There is some buzz building among principals to stop requiring teachers to turn in lesson plans. Lots of reasons why people think this is a good idea. Most of them seem rational and logical.

They are all wrong.

For example, I heard a principal say out loud, “I don’t want my teachers spending a lot of time planning for instruction, I want them to deliver good instruction.”

Here’s the deal. If a teacher doesn’t plan for instruction, they are either reading a script, flipping a page, or winging it. Which means that the delivered instruction for that day is sub-optimal. It is the planning that allows the teacher to move beyond habit, routines and lowest common denominator practices.

Now, I will agree that the lesson planning requirements of some schools is onerous. But if this is the case, change the process, don’t abandon the practice. And don’t drop the requirement of some lesson planning accountability, whether it is turning lesson plans in to somebody and/or sharing lesson plans in a PLC setting. As soon as the accountability goes away, all but the best teachers will quit lesson planning. Which means all but the best teachers will over-rely on scripts, chapter work, worksheets, habit, routines, and lowest common denominator practices. This is bad for students, stressful for teachers, and a career threat to campus leaders.

LYS does offer, for FREE, a web-based lesson plan developer.  The tool guides the teacher through a quick process that outlines what the teacher intends to do and embeds elements of The Fundamental 5 in the lesson. Once the lesson plan is completed the teacher able to save, print, share and/or edit the plan. Did I mention that this tool is free?

Click here to check it out.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

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