Lesson+Planning

=Resources to Assist with Lesson Planning=

Madeline Hunter type lesson plan
Madeline Hunter believed that the foremost job of teachers was decision making, and that each teacher makes thousands of decisions each day. All of the decisions a teacher makes can be put into one of three categories: (1) content category - what you are going to teach; (2) teaching behavior category - what you as the teacher will do to facilitate and escalate that learning; and (3) learning behavior category - how the students are going to learn and how they will let you know that they've learned it. In response to a question asking her to assess the current educational situation in the 1990s, she said, "I believe the future of education is bright! We are beginning to unlock the mystery of the human brain and how it processes and learns. We, now, can enable teachers to use that knowledge to accelerate that learning process. No longer is teaching a 'laying on of hands.' It has become a profession that combines science with art to create a better and a more productive world for humankind."

Hunter identified seven components for teaching:
 * 1) knowledge of human growth and development
 * 2) content
 * 3) classroom management
 * 4) materials
 * 5) planning
 * 6) human relations
 * 7) instructional skills

Madeline also developed a direct instructional model and elements of effective instruction. The instructional model has seven components:
 * 1) objectives
 * 2) standards
 * 3) anticipatory set
 * 4) teaching (input, modeling, checking for understanding)
 * 5) guided practice/monitoring
 * 6) closure
 * 7) independent practice

The elements of effective instruction are very similar to those of the instructional model, featuring seven components of teaching and behavioral objectives:
 * 1) objectives
 * 2) set(hook)
 * 3) standards/expectations
 * 4) teaching (input, modeling/demo, direction giving, and checking for understanding)
 * 5) guided practice
 * 6) closure
 * 7) independent practice.

Madeline was the creator of Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP). ITIP is a teaching model on inservice/staff development program widely used during the 1970's and 80's.[ (wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Cheek_Hunter )

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What is meant by constructivism? The term refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves---each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning---as he or she learns. Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind. The dramatic consequences of this view are twofold;======


 * 1) we have to focus on the learner in thinking about learning (not on the subject/lesson to be taught):
 * 2) There is no knowledge independent of the meaning attributed to experience (constructed) by the learner, or community of learners.

===Project Based Learning Lesson Plan Guide and PBL Resources===

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According to [|Wikipedia], **Project based learning**, or PBL, is a constructivist pedagogy that intends to bring about deep learning by allowing learners to use an inquiry based approach to engage with issues and questions that are rich, real and relevant to their lives. This strategy is well served since the onset of the read/write Web. Teachers have ready made content easily available via the Web and the tools to allow for creative student directed creation of content related to the problems and questions contained in the project being studied.======

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(Colorado Adult Education Center - www.coloradoadulted.org/ ) ======

Inquiry Based Learning Plans
Inquiry-based lesson plans are usually referred to as "facilitation plans," to help teachers remember their role as facilitator of learning, rather than fount of all wisdom. The notion also helps teachers structure lessons more loosely to allow student questions to drive the learning process without derailing it. (Thirteen ed online - http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/demo_sub1.html)

Check out Engagerthelearner.net for more resources.