Ancient Civilizations
Lesson Planning Simplified
There is nothing more daunting for a teacher, than sitting down to write unit lesson plans for the first time. Even those of us who are experienced, can feel the stress when we take on a new subject area. Where to begin? What should I include? What do my administrators require? What do I need for actual teaching? How long should I spend on this unit?
And the questions go on and on...
And the questions go on and on...
Which is why we often reach out to our veteran colleagues. And rightfully so. After all, they do hold the experience that we so desperately desire.
Hopefully you have veteran colleagues you can call on to help. They may even be willing to sit down and help you plan.
However, I know from experience that this is not always the case. Sometimes there is no one else teaching the same thing as you. Sometimes your colleague may be just as inexperienced. Or perhaps, the only veteran teacher around isn’t really a planner or even has a clashing personality.
When I first started teaching 6th grade, it was my very first teaching job. It was at a private school, where there was barely a curriculum guide and no textbooks.
I was completely on my own. While there were two 6th grade teachers, I was responsible for teaching social studies to both classes. The other teacher was assigned to teach science. All I knew is that I was supposed to teach about a list of ancient societies.
Personally, I was not a history buff and knew the bare minimum of world history. Let’s just say, it was a crash course for me.
14 years later, still teaching 6th grade, and primarily social studies at that, and I can now write my unit plans from memory. A lot has changed, I now have new teachers knocking on my door and asking for help. And I am happy to welcome them to my planning desk and lend a guiding hand.
I hope new teachers are not experiencing what I went through. Though it’s sad to think there are teachers out there who are. This post is for you – I’ve taken what I struggled to learn, comes so easily for me now, and put it in what I hope is an easy to follow format for any teacher who may need it.
Benefits of Lesson Planning
There are teachers who “wing it” each day and there are teachers who plan “everything” even the greatest detail.
I’m the type of person who needs to “see the movie” in my head before I commit. Which means, I need to see all the moving parts and know what my classroom is going to look like in action.
While I may only put a fraction of my plans down on actual paper, you can rest assure I can already see my instruction playing out in my mind.
I could never be a “wing it” teacher. I just don’t have it in me. Even if my original plan fails – I have a back up activity, just in case.
Having your lesson plans written out is a huge stress reliever. In a profession where stress can be a daily occurrence, it seems common sense to relieve it where we can. Lesson planning is one of those areas we can control.
Having your lesson plans done also allows you to be prepared even on mornings where there’s an emergency meeting called and you end up with exactly 2 minutes before you have to start teaching.
Lesson planning is also a huge confidence builder for you. When you’re plan is laid out, you can deliver your lesson in confidence, knowing you’re teaching what you need to and not wasting time.
I’m the type of person who needs to “see the movie” in my head before I commit. Which means, I need to see all the moving parts and know what my classroom is going to look like in action.
While I may only put a fraction of my plans down on actual paper, you can rest assure I can already see my instruction playing out in my mind.
I could never be a “wing it” teacher. I just don’t have it in me. Even if my original plan fails – I have a back up activity, just in case.
Having your lesson plans written out is a huge stress reliever. In a profession where stress can be a daily occurrence, it seems common sense to relieve it where we can. Lesson planning is one of those areas we can control.
Having your lesson plans done also allows you to be prepared even on mornings where there’s an emergency meeting called and you end up with exactly 2 minutes before you have to start teaching.
Lesson planning is also a huge confidence builder for you. When you’re plan is laid out, you can deliver your lesson in confidence, knowing you’re teaching what you need to and not wasting time.
Simple, Practical, Useful Lesson Plans
What you write in your lesson plans largely depends on what your administrators require of you. During my 15 years in the classroom, I've worked for 8 different administrators. I doubt most of them ever really looked at my lesson plans, apart from observation time. Once I finally realized this, I stopped writing lesson plans for them and started writing them for myself.
I include the 3 requirements of our district: objective, delivery details, and assessment.
Which ultimately meant I included my daily objective, materials I needed for class, and individual student assignment/homework.
Please note that any time I require a substitute, my lesson plans look drastically different. They are way more detailed. But for my unit lesson plans, I find this is all I need.
I include the 3 requirements of our district: objective, delivery details, and assessment.
Which ultimately meant I included my daily objective, materials I needed for class, and individual student assignment/homework.
Please note that any time I require a substitute, my lesson plans look drastically different. They are way more detailed. But for my unit lesson plans, I find this is all I need.
