I have yet to make a perfect lesson. Lesson planning is hard. There are a lot of ideas for lessons that other teachers are doing that I do not know about. Lesson planning for 2015 is different than lesson planning for 1980. When I started teaching in 1999 I did not have to think about DOK levels, having students use technology, digital citizenship, students collaborating digitally and I certainly did not have to think about which technology tools I needed to learn and incorporate into my lesson plans. I think we all could use a little advice and help, why do this alone?
#lessonUP
#lessonUP chat is on Thursdays at 9pm Eastern. The chat will focus on an area of lesson planning. During the chat, educators are encouraged to tweet their lesson plans or a short blurb about their lesson to invite suggestions on how to upgrade the lesson. The chat is run by @eduappsandmore. More details about the chat can be found at thepaperlesstrail.com/lessonup.
Lesson plans or lesson ideas should be created on a shareable cloud-based platform such as Google Docs. The document should enable commenting.
While not required, lesson plans can be added to the #lessonUP spreadsheet. Simply link your lesson plan in column A. A link to generate a tweet to link to the lesson plan during the chat is generated. The hashtag is automatically included in the tweet.
If you have a lesson plan idea, but do not have it typed up in a sharable format, try using the Add-ons menu in the spreadsheet. Choose “Upgrade your lesson.” The sidebar shows 3 buttons. The first button generates a blank document in column A for the row you have selected. The document is blank to allow you to copy and paste your lesson into the document or to write a short blurb describing your lesson. Use the 2nd button to generate a blank lesson plan template. Make sure you have filled out the basic information about the lesson plan on the spreadsheet and have a cell in the row selected before clicking either button.
Asking for Feedback and Ideas
The purpose of this is to ask for feedback and ideas on your lesson plan. How might you use technology? How could you include differentiation opportunities? Independent practice suggestions. Suggestions for hooking students into the lesson. Addressing the Common Core. How to be more cross curricular…. Ask for specific advice on a certain area of the lesson plan or just general advice.
Either through the chat on Thursdays or in general, I encourage you to share your lesson plans and ask for ideas to upgrade your lesson. The people at your school have the same PD and a lot of the same influences. Try using social media to connect with teachers globally to find new ideas.
