A major component of being a teacher is planning lessons, and it’s a task that takes up a lot of time both in and out of school hours. This leaves many teachers wondering how they can make the process more efficient. Here are our top 5 tips on how teachers can save time lesson planning in the future.
Read on to learn how to save time lesson planning in this guide, or click one of the links below to jump directly to the specific section.
- Batch your lesson plans
- Get organised with a teacher planner
- Lesson planning templates
- Interactive games and videos
- Collaborate with other teachers
1. Batch your lesson plans
When creating lesson plans, it’s important to remember that lessons are not like standalone ‘movies’, but rather a series of interlinked ‘episodes’ covering a certain topic. Therefore it makes sense to plan these collectively in order to save time.
Every time you create a lesson plan, you are likely to consult textbooks, research online and delve deep into your brain. Simply getting all the resources together each time you go to plan a lesson will take up a lot of your time. If you teach across a variety of subjects (primary school teachers), you may want to plan for example 4 weeks worth of English lessons rather than 1 week of English, Maths, Science, History and PE – this will save you a lot of time.
2. Get organised with a teacher planner
Teacher planners are a fantastic tool for keeping on top of lesson planning. Having a planner that is bespoke to your requirements is a game-changer for teachers that are constantly on the move and at Penstripe we do exactly that. With a huge range of sizes, bindings and contents, we can create a custom teacher diary that exceeds your expectations.
Going back to basics and keeping things simple with a paper-based planner will help save time when planning lessons.
BESPOKE TEACHER PLANNERS
Teacher planners designed to help with productivity, organisation and wellbeing for your team
3. Lesson planning templates
Lesson planning templates when used correctly can be an excellent tool. Finding websites online that have a bank full of teaching resources and lesson plans can ease the strain of time when you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders.
If you’re looking for customisable lesson plans, websites such as Canva and Teachwire provide free lesson planning templates.
4. Interactive games and videos
With technology moving at a rapid pace, implementing interactive games and videos not only saves time but improves the learning experience for children (a 2015 study conducted by software company Kaltura concluded that 93% of teachers believe that the use of educational videos improves the learning experience).
Instead of spending hours writing detailed descriptions, a ready-made video can provide your students with information quickly and effectively.
5. Collaborate with other teachers
Humans by nature work better with one another rather than on their own – this applies in education too. Planning with other teachers can be a great way to save time and when co-planning is done effectively, it can be a great way to divide the work and save time.
If you’re in a secondary school department, getting together with the other teachers can help reduce time spent on individual lessons and using your teacher planners in conjunction with each other will produce lesson plans that are as good as they can possibly be.
BESPOKE TEACHER PLANNERS
Teacher Planners designed to help with productivity, organisation and wellbeing for your team
Olaf Surtees has been with Penstripe for ten years; what he doesn’t know about teacher planners, student planners, and lesson planners isn’t worth knowing! He’s in charge of creating our blog content, helping teachers and administrators with helpful hints and tips, as well as our socials — see the links below to find out more.
