Phase 2 Lesson Plans Overview

You’ve gotten through Phase 1!  It’s likely that you are feeling that your class is close to being “your own” at this point.  If not, it’ll probably happen soon.  Because of this, we have scaled back some of the scaffolding we provided in the Phase 1 lesson plans (yes, this means no more scripted transitions!).  Here’s what you won’t find in Phase 2 lesson plans:

Materials
If it has been useful for you to be able to see at a glance what you need to bring to class, keep including this list in your lesson plan.

Prep
If you have found that our explanations of what you need to do to prepare have helped your class sessions remain organized, keep going with this.

Lead-In
Many instructors find that their class sessions make the most sense when they write out what the students have done to prepare for the day’s class as well as what they are expecting to do during the day’s class.  If you feel you don’t need to write it out, be sure to conceptualize this before you plan each lesson.  Nothing frustrates students more than preparing something irrelevant to class.  Nothing frustrates instructors more than a classroom full of frustrated students.

Transitions
We know that you have your own voice and that you probably haven’t been reading our scripted transitions to your students word-for-word.  Your students likely appreciate both of those things,but not as much as they appreciate transitions between activities.  We’re no longer writing them out here for you, but they’re so important to the continuity of a class session that we heartily encourage you to continue writing them for yourself.  It’s easy to assume that students understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, and how it all relates to everything else, but most of the time at least some of your students don’t.  Again, nothing frustrates students more than so-called “busy work.”  Help your students see that class activities aren’t “busy work” by always explaining the connections between them. 

“Plan B”
At this point you might have a good feel for how long certain kinds of activities tend to take for you and your class.  If not, and even if you do, it’s not a bad idea to note down on your own lesson plan your ideas for extra activities or for ways to cut activities short.

Connection to Next Class
Like the lead-in, some instructors choose to write out a connection to next class.  If you don’t include this section in your lesson plans, be sure you are still looking ahead a few days in the syllabus so that you know what is coming up (and how to modify it to meet your students’ needs).

From Daily to Weekly Lesson Plans

For the first three weeks of Phase 2, we provide daily lesson plans, with the modifications described above.  After Week 8, weekly plans are provided.  These plans state the objectives and connections to course goals and students own writing for the week, then describe some possible activities to meet the objectives and continue to work toward course goals.  You will need to decide which activities will best meet your students' needs as well as the goals and objectives and you will need to structure and sequence each class.  Be sure to look ahead so you can prepare to do so!