Get September Ready Masterclass Series: How To Plan Effectively To Reduce Overwhelm In The New Academic Year

DESCRIPTION:

In this episode of Helping Teachers Thrive, Tem shares practical strategies for effective lesson planning so teachers can start the new academic year prepared, confident and free from overwhelm. She explains how to plan to the top for high attainers, build in progressive challenge tasks, use simple scaffolds that work for everyone, structuring lessons clearly and keeping planning efficient by using simple tools. Tem also covers student self- and peer-assessment to cut marking, incorporating technology, movement activities, and the golden rule: keep it simple so you protect your wellbeing and avoid burnout.

If you would like to enquire about trauma-informed training, please contact Tem at tem@helpingteachersthrive.com or book a call: https://calendly.com/tem-helpingteachersthrive/60

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Keep planning simple (KISS) - never spend hours on a single one-hour lesson.Plan to the top first: design progressive activities for high attainers, then scaffold down for others.Include a clear starter with sentence starters and word banks, plus a “challenge yourself” task for early finishers.Use student self-assessment and peer-marking to dramatically reduce your marking workload.Build a logical sequence of activities that feed into each other and include quick formative checks.Pre-plan 3-5 guided questions so you always have prompts ready to deepen understanding.Give students choice in how they present their work to increase engagement and autonomy.Share resources with colleagues and use technology to save time and support learners.BEST MOMENTS:

"If you're spending three, four, five hours planning a single lesson, that's too much… In that four or five hours, you can plan multiple lessons."

"Plan to the top. Plan with those high students in mind first… so that they don't get stalled in your lessons."

"Keep it simple. Kiss is how I remember it. Keep it simple."

"We need to reduce our workload. Get your students to mark their own starter activity… rather than having to mark it yourself."

"Do not overcomplicate it, please. That's the worst thing we can do as teachers."

VALUABLE RESOURCES:

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