Lesson Planning at Home During COVID-19

In light of recent school closures across the country, I have received and have seen a lot of questions wondering how to plan when you’re not a “traditional” classroom teacher. 

For three years, I was a Kindergarten through 5th grade English as a second language specialist teaching 30+ kids over a span of SIX grade levels on a daily basis. Sound hectic? IT WAS! I see you, mom/dad/caretaker, who was thrown into this. It's going to be okay. Having a solid, methodical planning system and routine is the key to success. For the sake of this blog post, I have adapted an Instagram post I made for the 2019-2020 Erin Condren Lesson Planner launch. My pictures will be using that planner, but please, please don't feel like you need to purchase one in order to effectively teacher your children at home during this shutdown. You can make a grid for yourself on your computer.

The ECTP has six vertical columns with blank headers where you can write the name of a class, a subject, or any title that helps identify the student you are planning for underneath. In the far left column that houses the day of the week and the date, I use the extra space in that box to mark meetings, things I need to remember, or any other important information that pertains to a specific day. My headers are labeled by groups, from 1 to 6. My groups change on a daily basis. For example, you can see that I have two different “Group One” groups: one that I see on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (marked with the pink dot in the corner) and another that I only see on Tuesday and Thursday. By combining these groups into a single column, I don’t waste space and I am able to fit all of my groups into one week!

 On the far right there is the to-do list column. If needed, this can be turned into another lesson planning column. I have it set up as a prep list separated by day. The lines that match up with Monday hold my prep for Monday, and so on.

Depending on how many children you are planning for, dedicate one or more columns to each child. If your child's teacher has given assignments or plans to complete, make sure to write their due dates down and any steps that are needed in the days prior. E-learning is going to look different for everyone, so please follow your specific district's policies.

Routines are key. You do not need to, and are not expected to, recreate your children's' entire learning day that they are missing at school. By breaking up their assignments into bite-sized pieces, you are helping to maintain their learning. This is not an extended spring break and should not be treated as such.

If your student has not received things to complete, don't worry. The teachers of Teacher's Pay Teachers are coming together to offer a wide variety of free lesson plans and activities to do at home. All you need to do is make a FREE account (seriously, it's free. And I'm not getting any commission for this) and download any of the activities that catch your eye. You can sort by grade level on the left of this page! Click here for lesson plans for at-home learning.

Many educational websites and apps are offering free membership through the end of the school year to help make home-based e-learning manageable for teachers, students, and parents. You can find a list of these here.

I hope this helps in one way or another. We will all get through this! Feel free to message me on Instagram or on my website via the chat feature. I will make myself available to help you find the resources you need for your children.