Lesson Plan Guidance for Teachers
Hey there, teacher. Let's talk about something that's close to your heart and critical to your work—lesson planning. We know. Just hearing those words can be enough to give you some end-of-semester flashbacks. But we think we can help.
There are hundreds—probably thousands—of top-quality resources where you can find free and low-cost lesson plans. Other sources offer deep guidance on creating effective lesson plans. Still others host active communities of teachers who are ready and willing to offer help and advice. You just need to know where to look.
Finding Free and Low-Cost Lesson Plans
Free and low-cost lesson plans are useful resources for teachers preparing for each new school year. Whether you need quick help on a specific subject or are seeking inspiration to change how you develop your lesson plans, these resources can be a lifeline.
Sources and costs vary, but carefully crafted teaching blueprints are regularly shared by generous educators—typically without heavy price tags. Your teaching skills are still an important contribution, but these plans can help you outline objectives, create activities, and lay out assessment methods that have been successful for your colleagues—all the key parts of effective lesson planning. And most of them are easy to adapt to your classroom's specific needs.
Online Platforms for Lesson Plans
The internet is a treasure trove of lesson plans, both free and paid. These platforms offer a wide variety of resources crafted by educators around the world. And it's easy to dive in and see what's available.
Lots of online platforms offer free lesson plans. Teacher.org has earned praise for a user-friendly interface and extensive array of lesson plans across various subjects and grade levels. Share My Lesson is another popular platform. It's an online community where you can find more than 400,000 individual resources, as well as share—and get feedback about—your own plans.
For more science-based lessons, Discovery Education is a frequent destination. It offers interactive content and virtual field trips that make science subjects come alive. Another source, The Teacher's Corner provides plans and resources across different topics, along with fun crosswords and worksheets. Scholastic is known for rich content that integrates literature and other subjects—perfect for a cross-curricular approach.
While free resources are great, sometimes you might need something more specific. That's when platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers and Lesson Planet enter the picture. For a small fee, you can access unique lesson plans that the company says are crafted by experienced educators who truly understand teaching.
Open Educational Resources (OER) and Lesson Plan Libraries
Exploring Open Educational Resources (OER) and lesson plan libraries reveals another rich seam of educational materials. From textbooks to quizzes to software, these options are increasingly popular for classroom planning.
OERs are materials that can be used, adapted, and distributed for teaching, learning, and research. They include textbooks, quizzes, software, and more. Websites like OER Commons and MIT OpenCourseWare offer a wide variety of these resources for different subjects and grade levels.
If you're trying to find a large set of lesson plans for browsing and comparison, look for online lesson plan libraries. Libraries like Microsoft Education and PBS Learning Media are said to offer well-structured, expertly reviewed plans teachers can trust.
Creating Effective Lesson Plans on Your Own
The thought of creating lesson plans from scratch might seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. With some understanding of the process and the right tools, you can create effective lesson plans tailored for your students.
At its core, a lesson plan is your strategy for success, with key components that guide the flow of your instruction. These pieces include learning objectives (what you want your students to learn), engaging activities (how your students will learn), and methods for assessing student understanding (how you'll check what your students have learned).
Writing Lesson Plans: From Objectives to Assessment
Creating a lesson plan starts with clear, measurable learning objectives. These are the foundations of your plan. Whether you're aiming for students to master a mathematical formula or understand a historical event, it is still important and efficient to lay out an overall plan before diving in on specific outcomes.
Next, with a plan in hand, it's time to create engaging activities that align with your objectives. From group work and experiments to discussions and presentations, the possibilities are endless. Just remember, the goal is to make learning a lively, interactive process.
Then come assessment methods. Decide and define the best way to determine if your students have met your objectives. Quizzes, project work, debates, essays, even exit tickets—skilled teachers have come up with various ways to evaluate how deeply each student understands important subjects.
Support and Guidance for Lesson Planning
No one is an island, and this holds true for teachers building your lesson plans. Fortunately, there's an array of support and guidance available online, from professional courses to teacher forums. These resources can provide fresh insights and constructive feedback to help shape your lesson plans.
Several online platforms offer templates and tools to simplify your planning. Planboard, for example, allows you to plan your lessons digitally, align them to standards, and share them with others. Common Curriculum is another resource, offering easy, drag-and-drop tools for designing lesson sequences.
For lesson plan storage and organization, software and apps like Google Classroom and Evernote are handy. You can keep your plans, resources, and notes all in one place, accessible from anywhere.
Professional development courses and teacher forums are another source of expert guidance and peer support. Websites like Edutopia and Teaching Channel promise articles, videos, and discussion threads they say will ignite your creativity, with additional options for receiving constructive feedback.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, let's consider a fictional first-year history teacher. Overwhelmed initially, this teacher eventually manages to create engaging lesson plans by using a systematic approach with some of the resources we've outlined in this article:
- Defining clear learning objectives
- Finding activities on a site like Share My Lesson
- Organizing the materials with a platform like Planboard
- Assessing students with quizzes and debates
- Seeking feedback from Teaching Channel or a similar community
As you move further into the world of lesson planning, remember this—it's not just about outlining the curriculum. It's also about creating enriching, memorable learning experiences. Fortunately, with all these resources at your fingertips, you're ready to take the next steps. Happy planning!
