We are losing. Some would call it a struggle or a battle or a straight-up war. The war of preparation of lesson planning for our students. We are losing because so many teachers are not ready to teach our students by the time the day begins or the bell rings.
Curriculums are being sold to our districts or schools. They often come with an online platform, a deck, a teacher’s guide, a student workbook, an intervention plan and/or platform, and sometimes even more. The resources today are far greater and more useful than the textbook and/or teacher edition that I was given when I was a teacher. Sometimes, back in the day, I was not privileged enough to get the teachers’ edition. There is so much that teachers have access to. They are so lucky. Are they? If they are so lucky then why are lessons often not exposing students (See the Opportunity Myth) to grade level content? Why are most of my school leaders rating lesson plans ineffective or developing when the observation is considered impromptu? Why do teachers think that a slide show is a lesson plan? The fact that these questions are conjuring discussions with teachers and leaders drives me to believe that we are losing the war.
Is there such a thing as too many resources? I have a hard time landing at this conclusion. My twenty-something self is so jealous of what teachers get to play around with. I remember looking through the books the previous teacher left behind to find different strategies or more questions/scenarios my students could answer. I spent so much time creating worksheets that scaffolded content for my students. Endless hours supplementing my teachers’ edition. Now teachers get this automatically? Or there’s this thing called the internet with tons of tested resources? As my kids say, I was feeling “jelly.” One would assume that they have it so good.
The problem with these resources is that they take up so much time. I prepared a lesson plan using one of these curriculums. It took me over 30 minutes to SCAN (not read) through the various resources. Then it took me another 30 minutes to identify what I was going to use for the lesson plan. Then it took me about 50 minutes to put the actual lesson plan together that ensured I would finish within a single 45-minute teaching period and complete the student work to anticipate any hangups. One hour and 50 minutes to put a lesson plan together. Before I enroll you that this is a long duration of time, I do want to ground us on the reality that scanning the resources will eventually happen in a shorter amount of time as I familiarize myself with them.
Regardless, this is about an hour and a half to prepare one lesson plan. Now multiply this by two, three, four, or up to five classes. So, two to four hours should be devoted to lesson planning a day? For my strong teachers out there, that may not be half the time you spend. That might be a drop in the bucket (It took me about the same when I was a teacher. I spent an average of 2-3 hours after school for 3 different classes). But most teachers are not strong. In addition, if a teacher is not planning effectively, he or she is most likely encountering frustration with the disengagement coming from their students. After a few of those classes, self-efficacy could dwindle quickly.
I think many leaders will also have the expectation and assumption that teachers need to plan beyond the 40-45 minute preparatory period. In many instances, teachers do not think twice about giving up that time. Personally, I agree. Successful teachers know they need to plan outside of the preparatory period. It seems the majority of teachers may not agree. Especially in this day and age. The question I keep asking is “why?”
I think it comes down to these three factors:
1. Overwhelming content – Curriculums are coming with as many resources as they can to be more valuable to schools. Estimations of time on many lesson plans do not match the actual output. In many instances, these lessons plans are a list of potential activities. Unfortunately, teachers are trying to do them all with fidelity, possibly from pressure from above or a lack of understanding of how the lesson plan given to them actually functions. What do solutions look like? Book companies need to provide more PD that’s not asynchronous. If they are going to sell you a curriculum then they need to ensure that it’s successfully implemented (its to their advantage to do this to ensure success). Schools with or without the support of book companies need to train teachers how to internalize the curriculums.
2. Not worth the time – Many teachers are not doing well with keeping up with the workload. We want them to build relationships with students, parents, their peers, etc. While we can argue that they need to find time, based on self-efficacy theory derived by Bandura, teachers will spend time completing actions they perceive as worthwhile, impactful, yielding growth, or that they do well. If teachers are not lesson planning, they can make the excuse of time but they still find time to do the things they enjoy. If they do not enjoy lesson planning, then how can we support them so they can do it effectively to see how it’s worthwhile, impactful, and results in seeing their own growth (and the student growth)? Ideally, we want to spend time lesson planning with them or having them do it with their peers. They can prepare, try it out, and then debrief. Learn, adjust, and try it again. There are two key pieces to this approach: they need an expert in the room to ensure they have success (at least for the first few cycles) and they need to do it together. This is where innovation and creation really find a home. Most people need creative space. Figuring out facilitation, transition, or differentiation moves with colleagues becomes best practices at one point or another.
3. Not enough time – We can all acknowledge that 45 minutes a day is not enough. People who know how to effectively teach understand that the work takes much longer. If teachers are taking the time to lesson plan, it is most likely in isolation. Additional time on their own to lesson plan, in my history results in teachers just resting or continuing with ineffective practices (which inevitably gets blamed on children). Internalization needs to happen to understand how the year is supposed to piece together. It has to happen with a unit to determine how the lessons support each other. Then it has to happen daily to understand the trajectory of learning for their students to determine the best course of action in a single day. That’s right. As mentioned previously, the lesson plans sold to schools are not necessarily going to get accomplished in a single 45 minute period. Decisions need to be made that best support students in meeting the standard. I would also offer that most teachers probably do not know how to do at least two of the three (mapping, unit planning, or lesson planning). An observation pre or post-observation is not the space to teach them. They need time and support. It’s worth giving up those days in May and June for September delivery so you can get in a mode of planning a unit right before you deliver it with common planning time, staff meetings, professional development time, or whenever you can find time for teachers to meet. For the record, teachers plus time does not equal better lesson planning. Teachers plus time plus supervision/support equals better lesson planning.
In summary, stop losing the struggle, battle, or war. It’s not simply finding a way to make people use their personal time more effectively. Instead, meet with your staff and start problem-solving. Be willing to invest those resources of time, support, collaboration, and professional development to remind teachers that they are worth it and that thorough lesson planning does make a difference. Good luck to you all!
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