Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning: A Reflection

 This week our chapter of KDP held a PD session for our initiates and members; Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning. The outstanding panel of professional educators we had brought their wisdom as well as fresh perspectives for getting organized, writing plans, and adding creative flare for student engagement. 

As a veteran teacher, this workshop offered a space for me to think critically about my plans, and how I can modify them for our current learning environment, as well as a traditional classroom. After the workshop I compiled a list of main take-aways and will share them here: 

- Lesson plans might seem redundant, so make them meaningful for you! 

- Think about what areas you need to focus on more critically. For me, connecting my standards and objectives is always a challenge! 

- Use lesson plans as a space to plan out everything you will do during that lesson, and also as a reflection after to see how well students did. 

- Share your lesson plan with your co-teacher(s) so they can see what's coming up. This is also why I always "over-write" and include more details than necessary. Vague, obtuse writing does not serve your co-teacher well. 

- Include new strategies you acquired from workshops or trainings, even just one to start is great! 

 When I first started teaching, I always had the standards next to me while I planned, so I could see how my ideas for activities were meeting the standards, and what I could include that would help those standards to be met further, or even include others within the lesson. I also think about how I could make lessons cross-curricular so students work on refining skills in other subjects during a lesson that has a specific objective/purpose. 

I like to incorporate various mediums into lessons that allow students a multi-sensory experience. This is one of the reasons why I appreciate and support the Orton-Gillingham method for teaching phonics. Not only does this benefit students with dyslexia and reading difficulties, but all students benefit from mutli-sensory experiences. 

Finally, like I shared in the poster, getting to know my students interests and build core relationships are a priority for me, especially at the beginning of the year. When we as teachers build the foundation with our students, we will be able to use subtleties in our lessons that they can connect with and help them remain focused. It's only when a student finds personal value in a lesson that he or she can succeed in the learning goals of it. In other words- relationships before rigor. It's our responsibility to authentically connect with our students on a personal level so they know we care. Lessons that begin with this in mind are truly the ones that yield  the most success. 

Final Thoughts- There's no right or wrong way to start planning for lessons. Keep your end goal in mind at the begging, and consider pre-assessments. Keep your students needs and diversities a priority in planning lessons, keep learning about your students' interests so you can connect with them, and make them feel connected to the content. Keep working on your planning... no one starts out as an "expert" in planning, and frankly no one is! All educators keep learning and refining their ability to plan, and we all learn from each other!