Successful Lesson Plans maximize learning, effectively track progress and stimulate student interest.

Kahini sat down on the sofa, relaxed. It was the last day at school. She had just reached home after finishing the report cards. The school would reopen for the new session after a short break. Kahini settled down with a cup of tea, reflecting upon the past academic year. It had been her first year at this school. She had enjoyed working with her new colleagues, warm and helpful. The principal too was understanding & caring. The year had sailed through smoothly, except for the slight hitch she faced. She was unable to finish her syllabus on time and had to request other teachers to spare out classes for her. 

When school reopened, the principal called a meeting and asked every teacher to reflect upon their past academic year. Kahini was the first. Accepting she had faced the challenge of completing the syllabus on time. She was determined, not be in similar situation this year. Understanding her situation, the principal asked if any of the teachers would guide Kahini. Kahini was so happy to see Dia volunteer. Dia was Senior, and the most loved teacher in school. She not only had years of experience but also was also very organized in her work. Students and teachers loved her caring and affectionate nature.

Dia and Kahini decided to sit together every day. Dia would explain Kahini the intricacies of lesson planning and teach her methods to do it in an organized way. Kahini started her learning process from the next day. Dia started explaining the entire process in a systematic manner, making it simpler for Kahini to understand. She started with the very basics. 

Outlining Learning Objectives

Dia explained, the first element for planning lessons effectively is outlining learning objectives. Every lesson may have various objectives. It is necessary for us, as teachers, to decide clear learning objectives each lesson. As teachers, we should ask ourselves: 

• Which are the important topics or concepts; I want students to imbibe thoroughly? 

• What important concepts, knowledge, and skills would students learn from this lesson? 

• Which topics could I omit from the chapter, so that it does not affect students? 

• At the end of the lesson, what do I want my students to learn? 

• How would students relate this topic with real life? 

Once we complete this exercise meticulously, for all lessons, we get clarity on the objectives, what we need to teach and emphasize upon. Kahini realized her mistake. She never did such detailed outlining of objectives. From that day, she started noting down the learning objectives for each chapter, keeping in mind the parameters mentioned by Dia. For the next few days, Kahini continued this exercise. Kahini shared the learning objectives for subsequent lessons. Dia reviewed her work, sometimes refining it, sharing her experiences and thoughts. 

Dia felt that Kahini had understood the concept of learning objectives well and could implement it independently. Kahini echoed Dia’s sentiment, ready to move ahead. Dia came to the next step, the Session Plan. 

Session Plan 

Once we clearly outline the learning objectives for each lesson, we should break down each lesson into numerous sessions. We know from our experience that some lessons would take a few classes, whereas some would take lot more. As teachers, we can do the following: 

• Use knowledge about difficulty & expected comprehension level, to decide number of sessions each lesson. 

• Use past experience to validate and make amends to session allocation. • Seek advice from seniors. 

• If teaching something new, it can get a bit tricky. We can use collective intelligence (opinion of various teachers). 

• We can use any combination or approaches suggested. 

Dia emphasized, “It is ideal to complete this activity before the academic session commences. This will ensure that we know the timelines for different lessons and keep track of it. As Teachers, we have the responsibility to complete curriculum in the specified time. If we observe deviations, we can make amends as we go. We will not be in for a surprise at the end of the academic year”. Kahini could directly relate to her situation last year. She had to seek help, ask for extra sessions to complete her syllabus. 

We must allocate sessions judiciously. This is critical. Allocating too many session means students are not learning the right amount in specified time. The excess time allocated will haunt us later, forcing us to race against time. Allocating fewer sessions would affect the comprehension, understanding and retention in students. We can make mid-course corrections. Doing it right saves time wasted in re-planning. 

Over the next couple of days, Kahini completed her session allocation exercise, created a time line and a tracker. Dia continued reviewing and guiding her. Kahini was confident, she would easily complete the curriculum in time. They moved on to the next step;

Scripting daily lesson. 

Scripting daily lessons 

Dia emphasized, “Scripting the Lesson is the most crucial part of lesson planning. We should plan every lesson in such detail that during the class, there is no confusion about what to do next”. Dia showed her lesson plans to Kahini and explained the various components. Any lesson plan consists of the following: 

• An introductory activity: 

This activity takes the initial five to seven minutes. The more interesting this activity is, lesser the time required for children to settle down. Once settled, children look forward to the class. It is necessary to select an intriguing introductory activity. 

• Specific activity: 

Once the students are involved actively, the actual class can commence. Based on topics planned for the class, we need to formulate specific strategy. This part takes the maximum time of the class. Dia shared how for a particular class, she has planned specific activities. Kahini was amazed. Dia had planned activities like explaining the topic, giving specific examples, interactive elements like discussion, question and answers, clarification. Dia had listed the topics and activities, allocating specific time for each. 

• Conclusion: 

Most teachers do a wrap up at the end of the class. Dia mentioned, to make the wrap up appealing, she brings in something new and exciting. Sometimes she wraps up with questions that linger on student’s mind, making them look forward to the next class.

This was another revelation for Kahini. She rarely planned introductory activities. A lot of time went in settling down students and getting them interested. Her wrap up would primarily be a revision, sometimes left incomplete for paucity of time. 

Kahini studied Dia’s lesson plans, making meticulous notes on systematic planning of classroom activities. They moved ahead to the next step; often ignored by teachers; 

Preparation for the class:

Preparation for the class Dia explained to Kahini that she plans her lessons ahead of time. In addition to the activities, this involves, ensuring the resources and materials required are readily available. It eases stress from the minds of teachers. We can proactively check the material for subsequent classes, and arrange if something is unavailable. The habit of being systematic, prepared beforehand makes the classroom sessions go smoothly without any hitch. 

Dia explained to Kahini, “While preparing the lesson plan for Natural regions, I list down required resources, such as charts, pictures, globe, and maps. I start collecting these ahead. Few things need approval for procurement. I start the process early to avoid last minute chaos”. Dia shared with Kahini many such examples and checklists. 

Finally, Dia explained about Assessments. She pointed out that planning for assessment and lesson plan should be simultaneous. This would help accurately gauge student’s learning. 

 

Assessing the students 

Dia advocated regular informal assessments as part of lesson plans. She said, “Once I complete any lesson, I conduct a formative assessment to check the understanding of students. It helps judge the effectiveness of my strategies. I can rectify any misunderstanding, revisit concepts students may be struggling with”. 

Dia shared an example with Kahini about assessment for time zones. She asked each child to create a small clock from paper plate from home and bring to class. In class, she would ask students to show time zones of different countries, through a random process of draw of chits. Dia explained, ‘Such assessments activities are fun and engaging’. 

In addition to these aspects, Dia explained to Kahini the importance of customizing timelines and keeping some buffer. Different students learn at different rates. If students are struggling with a concept, and need some extra time, as teachers, we should take the call. The students are dependent on us, we should do all we can to support them.

Kahini thanked Dia for all the help, knowledge sharing and guidance. She was confident, in the coming academic year, she would complete her syllabus ahead of schedule. 

To conclude, Lesson plan helps us prepare and foresee. An effective lesson plan is not necessarily the one where everything goes as per plan. As teachers, we deal with children. Things may go wrong. As long as students are learning effectively, the effort we put in Lesson planning is time well spent.