation slide. Color coding provides consistency and consistency is great for me and the students.
After you’ve addressed your bell ringer with randomized calling, you can refer to each item on the board and continue down your task list! This list has saved me so many times when I need to pass out an important reminder slip- I won’t forget it! It’s up on the board, and if I don’t catch it a student will! Checking off all of the tasks is also modeling to the students how to use all the various components of the slide. The students will feel secure knowing the routine and what to do with each section on the board. When you post it in google classroom, it will NOT seem unfamiliar.
Ta-Da! Final Draft! A beautiful Graphic Lesson Plan to guide your class!
When you’re all done, you have a lesson plan with all of the lesson planning components glowing in all of their glory on the board for everyone to see and access. It is a RECORD of all that you did in class. Once you copy and paste it to google classroom, students, parents and administrators will have a very tough argument for the students who may have “missed” the details. This works great when students are absent as well. But the BEST part in my opinion?????— No more “winging” it! Just Lesson Planning! in a 1 Stop SHOP!