Identify Lesson Objectives and Component Skills

The lesson objectives must be carefully thought out and outlined for the students. The targets must be clear and easy to understand. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers were accustomed to having written lessons plans for their courses, but not necessarily sharing those plans with the students. The teachers were using it as guidance for them to make sure they covered the material outlined for that day or unit.

An eLearning student might not meet with their teachers daily. The student must have a clear path moving forward, so they are not left behind their fellow students. The teacher can map out this trip for the student by being straightforward and precise when identifying the lesson objectives and skills that measure the students’ mastery of the topic.

Utilize Online Lesson Plan Templates

When creating eLearning materials, it is not necessary to re-create the wheel. The abundance of assistance online can be staggering. A benefit of using an online template is that the creator has provided the teacher with a road map that they can use to create clear and precise lesson plans. With a few exceptions, a K-12 teacher will be creating an eLearning environment that does not currently exist.

Stimulate Discussions

When teaching in a brick and mortar classroom, the teacher can create discussions by asking thought-provoking and probing questions. An eLearning teacher might not be able to do this as organically, depending on the delivery method of the class. If the teacher is not presenting live content, they must find other ways to get the discussion going. As an online instructor, I use my LMS (learning management system) as a delivery tool for dialogue with and between my students. I will create a discussion string on the board and require students to participate. The student must first post a response to the initial topic before they can move forward. Once the student creates the post, they must respond to at least two other students and then post a reflection to comments made on their initial response.

I have found by doing this, my students will begin to post their discussions regarding the lesson not only to seek assistance but also to provide aid. It is imperative that the teacher monitors these discussions for clarity, correctness, and to make sure that the responses remain professional.

Emphasize Regular Communication

As an online student pursuing my master’s in education, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of regular communication. It is easy for an online student at any level to get lost in day-to-day activities. The student can become overwhelmed quickly and give up. In a traditional classroom, the teachers will see their students regularly. They will have a chance to observe the student’s behavior, verbal and non-verbal, and have an opportunity to reach out to that student to see if they need assistance.

In an e-learning/online environment, that interaction might not take place. The teacher might not see the student every day and could not “see” the student at all. As teachers, we read our students to determine if they are struggling. Without these visual cues, we can lose a student and not know it until it is too late.

If the online teacher is communicating regularly with their students, they can help the students overcome difficulties and provide the assistance that is needed. The teacher could require regular check-ins or communication from the student or parent.

Create Engaging Content

An eLearning lesson cannot be just a PowerPoint presentation. It must be engaging and exciting. There are sites like Kahoot!, which have free or paid-for services, that can help to make content fun and engaging. Teachers could use Quizlet to create flashcards that quiz students on the materials that they studied. Softchalk gives teachers the ability to build a crossword puzzle, among other activities, to test a student’s retention of the lesson objectives outlined earlier.

The resources available to a teacher online can take them from an eLearning novice to an expert with practice and patience.

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Consider Previous Knowledge and Cultural Relevance

The previous student knowledge and cultural relevance of that knowledge yields great opportunities for innovative and interesting lessons. It is extremely important for the teacher to gain the interest of their students to create a learning environment conducive to student understanding and growth. Incorporating a “pre-test” (graded or non-graded) at the beginning of a new unit is an excellent way to determine student prior knowledge of the subject.

A teacher should also research and consider bringing in discussion of the culture of the classes they teach to spur interest of the subject. Students are much more likely to become interested in the area of study when they can readily see the cultural relevance. A few ways to introduce cultural relevance include: short videos, movies, guest speakers, suggested outside reading, and newspapers.

Map Out Higher-Level Questions

Higher-level questioning in the classroom is imperative to foster meaningful classroom discussion. Simple one word answer or short-answer questions help to learn terminology. In order to steer students toward conceptual understanding and working knowledge, a teacher must use high-level questioning. Once a teacher can gain open discussion in the classroom, students can and will begin to think and reflect at a higher level. A teacher should incorporate several higher-level questions into each daily lesson plan. Higher-level questioning can be assessed through classroom discussion or through written responses that are turned in at the end of class.

Keep an Eye on Timing

In planning, the teacher should incorporate adequate time for all aspects of the lesson plans. If any part of the lesson has to be rushed through, then it appears to be less important than the other components of the lesson. Careful planning and consideration of relevance is crucial to make a lesson flow seamlessly and transition into a complete, meaningful daily lesson.

Bell ringers are always a great way to begin the lesson and also a great way to complete the lesson. By using a high-level bell ringer and then revisiting the same question at the end of the lesson, a teacher can drive home the concept of the day. Effective lesson planning ends with effective closure for the day and an opening for discussion for tomorrow. All parts of an effective lesson plan should have value and a smooth transition into the next part of the plan.

