I love the saying if you fail to plan you plan to fail. SMART goals help us set goals which allow us to make a complete plan for a lesson, week, or even a full semester.
Having a pre thought plan in place through Mapping is a wonderful and effective idea that will reduce stress.
Curriculum planning is crucial to determining the best method by which to scaffold instruction. Mapping out a course, it's alignment, and the end results will prove a much stronger method of curriculum creation than hopes and dreams.
Scope and sequence is a long and timeworthy. A finished project takes years to full evolve. Keeping assessments of your experiences with the students will serve as the tool to craft this project.
Good planning helps not only the student along the way but also helps us as instructors to insure we are able to relay all the information we intended.
Planning is so important!! I once "winged it" and didn't check the home work I assigned and had a student say that it didn't work.... talk about embarrassing... I pulled it off luckily but still I should have done it first to make sure it would work for the students. Definitely a learning moment.
I really liked the mention of the "I do," "we do," "you do" arrangement. In medicine, we often say "watch one," "do one," "teach one" in order to really learn what you are doing. Sometimes we do not realize the gaps in our knowledge or the gaps in our plan until we are actually teaching. I also agree that teaching something, or finding new ways to explain a concept, is when we often gain the deepest understanding of material.
Reply to Rebecca Thorpe's post: I agree; I like the idea of a flipped classroom. My concern, however, is that the activity might stagnate if students do not read ahead, which has been a common problem with the shortened 8-week courses.
I learned about some great tools that can help us bring some structure to the planning process and will ultimately make for a better learning environment throughout the semester. I have been wanting to do more structured planning, but needing a good road map to help me do so. I enjoyed this unit!
Planning and evaluating the plan is an ongoing never-ending task. Constant improvement and refining are shared by all.
Some really good ideas for lesson plans.
I found the idea of a curriculum map extremely helpful when trying to get an overview of all the content I would like to cover for a semester. Another advantage is that if it is well done, it can be translated into a Syllabus very easily, thereby commuicating the course's content and expectations clearly to the the students.
Having a plan is essential for maintaining a calm and confident enviroment. You do not need to rush through evereything that is planned, but having a plan allows for the flexibility of meeting the students needs while at the same time giving the students a road map to the direction for the class including the day, the week, month, and semester.
It is important to plan out the curriculum so that you don't lose track of what you want to teach.
Planning with the end in mind is always a way to make sure you cover everything needed.
I've never really done a lesson plan -- I can definitely see the advantage in pre-planning to make sure you're actually focusing on the objectives & outcomes that are most important. This also serves to make sure your course is in alignment on every axis - I've downloaded the Indiana lesson plan template & am excited to use it.
As a side note: The link to the lesson plan template from Rochester (?) didn't work. Looks like that page is no longer active.
Curriculum map templates and lesson plan templates can seem incredibly tedious to new teachers, however the practice of including all of the components of a successful lesson (or curriculum map) is beneficial in many ways. While I would never take the time to write out a lesson plan with that level of detail at this point in my career, I know that I do include those basic elements in each lesson as it has become a habit for me (and I know it's an effective way to engage students!).
Plannin is a ongoing process. Always try to find ways to imporve the carriculum, we want to insure student get the most "bang for thier buck"
Curriculum Mapping can take varies forms depending on the course being taught and what types of learning activities are needed. When planning out my curriculum mapping, I need to look at the samples given, choose one that best fits the course and my teaching method, then make it my own.
I can use what I have now in blackboard and write it down in a curriculm mapping format. From there I can look at it on paper and determine ways to make the insturctional methods better. Also, it should reviewed regularly to make changes based on what is working, what is not and to integrate new information.
I liked the additional resources that this lesson included. I will also be using the SMART format in the future.
