Teaching Tips: How to Write Lesson Plans

I'll never forget my first week as a teacher. I'd stepped in to an English teaching job a week before the start of school. I was going through a certification program and had - at that point - had absolutely no formal training. I was a successful feature writer and editor for a mid-major newspaper who was looking for a change. They were a school with low writing scores in search of someone who could make a difference. I wanted to be that guy.

But when I sat behind my desk and, for the first time, tried to come up with a lesson plan, I found myself completely baffled. My principal might as well have asked me to pull a rabbit out of my rear end.

What made it more frustrating was the lack of substance to the answers I was getting from my colleagues. When I asked how to write a lesson, I got vague philosphical mumbo-jumbo that left me with no more insight or understanding than I had coming in. It was only through experience - and resourcefulness - that I learned how to create an effective plan.

That first year, I kept hearing that there was no real formula for writing a lesson plan. Sadly, I believed them. Within a year or two, they were gone.

When I found the right person with the right answer, my life changed. New teachers can take solace in the fact that there is most definitely a formula for writing a lesson plan, and it's surprising how smoothly things seem to go when it's followed to a tee. How detailed you make the plan is up to you, and it will probably vary depending on the importance and complexity of each lesson. Still, it's important to include each step of the lesson cycle.