Successful Lesson Plans for the New Teacher
Developing successful lesson plans can provide you with structure and organization in your new classroom. Often new teachers will face challenges that can be easily prevented through proper planning. Well-prepared lesson plans can address many of these issues. Here are some tips for developing your first lesson plans:
- Set realistic goals for a lesson plan: These goals should directly relate to what you expect students to learn during the lesson. Lessons should have an overall goal that is broad and relates to the entire lesson, as well as specific goals that should clearly relate to each individual item that students should take away from the lesson.
- Create a list of required materials: Developing this list will force you to think through the items that are required to complete your lesson. This will ensure that you won't get into the lesson and realize that you are missing something that is required.
- Develop an introduction: A good introduction should be formulated into a question that will capture the interest of students. The question could provide a preview of what is to be revealed in the lesson and begin a discussion that will allow you to jump into the actual lesson content.
- Develop step-by-step lesson instructions: These instructions do not need to include word-for-word explanations of everything that will be covered in the lesson. They should, however, include the basic steps. Concise bullet points work well to convey the lesson instructions. As you create your lesson instructions, imagine that you are developing the steps for another teacher who has no experience with this lesson. This will ensure that you capture each and every step.
- Create a student participation element: You can allow students to experience the lesson in action with a student participation element. These exercises should reinforce the specific lesson goals and allow the students to work through steps of the lesson on their own.
- Develop an evaluation: An evaluation will compare what the students have learned directly against the specific goals of the lesson. This could be a simple exercise, such as a short quiz that measures the student's comprehension of the information and ability to achieve the goals defined for the lesson.
- Develop a closing: A good closing will reintroduce your introductory question and encourage your students to answer it utilizing the information that has been communicated during the lesson. If the lesson plan has been executed well, the students should be able to answer the question on their own using the information that was presented.
- Apply timing: At this point, you should go back over the main sections of your lesson plan (introduction, lesson instruction, student participation and closing) and apply timing to each section so that you can pace yourself as you execute the lesson plan.
- Practice: Comfort comes in presenting a lesson over time. You should practice the lesson a few times prior to delivering for the first time to your students, so that you establish a comfort level with the material.
The success of any lesson comes from being prepared. Following these steps will allow you to develop successful lesson plans that can provide the confidence you need to succeed.
