The thing that separates good and great chess players is calculating their next move before their opponent. Can you point to examples of what success looks like? When will you know that you’re a world champion? This assignment has five actionable steps to make you a master teacher and your students confident learners, no matter what standards your school has adopted. You can even take this assignment to the classroom and make it part of your regular class planning time – checkmate!
1) Define your goals
When playing chess, the goal is clear. Down with the king. Not so with creating lessons. The thing that separates good and great chess players is calculating their next move before their opponent. In other words, when you’re going to go for the win or when you need to protect your pieces for them to be ready for future success. Teachers’ work is not linear, and there are many more variables than just getting a lesson plan done. Student success– should always be the goal. But that needs to be clarified. Defining what success looks like should be goal one. Is it retention? Is it content mastery? Is it application? By defining the goal you will have a clearer vision of what to write your lesson plan about. So student success as content mastery is merely an outcome of good goal setting.
2) Set a schedule
Once the goal is set, you have to plan your path to get there. With all the in-school interruptions, meetings, behavior issues, and so on, sometimes you may be so overwhelmed you can’t think straight. So, plan your time and stick to it. Have a master schedule that tells you what to do even in your leisure time. You may have little time to yourself as a teacher, so you don’t want to ruin it by having interruptions due to a lack of a good lesson plan.
3) Follow a routine
Setting a schedule may mean setting aside 30-45 minutes after school to sit with your resources and plan. One example I do is pull out the Texas TEKs along with my Scope and Sequence to see if we are on track for testing. If we are, then I have a bit more flexibility. Now, I have it easy since I have middle school kiddos. But sometimes they get out of hand, and the behavior issues through me off schedule. That is when a suitable lesson-planning app can be part of your routine. A lesson planning app can be preloaded with vital information saving you time.
4) Stay organized
Organizing your lesson plan is the best way to stay organized. Staying organized is a big part of saving time. Teach like a champion by anticipating moves that will likely throw you off, if it is going to the bathroom as a class after lunch or recess or may be regularly changing seats each grading period, so no one feels singled out for a behavior issue. Another way of anticipating is using The LYS Classroom Lesson Plan App. It is aligned with the Texas TEKS and is great for new teachers. It is made especially for middle school teachers.
5) Be prepared
Great chess players are always carrying their boards with them. When preparing to do lessons, the same thing applies. Our chess board is a keen eye on life. You know those funny stories your students are always telling you? Those can be key indicators of what home life is like. Therefore, you can use their stories and statements as examples in lessons and assignments, names omitted or changed so as not to embarrass anyone. Let’s say sally was telling you about her dog at home and what it takes to feed her. You can use that as a math lesson on the weight of food in the bowl vs. the bag, social responsibility in social studies, or even a STEM lesson on biology and dog digestion.
In summary
There are many ways to become a world champion of lesson planning, but it all starts with creating an assignment worth winning. With Texas TEKS as the guide for your lesson plan, you can create a plan that teaches student success and has the potential for you to be recognized at the state or national level. A good lesson plan will identify which skills students need to be successful and how they should be taught those skills.
Lesson planning doesn’t have to be complicated! We got you!
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