Main Body
Effective teachers think proactively when planning lessons. Consider the particular students you will be working with, your time frame, the activities you’ve planned, the materials you are using and possible scenarios that may impact your plans; be prepared to adjust your instruction accordingly. Describe the possible points in the lesson in which adjustments may need to occur and points in which instruction might be flexible in approach in response to student needs. Prepare a plan to give more direct instruction or adapted instruction to students who may not be understanding the topic as well as a plan for increasing the rigor or difficulty of tasks when necessary. Anticipate any behavioral challenges and create a proactive plan for managing classroom climate. Consider the technology planned during the lesson and describe a backup plan should the technology fail. Also consider pacing, teacher roles, grouping, assistive technology, and individualized student accommodations.
Identify points in the lesson where you might need be flexible in your approach in response to student needs. How will you respond?
Examples of Proactive Considerations:
- Being aware of my two students with poor attendance records, I will place them in different pre-planned groups.
- To address any misunderstandings as to the activity steps, I will post the steps and provide a model to each group.
- For students who complete the assigned activity early, access to laptops will be available, as well as a the link to an online ‘Jeopardy’ style game, reviewing the lesson content.
- In case of a technology malfunction, a graphic organizer will be available on which students will complete a concept map.
Example of Proactive Considerations from a CEP Student’s Lesson Plan:
| ● Components of this lesson can be carried over to the next meeting day in case of
insufficient time. ● If extra time exists at the end of the lesson and students are not showing signs of needing a movement break, students will be given a noun and a verb and asked to create their own sentence to be labeled by a peer. ● Students will have an opportunity to complete the activity during make-up time with the associate teacher in case of absence. ● In case students demonstrate persistent difficulty with labeling the elements of a simple sentence, the activity will be halted and completed as a whole group task with discussion and corrective feedback. |
Differentiation:
It is in this section of your lesson plan that you share how you plan to differentiate your instruction as you strive to meet the varying needs of all of your learners. By analyzing your pre-assessment data, you will determine the students for which the lesson will be difficult as well as those for whom it will not be appropriately challenging.
Following analysis, describe how you’ll differentiate your instruction to meet these diverse individual needs. Remember that differentiated instruction isn’t a strategy, but a framework that can be use