Overview
When planning a lesson, teachers will often think through every detail of what they will do—sometimes even scripting exactly what they will say—but they will not always think through the parallel actions of students. This can lead to confusion, wasted learning time, and frustration on the part of both students and teachers. Implementing this practice can make all moments feel purposeful.
Through this activity you will be able to:
- Pre-identify potential points of confusion and proactively plan how to address them to ensure that students are always clear about what they are supposed to be doing.
- Reduce behavior incidents by ensuring that all students know what they are supposed to be doing at a given time.
- Ensure that the classroom is organized for student success.
Conducting the Practice
When lesson planning, create two columns on your lesson plan, labeling one "teacher actions" and the other "student actions."
While planning each portion of your lesson, consider not just what you will say and do, but also what you will direct students to do simultaneously and your rationale for that choice. Some examples:
- You plan to read a passage aloud, should students: follow along in their own text or close their eyes to concentrate on their visualization of the scene?
- A student will come to the board to solve a math problem, should students: attempt to solve the problem on their own or watch and listen to their peer's narration?
When teaching, give students clear instructions for what they should be doing, along with the rationale so they understand how it contributes to their learning and is a good use of their time and effort.
After the lesson, reflect on:
- What went well?
- What would you do differently next time?
- How did student behavior or actions change as a result of this strategy?
This practice was adapted from the Well-Organized Classroom Guide developed by the Learning and Development Group at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research in partnership with PERTS.