Tips for efficient lesson planning - a thread.

(inspired by questions I see on here often and have also been asked about directly)

Great for NQTs or just teachers who want a better work life balance!

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#edutwitter

1. Have a format and stick to it (my lessons always have 5 recall questions starters, a teaching point, practice and self-marking. I use the same slide style that I simple copy and paste - it is not fancy but it works - you can see examples in my KS5 lessons on my website)
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2. Plan in topics rather than lesson by lesson (a tricky one early on but by collecting together resources - ideally already in existence - means you will have everything already open and it is MUCH quicker. I put a whole topic on one PPT so I have less documents open!) 3/4

3. Start planning from outcomes and work back (ie. find your worksheet first, then decided what you need to deliver the content (e.g. worked examples or diagrams), consider any questions you may need to ask to check exisiting knowledge before you start). 4/7

4. Use what already exists if you can (the scientific community on the internet if FAB and shares an insane amount of free content that is actually good - not on TES!). Use twitter and follow/bookmark your favourites.

5. Give yourself a time slot and stick to it (I add all my tasks in to the frees I intend to do them in rather than a master list. I only give myself that time to work on it so it forces me to not spend too long perfecting a resource that is already absolutely fine.) 6/7

6. Challenge - teach a lesson with no resources - just you and a pen. (think on the spot and come up with tasks that are not teacher laborious. It will show you which resources are genuinely useful and which you could work without to save time/improve your worklife balance) 7/7

Hope that was useful! Do get in touch if you have any questions