Stages and steps in lesson planning for teachers

Stages in a Lesson Planning

Lesson planning.

A class plan is the road map of the teacher to guide the students and thus learn the way it will be done during class time. Before planning the lesson, you must first identify the learning objectives for the class.

Next, appropriate learning activities can be designed and strategies developed to obtain information about student learning. A successful lesson is to know the directions of the plan and integrate these three key components:

1-Learning objectives of students.

2-The teaching / learning activities.

3-Strategies to check the student's understanding.

The specification of specific objectives for student learning will help determine the type of teaching and learning activities that will be used in class, while the activities will define how to check if the learning objectives have been achieved.

Steps for the preparation of a class plan Each step is accompanied by a series of questions aimed at reflection and help in the design of teaching and learning of the activities.

1. The learning objectives The first step is to determine what you want your students to learn and be able to do at the end of the class. To help you specify the learning objectives of the students, answer the following questions:

What is the theme of the lesson? What do I want students to learn? What do I want them to understand and be able to do at the end of the class? What do I want you to take away from this particular lesson?

Once you state the learning objectives of the class, you should classify them according to their importance. This step will prepare you for the management of class time and the achievement of the most important learning objectives in case you are pressed for time. Consider the following questions:

What are the most important concepts, ideas or skills that I want students to be able to understand and apply? Because they are important? If I ran out of time, which ones could not be omitted? And conversely, which ones could be skipped if pressed for time?

2. Develop the introduction

When you have your learning objectives in order of importance, follow the design of the specific activities you will use to reach the students to understand and apply what they have learned. Since you will have a diverse body of students with different academic and personal experiences, who may already be familiar with the subject, it is good to start with a question or activity to measure the knowledge of the subject or, possibly, their preconceived notions.

3. Plan specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson)

Prepare several different ways to explain the material (real-life examples, analogies, visuals, etc.) to capture the attention of more students and attract different learning styles. When planning the examples and activities, you should estimate the amount of time you spend on each one. Build the explanation or discussion in the course, but also be prepared to quickly move to different applications or problems, and identify strategies that help understanding. These questions could help design the learning activities you will use:

What am I going to do to explain the subject? What am I going to do to illustrate the subject in a different way? How can students be involved in the subject? What are some real-life examples, analogies or relevant situations that can help students understand the topic? How to help students to better understand the subject?

4. Plan to check understanding

Now that you have explained the subject and illustrated with different examples, it is necessary to check the student's understanding. How will you know that the students are learning? Think about the specific questions you can ask the students to check for understanding, write them down, and then paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different ways. Try to predict the answers to your questions. Decide if you want the students to respond orally or in writing. You can look at some strategies to broaden student thinking, to help you generate some ideas and you can also ask yourself the following questions:

What questions will I ask the students to check for understanding? Going back to my list of learning objectives, what activities can I do to the students to check if each one has managed to learn something? An important strategy that will also help you with time management is to anticipate questions from students. When planning your lesson, decide what kind of questions will be productive for the discussion and what questions could be diverted to the class. Think and decide on the balance between covering the content (the achievement of your learning objectives) and ensuring that the students understand.

5. Develop a conclusion and a preview

Go over the material covered in class with a summary of the main points of the lesson. This can be done in several ways: you can indicate the main points to yourself ("Today we talk about ..."), you can ask a student to help you summarize, or you can even ask all students to write in a piece of paper what they believe were the main points of the lesson.

You can review the students' answers to measure their understanding of the topic and then explain the following class more clearly. Conclude the lesson not only with a summary of the main points, but also by previewing the next lesson. How does the theme with which it comes work? This preview will stimulate students' interest and help them connect the different ideas within a broader context.

A list of the ten learning objectives is not realistic, so reduce the list by the two key concepts, ideas or skills that you want students to learn. Teachers also agree that they often have to adjust their class plan during class based on what students need.

The list of prioritized learning objectives is taken into account on-site decisions and the class plan is adjusted, as necessary. Having additional examples or alternative activities also be flexible. A realistic timeline will reflect your flexibility and the ability to adapt to the specific environment in the classroom. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

Estimate the amount of time of each of the activities. When the class plan is prepared, next to each activity indicates the amount of time that will be taken. Plan a few minutes at the end of the class to answer any questions that remain and to summarize the key points. Plan an additional activity or discussion question in case there is time. Be flexible - be ready to adjust the lesson plan to the needs of the students and focus on what appears to be more productive instead of fulfilling the original plan.

REFERENCES APA:

FERRERES, V.; GAIRÍN, J.; JIMENEZ, B., MARTÍN, E, BARRIOS, CH.; VIVES, M., y BENEDICTO, V. (1999). El desarrollo profesional del docente: evaluación de los planes provinciales de formación. Barcelona: Oikos-tau.

MAYOR, J., SUENGAS, A. y GONZÁLEZ, J. (1995). Estrategias metacognitivas. Aprender a aprender y aprender a pensar. Madrid: Síntesis.