Ah the weekend, and for most educators that means lots of prep getting ready for the week ahead. As I prep this weekend, these are the questions I ask myself...
- What is the goal of the lesson?
- This essential question was one I learned the hard way when I student-taught. My principal observed a lesson that just fell apart, a big horrendous mess, something that could not be salvaged. After the lesson he asked me what the goal was for that hour? Met with a blank stare and no answer, I swore I would always know what the goal was of something I subjected my students to. We owe it to them.
- How will the kids be involved?
- I moved from sage on the stage to student-driven last year so this question is huge in my prep. In fact, I often ponder assignments for a while before I write anything down just so I can figure out what my students' roles are in it.
- How much talking will I do?
- We know there is essential information in each lesson that needs to be communicated but do I have to be the one communicating it or can it be discovered or explored? This changes widely from the concept being taught, but I do try to limit my lecturing as much as possible. Teacher talk goes down = student engagement goes up.
- How will I change it up?
- I need change as much as my students, so how can I make this concept fresh again. The students have been taught many of these concepts before (we work a lot on a spiral) so how will it look and feel different this time? This questions also leads to how many different activities can we do within the time?
- What will they work on?
- What will the students be doing during this lesson? Are they note-taking, creating something, researching etc? What supplies do I need and how much time do they need to be successful?
- Will there be a product?
- Does this tie in with something they are creating? Is this a longer-term thing or very short? I realized this week with the Hour of Wonder that students do not need that much time to create something meaningful, what they do need is for the teacher to stop talking and let them explore.
- Where can the students decide?
- This questions drives all of my instruction decisions. How can the students take ownership of whatever we are doing? After all, I already have a successful education, now it is their turn; school has to be about the students and not about the teacher. Often they have better ideas than I do!
