LESSON PLAN INSTRUCTIONS for CORDOVA HIGH
The goal of weekly planning at CHS is to increase student achievement and teachers’ professional growth by planning
collaboratively and focusing on a rigorous curriculum that addresses SPI’s/CCSS and includes regular assessments.
MANDATORY
1. Everyone must complete the TEM 3.0 template in My Learning Plan for observations (announced-48 hours
before; unannounced-48 hours after). These will automatically go to the person who is observing you. The
template only has to be completed for the day you were observed, not the entire week.
2. All first-year and Level 1 & 2 teachers must complete the TEM 3.0 template until otherwise notified. This group
may complete another template approved by Harrifeld/Bennett.
3. All teachers must submit weekly plans each Monday unless otherwise notified. Plans may be emailed to Bennett
or hard copies may be placed in Bennett’s mailbox in the mailroom (not outside my door). She will forward them
to appropriate people.
4. At a minimum, lesson plans should follow district curriculum guides (excluding AP, Dual Enrollment, SPED selfcontained, and other courses for which there are no district curriculum guides such as ROTC).
OPTIONAL
1. Level 3-5 teachers may use any template that includes the components of the TEM 3.0 template for weekly
plans.
2. Teachers who teach the same course (including co-teachers) may submit collaborative plans.
QUESTIONS
Why is Cordova doing weekly lesson plans if all SCS
aren’t required to do weekly plans?
Can I see an actual sample TEM 3.0 lesson plan for a
specific subject/lesson?
Is the lesson that you modeled considered a level 5?
How do I plan efficiently with the TEM 3.0 template
and execute all of the stages?
ANSWERS
Cordova’s overall academic data and individual teachers’
assessment data were used in making the decision to use
intentional weekly planning as a tool to increase student
achievement. The weekly requirement may vary as the year
progresses. The goal of weekly planning at Cordova is to
increase student achievement and teachers’ professional
growth by planning collaboratively and focusing on a rigorous
curriculum that addresses SPI’s/CCSS and includes regular
assessments. I can forward you a copy of the Lesson Plan
Advisory that was issued 7/19/13.
Once teachers begin submitting plans, they will be available
in Bennett’s office. Otherwise, you can follow the generic
TEM 3.0 sample from Wed., 8/7.
The sample lesson plan itself contains all of the TEM
components; the actual unfolding of the lesson plan might
not be a level 5 depending on which session you attended
(e.g., in one session I would score myself a level 3 on CLE2:
Develop classroom procedures not because I didn’t have
procedures but because the instructional time was not used
effectively due to spending too much time addressing a
particular concern).
Suggestions include 1) use an optional template that is
comparable to the TEM 3.0 template-one that contains
similar elements 2) plan with a checklist style template first
and then transfer that information in the form of statements
or bulleted lists to the TEM 3.0 template
How can I learn more about the teaching strategies
on the template?
Will someone preview/review plans and provide
feedback/recommendations?
What could happen if I don’t submit lesson plans?
How does the TEM 3.0 lesson plan template factor
into my TEM score?
What happens if observers don’t come at the time
they scheduled?
Do we have to monitor and adjust for plans that
didn’t unfold the way we anticipated?
Explain why we do Stage 1 (Performance Data) if we
are following district curriculum maps.
What is the schedule for lesson plans to be
submitted? When will they be submitted less
frequently?
You can 1) research them online or in the school’s
professional library or 2) attend an upcoming round-robin
session where teachers who are experts at different
strategies (e.g., Wood with “PMI” or Maynard with using
videos as part of instruction) will demonstrate how they use
the strategies. I will also video volunteers using different
strategies and make those videos available to the faculty and
provide you with reference materials.
Yes, primarily that will be your colleagues (especially those
who are planning collaboratively), Harrifeld, Bennett, DeGruy
(master teacher), or the administrator assigned to your
department.
