Lesson planning serves as a guide for instructing students. Getting to know the students will help with managing the course because you will know where they are already at with the subject matter.
It is a good idea to establish a baseline of what your students already know. This allows you to develop the lesson plans focusing on what is missing from their knowledge and not repeating things they already know thus losing the student's attention.
I learned to plan for efficiency of course so that there is a good flow. Giving a pretest to students upon entering the course is a great way to guage their KSA's and develop a plan on movig forward with learning.
Understanding my strengths and how my students learn can set us both up for success.
Develop go-to content if delivery is faster than anticipated.
I have learned how important time management is preparing lesson plans. It is important to always have back up assignments in case your lecture doesn't fill the entire class period. This will help students stay engaged on the topics being covered that day.
This was a good reminder about knowing the audience/student body, their level or prior knowledge and being deliberate about lesson planning to quickly bridge the gap and get traction with content matieral
I've learned that the prepared material never fills as much time as you think. Have extras ready.
I have learned about the importance of guaging the student's learning prior to beginning a lesson, about the use of pretests and evaluation tools as well as continual evaluation of student understand during the lesson plan. One of the challenges for me will be time management, I need to work on compression of a lesson over 4 chapters into 3 hours, in order to have time to evaluate student comprehension.
With the nature of the subjects I teach, compression is always a concern. Some groups of students are able to comprehend the material more quickly which leaves an excess of extra time during the lesson. I have found having shop projects which go with the material a good way to fill that extra time while allowing the students to stay engaged in the material.
Held a course a few years back with no pretest. A student enrolled and after 4 hours they finally acknowledged that they had ZERO understanding of any material that was required before taking the course. Very important to have a basic understanding
Get to know the students in the class along with background knowledge of content. Prepare lessons to adjust for different levels in class
Every class will be different. Choose the topic to teach, choose ways to teach the basics. Find ways to incorporate everything else. Being sure to be aware of time management.
Jim Stone,
This instruction has been very helpful to me as I have been an instructor previously, but I have personally shown individuals help when they asked questions. I am pleased with this instruction course to show me a way to help the students with the knowledge I have developed over the past 52 years in aviation. Thank you.
Be Flexible and use multiple teaching methods.
Understand your self and how you learn and teach as an instructor. Find out about your students at the beginning with a baseline. Be cognizant about students being diverse learners and how your teaching style affects them. Manage time intently because new instructors will mismanage it due to lack of experience.
Learn as much as you can about your students by using assessment strategies. Get in tune with your class by utilizing pretests and gathering information about pre-existing foundational knowledge that your students may or may not possess.
Striking the balance between routines and predictability and variety in instruction. This can be tricky, but is an essential part of successful lesson planning. Students should know what is expected of them when the enter the classroom, and they should have their interest piqued by the learning experiences they encounter. Successful teachers are able to craft lessons that accomplish this.
Flexibility is key to course instruction and will be required for each class.
Prepare ahead of time; be flexible to any emergencies and be consistent.
