Hello passionate educator! We know how much work is already on your plate. With all the conferences, meetings, paperwork, and activities happening in the school, work can be overwhelming! Laddering Your Success wanted to provide a solution to one of the most tedious works for teachers – lesson planning! With our founder and CEO, Festus Amoye, discover how our lesson planning app can help you save time without sacrificing the quality of your lesson plans!

Festus:

Hey, good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome to another Saturday with me, Festus Amoye, from Laddering Your Success, as we talk about the LYS Classroom app. And so we’re going to jump right into this thing about who Laddering Your Success is and what it is that Laddering Your Success is doing.

At Laddering Your Success, we empower all educational stakeholders through technology and relationships to create lifelong learners. Now, I know you’re thinking, “Okay, what does that mean? How can you ensure that you’re going to create lifelong learners?” It’s by the relationships. Relationships are really the most valuable thing. And so we’re leveraging technology to build relationships.

So when it comes to lesson planning, it tends to distract the students and the teacher’s time. And why is that significant? We’re not talking about lesson planning in terms of, “Oh, it just sucks. It’s bad.” We’re talking about the time it takes to put those lessons together. Some teachers use a lot of time, eight hours a week and more, especially if they’re new teachers or trying to differentiate learning for each student.

And so teachers need tools to free them up so they can focus on their students rather than the lesson planning process. And students need inspirational standard-aligned work that leads to hope and aspirations. Often, students are disengaged, not necessarily because they don’t like a class. And if they don’t, they’ll tell you, “I just don’t like the class; I just don’t like the work.”

But the thing is that work is not relevant to them. And we hear this work relevancy all the time. And how can we make something so abstract, something is written by somebody else in another state, and how can we make that relevant to our students? And so we’re going to talk about that today. So stay tuned, okay? You need to listen in.

So while lesson planning is often good, the lessons themselves take a lot of time to develop ideas and implement them into an actual draft paper. And so teachers spend up to eight hours a week doing lessons and assignments, which takes time away from focusing on the students, especially students with special needs.

And if you’re trying to differentiate learning, you got kids with special needs, it’s really difficult to be able to focus on them and then actually, especially behavior problems, and then actually draft up the lesson plan itself and say, “Okay, I’m going to do this different for them that I’m not doing for the other students or whatnot.”

And so, students tend not to like the work because they lack guidance, hope, and aspiration. And some of these students are having a hard time, especially with COVID. It’s a lot. You have to think about it. It’s a lot for us as adults to figure out our next steps, whether we want a career change or all those different types of things.

That’s a lot for us. So imagine a kid 16, 17, 14, 13, trying to figure out what’s next. And I’m just being honest, but the person they’re looking to, the adults they’re looking to, don’t have it figured out. And so that’s scary. That’s really scary.

I don’t want to go into that too much, but it’s like a boat going down. Imagine if a boat is sinking. You want to hear the captain say, “Okay, men or women or whoever, do this. Do that. You want somebody giving some good, clear directions that you believe will help get you safe.” And if the captain runs around like, “Ah, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Guess what? That’s scary. And so kids can sense this. They’re people too.

Why is lesson planning important?

It’s important, and this will be for you if you maybe did an alternative certification program. It’s important because it helps provide structure or provide a plan, and it helps provide a flow. And so we’ll cover those three things and then go into the following four.

So in your classroom, having that lesson plan in place helps the students know what’s going on, especially if you can share that with them. They can say, “Okay, this is how things are supposed to go.” And it gives a bit of predictability, which goes into a plan. So they know if your lesson plans are done for the next class period, a week in advance or something like that, they know, “Okay, we worked on this, so I’m reading this next time. I’m working on this worksheet in the next class. I need to do this because of the plan when I get back from lunch.”

And then it helps to provide a flow. There’s an inevitable ebb, flow, and rhythm to your classroom that these kids can feel, right? Anyway, so there’s a flow. And so next, it helps establish a cohort on a larger scale. Now, what is a cohort? A cohort is just simply that it’s a group or a segment of the population.

And so the powers in the state of Texas say, “Hey, our kids are not learning X, Y, or Z. We need them to learn that.” And so they’ll say, “Okay, we need to embed that into the standards.” And when they do embed that into the standards, it then establishes a cohort for this segment of the population to now know something that the segment didn’t know before or needed to be tweaked.

And so this helps to establish moments for society because let’s say, for example, I know right now there’s a law, HB something, I forget it off the top of my head, where there’s a law that’s about putting character into the classroom and so into schools.

And so the thing is, think about it. Think about where we are today. Think about the leadership that we’re dealing with and how leadership depends on what side you are. Some people say they’re doing great. Other people say, “Well, they do better if you don’t argue with them.” So it depends on what side you’re on, but I’d seen some funky leadership, some stuff that you’re like, “Okay, where they do that at?”

And so the thing is, that happens because character over time has waned or dwindled. So because it’s waned or dwindled over time, we need it almost like a Renaissance. And if we don’t start doing it now, we’re only going to go further down the rabbit hole.

