Standard 3 - 3.2.1

Standard 3 - 3.2.1 - Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.

How well a lesson runs depends a lot on the planning that went into it, at ACU I learnt how to prepare for a lesson and how to write a lesson plan. One of the most important aspect of the lesson plan is time management, the lesson plan indicates how much time should be allocated for each step of the lesson. Sticking to the lesson plan is important, however through my professional learning experiences  I have found it is much easier to accomplish in theory than practice. 

In my practical placements i was creating a lesson plan for each lesson and trying to stick to it as much as possible, I managed to accomplish this quite well, except for the day that the university inspector was observing me, this happened to be the day that I managed to get through all the content... with time to spare. This was when I learnt the hard way to always have extra work available to provide the students with, for those that finish early or if the class ran very smoothly with no interruptions.

Planning is an integral part to a new teachers success, with enough preparation a teacher can be ready for almost any situation which may arise in a classroom. A good lesson plan should have differentiation embedded throughout all sections, a teacher should be prepared for students who struggle with the work, find the work too easy, have trouble focusing or require a different teaching style to understand the same concepts.

Each lesson plan will get better with practice and as my knowledge of the class increases, the better that I understand my students means that I will be able to plan a lesson which is more specific to them and what learning style they require. 

My experiences have shown me that as long as you are prepared for the lesson and the upcoming lessons, you can ensure that the class is given many opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and it becomes clear which students require further help. It is always better to be over-prepared than under.