Table of Contents

AY 300 - Fall 2012: Fourth Day Lesson Plan

Preface

Today's class will discuss lesson plans, demos, and quiz questions.

GOALS

Section/Group Work Sharing (25 min)

The person on call for this week will share their section experience. Some questions include:

During this (and after), open the floor up for general questions and sharing about how sections are going. We will do this every week for the rest of the semester.

Transition to discussion of group work activities that were done in section.

Lesson Plans (20 min)

(10 min) Get in groups and share your lesson plans with each other. Comment on whether learning objectives are specific, whether activities are well motivated, and if the assessment properly assesses the learning objectives.

(10 min) Discussion as a class: What is important for a lesson plan?

Some notes:

Here is a 12-step program for writing effective lesson plans. Here is the same content in handout form. Here is a lesson plan template.

  1. Identify topics to cover.
    • Lecture meets for ~150 minutes a week, while discussion section meets only 50 minutes a week. You cannot be expected to recap a week's worth of material. Don't even try! Pick two, at most three, topics to cover during your 50 minutes. Encourage students to attend office hours if they have more questions.
  2. Define the learning objectives of the section.
    • Ask yourself ``What do I want students to leave with at the end of our 50 minutes together?“ Be specific. Are these goals long-term (e.g., mastery of a skill) or short-term (e.g., recapping material)?
  3. Determine what method and materials you will use to accomplish these goals.
    • Will you spend section having a classroom discussion, individualized problem solving, or group work? Will there be demonstrations? What materials will you need?
  4. Think of a motivation or ``hook” to open the section with.
    • How will you get the student's attention? Flashy demos, hypothetical or real-world situations involving material from lecture, or an ungraded quiz of questions from past exams are good ways of getting students focused.
  5. Write a draft of the discussion section. Including an opening hook, procedures, and closing.
    • Do not forget things such as conveying any administrative notes and allowing time for questions.
  6. Add details and specific examples. Eliminate vague words like ``discuss,“ ``introduce,” or ``explain.“
    • HOW will you explain a particular topic? Give details. What will you write on the board to aid in your explanation? What prompts will you give to the class?
  7. Criticize your timetable.
    • The average attention span is 10–15 minutes. Are you spending longer than this on a particular exercise? Break up your discussion section with demos, lecture work, group work, class discussions, etc. that last only 10 minutes or so.
  8. Come up with a backup plan.
    • Wednesday lecture was canceled and students are not ready to discuss the material you had planned to cover. Or your students are so smart that you finish your discussion section in 30 minutes. What do you do now? Have backup plans.
  9. Critique your lesson plan globally.
    • Look over your entire plan. Does it work to accomplish your learning objectives? If not, have your learning objectives changed or does your plan need revising?
  10. Critique your lesson plan meticulously.
    • You should be able to write a sentence on how each part of your lesson plan goes to accomplishing your learning objectives. If you cannot, that may be alerting you to revise your learning objectives or to revise your plan.
  11. Determine how you will assess the success of your discussion section.
    • Will you ask questions near the end of section to probe whether section was successful? Will you ask for written or oral feedback?
  12. Repeat any of the above steps as necessary.

Administering Demos (10 min)

Break (2 min)

Writing Homework/Quiz Questions (30 min)

Activity

Notes:

Quizzes are

Quizzes are used

Homework questions

Board Work Activity (25 min)

(1 min) Explanation

(25 min = 5+5+5+5+5) Board Work Activities

Planning Section (remaining time)