When telling a story, we often focus on the who, what, when, where and how. Who, is the student; the student should be the focus of education as they are the one who will benefit the most from their instruction. Where, is the classroom, the place where material is presented. When, is either during class time or homework time, as the material is initially presented and then practices. How, is the individual activities and lessons, each selected in order to teach the what. What is the lesson objective, the basic concept of what the student is supposed to understand. In planning a lesson, we work who, what, then how. You start with the student, then add in an objective and finally plan how you are going to meet the objective.
While the students come first, the most important element of lesson planning is the learning objective (Newman, 2013). We know who, but we must know what. In teaching math, if the student is given the problem to add 1+1, this is a teaching method; learning this one problem should not be the learning objective. The objective in this case would be to teach the concept of addition.
Without these clear learning objectives, teachers tend to plan lessons without focus. An activity could be planned for fun instead of for the learning opportunity. This can lead to what is known as accidental learning. Students will be able to complete the lesson, but they lose the point. According to Newman, this learning is “hands-on
without being minds-on” (Newman, 2013, sect. 9.2 para 3 line 2-3).
Another common mistake that can occur without a clear learning objective is focusing on the amount of information covered (Newman, 2013). This focus on the breadth of information encourages teachers to work through the information without consideration of the amount of learning happening during class. Teaching is not a race to the finish line; it is the slow and steady movement through a learning process.
This concept of working from the learning objectives to plan the lesson is known as backwards design. This begins with creating a list of objectives for the students (Jones, Vermette and Jones,2009). This list of objectives is then used to plan activities and lessons for the students. As the lessons progress, the teacher monitors the students progress and continues teaching to the objective until they achieve mastery, even if lessons are repeated.
This varies from the traditional method of lesson planning in one major way. Backwards design begins with the what; what is the objective of the lesson. The traditional method of lesson planning begins with the how; how will I teach these children. This traditional method begins with picking the curriculum, and working through it (Newman, 2013). As mentioned earlier, this however can lead to focusing on finishing the selected curriculum instead of mastering the skills.
While the students come first, the most important element of lesson planning is the learning objective (Newman, 2013). We know who, but we must know what. In teaching math, if the student is given the problem to add 1+1, this is a teaching method; learning this one problem should not be the learning objective. The objective in this case would be to teach the concept of addition.
Without these clear learning objectives, teachers tend to plan lessons without focus. An activity could be planned for fun instead of for the learning opportunity. This can lead to what is known as accidental learning. Students will be able to complete the lesson, but they lose the point. According to Newman, this learning is “hands-on
without being minds-on” (Newman, 2013, sect. 9.2 para 3 line 2-3).
Another common mistake that can occur without a clear learning objective is focusing on the amount of information covered (Newman, 2013). This focus on the breadth of information encourages teachers to work through the information without consideration of the amount of learning happening during class. Teaching is not a race to the finish line; it is the slow and steady movement through a learning process.
This concept of working from the learning objectives to plan the lesson is known as backwards design. This begins with creating a list of objectives for the students (Jones, Vermette and Jones,2009). This list of objectives is then used to plan activities and lessons for the students. As the lessons progress, the teacher monitors the students progress and continues teaching to the objective until they achieve mastery, even if lessons are repeated.
This varies from the traditional method of lesson planning in one major way. Backwards design begins with the what; what is the objective of the lesson. The traditional method of lesson planning begins with the how; how will I teach these children. This traditional method begins with picking the curriculum, and working through it (Newman, 2013). As mentioned earlier, this however can lead to focusing on finishing the selected curriculum instead of mastering the skills.