Faculty Resources
Teaching Resources
Lesson Planning
Some Common Teaching Fears
"The students won't like the class and they'll revolt!"
"I'll draw a blank!"
"I am an actor and I have no script, no lines, and the play starts right away..."
"...I run out of things to do."
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Most teaching fears can be calmed, if not
entirely eradicated with a good lesson plan!
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There are many models of lesson planning floating around the teaching world. Some are terribly complex, others are deceptively simple. All, however, agree that two components are necessary:
| Clear Objectives |
WHAT am I teaching today?
HOW DO I KNOW they got it? |
| Meaningful Progression of Activities |
HOW do I guide the students to the objectives? |
Objectives
Objectives Help You to Focus on the Destination
If you know your destination and you are familiar with the city, you will arrive there eventually, in spite of roadblocks and traffic jams. If you forget where you are going, or if you have only a vague idea of the destination, you will get frustrated (and so will your passengers!)
Narrow Down the Topic
The first step in creating a teaching objective is narrowing down the topic enough so that it is of “teachable size” for one day. You cannot, for example teach all of Photoshop in one three hour lesson, but you can effectively teach a number of tools in that time slot.
Visualize
Second, clearly visualize what the students will be able to do once they have mastered the material you are teaching. Attach a student behavior to the teaching topic. A teacher with clear objectives can leave the classroom with a good idea of how well the students grasped the material for the day, rather than a vague “I think they got it—they were nodding”—feeling.
More on Objectives
» Writing goals and objectives
Activities
Progression of Activities
The progression of your activities will vary according to what you are teaching.
It pays to think about the beginning, middle and end of your lesson. How are you warming students up to your ideas? What kind of atmosphere are you trying to create? What activities will most efficiently help the students progress? How are you building their skills? How do you want them to leave the class for the day?
Timing
Planning how long each activity will take is also important—three hours can go by awfully fast if one has the tendency to “go off on tangents”. Never plan to lecture for more than 20 minutes at a time.
Variety
Making sure that you have planned a variety of activities will ensure that all types of learners are going to find something to tune into easily in your lesson.
More on Planning Activities
» The Four-Step Lesson Plan
» The Four-Step Lesson Plan Worksheet (Adobe pdf)
» Guidelines for Making Activities Work
» Varying Activities
» David Kolb's Experiential Learning
» Adapting Activities for Various Learning Styles
» Suggestions for Effective Questioning Techniques
» Using Videos Effectively
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