lessonplanningandpreserviceteachers.docVIP

Lesson Planning and Preservice Teachers: A Model for Implementing Research-Based Instructional Strategies Anthony J. Coletta, Ph..D. Nancy Norris-Bauer Professor of Education Director, Office of Field Experiences College of Education College of Education William Paterson University William Paterson University Wayne, New Jersey Wayne, New Jersey Out of more than 500 presentations at a recent national conferences for teacher educators, none addressed lesson planning. The focus was on teacher shortages, technology, assessment and accountability. However, the basic pedagogical elements have never been more important than now, when our profession is under scrutiny from politicians, parents and the public at large. Understanding by future teachers of what they are teaching, how they are going to teach it and how they’re going to know their students learned it is the basic building block of our profession just as the scientific method is to science. We as teacher educators need to look at the lesson planning frameworks we are teaching our students in light of current research. When preservice teachers begin their field experiences, they usually meet with their cooperating teachers to examine the overall curriculum to be taught. This curriculum is found in the district’s grade level curriculum guides or textbooks and is typically arranged by teachers into units of instruction, scheduled for specific time periods during the year. Unit content is then divided into individual lessons containing specific objectives, learning experiences and assessment/evaluation strategies. These individual lessons are arranged in one of two types of lesson plans: 1) longer or detailed descriptions of a lesson and 2) shorter planbook-style lesson descriptions. The purpose of this article is to discuss a framework for writing forty minute lesson plans, based on current research, and providing the necessary details to guide beginning teachers. It is our belief t