Do you lesson plan in-depth?

[Gnomewardbound]

Hi there,

How detailed are your lesson plans?

 

I have 14 year old twin sisters and we have a unique homeschool situation. I wrote about it in another section on the forums (I don't know how to link it here on my phone :s)

 

I am trying to have the kids work more independently but it will take some time.

 

When you plan do you take notes from the textbooks to teach them? When asking them to outline, do you outline as well to have something to compare theirs to?

 

I want to be familiar with what they are learning so that they don't lose confidence in me when they ask a question and I don't know the answer to it.

 

Thanks

[Ellie]

Hi there,

How detailed are your lesson plans?

 

I have 14 year old twin sisters and we have a unique homeschool situation. I wrote about it in another section on the forums (I don't know how to link it here on my phone :s)

 

I am trying to have the kids work more independently but it will take some time.

 

When you plan do you take notes from the textbooks to teach them? When asking them to outline, do you outline as well to have something to compare theirs to?

 

I want to be familiar with what they are learning so that they don't lose confidence in me when they ask a question and I don't know the answer to it.

 

Thanks

 

What most of us do is scheduling, not real lesson planning.

 

For myself, if I were using a textbook for something, especially for older children, I would choose a publisher that didn't require extensive teaching on my part (e.g., Rod and Staff Publishers, Saxon math). I cannot imagine making my own outline to compare theirs to...o_0

 

OTOH, I would familiarize myself with what is covered in the textbook, although I wouldn't feel bad if I didn't know the answer to a question; we would probably look it up together. :-)

 

When I did KONOS (which requires much more planning) and Spalding, I did the teaching, of course, but I prefer textbook publishers which allow for independence.

[HomeAgain]

 

I want to be familiar with what they are learning so that they don't lose confidence in me when they ask a question and I don't know the answer to it.

 

 

 

Do you think they will?

 

Many teachers look things up.  They take the purpose of being a guide in figuring out the order things should be learned, ways to get there, and collecting resources to be used.  They are not encyclopedias.  That said, I do think there should be a bit of preparation and mastery of basic skills that can be used to guide or help students.

 

I lesson plan pretty in depth.  If I write out the work or create a scope and sequence, I want to have checkpoints along the way that let me know the student is getting the information I want him to.  These include the child teaching me, throwing in a skill-related but topic-foreign assignment (or vice versa)/skill in a new format, cross-subject application, and pop quizzes.

 

When it comes to checking work, I find it's best to do that together.  Go over the directions or rubric - together.  Slowly go through each line - together.  The child will usually spot his or her own mistakes, and the few they miss are caught by the guide.  Since they know they'll have to go through it with the adult, and then correct and go through it again, they'll start checking the rubric on their own to hopefully eliminate the obvious mistakes.

[RootAnn]

When you plan do you take notes from the textbooks to teach them? When asking them to outline, do you outline as well to have something to compare theirs to?

 

Kinda depends. When my kids are learning how to outline, I have certainly done it ahead of time or sat right there with them and modeled it for them. 

 

There are many years when I've done 50-75% of the assignments for a subject (usually science!) ahead of time myself so they know what MINE look like. I don't do this for most subjects. I also have a Teachers Manual for as many subjects as I need them for ... poetry this semester, Latin always, and science (if possible). 

 

Usually, when they ask me questions, I help them find the answer in their book first -- modeling how they can find the answers themselves the next time.

[redsquirrel]

Everyone gets asked questions they don't know. Even the most educated and experienced teachers get asked things they don't know. And sometimes...they do know, but they pretend they don't because looking up an answer can be more educational than just being told the answer.

 

If you get asked a question you don't know you can always respond with 'What a great question, you know, I don't know the answer to that. Let's figure it out together. Now, here's what I would do to find that out....." And then you look it up together.  And ask questions back to the questioner, like "That's a good question, what made you think of that" or "I never thought to wonder about that, but now I want to know also. Before we try to figure it out, what do you think the answer is?" 

 

I don't do in depth lesson plans, but I do detailed scheduling. And I do look over all the lessons I will be teaching. If I am teaching something and I can't figure out just by looking at it how someone is supposed to come to the answer, then I will work it myself before I teach it.  Sometimes, with something like a an outline, to take your example, the answer is subjective, there can be quite a lot of wiggle room. If it is generally correct and I can see he has the gist of the idea and the formatting is correct, then I accept it. With something like that I am looking for correct answers over time that show a grasp of the skill.

 

[regentrude]

No. I do not "lesson plan" and I do not schedule. I also don't "teach", I facilitate their learning by providing resources and answering questions.

 

I most certainly do not outline their reading assignments.

[Bluegoat]

Not usually.  When they were younger I didn't schedule much either - now I do because the kids are at a somewhat instruction-intensive age, and I won't be organized at the right time otherwise.  When they are bigger I expect to be able to stop doing it again.

