Smart

Module 1B Assignment 1.3 Reflect on your experience of lesson planning so far; focus on your learning about aims, SMART outcomes and evaluations from this module. I shall be exploring what I have found to be important about lesson planning and in particular the aims of a lesson plan, i.e. why we need to have one, how to measure the effectiveness of a lesson plan using the SMART mnemonic and what is important about evaluating the effectiveness of a plan. In my experience a lesson plan is a framework of how a topic will be taught to a particular audience. This enables myself as a presenter to remain on track, produce consistency when presentations are repeated and keep to a particular time frame. A well-written lesson plan also adds an element of quality control, can be transferred to a colleague or other speaker and provides an important match to the needs of a particular audience. The latter is particularly important as my role as a teacher is to ensure that I create a positive learning environment and the Basic Teaching Model (Reece & Walker, 2006) combined with a SMART focused lesson plan will help me achieve this aim. I have come across the SMART mnemonic many times throughout my career and have utilised it not only for lesson planning but also when looking to set targets for staff and when putting together business plans for accountancy clients. On most occasions it has stood for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time although I have seen variations and where it has been extended by adding an E for Ethical and a further R for Recorded. As a teacher it is important that I ensure a lesson plan goals are compatible with the developmental level of the students. Using the Basic Teaching Model (Reece & Walker, 2006) combined with SMART objectives enables me to achieve this outcome and ensure that my student achievement expectations are reasonable. When applying it to my own needs as a teacher it has enabled me to learn from my experiences, whether positive or negative and helped me to evaluate areas for improvement in my own teaching style. The principle of evaluation when applied to a lesson plan enables me as a teacher to check on the understanding of my audience as to how well the learning has gone and how well the objectives of a particular presentation have been met. I have come across several techniques used to evaluate learning from pre and post presentation tests in verbal or written form, to questionnaires and simple feedback forms with some specific questions to test knowledge. Very often the evaluation is undertaken in a verbal manner by summarising the key learning points by way of a question and answer session at the end of a presentation and in its most basic form is simply undertaken to check that learning has taken place. In summary I have learnt and experienced over the years the value of preparing a focused lesson plan that includes clear aims, has the SMART mnemonic at its centre and how evaluating learning can improve my own performance and the quality of the presentation for my audience. Reece I and Walker S (2006) Teaching Training and Learning. 4th Edition. Buisness Education Publishers Limited, p4