DLU HOERTEL Post

I think it is extremely helpful to write lesson plans and create units. I have had minimal experience creating lesson plans, and no experience creating a unit. This activity has helped me understand how much planning goes into a single lesson and additionally how much planning goes into a unit. This experience will help me prepare for my future students. I also think it is important to create lesson plans and units because it helps teachers be more prepared. Obviously, teachers have to be flexible because nothing ever goes as planned, but having a solid plan allows for many different ways to change the lesson, or change the order of the lessons if a problem arises. Having a solid plan also helps teachers look back and see what has worked, and what hasn't worked. Some of the best plans do come from spontaneity, but it is always better to have a plan and then work off of that, rather than going into something without any ideas. By creating a lesson plan that keeps all types of learners and disabilities in mind, teachers are able to reach out to all students. It makes sense to automatically modify a lesson plan to fit all students in the classroom, rather than creating a cookie cutter lesson plan. This ensures that all learners will have an opportunity to learn and also lets teachers get materials together for the modifications. I have struggled with this unit some, because I have gotten frustrated trying to fit everything together in a way that makes sense to me. It has definitely been a challenge, but a valuable challenge. I have discovered that I am capable of creating an outline for a unit, and that it is also very helpful to have mini outlines of possible lessons. This makes it much easier when it is time to write actual lesson plans. I have not written any of my lesson plans yet, but I think making the accommodations helps keep in mind that students learn in a variety of ways and that it is important to address that in every lesson. This has also been a good exercise for my future since I want to be a Special Education teacher and will be working with students with a variety of learning disabilities. I think it will be very helpful if I already have a mindset to accommodate all students.