Planning

Planning and structuring lessons

Teacher standards 3 and 4

Planning and structuring lessons

Strategy for Lesson

Strategy for training from mentor

Give an illusion of pace and shift in your lesson

Add a variety of different types of activity in a teaching sequence (whole class questioning, independent writing, peer discussion) to give an illusion of pace and shift the kinds of thinking students do.

For an upcoming lesson, go through each activity and ensure that students are not engaged in the same type of 'thinking' throughout i.e., only working in pairs, only discussing, only reading etc., as this can lead to the sense of a slower pace. Help the teacher to replan activities to ensure that students feel that the kind of thinking they are doing is changing.

Crisp start to activities

Make sure your activities have a clear, clean start: instruction, time given, order to begin - 'I want you to__ you have three minutes, go!'

For an upcoming lesson, write a microscript for the start of all the activities:

  1. What is the instruction?
  2. How much time is going to be given?
  3. What is the cue word to begin?
  4. Wbegun? (Wait from front then circulate. After 3 minutes, live mark).
  5. What will the teacher do if some students do not comply? (VR-W-BIR)

Rehearse this script until the teacher is comfortable.

Positively reinforce behaviour once activity has started

Once you start an activity, positively narrate students who quickly get going e.g., 'Shamima has started writing straight away. So has Sarah___.'

Script a set of generic phrases the teacher can use to build positive momentum at the start of a task. Focus on these being warm / strict.

Ending an activity

Give students a count-down towards the end of an activity (Three minutes left, 1 minute, pens down in 30 seconds, SLANT in 3,2,1 Pens down).

For an upcoming lesson, script end of task countdowns.

Provide clear time reminder

Use one of the following practice tasks to help your mentee achieve their action step.

For an upcoming lesson, talk through each task and discuss an appropriate length for each task.

Use an online countdown timer and embed it into the presentation.

Silence during independent practice periods

During periods of independent practice, strictly enforce absolute silence in the classroom.

Microscript the practice component of the teacher's lesson. Focus on what they do in response to non-compliance. Rehearse the script, building the level of non-compliance slowly.

Independent practice that is long enough

For students unwilling to practise for long periods of time, set small targets to meet e.g., 'Write down to this line, then put your hand up.' or 'write up to this point (mark a dot on the page) and show me once done'.

Slowly increase your expectations.

Ask the teacher to think of a fitting student. For a series of upcoming lessons, make a specific plan for this student in which the teacher slowly asks them to build the amount of time they spend practising solidly.

Model at least once

For any extended task, make sure you give students at least one model of high quality work to base theirs upon.

For an upcoming lesson, work with the teacher to create a high quality model to show the students. Script what the teacher will say to draw the students' attention to significant aspects of this model.

Break down the model

When discussing a model with students, make sure you break this down into a concrete list of success criteria.

For an upcoming lesson, work with the teacher to create a high quality model and success criteria to show students. Script what the teacher will say to draw the students' attention to significant aspects of this.

Live model

If you write a model live in class, make sure you narrate your expert thinking and have students note this down as you talk.

For an upcoming lesson, work with the teacher to plan roughly what they are going to do in their model. Then, write a script in which attention is drawn to significant aspects of the teacher's thought process.

Remove scaffolds over time

Make sure you remove any scaffolds you give students after initial practise.

For an upcoming lesson, work with the teacher to create an appropriate scaffold for an activity. Then, plan for how this scaffold can be reduced in upcoming lessons.

Planning the start of a lesson

Treat each lesson as a clean slate in terms of student behaviour. Don't hold grudges. Use this pre-lesson checklist: 1) Am I calm? 2) Am I smiling? 3) Is my body language open? 4) Is my tone of voice calm and positive?

Work with the teacher on a body position and tone of voice appropriate for the start of lessons. Have them adopt this at the entrance to a classroom and give them feedback. Role play students arriving to class and introducing non-compliance.

Key questions for the lesson - rehearse them!

Plan a list of 3-5 important questions that you will use to advance student understanding. Write these down in advance of the lesson.

For an upcoming lesson, plan these questions with the teacher.

Lesson transitions

Plan exactly how students are going to transition through key moments of the lesson. If any activity seems like it will cause chaos, don't use it.

For an upcoming lesson, talk through the key transitions between tasks. If the teacher does not know exactly how this will work, or is unsure, encourage them to modify the activity or create a better plan.