It could affect your summative evaluation. The TEM 3.0 rubric
for Professionalism includes Use of Data which includes “The
educator routinely utilizes various types of quantitative and
qualitative data (Stage 1) to address students’ academic and
behavioral strengths and weaknesses and to guide
appropriate instructional decisions (Stage 3)” and “uses
student data (Stage 1) to anticipate and plan for
differentiation and scaffolding needs (Stage 3) so that
individual students and class meet ambitious through-course
and end-of-course student achievement goal(s) (Stage 2).”
The lesson plan will be your primary way to document this
indicator as well as other TEM 3.0 indicators prior to your
post-conference with the observer.
Unfortunately, stuff happens. Therefore, you will have to
submit a plan for the rescheduled observation. If you are
already planning weekly, this will be as simple as entering
what you already have planned.
Yes, but it’s only mandatory for the TEM 3.0 plans used for
observations (STAGE 4 of the plan). Most teachers are
reflecting, monitoring, and adjusting every day anyway (even
if it’s not written on paper).
The curriculum maps are a guide for what students should be
learning and the pace at which they should be learning;
however, the performance data will inform the what, how,
and when for your classes. For instance, the Physical Science
curriculum map has the following learning outcome for the
first two weeks: “Apply prior knowledge of SI systems in the
conversion units from one prefix to another.” Archer’s preassessment might reveal that 85% of her students do not
know metric prefixes. She still has to meet the learning
outcome on the curriculum map, but she might have to
approach it differently than Bourie who has only a few
students who don’t know the metric prefixes. Also, keep in
mind that formative assessment data (which most of us will
use) doesn’t always have such specific numbers (look at the
example TEM 3.0 template).
For now, all teachers are submitting weekly plans for the
purpose of increasing student achievement and professional
growth by planning collaboratively and ensuring the
integration of CCSS by following a rigorous curriculum that
includes regular assessments. The frequency of submission
What about lesson plans for people with multiple
preps?
Do SPED teachers submit plans for all preps every
week?
Will lesson plans be available as a resource for new
teachers?
Will this be more objective than the evaluations
from last year?
Will the use of technology factor into scores?
How detailed or specific do lesson plans need to be?
How time consuming is it (TEM 3.0)?
What testing is CTE learning towards? What is the
timeframe for PARRC?
If the language or terminology is the same but said
a little differently, is that okay?
Are there any special cases regarding evaluations
with TEM 3.0 for teachers?
Do I need to include SPI’s/CCSS on my plans?
will be determined as the year progresses based on student
achievement (common formative assessments) and
professional growth (observations).
If you teach the same course as a colleague, you should be
planning collaboratively anyway (you might have to make
adjustments for your classes), so there is no need to submit
plans for that course. For example, Metz teaches Geometry,
Honors Geometry, and AP Calculus. Tukes, Heim, and Baker
also teach Geometry, so they should be planning
cooperatively. The district has already approved the AP
syllabi, so her weekly plans should be for Honors Geometry
(and yes, there should be a difference in Standard and Honors
planning). However, if she is observed during AP Calculus, she
will need to submit a TEM 3.0 plan for the day she was
observed regardless of the AP syllabus.
SPED teachers do not submit weekly plans because the GEN
ED teachers have stated that they will primarily be
responsible for planning. However, for SPED teachers’
observations, the GEN ED teachers must share their plans
with the SPED teachers so that they can upload them in My
Learning Plan.
Yes, you can co-plan with teachers who teach your course
and see Bennett for copies of plans from other teachers.
TEM 3.0 is a hybrid of the legacy MCS and SCS evaluation
tools. It will be more objective in the citing of evidence for
scoring through lesson plans and/or videotaped observations.
Simply using technology will not be a factor per se. How the
technology is used is what is considered. Is it used “to help
students meet or exceed standards” (level 3 of CLE 3: Use
Classroom Space and Resources to Support Instruction)?
