Three Levels of Lesson Planning

It might sound strange, but I really like planning.  I teach five different classes, all different levels (and sometimes different languages).  If I didn't do a lot of planning, it'd be impossible for me to stay on top of things.  Here's three levels of planning and how they'll help keep you organized.

Full Year Planning
This is a level of planning I (unfortunately) didn't really think about my first year.  I was too busy surviving day to day that I overlooked how the flow of the year needed to go.  Several of my classes ended up falling behind because I was spending too much time in some units, dragging things out that could have been much more succinct.  I was too busy looking at the leaves to notice there was a forest.

Whether your school has semesters, quarters, or marking periods, it's important to know the scope of the entire year for each level you teach.  Figure out how many units you have to do per marking period, then break that down into how many days that gives you.  Try to figure out when each unit will start and end - this will keep you from getting behind.

This is an example of what my quarterly planning looks like.  I've already figured out what units I'll be covering and everything in pencil shows when I hope to start covering a new topic, whether it be review, new vocabulary or new grammar.

German 2: Quarter 1 Plan for 2013-2014 

As we go through the quarter, I mark down the days we actually started working on these topics and quiz days.  Other things might come up that affect unit length (PSAT Day, Pep Rally, Inclement Weather, Assemblies, etc) and those get marked in as well.  As I finish up a full unit (usually I consider a vocab topic to be a full unit), I highlight it for easier visibility.  Note the difference between the planning calendar above and the completed one below from last year.

German 2: Quarter 1 Plan for 2012-2013

The great thing about keeping track of this is you have an outline for the next year.  If you're teaching the same course, you have the same general outline you used the previous year and you now know how much time you actually needed for each unit.  This way if the curriculum ever changes and units get moved around, you still know how much time you'll need for each one.

Here's a Blank Quarterly Calendar for 2013-2014.  Since school years can vary and not all schools divide their year by quarters, you may have to make changes to tailor it to your school year.

Unit Planning

Have a separate folder for each topic you teach

Once you have the gist of the yyou have for each topic.  I like to keep a separate file for every vocabulary and every grammar unit I cover.  Keep your vocabulary and grammar units separate!  Books and units change - just because one vocab topic is currently paired with a specific grammar topic doesn't mean they always will be.  Keep them apart for more flexibility later on!

Keep all of your notes and activities in a folder

Start planning the unit by organizing activities: easier, recognition based activities start the unit, while more difficult, composition based activities are at the end, with scaffolding activities in between to build students' skills.

Find a unit organizer that you like and decide which activities will be done on which days.  I like to look at several weeks at a time.  Every day gets an opening activity, at least one main activity/lesson, and a homework assignment.

German 2: First Two Weeks in Detail

German 4: First Two Weeks in Detail (note the comments!)

I used to do all paper copies of my units, but last year I switched to all digital.  I keep all my plans on my Google drive so I can access them anywhere.  It's also great because they're much easier to store than a stack of paper plans.  It has made things significantly easier to a.) keep my plans so I can refer to them the next year (everything's already in order for you) and b.) have digital copies where all I have to do is copy and paste.  Google is also great because I can add comments about needed resources or modifications for next year.

Here's a Blank Planning Calendar for 2013-2014.  As above, it's specific to the school calendar used by my school system, but can easily be modified to fit your needs.  If you're looking for a similar organizer but with a smaller time frame, here's a Blank Two-Week Planning Template.

Daily Planning
I teach five classes a day, all of them different.  I would NOT be able to keep track of which class is doing what, in what order the activities are supposed to go, what the homework is, what pages we're reading, etc. if I didn't write it all down.  Before each day, I write out what I plan to do in each class.  Simple little summaries that can be as short as "Mention quiz next Tuesday" or "Drill: Identify (pictures)."  Basically the same information from the planning sheet above, but with each class represented on the same page.

Here's my daily plan for the first day of school

If you teach multiple sections, I highly recommend doing something similar.  Just write it out, keep it up front with you or you can even write it out on a side board so the kids can also see the plan for the day.  The only real down side is it involves a lot of writing on your part.  They're also not that practical to keep - they're too specific to be re-used the next year.

Here's a Blank Daily Planning Template.  I basically just make a bunch of copies of this at the beginning of the school year and go through


Hopefully this will help keep you organized and planned this upcoming school year!

