Kate Martin- The Secret of Planning

This chapter closely resembles what we were taught in education classes prior to student teaching. Lesson planning can make or break the lesson itself. A good lesson with poor planning will probably be a failed teaching experience. Your lesson needs to be clear and objectives need to be identified. I’ve noticed from observations throughout my education that the better lessons have an obvious theme and objective. Students seem to get more out of the lesson if they are focused and know what they are expected to learn at the end of it. However, they need to be motivated and excited about learning, too.  The book stresses creating lessons that are interesting, which is evident in our lesson plan template. Your anticipatory set needs to grab their attention and hold it throughout the lesson. I think the first five minutes of class are the most crucial to engage the students, and the longer you take to get their attention, the more instructional time you lose overall. There is also a section in the UBD model that requires you to determine if time activities, in the case that your lesson is shorter than planned or students finish work early. The book has a whole section on being prepared and over planning and the benefits of being a step ahead of your students, which I think is a very important part of being an effective teacher. The book also contains good teacher qualities, including flexibility and proactive approaches to learning. Things don’t always go as planned, and I believe your approach to the situation affects the students and determines your ability to be a good educator. Students feed off of your actions and you are their role model. I think teachers need to be very mature in situations that don’t go as planned, and show their students how to act like adults.

I think this was a very useful tool in informing my own instruction. I really want to be a proactive teacher, and my cooperating teacher and I are going over steps that will be necessary with one class in particular. You need to think about the students in your classroom, and I want to be prepared for anything that might affect my lesson. I also like the idea of planning in five-minute intervals. This will make it seem less overwhelming and will allow me to adjust my instruction if necessary.