So next, it provides trackability. If you have your lesson plans written and documented, and I know you’re saying,” I’m sick of administration, I’m sick of my instructional coach asking for my lesson plans, they don’t look at them anyway.” Well, the thing is, the fact that they’re done provides trackability as to what was done in the classroom.

And so that also helps to support evidence-based learning, which is really, really important. Especially now in the information age, people get a soundbite from Google or wherever YouTube, and they literally hang their whole entire lives on this soundbite. And so we don’t want that. We want evidence-based learning for our students. We want them to do actual research.

And so next, let’s move on to the different types of lesson planning. And again, I know some of this is a recap, especially if you’ve been teaching for years. But if you’re a new teacher, if you recently got an alternative certification or something like that, this will probably be more helpful.

Types of Lesson Planning

So there are different types of lesson planning. And the different types that we’ll talk about today are Five Step Five E Weekly Unit Inquiry and so many more. And so the whole point of the lesson plan is to move us up Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning. Just start by remembering what we talked about last class and remembering that information and then lead to some level of understanding like, “Oh yeah, I get it. I know what you’re talking about,” and then next to some application.

And sometimes it seems like the kids, they’re just there. That’s as far as they go. But often, there are distractions in their lives that are very serious. We’ve already covered some of these. And so these components of lesson planning are vital to making sure you’ve layered the information so the kids can actually remember.

So you start with your topic, objective, standard, and essential question, and then your instructional input and lesson close. And so by layering these different things, your students said, “Okay, well, if that’s the topic, and then if this is the outcome we’re trying to get to, then that helps us kind of move along that line.”

So let’s talk about how we’ll save you 30% to 50% of your lesson planning time because that’s why you’re here today. That’s why you’re watching this. The LYS Classroom app helps to empower and equip teachers while it helps to ignite and inspire students through our unique being-knowing-doing methodology. The unique being-knowing-doing methodology is about character, values, and principles.

Knowing is about what resources are available and how to use them; doing is about executing with excellence. And no, this is not some other heavy methodology you must learn that will take you months, weeks, and years. But the methodology, simply put, is a way that we already operate in life.

So it doesn’t matter if you’re a mathematician, an engineer, or a nurse. It doesn’t matter what you are. Your being comes first. Your character, your values, your principles, that’s what comes first. That’s what people see. That’s what shines through and makes a difference in terms of if you really love your work or if you’re just there for a check.

And right now, people want to follow their passion. They want to follow their purpose much more than they did in the past. And so some people hung their hat on, went to school, and got the highest paying job. As millennials and Gen Zers, we ain’t bought that life. We need passion. We need purpose. And the thing is, there’s a longing inside each person for that. So let’s kind of break down how we do this in the LYS Classroom app.

The LYS App allows teachers to quickly create, modify, and accommodate lessons and assignments. How do we do that? Because they’re pre-written, supplemental learning material, We’re giving you the supplemental learning material in a lesson planning format that you can change and accommodate very quickly. And I know you’re saying, how quickly? I’m going to show you in a second. So stay seated.

All right. So we’ve outlined vital areas every student needs in life for lifelong success: Social-emotional learning, life skills, character skills, and soft skills. And we’ve embedded it into the lesson plan, aligned it with the TEKS, and aligned it with the standard through the unique being-knowing-doing methodology.

And so we’ve also tied in career, college, and military readiness that helps them prepare for their next stage in life. So instead of just talking about them today, you’re igniting their hopes and aspirations for tomorrow. And so I know you’re saying, “Okay, I got to see this.” This is revolutionary. This is amazing. So let’s get into how it works.

I need to switch my screen here. And now we are on the Laddering Your Success website. And so we’re just going to scroll down, and we’re going to click, I’m an Educator. It’ll take about half a second to a second, and then we’ll go to the app page.

And so we’re currently offering Science, English, and Social Studies in seventh, eighth grade, and sixth grade Science and English, and Social Studies are coming. And we’re about two to three lessons ahead, so you could join our waitlist. If you’re like, “Hmm, I don’t see Math, or I don’t see the grade level that I teach.” You join our waitlist. And as we grow, we’ll contact you and let you know, “Hey, your class is ready for you.” Or if we get enough teachers, we could focus on that.

So let’s talk about the actual lesson planning app and how it works. So we’re going to get into it here.

How to create a lesson plan on the LYS App

We will now review Creating a Lesson Plan with the LYS Classroom app. Once you’ve logged into your profile, you’ll see the classrooms created when you created your account on the left-hand side. Below that, you’ll also see course overviews of these same classes. You can select either of these, but for the purposes of this demonstration, we’ll select from the left-hand side and sixth-grade Science.

Once you log into your classroom, you’ll see the selected grade level and subject. And then, you want to choose the state standard of your choice. Move this by simply clicking upward now on your arrow keys. Once you’ve selected the standard, you have to select the author. Now, what you’ll notice is we have many different authors. That’s because you’ll have access to the lesson plans that everybody has created.

However, please choose the LYS-authorized author. These are later going to be delineated. The LYS-authorized author for this course is LaToya Washington. Once you select that author, what will happen is the lesson plan that has been created, which is the original lesson plan with the LYS methodology, will come into place. Your next step is to press Create Lesson plan. After you wait for a second, you’ll see that the lesson plan pulls itself up.

