INTRODUCTION TO PLANNINGPlanning is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan, and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them. An important, though often ignored aspect of planning, is the relationship it holds with forecasting. While the latter can be described as predicting what the future will look like, planning predicts and considers what the future should look like.Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead.The term “planning” is also used to describe the formal procedures used in such an endeavor, such as the creation of and material to be worked on, issues to be addressed, the objectives to be met, and the strategy to be followed. Two attitudes to planning need to be held in tension: on the one hand we need to be prepared for what may lie ahead, which may mean contingencies and flexible processes. On the other hand, our future is shaped by consequences of our own planning and actions.Planning as a thinking process is aimed at accomplishing purposes. It helps in deciding objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is setting of goals on the basis of objectives and keeping in view the resources.What should a plan be?A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure.Just as no two situations are alike, so also the plans to cope with them. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the context. Importance of the planning processA plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what it is wanted to be achieved, and how and when it can be done.A well-prepared plan demonstrates that the “managers know the business” and that they have thought through its development in terms of material, activities, management, time, and most importantly, aims and objectives.Planning is not done off hand. It is prepared after careful and extensive research and thought. For a comprehensive plan, you have to:Clearly define the target / goal/ objectives. To be realistic.To be specific.To be easily measurableIdentify all the main issues which need to be addressed.Review past performance.Decide requirements (pre-requisites, recycled knowledge).Focus on matters of strategic importance.What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure?Strategies for implementation.Review periodically.Lesson Planning, Lesson Plan Formats and Lesson Plan IdeasDr. Bob Kizlik (www.adprima.com)Lesson planning...who needs it, or needs to know how to do it? Well, maybe, just maybe you do! Lesson planning is a special skill that is learned in much the same way as other skills. It is one thing to surf the Net to retrieve lesson plans from other sites and adapt them to your needs. It is quite another thing to have the skill to develop your own lesson plans. When you are able to create your own lesson plans, it means you have taken a giant step toward "owning" the content you teach and the methods you use, and that is a good thing. Acquiring this skill is far more valuable than being able to use lesson plans developed by others. It takes thinking and practice to hone this skill, and it won't happen overnight, but it is a skill that will help to define you as a teacher. Knowing "how to" is far more important than knowing "about" when it comes to lesson plans, and is one of the important markers along the way to becoming a professional teacher. It is also in keeping with a central theme of this site that you should learn to plan lessons in more than one way. The corollary is, of course, that there is no one "best way" to plan lessons. Regardless of the form or template, there are fundamental components of all lesson plans that you should learn to write, revise, and improve. The old adage, "Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect" is at the core of learning this skill. Trust me on this.This is among the most popular topics, and for good reason. Good lesson plans do not ensure students will learn what is intended, but they certainly contribute to it. Think of a lesson plan as a way of communicating, and without doubt, effective communication skills are fundamental to all teaching. Lesson plans also help new or inexperienced teachers organize content, materials, and methods. When you are learning the craft of teaching, organizing your subject-matter content via lesson plans is fundamental. Like most skills, you'll get better at it the more you do it and think of ways of improving your planning and teaching based on feedback from your students, their parents, and other teachers. Developing your own lesson plans also helps you "own" the subject matter content you are teaching, and that is central to everything good teachers do.It's simple; effective lesson plans communicate, ineffective ones don't. Teachers create lesson plans to communicate their instructional activities regarding specific subject-matter. Almost all lesson plans developed by teachers contain student learning objectives, instructional procedures, the required materials, and some written description of how the students will be evaluated. Many experienced teachers often reduce lesson plans to a mental map or short outline. New teachers, however, usually find detailed lesson plans to be indispensable. Learn to write good lesson plans - it is a skill that will serve you well as a teacher. If you're really serious, become proficient in writing effective learning objectives. All lesson plans begin, or should begin with an objective. Toward that end, I have developed a self-instructional, interactive program that teaches this important skill within the context of lesson planning. Go to this link to find out more: http://www.adprima.com/wlo5.htm It is inexpensive and effective! WHAT IS A LESSON PLAN?A lesson plan is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class instruction. Planning the material is much more difficult than delivering the lessons. Planning is when you look at the curriculum standards and develop the content that match those standards you also have to take into consideration the needs of the learners you are planning for. Luckily, textbooks that are adopted for your subject areas are typically written with this in mind but this does not imply they should be follow to the letter. All details should be written down to assist the smooth delivery of the content. The extent of the detail will vary depending on the number of years of experience that the teacher has and the number of times he/she has taught the lesson. Obviously, an instructor with several years of experience may have plans that are much less detailed than beginning teachers. There will be requirements mandated by the school system that employs you regarding your responsibilities.Developing a lesson planWhile there are many formats for a lesson plan, most lesson plans contain some or all of these elements, typically in this order:Title of the lessonTime required to complete the lessonList of required materialsList of objectives, which may be behavioral objectives (what