KSA #6 - Planning
The purposes of short, medium and long term range planning. They know how to translate curriculum and desired outcomes into reasoned, meaningful and incrementally progressive learning opportunities for students. They also understand the need to vary their plans to accommodate individuals and groups of students.
The purposes of short, medium and long term range planning. They know how to translate curriculum and desired outcomes into reasoned, meaningful and incrementally progressive learning opportunities for students. They also understand the need to vary their plans to accommodate individuals and groups of students.
"She was a precise and conscientious planner,
always making sure that materials were ready, that her lessons were well
planned and that attention was paid to every detail." - PS3 Principal
My practicum experiences so far have allowed me to develop long-range plans, and then I have been forced to realize the realities of those long-range plans once the curriculum delivery is underway, and I can assess the progressive movement of the class. When planning, there are typically many different "stages" of planning that I working with at any given time. My different stages are:
- a long-range plan which determines how I plan to logically divide the curriculum throughout the year
- a monthly plan (or unit plan) that is adjusted each month after I reflect on how much curriculum we have actually covered
- a weekly plan that showcases how my weekly theme flows from day-to-day
- a day plan which summarizes each lesson plan for each class in a given day
- and a meticulously detailed lesson plan for each subject taught (if necessary)
When I first sit down to begin planning an extensive unit, I like to begin by doing an outline of my main intentions, resources, evaluations, activities, etc. and then choose one of those areas to start with. In this way, I can begin creating unit plans from ANY starting point, rather than from just a backwards-by-design approach. The acronym we have learned to help us remember this framework is IDEAS (Intentions, Display, Evaluations, Activities, [other] Stuff). Below are some examples of the IDEAS framework used to begin the brainstorming stages of some ELA units.
Long Term Plan: "Who is in Our Zoo?" Research Unit
Medium and Short Term Planning Examples (Click on pictures below each description to enlarge)
Although many of my plans may look quite extensive, it is important to note that I have also come to realize that the real day will NEVER 100% align with what you actually had planned. With this being said, it is important that teachers learn to be flexible and to accommodate for students who are struggling with the content. For example, it may be as simple as needing to highlight the "cut lines" for a confused kindergartener, or it may be changing a speech assessment from a required peer presentation to a "verbal recording" option instead for some anxious high school students. Regardless of which alterations are made, the important thing is to realize that the 'planning' is a malleable structure that may need to go the drastic changes before it can reach success.
Although many of my plans may look quite extensive, it is important to note that I have also come to realize that the real day will NEVER 100% align with what you actually had planned. With this being said, it is important that teachers learn to be flexible and to accommodate for students who are struggling with the content. For example, it may be as simple as needing to highlight the "cut lines" for a confused kindergartener, or it may be changing a speech assessment from a required peer presentation to a "verbal recording" option instead for some anxious high school students. Regardless of which alterations are made, the important thing is to realize that the 'planning' is a malleable structure that may need to go the drastic changes before it can reach success.
Rough copy "glance" version of a Month's PE plan
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Rough copy "glance" version of a Weekly Class plan
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Daily Planner
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