The start of a great lesson plan is the PLAN itself – am I right?
It is difficult to start since you have to dedicate time each week to keep it up – BUT with simple structure, things REALLY can come together beautifully! I am a huge advocate of incorporating organizational skills in the classroom.
I repeat to my students throughout the year…
Organization is the KEY TO SUCCESS – as it is a learned trait not a given one
If you don’t constantly organize all facets of your life, it is in constant state of entropy, and no one likes chaos in the classroom, at home, work or our personal lives.
Tiarra’s Tip: Use ONE planning period for the week to set-up the following week’s agenda – then… if you have to… modify on the whim at the END of the day as needed. This way, you have a generic plan for the structure of the week and you can pivot your instruction as needed for safety drills, unexpected events PLUS you can send this out to your students as needed in case of absences!
Remember, MOST districts have a generic curriculum guide that you have to follow – so it is super easy to just copy and paste the essential items you have to post <cough cough learning goals> <insert eye roll> You know what I mean. BUT, the content can be delivered in a number of ways. My district does have a textbook (online format is extremely iffy) and it is there for differentiation when needed but I have a lot of flexibility in how to present. I like using my guided notes as well as my warm-ups and exit tickets that I print and paste into Interactive Notebooks (INBs). YES, YES, YES these will be eventually published and available to purchase but you will have to be patient with me as I am finalizing them.
Check out this video for an example of what I do in my classroom:
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