 

The times I lay something out in detail tend to be skill topics when I either know its something my child is having trouble with, or something I am not as familiar with.

 

I really don't worry about not knowing the answer to questions.

[Momling]

My lesson plan is only a few words for each subject -- "Lesson 4.3 odds" or "Watch documentary on triangle shirtwaist fire" or "start essay on Dickinson poem" or "read & answer questions p. 44-67". I know in my head that in math we always correct the previous days work and review the next lesson together, or that the essay on a Dickinson poem might first involve a re-reading and discussion of the poem and maybe a review on what makes a good thesis statement or something. My written lesson plan is just to remind me where we're headed.

[Critterfixer]

 

 

When you plan do you take notes from the textbooks to teach them? When asking them to outline, do you outline as well to have something to compare theirs to? 

Yes. I do take notes, make questions and figure out what additional reading is needed for certain subjects. Not all. The level of detail depends on how comfortable I am winging it.

That does not fix this: 

 

 

I want to be familiar with what they are learning so that they don't lose confidence in me when they ask a question and I don't know the answer to it. 

I'm still going to have to go back to the text, and/or my notes at times. I am certainly going to make mistakes. Nothing like getting caught out by your student when you totally blow a verb conjugation at the white board! Confidence does not come from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong. Somebody said that, and I'm quite sure that someone could tell me who. But it's true for me. I'm not afraid to be wrong. I'm not afraid to go look it up and be astounded and excited when I find the answer. Don't be afraid to not have all the answers. Nobody has them all. And in some sense we are all perpetual students. That's a good thing to learn at the age of fourteen. Good thing to learn at any age.

[Penelope]

Sometimes I do more in depth, but not very often. It has always been literature and history that I do this with. I make notes when I am reading, for things to make sure to go over. I take notes from history books when I am not as familiar with the topic, and sometimes write down possible topics to ask questions about, or potential writing assignments. So some subjects are a little more detailed then just scheduling a certain number of pages. But I didn't do much of this until seventh grade.

 

It wouldn't be anything close to what I understand schoolteacher lesson planning is like, where there is a standard and objective identified for every lesson and detailed lecture plans. I don't lecture. We discuss. :)

[MomatHWTK]

I have a 9th grader on the spectrum, so for history and science, I study what he studies- nearly page by page.  I am using a combination of printed materials and e-texts, along with online self-paced courses.  I pretty much use a "do the next thing" policy for scheduling long term.  For medium range planning I set out what we need to get through in a 30 day period (i.e. 3 chapters of this, 2 chapters of that).  Then each evening I evaluate where we really are in each curricula and print out a to do list for us for the next day.  We each get a copy of the To Do list and I assist Ds throughout the day.  As far as knowing if he has questions, that is a matter of me being nearby when he is study- if not all the time than often enough to notice if he is struggling.  The online materials also give both he and I feedback to allow me to check progress and comprehension. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

It depends on the subject and the skills goals we are working on in that subject.  This year, 8th grade, we are explicitly working on the skills of taking notes from lectures, and note-taking from nonfiction texts.  To that end, I have written fairly detailed lesson plans for the first two nonfiction books my dd is reading independently, to help guide her in the note-taking/writing to learn process.  I am also sitting with her and modelling note-taking on lectures, though she's getting it quick, I don't think I'll need to model more than a couple of times.  I do this to help teach her the process of studying and learning, and tools an independent learner needs so that she can apply them to other subjects.

 

ETA: We took notes together on the first Joy of Science lecture, then without prompting, she took notes on her How to Become a Superstar Student lecture! She saw the value of note-taking as an attention focusing technique, which is how I've always used it. I was super happy with this evidence of internalizing the skill, and more importantly, the reason for using the tool of note-taking in the first place.

 

But like another poster mentioned, that is separate from me learning the material so that I can know the answers to all possible questions.  I do pre-read most if not all of the books I assign her for school, and I make an effort to brush up on subjects I'll be teaching via online courses or reading. But I never imagine that I'll have answers to all her questions! I use questions as an opportunity to teach her to find out how to answer her questions (whether I know the answers or not.  ;) )

[My3girls]

No. I do not "lesson plan" and I do not schedule. I also don't "teach", I facilitate their learning by providing resources and answering questions.

 

I most certainly do not outline their reading assignments.

 

Ditto.  I do extensive research on the materials that I provide the girls to be sure that it will meet their needs then I hand them over.  I have a spiral notebook for each that I write down what I would like to see completed each day, the night before.  I tried detailed scheduling and lesson planning our first year and that was a train wreck so I go big picture and let them fill in the details.  It works for us. I do go over any output with them as they complete it to ensure their understanding.

 

I would love to get rid of the spiral notebooks, but unfortunately, my girls don't have any self-motivation when it comes to academics.  I think there are some things that they need to learn whether they want to or not like spelling, where to put a comma, etc...  If it were entirely up to them, all they would learn about are the natural sciences, baseball, minecraft, and guitar. lol