daily Planning
InTASC 7: The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
Introduction
When planning a lesson, the most important question to me is “What will students walk away with?” The desired outcome determines the approach, and the deliverables of the lesson should be aligned to the goals laid out in the unit plan. The most important aspect of the lesson is that it is engaging for students. Interest can come from how the content is approached in the classroom or from connecting the concepts to real-world applications that students are already interested in.
Each aspect of a lesson builds toward a main idea I want to accomplish in that portion of the lesson, and students have a say in how that looks. I let students discover how to engage with the content in ways that are interesting to them. This policy means that I have to be prepared to adapt to a variety of different needs, interests, and challenges every day and in every class.
Table of Contents
Daily Lesson Planning
Main Ideas
My approach to a lesson plan centers each section of the plan on the main idea I want students to take away from it. I start with these main ideas and determine the best approach or practice to help my students reach them. As part of this process, I consider and prepare a few different ideas for guiding students to success on a given lesson objective. This is the stage that differentiation is considered - how do I ensure that every student will reach the main idea of each portion of the lesson? In this way, differentiation is granular and specific to the demands of each section of the lesson and the individual needs of each student.
In this lesson on slope, I wanted students to discuss what slope means in a real-world context. This connects to the course's overarching goal of engaging students with data. This particular lesson was intended to prepare students to ask critical questions as they developed their performance tasks for the unit. Students discussed the challenges different families face and were able to bring this perspective into their research on different career paths.
My initial consideration was to have students write the discussion board independently, but I knew that several students in my fourth period would benefit from hearing others' thoughts first. I adapted the lesson to use a collaborative approach for this class period so there was not as much pressure on reading.
(Page 5 of the Slope Discussion Lesson Plan)
Focusing on the main idea of each section of the lesson allows me to strengthen each piece individually. The major components of a lesson - bellwork, instruction, and practice - are all fairly distinct. The emphasis of each lesson varies depending on what students need.
Bellwork
Bellwork serves a key role in my classroom. It centers students on the content we will cover that day and gets them in a math mindset. Students copy down the day’s objective and answer a question that either reviews previously learned content or primes students to think about the new content we are about to explore. Bellwork problems can be used for formative assessment or simply as an introduction to that day's content.
The first five minutes of class set the tone for how the lesson will go. It is imperative that this time is productive for both myself and my students. I often make adjustments to the lesson plan based on what I'm seeing as I circulate the room, and students are engaging with content right away. The weekly goal is always highlighted on the bellwork slide to bring attention to the bigger picture, and students are asked to reflect on their progress several times per week.
The intention behind this
bellwork was to provide a
challenge for students as we
learn additional methods for
solving systems of equations.
It feels like a riddle rather
than a math problem, so they
are more invested in the
answer. There are multiple ways to solve this problem, and I can use the different methods students use as stepping stones to formalize the ideas students already had.
Introducing New Material
When I plan to have students take notes, I always create the notes in the way I’d expect students to take them. This helps me script the lesson and ensure that my content delivery is leading to the outcomes I want for my students. Having an exemplar to reference provides another avenue for students to make up missed work or catch up if they otherwise fall behind. If students struggle to keep up during the lecture, it is easy for my to walk through the notes they weren’t able to get.
All notes taken in my class follow the Cornell note format. I want students to practice identifying major themes and vocabulary words in lectures. Taking notes in an organized way is a major focus for my students' growth. Restricting myself to the Cornell note format has also improved my direct instruction. I've found that students benefit from the clarity and can better create structure in their own notes as a result.
Practice
When students practice concepts, I consider how much support students will need to master the content. Guided or collaborative practice is really great if students are not confident with the content, but independent practice is critical for achieving mastery. By this point in the lesson, I can usually make a call as to what will work best for each class. I have preset and practiced routines for both guided and collaborative practice and can quickly adjust the lesson plan into one of these approaches.
In this lesson on slope, I wanted students to discuss what slope means in a real-world context. My initial consideration was to have students do this work independently, but I knew that my fourth period would struggle with the discussion post. I adapted the lesson to use a collaborative approach for this class period so there was not as much pressure on reading.
(Page 5 of the Slope Discussion Lesson Plan)
My first period appreciates simple and straightforward directions. Step 1 simply reminds them to pause and think about all of the problems before jumping to an answer. Step 2 repeats the directions that are posted on the Google Classroom assignment.
This is the directions slide I provided my fourth period class. I wanted them to spend more time discussing the prompts with their teams before moving to writing. Several students in the class struggle to generate ideas without having time to process interdependently first.
Closing
The way a lesson ends depends on the major emphasis of the lesson. For lessons that are heavy on new content, I prefer to close the lesson by including an activity that solidifies the learning. For a lesson that revisit or builds on content students already know, I use exit ticket quizzes to get an idea of where my classes are at on the topic. Near the end of a unit, I make time for students to reflect on their learning and identify areas they still need to strengthen before we take the unit test.
This was an exit ticket students took after we reviewed slope and y-intercept. It gave both the students and I and idea of how much work is needed to master the content.If any students are struggling with this content, it needs to be addressed immediately so that they do not fall further behind.
Conclusion
The key to an effective lesson plan is adaptability. Assessments give me the insight I need to adapt my plans for each class and for individual students. Knowing learners' needs is the foundation of impactful instruction. Individual lesson plans address the individual needs of students and include strategies to ensure that every student is growing and learning. Being intentional about the inclusion of skill development and assessment charts a clear path of what students will be able to accomplish by the end of the lesson. My classroom’s collaborative approach to learning benefits students with all different styles of learning.