Who’s going to need support or scaffolding—and how can I build that in without slowing down the whole group?

What’s the best way to model this so students can see it, hear it, and try it with support before working independently?

How will I know—during the lesson—if they’re grasping the concept or if I need to make adjustments?

Where in this lesson will students engage in thinking, talking, or problem-solving, rather than just listening and watching?

What routines or materials do I need to have in place to maintain focus on learning instead of logistics?

What am I hoping to gain from this lesson with my students?

How will I know if the students are not grasping the concept, and what could I do better next time?

How will I use the assessment data to drive my later instruction and data?

How will I accomplish this?

What will I do if they do not understand it?

How will I assess student understanding?

High-impact instruction and the Arkansas TESS rubric descriptors complement each other well. Both focus on improving teaching practices and student learning outcomes.

High impact instructional practices by focusing on the planning our instructional needs based on essential skills and standards, planning out the delivery and knowing the content and resources available, planning and executing student engagement, and finally assessments. Then using data to drive next steps. The TESS rubric descriptors define and align with these best practices and focus on how to move from good to great. What needs to happen within teaching and learning to move students forward every day, every skill, every content.

While in the planning process if is also important for a teacher to not only know the curriculum, but even more so know the students. Taking the time and energy to know students as learners ensures success as well. It is very important to adjust the delivery, grouping, and assessments if needed for students. Also making adjustments on instruction, extension, intervention makes learning successful.

What should students learn and why?

What accommodations or scaffolds do my students need?

How will I model thinking or problem-solving processes?

How will I check for understanding and adjust as needed?

How will I reflect on the lesson to improve future instruction?

What materials will I use to deliver this content?

What background information do the students need to know before starting this lesson/unit?

How will I assess each individual student?

What misconceptions will they have?

What are their learning styles and how will I deliver the instruction to fit each of their needs?

• What are the essential standards for my content/grade level?

• What is the goal of my teaching? What do I want students to be able to do or know?

• What resources/materials do I have in order to teach this standard?

• Who are my learners in my room (what needs do I have here?)

• Is there any material I need to frontload my students with in order to make this lesson successful?

  
  

What open ended questions will I ask to to get both participation and assessment value?

What exit tickets will I create that reflects the knowledge gained about today's objective?

How can I prepare to be sure transitions are smooth?

Is there a logical sequence for the lesson I am planning?

Are my objectives measurable and referenced throughout the lesson?

*How does that standard tie into prior learning or future learning?

*What outside factors may be inhibiting my students from mastery and how can I be sensitive to those factors?

*What factors are impacting student achievement in the classroom...student behavior, distractions, etc.?

*How will I assess whether or not a student has mastery?

*What are keys highs and lows that I will need to recall in order to debrief with colleagues?

-What prior knowledge, skills, and misconceptions might students bring to this topic?

-How will I differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners, while scaffolding and supporting them along the way?

-What high-impact, engaging strategies will best support the content I am teaching?

-What questions will I ask to promote higher-order thinking and reasoning?

-How will I know if students have met the learning objective(s)?

How can I make a student friendly learning target that they will understand?

What materials will I need to implement this lesson?

How can I make this engaging?

When will I build in student practice?

How can I assess informally?

How will I proceed if the target is not mastered?

What do the students already know?

What do we do if they already know the material?

What do we do if they do not know the material?

What accommodations/needs do we need to address?

What additional resources/strategies do the students need to achieve mastery?

What extensions or interventions are needed?

How will I check for mastery?

What previous learning am I building upon?

What do my students need to know in order for my to teach this?

What learning will follow?

What misconceptions could my students face?

Do my students have the background knowledge need to understand?

What types of scaffolding do I need to have?

How am I going to differentiate for students who need it?

How will I assess learning as the lesson progresses?

What engagement pieces can I use in this lesson?

How will I readdress if my student did not comprehend in tier one learning?

Am I meeting the needs of the individual student?

How can I engage all students?

What are some different strategies I can use to help students understand the skill?

What extension activities are appropriate for those who have mastered skills?

How much time should I allow to reteach a student before moving on?

How will I know if the students have met the goal?

• What are the clear, measurable learning goals for this lesson?

• How will I connect new content to students’ prior knowledge and experiences?

• What instructional strategies will best engage my diverse learners?

• How can I differentiate tasks to meet varied readiness levels?

• What formative assessments will I use to monitor understanding?

• How will I provide timely, constructive feedback?

• What materials and resources will support learning effectively?

• How can I create opportunities for student collaboration and critical thinking?

