Perspectives about planning

 The traditional perspective of planning is based on rational-linear models characterized by

setting goals first and taking specific actions to accomplish desired outcomes.

 The knowledge base suggests that teacher planning and decision making do not always conform
to rational-linear planning models. Newer perspectives on planning put more emphasis on
planners' nonlinear actions and reflections. In this approach, planners start by taking action that
in turn produce outcomes and then attach goals

 A third form of teacher planning, called mental planning, is based on reflective thinking prior to
the construction of more formal plans and imaging and mental rehearsal prior to presenting
particular lessons.

(Arends,2007)

Why planning and preparing are important?

 Planning and making decisions about instruction are among the most important aspects of
teaching because they are major determinants of what is taught in schools and how it is taught.
(Arends,2007)

Good lessons must be planned. Planning helps to make your lessons clear and well-timed, meaning that
students can be active and interested. Effective planning also includes some built-in flexibility so that
teachers can respond to what they find out about their students’ learning as they teach. Working on a
plan for a series of lessons involves knowing the students and their prior learning, what it means to
progress through the curriculum, and finding the best resources and activities to help students learn.

Planning is a continual process to help you prepare both individual lessons as well as a unit of lessons,
each one building on the last. The stages of lesson planning are:

 being clear about what your students need in order to make progress

 deciding how you are going to teach in a way that students will understand and how to maintain
flexibility to respond to what you find

 looking back on how well the lesson went and what your students have learned in order to plan
for the future

Planning a unit of lessons

When you are following a curriculum, the first part of planning is working out how best to break up
subjects and topics in the curriculum into sections or chunks. You need to consider the time available as
well as ways for students to make progress and build up skills and knowledge gradually. Your experience
or discussions with colleagues may tell you that one topic will take up four lessons, but another topic will
only take two. You may be aware that you will want to return to that learning in different ways and at
different times in future lessons when other topics are covered or the subject is extended.
In all lesson plans you will need to be clear about:

 what you want the students to learn

 how you will introduce that learning

 what students will have to do and why

You will want to make learning active and interesting so that students feel comfortable and curious.
Consider what the students will be asked to do across the series of lessons so that you build in variety
and interest, but also flexibility. Plan how you can check your students’ understanding as they progress
through the series of lessons. Be prepared to be flexible if some areas take longer or are grasped more
quickly.

Preparing individual lessons

After you have planned the series of lessons, each individual lesson will have to be planned based on the
progress that students have made up to that point. You know what the students should have learned or
should be able to do at the end of the series of lessons, but you may have needed to recap something
unexpected or move on more quickly. Therefore, each individual lesson must be planned so that all your
students make progress and feel successful and included.

Within the lesson plan you should make sure that there is enough time for each of the activities and that
any resources are ready, such as those for practical work or active group work. As part of planning
materials for large classes you may need to plan different questions and activities for different groups.

When you are teaching new topics, you may need to make time to practice and talk through the ideas
with other teachers so that you are confident.

Think about preparing your lessons in three parts. These parts are discussed below.

1 – The introduction

At the start of a lesson, explain to the students what they will learn and do, so that everyone knows what
is expected of them. Get the students interested in what they are about to learn by allowing them to
share what they know already.

2 – The main part of the lesson

Outline the content based on what students already know. You may decide to use local resources, new
information or active methods, including group work or problem solving. Identify the resources to use
and the way that you will make use of your classroom space. Using a variety of activities, resources, and
timings is an important part of lesson planning. If you use various methods and activities, you will reach
more students, because they will learn in different ways.

3 – The end of the lesson to check on learning

Always allow time (either during or at the end of the lesson) to find out how much progress has been
made. Checking does not always mean a test. Usually it will be quick and on the spot – such as planned
questions or observing students presenting what they have learned – but you must plan to be flexible
and to make changes according to what you find out from the students’ responses.

A good way to end the lesson can be to return to the goals at the start and allowing time for the students
to tell each other and you about their progress with that learning. Listening to the students will make
sure you know what to plan for the next lesson.

Reviewing lessons

Look back over each lesson and keep a record of what you did, what your students learned, what
resources were used and how well it went so that you can make improvements or adjustments to your
plans for subsequent lessons. For example, you may decide to:

 change or vary the activities

 prepare a range of open and closed questions

 have a follow-up session with students who need extra support

Think about what you could have planned or done even better to help students learn.

Your lesson plans will inevitably change as you go through each lesson, because you cannot predict
everything that will happen. Good planning will mean that you know what learning you want to happen
and therefore you will be ready to respond flexibly to what you find out about your students’ actual
learning.

This content is an excerpt from:

OECx: TESS101x Enhancing teacher education through OER: Tess-India. (2015). Week 2, TESS India Key
Resources. (CC BY SA)

Consequences of planning for student learning and how beginning teachers and experienced teachers
approach planning differently.

 Studies have shown that planning has consequences for both student learning and classroom
behavior. It can enhance student motivation, help focus student learning, and decrease
classroom management problems.

 Planning can have unanticipated negative effects as well; for example, it can limit self-initiated
learning on the part of students and make teachers insensitive to student ideas.

 Experienced teachers and beginning teachers have different planning approaches and needs.
Experienced teachers are more concerned with establishing structures ahead of time to guide
classroom activities and plan ahead for the adaptations needed as lessons get under way. In
general, beginning teachers need more detailed plans than experienced teachers do. They
devote more of their planning to verbal instructions and respond more often to student
interests.

 It is sometimes difficult to learn planning skills from experienced teachers because much of their
planning activities is hidden from public view.
Three phases of teacher planning and the types of decisions made during each phase, and how
planning cycles vary throughout the school year.

 Teacher planning is multifaceted but relates to three phases of teaching: prior to instruction,
when decisions are made about what will be taught and for how long; during instructions when
decisions are made about questions to ask, wait time, and specific orientations; and after
instruction, when decisions are made about how to evaluate student progress and what type of
feedback to provide.

 Planning cycles include not only daily plans but also plans for each week, month, and year. The
details of these various plans differ, however. Plans carried out on a particular day are influenced
by what has happened before and will in turn influence future plans.

(Arends,2007)

Diagnostic- done b4 level of students whr they r and

Form- during the lesson- c if they r grasping the concept

Summative – at the end- check to c in a text, quiz