Introduction
When planning for instruction, I keep the long-term goal in mind of making students strong mathematicians for life. Having been both a 6th grade and 8th grade math teacher before, I am well aware of where my students are coming from mathematically and where they need to be mathematically next year. This is always in mind as I choose what to emphasize when planning. To learn more about the three types of planning I do, please click on the links below.
I began the year with a long-term plan for my students. I looked at the seventh grade common core standards and used my knowledge of what students needed to know for the 8th and 9th grade to prioritize standards that I would emphasize. While in a perfect world students would master everything, I knew that the reality was that none of my students came to my classroom achieving on grade level. One student had received a 3 last year on PARCC and every other student have received a 1 or 2, all three scores being considered failing. Additionally, I have limited time in the classroom. These insights drove my long-term planning.
Prior to each new unit, I create a detailed unit plan. I collaborate with the other general education 7th grade math teacher and the special education math teacher to create this unit plan. We find out unit goals, then plan day-by-day what we will focus on.
Each day, I create a detailed lesson plan. My students keep their lessons in binders or pronged folders so that they have a record of the notes in the classroom. Each day students use guided notes and then complete differentiated practice. I assess my students at the end of each class period with an exit ticket and have longer formative assessments every two weeks. Based on the formative assessment data, I create a reteach plan and then re-assess the reteach. I have already blocked off reteach days in my unit planning.
Conclusion
Well-planned instruction requires having a carefully thought out roadmap and day-to-day instruction. It is important to have the flexibility to reteach old material and pre-teach difficult upcoming material. I frequently adjust my plans according to student data on mastery, but this is a best teaching practice. I will continue to carefully plan instruction first planning for the long-term, then the unit, and then individual day plans. I frequently plan with my colleagues and will continue to do so. My goal is to seek more frequent feedback from my students in order to better serve their needs.
Mary (Vansuch) Silverglate 