• What potential misconceptions should I anticipate and address?

• How will I reflect on and adjust my instruction based on student responses?

What should students understand and be able to do by the end of the lesson?

How do these objectives align with my HQIM? 

Do I need to find supplemental resources to meet the instructional outcomes?

What prior knowledge and skills do my students have related to this topic?

How can I differentiate instruction to meet diverse learning needs and styles?

What pre-assessment strategies can I use to gauge student readiness? 

How can I incorporate collaborative and independent learning opportunities?

What connections can I make to enhance relevance? 

What formative and summative assessments will I use to measure student learning?

How will I provide timely and constructive feedback?

In what ways can students self-assess and reflect on their learning progress?

Who are my students?

How much time am I needing to take on this?

What do I need?

How am I going to support student engagement?

What are my questions going to look like?

What am I looking for for understanding throughout the lesson?

What will my assessment look like?

What do my students need to know?

What do they already know?

What resources can I use that will hold their interest?

What do I need to do to differentiate?

How can I extend this into high-level thinking?

How can I make sure that everyone participates?

What is the overall trajectory for the work we will do this year? 

What is the best path of skill acquisition that will lead to proficiency?

Along that path, what are the best points for formative and summative assessment? 

How will I provide daily opportunities for meaningful practice and feedback on those skills?

What routines and feedback types will provide students with the most accurate understanding of their progress?

How can I engage students in classroom management, question formulation, and independent progress monitoring? 

What do the students already know / have the ability to do relative to rigorous grade-level standards?

How will students know when they have met the standard? 

How will I supplement learning when students fall below the standard or exceed it? 

What supports will students need in order to be successful? 

Which practices do I need to cut to ensure that I am only using high-impact instruction? 

What accommodations do I need to be aware of and honor? 

Are my goals and criteria clear, student-friendly, and aligned with the progress trajectory? 

What needs to be added/subtracted from a lesson or unit in order to fully focus our efforts toward our goals? 

What tools can I provide to students that will help them to reflect on their leaning in an effective way? 

Which teachers have had success with this standard, what are they doing differently, and how can I learn from their practice? 

How can I streamline daily data gathering and analysis to make planning easier and delivery more responsive?

Am I varying the types of thinking/problem solving that I am requiring?

Am I allowing a variety of access and production opportunities?

What tools am I using to measure achievement? Are they valid, fair, clear? Do they follow a progression of skill building? What needs to be refined?

How do I know they learned it?

How will I support the students who mastered it?

How will I extend the learning for those who mastered the skill?

What does the data indicate about the skills tested?

How can I use this data to drive my instruction?

What HQIM can I use to explicitly teach my lesson?

What misconceptions will students have?

What are my learning targets/goals and assessments?

How will I monitor my student's progress?

How will I track my student's learning?

1. What do I want the students to learn or be able to do? (Standard and learning objective)

2. How do I know when they've got it? (What will masterly look like? How will this be assessed? )

3. How will I help them reach mastery? (What questions, scaffolds, activities, or materials will guide the learning?)

4. What can I do to help students that aren't getting it and how can I extend the learning for students that already have the desired skill/knowledge? (Small group, interventions, extensions)

High impact instructional elements directly connect to planning. To achieve highly effective within TESS there has to be effective planning. Effective planning ensures lessons are aligned with the learning objectives and instruction. Planning and instruction are important Tess descriptors, Domains 1 and 2. Also, creating a positive learning enviroment is a high impact instructional element and is directly addressed in TESS Domain 3.

How does the lesson connect to the standards?

What materials are needed for the lesson?

What is the learning objective?

What prior knowledge does the students need to know?

How do I keep all students engaged in the lesson?

How can the lesson be differentiated to meet the needs of all students?

How should I breakdown the components within the standard?

What vocabulary might students need clarity on?

What will be my list of progressional goals and outcomes for this standard?

What similarities or differences should I make sure to clarify before we begin?

When should students receive their first assessment?

How will I assess them? What will I do after assessing them?

*Clear objectives/outcomes are necessary

*Teacher and students need to have a clear understanding

*Standards alignment planning is critical

*Data driven

*The end goal for both is student learning

How will students be engaged and kept interested throughout the lesson?

How will I track my students' progress?

How will I support struggling students?

How will I know they have learned it?

What high quality materials will I use?

What worked well and what needs improvement? (Reflection)

Do they all have common background knowledge or this teaching?

What are some problems or misunderstandings that might come up? How will I use those to guide instruction?

How will I know if they have it?

What will I do if they don't? What comes next when they do have it?

How will I manage space and materials?