Creating an engaging and interactive lesson plan is not a simple task. It takes a lot of effort if a systematic procedure is not followed.
As a teacher, if you are also struggling to create a lesson plan, then this article is especially for you. In this article, you will learn the right approach to developing engaging and interactive lesson plans.
Whether you take online or offline classes, this article gives you a step-by-step guide that can help you develop lesson plans that suit your students.
Before diving into the topic, let’s understand why developing lesson plans is important to provide a high-quality learning process.
5 Importance of Developing Lesson Plan
Here are the top 5 reasons that show why, as a teacher, you should have a lesson plan every time before entering the classroom –
- Ensures clear learning objectives and goals are met.
- Help you effectively manage classrooms
- Helps teachers provide personalised learning
- Boost teachers’ confidence
- Provide a proper learning structure
5 Easy Steps to Develop Engaging Lesson Plans
Here are 5 steps that will help you develop effective lesson planning for your classroom. These are universal steps that will work for your classroom; it doesn’t matter whether it’s a virtual or regular offline classroom.
Step 1: Know Your Students
The first and most important step in creating a lesson plan is understanding your students. Every class you have will have a mix of personalities, learning styles, and abilities. You should take all these differences and backgrounds into consideration before making lesson plans.
Your class may contain more visual learners. Some of your students may prefer to do activities more or to have discussions. Knowing their interests and academic strengths fine-tunes your lessons for their needs. You can get this information by observing, with some small-group informal surveys, or even just asking students in class what they enjoy most in the classroom.
Pro Tip: Because all students are wired differently with varying abilities and learning styles, differentiated instruction can be a hook to get them engaged in the classroom. Involve all entities in various ways to keep them included.
Step 2: Define Clear Learning Objectives
Now that you have come to know your learners, the next thing would be to set clear learning objectives. Without it, both the teachers and the students would easily lose focus in the lesson. Well-defined objectives give your lesson some shape and direction, as they tell the students exactly what to expect.
Your objectives should be:
- Specific: What exactly do you want the students to learn?
- Measurable: How can you measure if they’ve learnt it?
- Possible: Is it doable in the time and with the resources available?
Instead of saying something so misty, such as “Students will learn about fractions,” say something much more clear, like “Students will be able to add and subtract fractions with denominators.”
When students know what they’re working towards, it’s not only motivating but also works much better because students will be much more invested in the lesson.
Step 3: Create a Structured Lesson Plan
Not only are you determining what to teach, but you are also presenting it. A planned approach ensures that you are able to get through all of the material in the time you have and keeps students interested in learning.
Here’s a very barebones outline to follow:
- Introduce: Introduce with a hook or question.
- Instruct: Present the information’s body and break it into bite-sized chunks.
- Practice: Let the students try to solve some problems in pairs or individually
- Summary: Summarise the main points in the end to quickly revise everything.
Take control of time, too. Do not overwhelm your students with information at once. Break the lesson into bits, and use transitional phrases to help the flow.
Step 4: Incorporate Engaging Activities
Interactive activities, such as group work, class discussions, and experimenting hands-on, are the best ways to keep students focused and interested.
Vary it up, and keep the lesson fresh.
Use case studies or simulations about the topic of the lesson; even real-world applications make the material come alive.
For example, in mathematics, you can use something as a game in which students have to solve some equations if they want to win or be at the top. Maybe in history, you can use role-playing of an event that occurred earlier. Variety will keep your students energetic and excited about what is being taught.
Step 5: Use Technology to Your Advantage
In this electronic-techno-advanced world, the application of technology in lesson plans is expected to further enhance student involvement. There are numerous benefits of using technology in technology, it can significantly change the way students learn.Interactive tools, such as online quizzes, learning videos, or even apps for enriching knowledge, enhance learning and can add an interesting layer to lessons.
Digital platforms allow collaboration, instant feedback, and even interactive content that holds students’ attention better than the traditional methods. Kahoot, Google Classroom, and Zoom are among many tools that break the monotony of routine instruction while giving hands-on experiences to students.
Technology, when incorporated into your teaching objectives, should not work against your intentions but become a learning experience and not a distraction.
For better implementation of this step, you will need AI-powered smart boards such as SENSES Intelligent Interactive Panel. It will not only help you in lesson planning but also in managing classrooms effectively.
Enhance Classroom Learning with SENSES Smartboards
Planning great lessons is only the beginning. The actual tools that are utilised in the classroom also make all the difference in how powerful those lessons are. This is where the SENSES Interactive Panel/Smartboard come into the picture.
Interactive functionality and the scope of adding multimedia provide SENSES Smartboards with an edge in the elevation of the delivery of lessons to a whole new level.
Be it mathematics, science, or language arts, real-time collaboration is possible, and the lessons appear more interactive, making the learning process more immersive. As a teacher, you can include videos, slides, or interactive quizzes while presenting the lesson to a class of students.
A SENSES Smartboard will, therefore, transform the manner through which schools carry out conventional teaching, bringing students more profoundly into active learning experiences and making them better understand and retain the knowledge.
Conclusion
It is challenging to plan an interesting lesson, but by following these five steps, you may easily go about creating instructive and fun lessons. Knowing your students, clear goals, structuring your lessons, interactive activities, and technology all come together to make a classroom interactive experience.
Now that you have the lesson plan, don’t forget that you’ll need the right tools. Sometimes, using something such as SENSES Smartboard will make all the difference and keep your students focused and motivated. So, take these steps into your next lesson and watch how your students respond with enthusiasm and curiosity.
