by Mieder van Loggerenberg
Any experienced teacher knows that a lesson plan is essential in doing your job effectively. It serves as a guide for teachers to determine what students will learn, how that lesson will be taught and how the learning will be evaluated. But it is far more than just an outline of the lesson and should be seen as a roadmap that will help you and your students reach the final destination or lesson objectives.
The principles of an effective lesson plan is to have a basic process of a warm-up, present, practice, apply, extend, and wrap-up, meaning students learn by doing. Each of these steps is designed to systematically lead to achieving the lesson objectives. But what are those objectives for planning your lesson? Effective lesson planning begins with S.M.A.R.T objectives. Lesson objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. So, what does SMART mean?
S - Specific:
The learning objective should be well defined and clear. Your language should not be vague, unclear, or misleading. It must state exactly what will be accomplished.
M - Measurable:
The learning objective should provide a benchmark or target so that the teacher or the school can determine when the target has been reached, by how much it has been exceeded or by how much it has fallen short. Do not create a learning objective that can be satisfied only by your own subjective understanding of the students’ performance.
A - Attainable:
Can the set objective be accomplished in the planned time frame with the available resources and support? Do the students have the prior learning necessary to accomplish the learning objective? Simply put your learning objective must be something your learners have a chance of completing.
R - Relevant:
Does the objective address the overall program goal(s)? Will the objective have an impact on the goal(s)? In layman terms, the objective should be something the learner sees the value in learning.
T - Time Bound:
A learning objective should have a specific date or time by which it will be completed. It is crucial to allow ample time to successfully implement the steps needed to achieve the objective, but also not too much that will lead students to procrastinate.
Using the SMART method is a practical and effective way to assess and check your own work when you are creating objectives. It serves as a checklist that will ensure you to create effective learning objectives when planning your lesson plan.
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