What are the most important things to consider when developing a lesson plan?

Several key factors come into play when developing a lesson plan, each contributing to creating an engaging and practical learning experience for your students. Here are some of the most important things to consider: Learning Objectives: Clarity and Measurability: Clearly define what you want students to know, understand, or be able to do by the end of the lesson. Use action verbs and make them specific and measurable. Alignment with Standards: Ensure your objectives align with established curriculum standards or learning goals. Variety and Differentiation: Include a range of objectives catering to different learning styles and abilities.

The key to culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy is knowing your students. Knowing who they are, where they are from, what they are interested in, what matters to them, their prior knowledge and what they need to learn well. Students are the absolutely most important part of a lesson plan. Second to students are the standards/content. In order for content to be culturally relevant it must also be rigorous, up to standard and enable students to grow. Finally, it’s the symphony of all of these elements and creation of a safe and supportive environment that enables learning and mastery of the standards. It’s also always a great idea to create multiple entry points to the content so that all students can make the content their own.

There are 2 schools of thought about this. One suggests making sure the learning outcomes are visible to the learners at the start of the lesson together with how the students will go about achieving them as well as how they will be assessed for achieving the objectives. The other suggests asking the students at the end of the lesson what they thought the learning objectives were. Either way, educators must ensure the lesson follows on from what has been previously learned. In other words, how does this lesson fit in with the previous one and the one you plan to do after it.

Learning objectives should be precise and measurable. The objectives usually align with state and national standard of what students should be learning at each level. But at times some learning objectives could and should stray from the norm as some students may need a certain objective of their own caused from an educational, social, physical , and/or other area that needs focus.

The way I develop a lesson plan is I start with my objective that I want to teach. This is the easy part. Then I pick a project that I believe will incorporate those techniques and skills. This step can be complicated by expenses, abilities of students and the teacher, tool availability, and many other confounding factors. If the project makes it past this step I then create a rough outline of a timeline I expect the project to take and order the materials and tools needed. I then teach the project. The next step is critical, reflection, "Did the project meet the expected objectives?" I use tests, project completion and quality, written or oral feedback from the students to determine if the objectives were met.

In my experience, the most effective way to be prepared for a lesson is to expect the unexpected. You can have the most PERFECT, most engaging lesson plan, but if you do not go in with a flexible mindset, it may not be successful. Expert educators will consider learning objectives, instructional strategies, content, pacing, and assessment methods, but they will also make decisions in the moment that will determine the best path to take. There are things that are in our control and things that are out of our control as educators. Considering the overall "vibe" or type of energy in the classroom, the students present for the lesson, the social-emotional well-being/mindset of the students, etc can also make or BREAK a lesson plan.

In this scenario we may come across deficiencies or resource restrictions, but it is up to the professional to analyze the situation, preferably in advance, so that they can make the necessary changes, which will often be in the content itself. For learning, it is interesting to have a mix of content. Considering that at the time of learning there will be a group of people who, among them, some learn more by listening, others learn more by watching videos, and others working with dynamics. It is very important that the professional knows how to identify among the group which technique is best applied to student learning.

In my teaching approach, I leverage various instructional strategies, including direct instruction, inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning, problem-based learning, and project-based learning. It's essential to employ a mix of these strategies to keep students engaged over extended periods. Adapting the instructional approach not only caters to diverse learning styles but also ensures a dynamic and stimulating learning environment. By incorporating a variety of strategies, I aim to foster a holistic and engaging educational experience for my students throughout the days, weeks, and months of the academic year.

We currently have several ways of learning in addition to pedagogical practices. It is always important to present theoretical content to introduce the subject, present data on positive changes within a real case, present videos with images or narratives, and not least, carry out dynamics to address the subject discussed.

I wasn't sure where to add my note, so I'll add it here. Before you plan ANY lesson, you need to know what your students already know. Pre-assessments, anticipatory sets, background brainstorms, or KWLs are all great ways to understand what your students already know, what misconceptions they have, and what they need to be successful with the new content.

In my teaching, I emphasize using both formative and summative assessments to gauge student progress. Throughout a unit, I include tasks like quizzes, assignments, projects, and self-assessments for ongoing insights, allowing timely adjustments to instruction (formative). A final summative assessment at the unit's end provides a conclusive measure of overall understanding. This dual approach ensures a comprehensive evaluation, providing continuous feedback and a snapshot of students' knowledge and skills by the unit's conclusion.

For the assessment method, I like to work with a set of techniques and situations, as students have different ways of demonstrating learning. I carry out written assessment, with learning indicators; oral assessment, in which I can discuss with the student and evaluate the ideas presented on the topic; and practical assessment, in which the student shows what they learned, I usually encourage them to carry out a real case. These practices are not always a rule, I apply what I deem necessary considering the student's profile.

Continuously deeply checking for student understanding and asking questions that lead students to new understandings as well as providing reflective feedback.

The professional must consider that in addition to class time, there should be extra time for discussions and questions, this helps students to better absorb the content covered. When there are no doubts on the part of the students, the teacher should encourage them to practice.

Time management is a key skill for any professional. In regards to education lesson plans plays a vital role. Lesson plans need to have a time frame placed on them. If a lesson is too short than it will require an extended activity of some kind. But the same can also be said about a more lengthy lesson. Educational professionals have numerous standards and objectives to cover over a school year.

Simply put, if a student is not developing their social/emotional skills as well as executive functioning, no lesson plan will be successful. That’s why reflection and awareness of fears and insecurities in our students are the greatest skills to include for a student to develop for a successful education and life.

A continuous cycle of introspection and refinement is crucial for supporting my professional development and learning as an educator, ensuring that each lesson contributes to my growth and effectiveness in the classroom.

Reflection is a must for professional development. Educator need to look at the effectiveness of their lessons to ensure that students are learning in efficient ways through a variety of methods. If they are not then a increase of education pedagogy should be a goal of said educational professional.

I’ve always been a backwards design gal - know where you want to go, what will it look like, and then you can begin to consider what your students need to get there. It’s a map that allows to you build a strong lesson and engaging activities that go beyond basic entertainment to successful learning exchanges.

"Don't let the learning objectives ruin a good lesson." And certainly don't ever start with LOs for your lesson plan(despite what you may hear). Plan a lesson that includes lots of hands-on activities, interactions, and collaboration with other students. Then create a rubric that allows students to get credit for whichever LOs they used in this project. Include more LOs than they will need, not every LO will fit every project; It's ok to have cross-over with the previous and next project. Give them the rubric up front so they can select which ones to demonstrate as they are planning and doing. They can get other LOs in the next project. That's more realistic and also more real-world. That choice also gives them buy in.

EXPERIENCE/ENTRY BEHAVIOR IS VERY IMPORTANT WHEN LESSON IS BEING PLANNED. IT DICTATES THE CHOICE METHOD AND THE LEARNING SITUATION. THE LEARNERS HAVE PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE ON THE INTENDING TOPIC NO MATTER HOWEVER SLIGHT.

What are the capabilities and interests of your participants. Make sure your lesson plan will have components to reach (catch their interest) and engage all of your participants.

In progressive teaching and learning environments or other words learner-centered environments, the learners' previous knowledge is of utmost significance. It helps connect concrete to abstract ideas. Additionally, the learners' background and their needs should serve as a guide for setting SMART objectives, choosing differentiated pedagogies to adopting the appropriate assessment strategies.