Lesson Planning for Better Learning
Instructor: Tim Edgar
Department: Geography
Course: Annual Teaching Symposium, 2011 – Skills Session II
Teaching method: Lecture, Discussion, Small Group Activity
Instructional materials: PPT presentation, handouts
Total class time: 1 hour (11:00 am – 12:00 pm)
Objectives: By the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to:
1. Understand the benefits of lesson planning
2. Identify potential elements of a lesson plan for an introductory course
3. Utilize Bloom’s taxonomy for the development of lesson plan objectives
11:00 am Introductions
1. Introduce myself
2. Introduce Skills Session learning objectives
3. Refer to agenda
11:03 am Warm-Up: Why are lesson plans important? (think-pair-share)
1. Have attendees write pros and cons of lesson plans
2. Pair attendees and have them share their responses with each other
3. Choose a few attendees to share their responses and discuss – have them call on one another
11:10 am How do you construct a lesson plan? (presentation)
1. Explain that a lesson plan should answer 3 main questions:
 Where am I going?
 How will I get there?
 How will I know when I’ve arrived?
11:12 am Introduce Lesson Plan Checklist (presentation)
1. Explain that Lesson Plan Checklist is available from CTLE as an electronic resource
2. Show lesson plan introduction from top of this lesson plan
11:15 am Where am I going? Objectives and Lesson Plans – Bloom’s taxonomy (presentation and practice)
1. Lecture on Bloom’s taxonomy PPT slides
2. Refer to today’s objectives from this lesson plan
 Comprehension check – Ask students to categorize today’s objectives according to Bloom’s
taxonomy
 If students are not accurate in their responses, discuss reasons and clarify categories
i. Understand = Understand
ii. Identify = ?
iii. Utilize = Apply
3. Application
 Have students write a measurable objective for their next (real or imaginary) lesson. Objectives
should start with “By the end of this lesson, students should be able to…”
 Choose a few random students to read their objectives and have other students decide which
category it belongs to – use the dice
11:30 am How will I get there? (presentation)
1. Refer to Sample Lesson Plan and Lesson Plan Checklist
2. Point to today’s “opener” – (Warm-Up: Why are lesson plans important? (think-pair-share))
 Ask students to list other possible examples of warm-ups
3. Explain that logical structure to a lesson may depend on logical structure of a course (e.g., Can you refer
to what the students already know?)
4. Note that times should be approximate
 Leave extra time for the first time you give a lesson (usually it goes faster than you expect!)
 Pace lesson based on student understanding
11:35 am How will I know when I’ve arrived? (discussion)
1. Note that to pace the lesson, and to ensure objectives have been met, need some kind of evaluation
2. Ask attendees to provide examples evaluation
3. If not already considered, ask students to generate examples of classroom assessment techniques
11:40 am Closure
1. Summarize importance of lesson planning
2. Refer back to Skills Session learning objectives
3. Refer to homework assignment on Lesson Plan Checklist
4. Check to see if there are questions
11:50 pm Feedback
1. Ask attendees to provide feedback on Teaching Symposium evaluation form