The Secrets of Planning Sarah Busch

I would like to start off by saying this chapter was very applicable to my current situation with lesson planning! I just spent the enitre weekend planning lessons for the upcoming week. I feel like a lot of the common mistakes this chapter addresses in lesson planning I am making. I will go through a few of the key ones and relate them to my situation.

The book mentions that a sure fire way to see a lesson flop is not centering the lesson around a sepcific objective. The lessons I have been planning for next week are all on the same topic. They follow one another in an orderly fashion and are all part of one unit plan. However, I have found when I plan a unit plan instead of just specific lessons for a class here and there, I tend to forget the importance of sticking to the objectives. This weekend I planned each individual lesson out on its own, before even taking into account what all my objectives would be. It took me forever to get the lessons to flow with one another. I decided to try creating an outline for the second unit plan before even starting the actual lesson plans. I established what all my objectives for the week were and how they aligned with standards. I decided how I would assess them throughout the week. Then, I sat down and wrote individual lesson plans. The difference was amazing; It took me less than half the time to make this unit plan! It deifnitely showed me the importance of knowing what objectives you want to cover before planning actual activities to supplement them.

Another mistake I realized I am making is the way I allocate time. The book suggests planning in 5 minute segments. I have been planning is as much as 10-20 minute segments. I really agree with the reasoning behind smaller time allocation. It is true that it is not hard to lose student interest. By keeping things upbeat and switching things up every 5 minutes, I would think student interest would stay high. For my next set of lesson plans I am definitely going to try making smaller time allocations for my activities, I think it would also help me create a better roadmap for my lesson. I would have a better idea of when I am going to model the skill, do guided practice with the skill, and let them practice the skill on their own in each activity I have planned.