Do Your Lesson Plans Have….?

As a new teacher coach for TEACH Charlotte this summer, we often give feedback. My fellow coach and I felt like we continued to give the same feedback in the same area of lesson plans. This let us know that our expectations for what must be included in a lesson plan must be unclear to our new teachers. So we made a checklist for them to utilize to ensure all components of a lesson plan are included before turning them in to us for feedback.

I figured this might be helpful for many of us educators, so I thought I would share. Keep in mind if there is a phrase that is unfamiliar it is most likely a Teach Like A Champion technique from Doug Lemov’s book.

Ask yourself: DO I HAVE….?

1. A standard, objective, do now/exit ticket?
   1. Are they aligned?
2. WTD directions scripted for EVERY student action and transition?
3. What I am saying to students in bold or another color?
   1. questioning 
   2. directions
4. Opportunities for students to discuss content and demonstrate that they are learning?
   1. Is this the majority of the class time?
   2. Is it the majority of the students?
5. Time increments labeled throughout?
   1. Pacing of I do, we do, you do
      1. Think triangle- top of the triangle is the smallest piece (I Do), the middle is larger than the top (We Do), the bottom is the largest piece of all (You Do) 
   2. Countdowns
6. Work the clock or close reading strategy opportunities listed throughout?
7. The anchor techniques appearing often and throughout?

A few things to note… we encourage new teachers to script a lot of their lesson plan until they start demonstrating execution of a detailed plan when delivering their lessons live. New teachers find it very rewarding to “graduate” from scripting because they have made detail planning such a habit. They often continue to script in some form since they realize how impactful it is on their lesson delivery and overall student success. We also place emphasis on timing to ensure what a teacher plans, they can actually get through it during a class period. This is our largest learning curve as they often underestimate how long something takes, especially when student responses show they are not understanding. By having the lesson plan increments placed on the LP ensures they have thought through how long ideally these sections should take, but are not set in stone as student learning can decrease or increase those times. Lastly, the items in this checklist are things we have discussed with them in detail and are expectations for formatting requirements. That way our feedback can be on the “meat and potatoes” if you will- rigor, aligned activities and texts, scaffolded questions etc.

The new teachers really appreciated this “go-to” checklist and us coaches do not have to give feedback on the above areas any longer, allowing us to give feedback where it really matters 🙂

What would you add to this checklist for new teachers to include in their lesson plans?

About the author, Gretchen

I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.

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