Dr. Gerstein shares her expertise and insights into lesson planning. She provides teachers with some forward-thinking reflective questions to ask themselves as they plan learning experiences for their students.
posted by: Ryan Schaaf
I absolutely love planning lessons from scratch. I just got a job teaching technology units for a summer camp for elementary age students. I can design and teach whatever I want – planning for a different theme each week. Some of the themes I am planning are: Expanding and Showing Your Personal Interests Through Blogging, Photos, and Videos; Coding and Creating Online Games; Tinkering and Making – Simple Robotics; Hacking Your Notebook; and Creating Online Comics, Newspapers, and Magazines. I have begun the process of planning these classes through reflecting on what the lessons will look like. Here are some questions I ask myself as I go through this process:
- Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to tap into their own personal interests and passions?
- Will the learning activities offer the learners the chance to put them “selves” into their work?
- Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to express themselves using their own authentic voices?
- Will the learners find the learning activities engaging? interesting? relevant? useful?
- What “cool” technologies can be used to help meet both the instructional and the learners’ goals?
- Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to have fun and to play?
- Will learners be able to do at least some of the work independently?
- Will the learning activities give all of the learners opportunities to shine?
- Will the learners get the chance to share their work with other learners, with a more global audience?