the studentscan do at lesson completion) or knowledge objectives (what the student knows at lesson completion)The set (or lead-in, or bridge-in) that focuses students on the lesson's skills or concepts—these include showing pictures or models, asking leading questions, or reviewing previously lessonsAn instructional component that describes the sequence of events that make up the lesson, including the teacher's instructional input and guided practice the students use to try new skills or work with new ideasIndependent practice that allows students to extend skills or knowledge on their ownA summary, where the teacher wraps up the discussion and answers questionsAn evaluation component, a test for mastery of the instructed skills or concepts—such as a set of questions to answer or a set of instructions to followAnalysis component the teacher uses to reflect on the lesson itself —such as what worked, what needs improvingA continuity component reviews and reflects on content from the previous lessonA well developed lesson plan A well developed lesson plan reflects interests and needs of students. It incorporates best practices for the educational field. The lesson plan correlates with the teacher's philosophy of education, which is what the teacher feels is the purpose of educating the students.A broad, thematic lesson plan is preferable, because it allows a teacher to create various research, writing, speaking, and reading assignments. It helps an instructor teach different aspects and incorporate videotapes, films, and television programs. Also, it facilitates teaching culture and language (English) together. School requirements and a teacher's personal tastes, in that order, determine the exact requirements for a lesson plan. Developing lesson plans keeping the unique nature of each learner in mind is helpful in creating a strong teacher-student relationship.Unit plans follow much the same format as a lesson plan, but cover an entire unit of work, which may span several days or weeks. Modern constructivist teaching styles may not require individual lesson plans. The unit plan may include specific objectives and timelines, but lesson plans can be more fluid as they adapt to student needs and learning styles.Setting objectives The first thing a teacher must do is decide on the lesson plan's focus. The teacher creates one idea or question they want the students to explore or answer. Next, the teacher creates classroom activities that correlate with the established idea or question. This includes individual and group activities. Having established these activities, the teacher identify what language skills the lesson plan must cover. After the teacher completes these activities, they must ensure the lesson plan adheres to the best practices used in language arts. This includes conducting research on what teaching methods result in a high success rate for students. The teacher must ensure the lesson plan goals are compatible with the developmental level of the students. The teacher must also ensure their student achievement expectations are reasonable. Selecting lesson plan materialA lesson plan must correlate with the text book the class uses. The school or faculty usually selects the text books or provides teachers with a limited text book choice for a particular unit. The teacher must take great care and select the most appropriate book for the students and then decide what to include in his/ her classes, what not to and what to adapt.Types of assignmentsThe instructor must decide whether class assignments are whole-class, small groups, workshops, independent work, peer learning, or contractual:Whole-class—the teacher lectures to the class as a whole and has the class collectively participate in classroom discussions.Small groups—students work on assignments in groups of three or four.Workshops—students perform various tasks simultaneously. Workshop activities must be tailored to the lesson plan.Independent work—students complete assignments individually.Peer learning—students work together, face to face, so they can learn from one another.Contractual work—teacher and student establish an agreement that the student must perform a certain amount of work by a deadline.Testing The teacher must decide how to evaluate each student's performance. Either through:Summative assessment: it evaluates learning needs. It usually consists of tests, semester exams, end of unit or end of chapter tests that evaluate student progress, performance, and knowledge. The teacher calculates final grades based upon performance in these exams. These assessments may help teachers adjust future curriculum, based upon how well the students retain information.Formative assessment: it evaluates the process of learning in its process, and is a part of the teaching process. Teachers use formative assessment to discover holes and modify their teaching and the learning of their students. In contrast to end-of-unit adjustments in a summative assessment program, formative assessment recognizes student needs in the course of learning. This approach lets educators adjust learning standards right away. By knowing each student's current needs, including those with lower abilities, a teacher can address them immediately. Teachers use formative assessment information to modify teaching and learning activities to improve learning results.Reliability of classroom assessmentClassroom assessment reliability is controversial. Teachers have different grading and evaluating standards. Some emphasize the amount of work, while others value quality. Formative and summative assessment procedures should be equally applied in the classroom. However, it seems the modern education system puts more stress on summative assessment, and evaluates student performance mainly with exams. Summative assessments are easy, and provide an objective picture of the students’ skills and knowledge. However, applying classroom formative assessments more often provides current information about students’ learning needs. Evaluate the lesson planAs mentioned above, a teacher must use best practices to ensure their students have a high success rate. Traditional methods of assessment may be used (quizzes and tests). This is also a time of reflection for the teacher. The student must learn from the lesson, as should the teacher. Find out what areas of the lesson didn't work as smoothly as projected and make adjustments.Areas to Evaluate:MaterialsContentEngaging and InteractiveCreativityExtensionPresentation SkillsAhrenfelt, Johannes, and Neal Watkin. 100 Ideas for Essential Teaching Skills (Continuum One Hundred). 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What Every Teacher Should Know About Instructional Planning Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2003.Wolfe, Shoshana. Your Best Year Yet! A Guide to Purposeful Planning and Effective Classroom Organization (Teaching Strategies). New York: Teaching Strategies, 2006.