At this point, you’ll now have access to the original LYS lesson plan, which you can augment, change, and edit as you see fit. We recommend reading through the lesson plan very thoroughly. And you’ll notice the critical parts of each lesson, including the standard, the duration, how many lessons are in this series, the topic, the lesson objectives, the essential question, and then the most powerful part, the LYS methodology.

The LYS methodology includes being-knowing-doing as described by character, values, and principles, knowing what resources are available and how you can use them, and then executing with excellence. So this incorporates skills into the lesson plan, character, and good citizenship into the lesson plan. You then have the resources available to you, asynchronous and synchronous inputs, different strategies on how to do that, and independent homework suggestions. And then also, the LYS lesson close, which takes the LYS methodology and places it in a format where you can close the lesson.

Once you’ve reviewed your lesson, you can make changes to it and hit complete plan. And this then would save the augmented lesson plan that you created. You’ll know it’s completed because it will inform you that it’s completed, and then you click okay. You could then cut, paste, and share this document with your admin or other classroom professors.

Creating an assignment

All right. And so next, let’s talk about creating an assignment and how you create an assignment.

Now that you’ve created an LYS lesson plan, I’ll show you how to create a Laddering Your Success assignment. After you’ve completed your plan and you get the sign saying that the plan is complete, you can now click Go to Assignments. Once you click Go to Assignments, the LYS Classroom app will pull information from the LYS lesson plan that you created, creating an assignment. So as you can see, specific information was pulled from the lesson plan, including the standard, the LYS methodology, the topic, and the lesson objectives.

At this point, you can then go ahead and review the LYS assignment that you want to create and then begin to create the assignment of your choice. And the significant part about this is that you can create multiple assignments for your students. So, for example, you can create the assignment instructions. And then, you can have them answer the central question again, and then you can have the LYS lesson closed, or you can edit it down only to the portions you would like your students to remember.

Once you’ve done that, you can then document the different accommodations and modifications you wish to record for this particular assignment. And as you record those, you can put them in by putting a yes or putting a no, indicated by Y or N, or whichever method you choose. Once you have completed that and are satisfied with this assignment, press Complete Assignment. Once the assignment is completed, you’ll see a pop-up saying the document is completed. And then you could click Okay.

Now, at this point, because that assignment is completed, you can either create a new assignment for different learning levels in your classroom, or you can end it there. Now, if you want to go back to the beginning, you could go to lesson plans and create a new lesson plan if you choose. If you scroll down, you’ll see the lessons and assignments you created here. Thank you for your time.

The LYS App

So let’s get back on our job, as a kid used to say. Get on our job; you get on your job. So let’s see here. So I know your next question is, “All these wonderful things that it does, how much is it?” It’s actually $30 for the rest of the semester. Imagine being able to do all your lesson plans for the rest of the semester for $30. How much time is that going to save you? It’s going to save you a lot of time. Or you could sign up for a year, and it’s $180 for the entire academic year.

So I know you’re saying, “Well, where can I get this?” Again, we’re focused in the state of Texas, looking at sixth to eighth-grade course subjects, and we’re in Houston. But it’s not just for Houston teachers. If you’re anywhere in Texas, you can use this wonderful resource.

So what we need next is to partner and collaborate with teachers, with educators like you. You use our app, get that amazing introductory pricing, and we fellowship together. We hang out, rock together, and learn more about the app and how you’re using it in the classroom. And so we can make improvements on it. And you could use it in the classroom, and it makes a life-changing difference in your life and the life of your students.

And the way we built this thing out, you don’t have to wait for [the] administration to approve or anything like that. You’ve got 30 bones, you know what I’m saying? We can make something happen. So take a step with us, okay? Start your climb with LYS today. 

If you’re not sure about it and you’re saying, “Hmm, this seems interesting, but I’m not sure yet,” follow us. If you’re watching this on Facebook, you click that follow button and say, “Hmm, okay, I’m not too sure about what they’re talking about, but I want to hear more about it,” follow us. That’s the best way to hear more about what we’re doing.

And if you’re watching this on Facebook Live and you’re saying, “Hmm, I want them to run it back, or I want them to contact me,” DM us. Shoot us your email, and we can get you a really short, abbreviated version of this, so then that way, you’re able to say, “Oh, okay, well, now I get how it works.” We’ll give you the ADHD version, the five-minute presentation.

And so you could also contact us at ladderingyoursuccess.com, where I already showed you the website, or you can email us at info@ladderingyoursuccess.com or email me directly at festus.amoye@ladderingyoursuccess.com. And that way, we could get in contact with you, and we can make something happen. We can figure something out for your situation.

So again, I hope you’re having a wonderful, wonderful Saturday, and it’s beautiful outside. It’s a little bit chilly, but it’s beautiful outside. So, get some exercise, walk, breathe in the fresh air, refresh, and that’s it. So until next time, thank you, thank you, for spending time with us. Whether you came online or watched on Facebook Live, we appreciate you. Thank you so much.

Get started on your lesson-planning journey here!

Do you want to see more content from us? Check out our Youtube channel here!