The effective teacher over-plans, even when she knows her class will not complete the entire lesson in the allotted time. By planning more activities than can be completed during the class period, you anticipate any miscalculations in time management. Extra activities can reinforce a concept, give students more practice or serve as an assessment. If the majority of the class seems confused during a lesson, take the necessary time to reteach and check for understanding. Stretch a lesson to two or three class periods if you find that your class has not grasped a certain concept you were planning for a single session. In this way, you ensure that most of the class masters a concept on which subsequent lessons will build.
Signs that your students seem bored or confused may indicate that your lesson is too easy, your delivery is too dry or your students lack background knowledge. When you pick up on signals such as fidgeting, yawning or daydreaming, change your teaching tactics by moving in a different direction. Organizing an impromptu trivia session perks students’ interest and reviews previous concepts.
Some lessons also lend themselves to “teachable moments.” When you gain your students’ interest, grasp the moment to enhance their learning experience by elaborating on background information. Allow your students to share connections with the concept at hand. For example, if you are studying the parts of a flower in science class, gather your students and take them outdoors to observe flowers in their natural environment.
Every classroom comprises students of different skill levels. Because effective learning occurs in small group settings, you will work with groups often. These groups should never be static; shuffle them frequently with the changing abilities of your students. Allow for the lower-performing students to receive extra attention while the highest performers complete more challenging and thought-provoking assignments. Always have extra work ready to enrich the proficient students or reteach the struggling learners. Be ready to delve into the next day’s lesson in case your students have mastered the skill more quickly than you anticipated.
Teachers sometimes feel the need to rush through a lesson to get to the assessment portion. Set aside some time to allow your students to ask questions. Real classrooms are never the sterile, ideal facilities in which you practiced while earning your teaching credential. When you say something interesting, your students will be eager to respond; conversely, when you anticipate a certain answer, you may not get the response you intended. Students should be able to interact with, ask questions of or pose situations to their teachers during a lesson. If you find a valuable discussion ensuing from your lesson, do not stifle it. Teachers act as guides, and students learn more effectively when they take charge of their own learning. (See References 4)
Lesson plans merely guide a teacher’s thoughts and goals over time. During the course of a day, you may have disruptions that take away from instruction time. You get sick, and your lessons get pushed back several days because the substitute will not teach anything new. The announcements run longer than usual. A school assembly cuts into your math lesson. A student acts up during lab. The principal stops by for a chat. A parent volunteer asks to participate. All these activities subtract time away from your lessons and distract you and your students. Proficient teachers adapt and adjust their lesson plans accordingly.