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Read this brief article about common lesson planning challenges.

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Read this brief article about common lesson planning challenges.

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Do you face any of these challenges?

What can you do to adapt your activities to your student's needs?

Is there a way to make your lesson plan a useful tool, instead of a day to day hassle?

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That depends.Is your student an English language learner who really needs conversation practice?If so, then time spent talking is great, especially when the conversation has a clear focus with established learning objectives. See the Speaking and Listening page to help ensure that your conversation practice is focused an effective!

However, if your student is not in need of conversation practice for speaking and listening skills, sometimes small talk can take over your class or tutoring session.As you get to know your student, it's common to want to spend more and more time talking each week.It's important to check in with how your student is doing and catch up, but because tutoring and class time is valuable (and limited), try directing your student's interest in socializing to a relevant lesson activity. Many volunteers rely on warm-ups to help them and their students get ready to learn. Try some warm-up activities or use the time you spend chatting to check in with your learning goals and set goals for the coming weeks.
I never have enough time to finish the last part of my lesson.What should I do?
If you're running out of time in class to finish your lesson, you may need to adjust your lesson plans and your expectations of what you can cover in one class.You might also think about whether too much time is spent on things not related to the lesson.If you are spending too much time socializing, try to maintain your students' focus on the lesson.If students are spending too much time looking through class materials to find specific papers or assignments, spend time one day helping them organize their materials in a binder for easy access.If you're spending more time explaining material than you anticipated, consider whether the material you're using is at an appropriate level or try breaking it into smaller chunks.
My lessons never go according to plan.Is this okay?
It's important to be flexible when you're teaching.Many lesson plans look great on paper but don't always go according to plan.Pay attention to where you get off track, and adjust your lesson plan according to the needs of the class or student.
I don't think students are maintaining the skills they learn from week to week.How can I address this issue?
Are you including an opportunity to review new skills at the beginning and end of each lesson?In order to help students maintain what they learn, check their comprehension at the end of each lesson or activity.In addition, before introducing new material in the next lesson, be sure to confirm that they've mastered what was covered in the previous lesson.If your student can maintain the skills they learn for a few weeks, but cannot do so throughout the quarter or year, try having monthly or quarterly review sessions to brush up on any skills they need extra help with.
My student wants to learn so much!How can I make sure we address all her learning goals?
Keep in mind that it can take a long time for students to achieve their learning goals, and not all of them can be addressed at once.For larger goals, help your student break them down into smaller steps and keep track of those steps.

For many small goals, try keeping a log in a notebook or Progress Journal of issues, topics, or questions that your student has.Each time an issue comes up, write down the date, the request, and the skills or competencies that a lesson on that topic would address.Some topics that come up may not be appropriate for a lesson, but write them down anyway.When you're ready to switch to a new topic, try reviewing the log with your student and picking out the next topic you want to work on together.

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Common Lesson Planning Challenges - Literacy Online

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That depends.Is your student an English language learner who really needs conversation practice?If so, then time spent talking is great, especially when the conversation has a clear focus with established learning objectives. See the Speaking and Listening page to help ensure that your conversation practice is focused an effective!

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Now that you have been able to share some ideas, check out how Montessorian Teachers plan their lessons.

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A Well Written Montessori Lesson Plan Goes A Long Way

To write a great Montessori lesson plan, a teacher must consider both the educational standards and the abilities of the student.

The purpose of a well-written lesson plan is two-fold. The first. is to assist the teacher in lesson preparation. The second is to enable the director to ensure school standards are well met.

Of course, ideally, the educator must plan on using appropriate Montessori materials, understanding the stages of development, and setting the lesson in a Montessori classroom. But once you consider all those factors, how does the educator organize their lesson planning?
Please note: This article may contain some affiliate links.
Montessori Lesson Plan: The Elements

The most important elements an educator incorporates in his lesson plan are: naming lesson type, identifying prerequisites, setting objects and listing materials. Next, the educator carefully plans out the language she will use to teach the lesson. She will also anticipate some questions her student may ask. Finally, the teacher will conclude the Montessori lesson plan by naming future lessons and activities.

Tip: Scroll to the bottom of this article for a Pinterest friendly infographic designed to help you remember the lesson planning steps.

Step 1: Title the Lesson

The first step to creating a lesson plan is simple. Here, the teacher identifies the new skill he will be introducing to the student. In a primary classroom, a lesson title might be: "Making CVC words" or "Adding two single-digit numbers together."

Step 2: List the Prerequisites

In the next step of creating a Montessori lesson plan, the educator will list the previously mastered skills, skills that are necessary to proceed with the new lesson.

Here, the educator must assess the student's level of readiness for new information.

The questions he must ask himself include:

Does the child demonstrate a good level of self-confidence to take on this new skill?

Does the student have a reasonable level of organization to handle the new responsibilities associated with the new information?

How well has she mastered pre-requisite skills?

For an ELA lesson: Does the student have a good grasp of concepts such as phonemic awareness?

For a math lesson: Does the child understand one to one correspondence?

Listing the prerequisites and asking the right questions is a crucial second step to writing an outstanding Montessori lesson plan.

Step 3: List the Main Objective of the Montessori Lesson Plan

It is important that a teacher identifies a clear set of objectives in step three of the Montessori lesson plan. Here, the teacher will list the main goal of the lesson. This objective might look similar to the lesson title but will include additional information.

A great objective includes specific requirements the student must meet before she is deemed to have mastered the lesson.

