"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."- Abraham Lincoln

Although planning and preparation often involves mostly behind-the-scenes work, it is some of the most important (and time-consuming) work that we do as teachers. When planning our instruction ahead of time, we must consider who we're teaching, what we're teaching, how we're teaching it, and how we can formatively assess for student understanding. In order to do this, we must create instructional outcomes that are stated as goals that can be assessed, reflecting rigorous learning and curriculum standards. They should represent different types of content, offer opportunities for cooperative learning, and take into account the unique backgrounds and academic/social needs of each student.

As much as we can plan and prepare to meet the needs of our students through the development and implementation of lesson plans, as effective educators, we must always be prepared for our plans to go out the window--each day brings a new challenge because our students are human. Even when we do spend ample time and energy "sharpening the axe," we're not always going to chop down the tree on the first try. As teachers, we must be flexible and self-reflective in our planning and preparation, willing to go the extra mile to meet our students where they are at, while still holding them to a high standard.