Lesson Planning for Successful Learning
Benjamin Franklin said, “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail.” Therefore, it’s crucial for teachers to plan ahead of time to ensure the successful delivery of the lesson. Lesson planning is vital since it guides teachers to maximize the teaching-learning process in the classroom.
This includes choosing a course of action that will enable students to successfully complete the set learning objectives. Additionally, lesson planning informs students about what they will study and how they will be evaluated. It allows teachers to organize the content, materials, time, teaching strategies, and learning environment of the classroom.
But what makes an efficient and effective lesson plan?
Must-Haves for an Efficient and Effective Lesson Plan
1. Determined and Well-Crafted Lesson Objectives
a. Always remember to write a SMART objective.
Lesson plans should always be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Start with identifying what you want your students to learn and identify different ways to achieve that at the end of class. The lesson objectives will guide the teaching method, learning activities, and assessment. So, having S.M.A.R.T. Goals will help teachers evaluate learners’ progress efficiently.
b. Teachers should integrate objectives for two to three domains of learning.
Cognitive, Psychomotor, and Affective are the three domains of learning. The learners’ holistic development is facilitated by ensuring that two or, at best, three domains are included or integrated into the learning objectives.
c. Try including your school's values or core values in your objectives.
You can influence your students’ affective domain by including values they can identify with. Teachers should also ensure that what is learned in one area may be applied to another. Students must now recognize how their studies connect to their overall learning experience. It is also a smart option to incorporate lesson objectives that demonstrate how the lesson relates to other topics, such as how science relates to Araling Panlipunan (social studies) or how mathematics relates to TLE (use of mathematics in business).
2. Apply the Principle of Constructive Alignment.
An effective and efficient lesson plan strictly follows the Principle of Constructive Alignment. The principle of constructive alignment simply means that the teaching-learning activities and assessment tasks, like the tests, are aligned with the learning outcomes or objectives.
If the objectives are well-constructed, most likely, the whole teaching-learning process will be successful because of the congruence between the subject, activities, assessment, and assignment. When possible, make sure to stay on track with your objectives.
For example, if the objectives include ‘creating a model for an animal cell.’, this means it’s expected that the teacher would write an activity or project for the students to create a model of an animal cell in his lesson plan. Having a quiz about the history of the discovery of the animal cell could be an off-tangent assessment since it does not reinforce the attainment of the learning objectives.
3. Set Realistic Timelines
A realistic timeline will reflect your flexibility and readiness to adapt to the specific classroom environment. Here are some strategies for setting realistic timelines for your plan:
a. Provide an estimate of the amount of time needed for each activity next to it.
Determine how long you think each activity will take, and then allow extra time if the activity extends.
b. Set aside time to address any last-minute queries and summarize the essential ideas.
If you have spare time, prepare a second activity or additional topics to discuss. Always be prepared to change your lesson plan to suit the needs of your pupils, and concentrate on what seems to be working better than what was originally planned.
Quipper provides a Teacher’s content package that consists of a ready-made form of lesson plan called a teaching guide. These teaching guides greatly help teachers create an efficient and effective lesson plan. Already using Quipper? Check out the Lesson 2 of this guide to find out how you can maximize the use of Quipper in lesson planning.