For example, if the title of the lesson is "Making CVC Words," the main objective might be: "The student will be able to create three CVC words (top, mop, pop), using the moveable alphabet. The student will perform this task with 100% accuracy."

Sandpaper letters are incorporated into many classic Montessori lesson plans.

Step 4: List the Bonus Objective

In addition to the main objective, which is directly aligned to the topic of the lesson, the teacher can identify bonus objectives. A bonus objective is any goal that the student meets as a natural result of the lesson.

For instance, let's say a math lesson incorporates counting 10 pom balls using tongs. The main objective is for the student to understand the correlation of objects to numbers. And the bonus objective is to develop fine motor skills by squeezing the tongs.

It is always good practice for a Montessori teacher to look for bonus objectives, incorporate them in every planned activity.

Step 5: List the Materials

No great Montessori lesson plan can be executed without appropriate Montessori materials. Therefore, the next step to creating a lesson plan is to list every item you will use. Listing every little thing you need might seem tedious at first. But, if you spend any time rummaging through a pile of objects searching for a major but elusive material you need, you already know how much time this step saves.

A typical lesson plan might include objects such as a pencil, notebook paper, crayons, and Montessori 3-part cards.

Step 6: Plan the Montessori Lesson Delivery

By this point, the educator is already well organized. He knows exactly what the lesson is called and what pre-requisite skills the student needs. He is familiar with both main and secondary objectives. And he wrote out a list of Montessori materials for the lesson.

Armed with all this homework, the teacher is ready to plan how he will facilitate the lesson.

First things first. The teacher must decide where the lesson will take place, and how many students will participate in the lesson. In a homeschool or a Montessori classroom, the group is often only one student.

Once the decisions on where and how many have been made, the teacher must plan for how she will describe and model the new skill to the students.

This is an example of how an experienced Montessori teacher planned the second lesson delivery of the Amphibians and Reptiles Montessori Kit*:

❖ Invite your child to work with you.
❖ Show and identify the photo and figurine of the lily pad. Say, "Lily pads are plants that you can see floating on the surface of a pond. Frogs and turtles often live near ponds. Both frogs and turtles are cold-blooded. This doesn't mean there blood is cold, it means they are the same temperature as their environment. Sometimes a frog or small turtle will sit on a lily pad or a log to bask in sunlight and warm themselves."
❖ Show the two pages with the drawings of lily pads. Say, "Let's count these lily pads." (There are 12).
❖ Continue, "Let's put one animal on each lily pad."
❖ Next take out the cards with photos of various frogs and turtles. Say, "I have some pictures of real frogs and turtles. Let's see if you can find the figurine that matches the picture."
❖ One at a time lay out the cards and name the frog or turtle. Have your child place the matching figurine on or next to the card. (The names are on the underside).
❖ Continue, "All animals need to protect themselves from predators (animals that might eat them). How do you think turtles protect themselves? (Their shells are hard.) Do you notice some of the frogs are brightly colored? This is a form of protection, too. Frogs don't have shells, but some create a toxin, or poison. The bright colors warn predators that they are poisonous and will cause sickness or death if a predator chooses to eat them."
❖ End with, "Next time we will learn more about turtles.
- Reptiles and Amphibias Brainy Kit, Lesson 2

* All Brainy Kits come with 7 complete lesson plans, ready for implementation in the Montessori classroom or homeschool.

Step 7: Anticipating Questions

It is inevitable, that a student who is paying attention will have questions. A Montessori teacher often anticipates the questions that might come up. If she has worked with the child for some time, she might also know the unique struggles the student might face.

Step seven to creating the Montessori lesson plan is to anticipate the questions and how to address them. For instance, if the lesson includes the movable alphabet, one possible issue might be the student having trouble identifying a letter.

It is helpful to list both the potential questions and potential answers or solutions. If you are stumped, a quick google search could help you here. Remember, this part gets easier with practice too. The more you teach, the more you'll find some questions and struggles are very common - and easy to anticipate. For instance, almost all children initially confuse letters b and d. And a quick google search of "how to tell letters b and d apart" will provide you with a wealth of potential solutions.

Step 8: List Future Activities

We are almost done with planning a Montessori lesson!

But, before you finish, its time to look towards the future. A great lesson plan should include two to three activities that will build off of this lesson. After all, the current lesson is only a pre-requisite for future lessons.

In this step, the teacher must ask herself "What skills can I teach once my student masters the skills in this lesson?" Having a teaching goal helps keep the teacher on track and ensures the information she covers is relevant and helpful to her students.

Remain Flexible: Unofficial Step 9 of the Montessori Lesson Plan

Although not strictly part of the Montessori lesson planning process, this is an important step nevertheless. It is important to keep in mind - no students are the same. No matter how great your lesson plan is, some flexibility is often necessary. If you find you must deviate from the lesson do not think of this as a failure. Instead, consider this a learning experience. With this new experience, your next lesson will be that much better.

After all - we are not just teachers and we are not only here to write a Montessori lesson plan. We are students too. Much like our students, as long as we keep learning, we will keep growing.

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Writing a Montessori Lesson Plan - Get Brainy Box

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A Well Written Montessori Lesson Plan Goes A Long Way To write a great Montessori lesson plan, a teacher must consider both the educational standards and the abilities of the student. The purpose of a well-written lesson plan is two-fold. The first. is to assist the teacher in lesson preparation....