Depending on the school you work for, you may be required to turn in lesson plans weekly or biweekly. Some schools may require a scope and sequence that covers the majority of the year. However you are required to turn in lesson plans, make sure that you have clear objectives, goals, and a way of evaluating the students and assessment.

For me, the difference between objectives and goals was a little confusing. Think of it like a road map. An objective is your final destination and the goal is how you are going to get there. For example, in my English classroom my objective for a lesson may be for students to be able to write a report on Maya Angelou and my goal would be for the students to research the poet and memorize one of her poems. Objectives are general and goals are specific.

Whatever you end up doing in the classroom it has to be tied to the lesson objective. Instructional devises, teaching resources, and assessment should be linked to your objectives.

When thinking of a good objective, pay attention to the students that the objective is intended for and the type of performance you want. One objective I used in an English lesson was "Students will list and describe each step of the writing process."

A good objective includes good verbs. In my experience it is best to use action verbs or verbs that can measure performance. Passive words make your objective appear weak. I have found that most objective should begin with "Students will be able to..." Avoid the use of such phrases as "Students will realize..." or "Students will enjoy..." Phrases such as "Students will be able to compute..." or "Students will be able to list..." are much stronger and make for a better objective.

After you have created your objective, think about your lesson plan procedures. Procedures are the body of a lesson plan. Procedure is how you will present information to your students and how you will find out if they have learned and processed that information.

A basic lesson plan has three parts: the opening, developing of the lesson, and closing. The opening of you lesson should be motivational and engaging. A good opening will settle the students down quickly and get them focused. I would typically begin class with a journal entry, question or even a puzzle that was related to the content we were going to cover that day. Some other great ways to open the lesson is with maps, models, or a demonstration.

When developing a lesson it is never a good idea to assume what a student does or does not know. It is important to spend some time early in the year discovering what prior knowledge your students have. A great strategy to use in assessing prior knowledge is to do some diagnostic testing of your class in the beginning of the year. There are some wonderful tools online that can help or maybe your district does diagnostic testing. This strategy is invaluable when trying to assess what your students know.

When getting into the main portion of the lesson, tell the students exactly what they will be taught and what they will learn. If you state the lesson objectives, students will have a better understanding of what is expected of them and what direction you are going to go in during the lesson.

As you go through your lesson you may consider such procedures as explaining how the day's lesson relates to other lessons, use a graphic organizer to show the important points of the lesson or by reading material. Procedures are the portion of the lesson where you are teaching and students are learning.

It is important to bring closure to your lesson. You may have students summarize lesson points or have them engaged in an activity.

When the lesson is over it is always a good thing to evaluate yourself. Ask yourself such questions as, "How was my pacing?" or "Did I make good use of class time?" Self-evaluation is a good way to improve your lessons and overall teaching.

Sonya L. Wilson is a former teacher and free lance writer who has taught English, Language Arts and Creative Writing for over eight years. She has taught various grade levels in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania and currently resides in Pennsylvania. For information on teacher certification in Dallas, Texas, visit http://www.texasteachers.org