- Frau Leonard

Prepping for the School Year

I know what you're thinking - it's still summer, I don't want to start thinking about the new school year!  These are just a few things that I like to make sure I have ready to go for the first day of school.

1.) Syllabus
I have the same generic syllabus for all of my classes.  Obviously some changes are necessary depending on the level (AP German gets a whole spiel about the AP exam, some levels get a section on county exams or Honors vs Regular sections, etc.), but having generally the same syllabus is helpful when you teach multiple levels of the same language.  I spend a lot of time going over the syllabus with German 1 students, but then German 2 and up just need a quick refresher.

Here's a look at my German 2 Syllabus for next year.

Important things to include in your syllabus:

• Materials needed (which may include dictionaries, workbooks, and how to divide their binder)
• Information on your grading policy
  I give a general look at my grading policy and then give more specific information about how participation, homework, classwork and assessments will be conducted throughout the year.
• Attendance and absent work: What do students need to know if they're absent?  How much time do they have to make up work?  Where can they find make-up work?  When can they make-up missed quizzes?
• Contact information: How can students and parents get in touch with you?  When are you available for extra help?  Do you have a class website?

2.) Policies and Procedures Power Point
In addition to the Syllabus, I like to go over more day-to-day procedures with my new Level 1 students.  This covers more basic information like what to do as you enter the room, how to behave during classwork activities, where to find the drill, how to hand out papers, if you can go to your locker during class, etc.  None of this would be appropriate in the Syllabus, but all of it's still important for laying a solid foundation for the year.


Take a look at my Policies and Procedures Power Point.


3.) Student info sheet
Through our school's digital database, I can find out their parent contact info, but I like to have a reference sheet for all students' school-related activities.  And it's great not just having access to a student's schedule in case you need to find them during the day, but it's really helpful if you need to talk to their counselor or coach to get some more support.

Take a look at my generic Student Information Sheet (available for free at Teacherspayteachers.com).


4.) Immersion Promise
I think by now we're all familiar with the concept of immersion and the benefits thereof.  I try to run an immersion classroom as much as possible, even in Level 1.  Kids in general seem to understand immersion too - they know it'll help them in the long run.  But... kids need to be told that immersion is a two-way street.  It's not just the teacher who needs to be speaking the target language, but they do too.  That's why I use an Immersion Promise.  I tell the kids that I promise to try and use German as much as I can in class, but that they need to promise to try and do the same.  We all sign it day one - everyone knows what they're in for and everyone agrees to try and do their best with it.

Take a look at my Immersion Promise.


5.) Student Flashcards
I have all of my students fill out a 3 x 5 flashcard each year.  They give me background information about them as a person, which is especially great for new students.  They tell me their previous experience and their goals for the year, which gives me an idea of their expectations and can help focus the class to make sure I cover their needs.

But what's also great is now I have a card for each of them - when we do activities where I want to randomly call on students or randomly generate groups, I can use the class' flashcards to do it.

All you need to do is get one or two sets of those flashcard packs that have several colors.  Pick one color per class (for example, every year German 4 gets the blue flashcards and German 1 gets the yellow).  This way you can keep the classes separate.  Just get a little container to hold them all and keep them at the front of the room.

Here's what I get the kids to fill out:

6.) Ice-Breakers
The first day of school tends to be on the dull side for kids.  They get a bunch of sheets on policies and procedures and do's and don't's for the year.  They fill out the same info sheets a half dozen times, get slightly different versions of each teacher's classroom set-up.  I'm not particularly thrilled with doing it five times in a row, and I'm sure they're not particularly thrilled to hear it five (or six or seven...) times in a row.  You HAVE to do something that's fun to both start and end class, to make them happy they stepped into your classroom.

My favorite drill for German 1 is to just put up the question "Why study German?"  Students brainstorm different reasons to study German, we discuss it as a class and add to the list as we go.  I find this a great way to get students motivated and interested early on.

My favorite drill for German 2 and up is ABC's auf Deutsch.  I write the alphabet on the board, divide students into groups and have them try to come up with a German word that starts with each letter of the alphabet.  It's easy to turn this into a competition - groups get points for having a word that starts with a given letter and two points if no one else in the class thought of the word.  It's a great activity to get students back into thinking in German without stressing them out.

 I'll talk more about Ice-Breakers for Day One in my next post.

Hope this was a helpful look at how to prep for next school year!  Feel free to take, use, and modify anything I've put up.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

- Frau Leonard