Between lessons and caring for your students, finding time to plan can sometimes be overwhelming for teachers. However, taking the time to plan quality child care lesson plans is important for the growth and education of children.
Here are a few tips for finding time to plan quality lessons for your students.
Set Aside Time for Yourself
It’s no secret: teachers are very busy people. Between lessons, taking care of children, and finding time to take care of duties at home, it can be difficult to find time to plan for the next day. But it’s not impossible. For example, after you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night, set aside time to plan your lesson.
You might be tempted to skip sleep so you can prepare a lesson, but skipping sleep can have serious health risks like Diabetes and obesity. Not to mention the fatigue you’ll feel throughout the day. Being well-rested and enthusiastic about the day inspires children and gets them enthusiastic about learning. Not to mention, you’ll also be setting a good, healthy example for your students.
Teacher Planning | Know Your Priorities
Set meaningful goals for yourself. Just as your students are learning, so are you. As you teach, ask yourself questions:
- Why do I think this is important?
- How will this lesson build on previous lessons?
- What supplies will I need to teach this lesson?
- What would I do differently next time?
You can also ask your students questions about the lesson:
- What did they like about it?
- What do they want to learn more about?
Not only are you involving your students in the teacher planning process, but you’ll be reviewing the lesson and seeing what they learned and took away from it.
Get yourself a weekly planner for the year to help manage your time and write down ideas. Once the school year is done, keep the planner as a guide for next year. Look back on past lessons and prioritize tasks for later ones.