Anticipate Roadblocks

Roadblocks should always be considered when planning lessons for our students. Also, the teacher should be prepared for the roadblocks that they did not consider when planning. It is imperative that misconceptions and lack of knowledge be used to lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter when worked through as a group. A teacher should never allow misconceptions or lack of understanding to go un-addressed. As educators we should always be looking to use these moments to “make the light bulb go off” in the minds of our students. We should be looking for those moments when students say, “Oh, I get it.”

Misconceptions and lack of understanding lead to disinterest and frustration in students. We as educators should always use these moments of lack of understanding or confusion as “the teachable moment” we have been waiting for. Students must be challenged and allowed to learn from their mistakes.

It is also important for a teacher to be patient with students that are struggling with a certain concept. The teacher should be willing to adjust lesson plans and incorporate differentiated instruction when these misconceptions occur. No matter how carefully a teacher plans, roadblocks can and do occur. As with any other part of instruction, roadblocks, misconceptions, and lack of understanding can be used as tools for deep, meaningful learning.

Don’t Forget Assessments

Assessments should always measure what the teacher has taught and have an instrument of higher-level learning. Assessments should have meaning and be more than just “recall”. If a classroom of students is well prepared, they should be able to answer conceptually pursuant to the subject matter that has been presented to them. The hope of a good assessment is that it shows student learning and student growth. Assessment questions, like lesson planning, should be carefully thought out with clear, concise questions that address the unit of study being assessed. Teachers should anticipate roadblocks and misconceptions when writing assessments as well. Teachers should also implement frequent assessments throughout a unit which will give students opportunity at success and check for unknown misconceptions. The final assessment should cover the entire unit that has been covered. Teachers should always be prepared to set aside some time for re-teaching should the need arise.

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

Vince Lombardi said, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Careful planning of lessons from the beginning is imperative for great teaching. As teachers we want our class to be warm, inviting, safe, and by all means exciting. Let’s face it, a student will learn as deeply as they are capable of in a classroom where they want to learn. By carefully planning, we can make our classroom a classroom that all students want to be in.

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Pass the Ball

Most students love sports! Even if they aren’t an athlete or play on a team, they generally enjoy playing a sport when given the opportunity. You also have some students who only love sports, and they have a hard time staying focused and getting connected inside the classroom. This activity is sure to please both types of students! Using a ball (preferably one that is small to medium in size and soft enough that it won’t harm a student in the event it goes astray or awol), the teacher will ask a question to review material learned in the previous class period by tossing it to a student. The student catches the ball and attempts to answer the question. If the student answers correctly, he or she may toss the ball to a different student of his or her choice for the next question. If the student answers incorrectly, he or she will toss the ball to another student in order to “phone a friend” for help in responding to the question correctly. The teacher can determine how much time to allow for student responses (i.e. fifteen seconds, thirty seconds, and so on). The goal is to answer questions quickly and keep the ball moving!

Music and Dance Video

Students get really excited when teachers use music and/or dance in the classroom. For this strategy, teachers should find an upbeat, peppy music video to show at the beginning of class. A video with an interactive component like dance is also excellent to use! The video should go over or review the concept being learned at that time. There are a plethora of videos on YouTube, GoNoodle, and many other sites that make this strategy an easy one to try out! The same video should be shown each day that the concept is being taught so that students can start to learn it through repetition and have something to look forward to.

Four Corners

Four corners is a game that students love to play for just about any reason (especially younger students), but student- of all ages can benefit from its use. To implement four corners, the teacher should either label each corner with a certain response or direct students as to what each corner represents. Then, students are asked to respond to the teacher’s question by walking over and standing in the appropriate corner. Teachers can use four corners at the beginning of a lesson to informally assess prior knowledge of a new concept, assess knowledge retained from previous lessons, etc. For example, the teacher may display a multiple-choice question on the board. Each corner of the room is either labeled A, B, C, or D. Students are asked to respond by walking to the corner that corresponds with the answer on the board (A, B, C, or D). From there, teachers can ask students to explain and/or support their responses in order to gain a greater understanding of student learning. To make four corners even more fun, the teacher could play music while students determine their answers. Once the music stops, they must be in a corner!

Beat the Bell Bellringer

A lot of teachers implement the use of bellringers at the beginning of class, because they help students get focused and ready to learn; however, the redundancy of completing one each day can sometimes put a damper on student learning and their attention spans. Why not make it a little more interactive? In order to do this, students must first complete their bellringer individually. Then, they must find at least two other students to share their bellringer with. They will summarize each student’s response and add it to their own bellringer response. This will help students gain a better understanding of the concept at hand and experience it through another’s perspective. As mentioned previously, students should do this sharing process with at least two other students, but they should be encouraged to complete the process with as many students as possible before time runs out. Teachers may even keep track of the students who are able to do this the most to offer some type of classroom reward and encourage participation. Although bellringers are typically used in the upper grades, this particular strategy can be adapted for younger students as well by simply using a timer or countdown clock on the board.

*Updated August 2021

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