1. Karen Kallas Birdville ISD September 18, 2010

2. Lesson Plan Contest  Two parts: Written portion Performance portion

3. Your Questions and Concerns  Write your questions and concerns on the index cards provided.  Responses will be provided throughout the session.

4. Resources TAFE Lesson Plan wiki Lesson Plan Guidelines Today’s PowerPoint Today’s handouts 6 plans that have made the state finals Template for students  TAFE Website http://tafelessonplancontest.wikispaces.com/ http://tafeonline.org/

5. Written Portion Label them! Use Components of the Lesson in the T.A.F.E. Lesson Plan Competition guidelines.

6. Written Portion  Make them pop!

7. Written Portion  Color it! Use color to highlight parts of the lesson such as headings, explanations, side notes, etc.  rwood+TAFE+Lesson+Plan.doc rwood+TAFE+Lesson+Plan.doc

8. Written Portion  Step it out! Encourage students to write their lesson plans as if they were explaining step by step directions. Write the lesson in conversational language that is easy for the reader to understand.

9. Written Portion  Don’t assume! Make no assumptions about who will be judging this and what they will infer.

10. Written Portion  Make it clever, Trevor! Come up with a name that is descriptive, yet unique.  Which is more interesting:  Classifying Organisms  or  Living or Nonliving?

11. Written Portion  Start it off right! Be sure that you begin the lesson with an anticipatory set, a sponge, a motivator, or something to draw the students’ interest.

12. Written Portion  The clock is ticking. Be obvious with your use of time management. Beginnings, transitions, and endings are crucial.

13. Written Portion  Consistency counts. Be consistent in writing in first, second, or third person.

14. Written Portion  Spell it out! List the TEKS by using the complete text. Do not abbreviate, i.e. 13B. Be sure they fit the grade and/or content area identified in the plan.

15. Written Portion  Make it relevant. Why is the lesson, content, topic important to the learner? Encourage students to write dialogue that might blatantly state the lesson’s importance in kid friendly terms.

16. Written Portion  Make it obvious. Be sure your plan for assessment is written into the lesson.

17. Written Portion  Attachments, please! Be sure to include all handouts, pictures of props or diagrams of items to help clarify your plan to the reader.

18. Written Portion  Happy endings are important. Be sure the lesson doesn’t just drop off. Students need to plan a way to bring the lesson to a close.  rwood+TAFE+Lesson+Plan.doc rwood+TAFE+Lesson+Plan.doc

19. Presentation Portion  Pack it up. Bring all of your equipment:

20. Presentation Portion  Practice makes perfect. Practice your lesson before you arrive. Be sure you have timed it. Make plans if the mock students don’t cooperate and you run out of time. Practice your set up, also!

21. Presentation Portion  Begin with a bang! When beginning the lesson, avoid saying, “O.K., let’s start.” Rather begin with something such as “Students, each of your tables has a blank piece of paper in the middle of it. I’d like each member of your group to write two things you know about the gold rush in California.”

22. Presentation Portion  Deal with disruptions! Demonstrate your classroom management skills. Be sure to address students who are off-task or causing disruptions. Suggestions might include the following: ○ Walk around among the students while teaching the lesson. ○ Point to the spot on a student’s worksheet to remind them where they should be focusing. ○ Stand by a student who is off task. ○ Ask a student to switch seats with someone else.

23. Presentation Portion  Live in the past. Refer to previous learning. If this is not a stand-alone lesson, or just a portion of a unit, indicate in your plan how you will address that. Example: Students, remember when we finished our creative writing time yesterday we had just drawn the prompts we would write about. Today we will continue with constructing an interesting introduction and outline the main points that we will include in our composition. Example: Do you remember the process we used to plot the y axis last week? Well, today we are going to carry that one step further to learn how to graph a point.

24.  Relax! A smile and deep breath will help you focus and enjoy an experience few get. Make the most of it! Every participant is a winner!

25. Sponsor Ethics  Be the guide on the side.  Insure that the work is that of the student, not that of the teacher.

26. Contact Information Karen Kallas Education and Training Teacher Birdville Center of Technology and Advanced Learning 7020 Mid Cities Boulevard No. Richland Hills, TX 76180 Phone: 817-547-3886 Karen.kallas@birdvilleschools.net