5 Myths of Lesson Design

Lesson Design is a foundational process teachers engage in daily to meet the needs of the students they teach. Designing a lesson is not just filling in a lesson plan template. It is thinking through every inch of a lesson from start to finish- transitions, student pairings, higher order thinking questions and so forth. The success of a teacher is directly correlated to how thoroughly they plan and deliver instruction to students.

The purpose of this post is not to discuss how to effectively implement lesson design, although resources to do that are linked at the bottom of the post. Uncovering 5 myths of lesson design will help teachers better understand the value of the process required to deliver high quality instruction to their students.

Myth #1

If you write a detailed lesson plan, you are a great teacher.

False. Just because you can write a strong lesson plan on paper does not mean you can deliver a quality lesson. Remember, lesson design is not just the lesson plan itself. It thinks about all the obstacles a student might face during the learning experience and puts strategies in place to prevent those from occurring. Writing a lesson plan is only one piece of lesson design. Other important steps in the lesson design process are just as impactful like collaborating with colleagues to raise the rigor of the plan, designing an assessment that aligns to the standards and objective of the lesson, preparing physical learning materials, planning the transition routes for students to move about the classroom safely and efficiently and so much more. Great lesson plan writers do not always translate to great teachers. Design the lesson, don’t just plan it.

Myth #2

Designing a lesson by yourself is better than doing it with others.

False. When you are completing a task by yourself, you are limited to your own skillset and intelligence. When you complete a task together as a group, you put your brains and talents together elevating the limit to which you can accomplish the task. Therefore, it is always better to meet as a team to brainstorm ideas, push each other’s thinking, and bring alternative ideas to the table. The discussion begins with the standard to be covered and flushing that out to daily objectives that can be taught during the subject area time frame. Now the hard work begins of designing the learning experience.Everyone has a different strength that when they are combined during a collaboration session, a lesson grows in effectiveness and impact. Don’t limit your teaching by planning by yourself. Tap into your professional learning network!

Myth #3

You must create everything from scratch.

False. Many teachers have taught for years and have instructional materials that can be repurposed for upcoming lessons. Part of the responsibility of those in the collaboration are to bring related items to the planning session so they can be reviewed and suggested for use. If you create everything from scratch you are putting more time into the item creation than on the lesson itself. Although support materials enhance a lesson, if the majority of time is spent making instructional materials the actual lesson never reaches it potential because time was spent elsewhere. Leverage what you have and spend the bulk of your time on lesson design.

Myth #4

Every lesson has different procedures and expectations.

False. If you continue to change up procedures and expectations, students will spend their brain power relearning those things instead of learning new content. Put the emphasis on the actual learning of information instead of on the how to go about the learning. This means procedures can remain the same from lesson to lesson. This creates familiarity which then leads to efficiency. When expectations shift every lesson, students are confused as to what is expected of them. This slows down the learning process as they have questions or the teacher is busy redirecting and correcting misbehaviors due to the misunderstanding. All of this distracts from the learning experience. Save time, reuse procedures and expectations.

Myth #5

Your lesson will go exactly as planned.

Even if you follow a thorough lesson design process, the execution of the lesson could do awry. Teachers not in control of every factor in their classroom, such as early dismissal, fire drill, AC going out, or technology not working. Understanding that even the best plan doesn’t mean the lesson will go off without a hitch will save sanity. As the famous show “Big Brother” says every episode, “Expect the unexpected.” This is a great motto for teachers as well. Plan thoroughly because it just might come out exactly as planned, but also expect a hiccup or two. When you expect an obstacle, you are better able to pivot efficiently in the moment instead of getting upset which leads to a clouded brain to make decisions.

Helpful Resources

• Blog Posts
  • Powerful Lesson Planning
  • 5 Tips for Designing a Memorable Learning Experience
  • 5 Ways to Improve the Lesson Design Process
  • Lesson Design PD Options
  • Coach Focus: How to Help Teachers Design Lessons
• Podcast Episodes
  • 59: The Lesson Plan Vortex
• Book
  • Teacher Essentials for Classroom and Career Success (Brick #1)

Want more support? Browse our full collection of printable and digital tools. You can also read more helpful posts on the blog.

GO BE GREAT!