The Creation of an Effective Educational Lesson Plan in Florida: Middle School Language Arts

As a teacher that has been consistently tweaking and altering lesson plans for almost 10 years, by now i know exactly what is expected on these all-important sheets of paper. A lesson plan is of tantamount importance because it protects a teacher who is being accused of not doing his or her job properly. In all essence, it is a living blueprint of the themes and activities that take place in a given day, week, or month in a teacher's classroom. Creating one can be time consuming, especially since it should be readable by individuals unfamiliar to teacher jargon, particularly if a teacher is absent for a prolonged period of time.

To begin, all lesson plans in the state of Florida should contain a list of Sunshine State Standards that are covered, based on what you teach. These standards show what a child is learning, the skills that are being used by the child, and sometimes the real-world implications of your lesson. For example, when a teacher adds the standard "LAE131" to their lesson plan, this means a teacher will be discussing elements of plot, setting, and characterization in a novel. A solid lesson plan, in my opinion, should have at least six standards covered in a given week as a minimum.

A main theme should be supplied toward the top of a lesson plan paper to tell administration, or whoever wants to see your plan, what the main focus will be. Smaller subunits should break this theme down in smaller "day-to-day" chunks; this is required in most states and assists the teacher in daily planning.