Obviously, the blank TEM 3.0 template requires more detail
than a checklist. For some, that might be complete
statements. Others might use phrases, bulleted lists, etc.
Regardless of the template you choose, consider your
audience. Is the plan for people other than you (colleague,
students, observer)? If so, would they understand it?
That varies based on numerous factors (e.g., experience,
lessons for that week). It took me about an hour to complete
the example TEM 3.0 plan for Wed., 8/7 with no curriculum
guide to follow or collaboration.
I’m not sure of any particular EOC/PARRC-type tests for CTE
courses; however, CTE teachers can support the core
teachers in teaching the skills needed for PARRC, which will
be fully implemented in the 2014-2015 school year.
Of course! Stage 2 of the TEM 3.0 template is the learning
objective, TLW, TSW, “I can” statements.
No, all teachers are evaluated using the same rubric and must
submit a TEM 3.0 lesson plan for observations; that is a
district policy. You can take the information from whatever
plan you have and type it into the TEM 3.0 template.
Lesson plans must specify SPI’s/standards for that course
(excluding AP, Dual Enrollment, SPED self-contained, and
other courses for which there are no district/state/national
standards). This might be done using the number and a
word/phrase associated with that SPI or standard. All
teachers are strongly encouraged to integrate Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) as part of their instruction because
the PARCC assessments will begin 2014-2015. Even if there
are no CCSS for your subject, your instruction can support
that of your colleagues (e.g., vocational teachers already use
informational texts so you can use CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Can I use my old lesson plans?
That depends…you can tweak and modify good plans.
However, ask yourself: “Do these plans reflect the revised
district curriculum (which includes dropped SPI’s for some
EOC courses and the integration of CCSS)?” and “Do these
plans contain the elements of the TEM 3.0 template used for
observations?”
VOCABULARY
Reflective stems: incomplete statements
that allow students to reflect on and
summarize their learning
PMI: learning strategy in which a student
examines the Plusses, Minuses, and
Interesting things (or Implications)
associated with a topic, decision, or idea.
3-2-1: gives students a chance to
summarize some key ideas, rethink them
in order to focus on those that they are
most intrigued by, and then pose a
question that can reveal where their
understanding is still uncertain
KWL (What I Know, What I Want to Know,
What I Learned) : graphic organizer that
can be used as a pre-assessment and
closure activity
Ticket out the Door: closure strategy that
is a formative assessment to get students
to summarize their learning
Think-Pair-Share: cooperative learning
strategy for guided practice
RESOURCE
(list of reflective stems)
http://www.myeducationstuff.com/blogging/question_stems/question_stems.htm
Difference between Scaffolding and
Differentiation:
(explains the differences and one important similarity; explains six scaffolding strategies)
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber
(defines differentiated instruction and gives strategies for differentiating)
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/di_meeting.phtml
Formative assessment: a process used by
teachers and students during instruction
that provides feedback to adjust ongoing
teaching and learning to improve students'
achievement of intended instructional
outcomes
(descriptions and examples of formative assessments)
http://www.isbe.net/common_core/pdf/da-form-asmt-chart.pdf
(includes vignettes and podcasts of formative assessments in action)
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/educators/vision/examples
(includes vignettes and explanations of which are and are not formative assessments)
http://ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Formative_Assessment_Examples_2008.pdf)
Common formative assessments:
assessments collaboratively created by
grade or subject area
(definition, criteria, and benefits of common formative assessments)
http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/curriculum/cali/2fdtcommonformassess.pdf
(templates of PMI charts and other graphic organizers)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/pmi/
(explanation with templates)
http://www.readingquest.org/strat/321.html
(generic charts and variations for math problem-solving and research)
http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/KWLCharts.html
(new twists on the strategy so students don’t get bored with the same “ticket”)
http://www.ideasforeducators.com/1/post/2012/2/a-twist-on-ticket-out-the-door.html
(simple explanation of the three stages and the multiple benefits of the strategy)
http://www.readingquest.org/strat/tps.html