KEYS FOR LESSON SUCCESS

1. Start With the
Standards

Each teacher has a set
of standards by grade level and subject that they are tasked to accomplish
throughout the year. If you haven’t committed them to memory, make sure you
post them or have them ready for easy reference. These standards should guide
everything you do.

Follow the wording of
the standard closely to make sure you hit the target. While straying from the
standard a bit may be okay, if you go too far off course, you’ll loose valuable
time.

2. Plan for Outcomes, Not
Activities

Think about what your
students are required to learn. It’s easy to fall into a pattern, especially at
the elementary level, to plan activities rather than outcomes. Don’t get caught
up in activities associated with unit themes unless the activity really helps
drive comprehension. Some activities require more preparation and time than
they’re worth. If at the end of a long (and even fun) activity your students
aren’t sure what they did, the activity needs to be rethought and reworked for
the next year.

3. Plan Ahead

Last minute lesson success
is rare, so take your time thinking about the big idea of the unit and how each
class period or lesson fits together. Planning a lesson in advance can help
teachers revisit their initial thoughts and maybe make changes that weren’t
foreseen in the first planning stages. Teachers should allow plenty of time to
plan, gather supplies, literature and even technology necessary to carry out a
successful lesson.

4. Think Cross Curricular

The best teachers are the ones
that don’t teach a subject in isolation. Every lesson taught in school can
relate and should relate to something students are doing in other areas of
school. If teachers can connect student learning throughout the school day,
students are more likely to retain information.

At a workshop I recently
attended, a PE teacher told me how she had helped students understand pioneer
times by setting up stations in the gym with activities similar to the labor
activities (fetching water, etc) that pioneers did. It kept the students active
and drove home a concept in another class.

5. Collaborate

Thinking cross curricular
doesn’t happen without collaboration. Many schools are realizing the power of
collaboration by allowing more common planning time among grade level teachers.
This effort can pay off big when students see how teachers work together and
pieces of the puzzle start to fit into a bigger picture. If collaboration at
your school isn’t off to a roaring start, try working with at least one other
teacher. Talk over your plans for lessons and see if you can offer each other
ways to enhance

6. Real World Application

Students are more motivated
to learn when they see how the knowledge they learn can be applied outside of
the school building. If you’re teaching a lesson on rock forms, don’t just stop
at naming and viewing rocks. Talk about what kinds of professions would do this
and why it’s useful. Studying Picasso in art class is great, but isn’t it
better to see a local artist paint and how she makes a living? If you don’t
have enough money or resources for field trips, there are plenty of [ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط] to bring real world application of
concepts into your classroom.

7. Utilize the Technology
Available

Classrooms these days are
decked out with interactive white boards and computer stations. Don’t plan your
lesson around technology (unless that’s your core goal), but make sure you
explore the options that exist for complementing your lesson. Even the youngest
of students are hooked into technology these days, so utilizing technology may
make your lesson more memorable.

If you don’t have a
classroom full of technology, you can extend the lesson at home. Students can
complete complimentary lessons on a home or library computer for extra practice
and exploration.

8. Have a Plan B

If you’re trying out a new
lesson, make sure you have another direction in mind if the lesson doesn’t go
as planned. The students may not be grasping your approach, or something could
go ary, like a power outage, or a fire drill. Teachers are great at thinking
quick, but expecting the unknown is a great way to insure your lesson is
successful, no matter the circumstances.

9. LOVE
Your Lesson

If you don’t love the lesson you’ve created, then you won’t be
able to deliver it enthusiastically. If you’re not psyched about a particular
lesson, look back over it and see what’s missing. What one element would help
you get pumped up to teach it? The best teachers know how to craft lessons that
not only inspire their students to learn, but create an environment of
curiosity and excitement