Teaching Conditions: Submitting Lesson Plans

Discussion of lesson plans was prominent in digital educator communities as teachers debated the efficacy of submitting plans to administrators.

  • “We’ve been talking a bit about whether or not teachers should submit their lesson plans. Some folks have said that having teachers submit their lesson plans is good for ‘accountability,’ but I want to unpack this a bit and push back on it.” —Educator in Illinois 
    • “1.  It seems pretty universal that admins rarely have the time to read these. And if they aren’t reading these, and teachers are just submitting plans that lack meaning, is this really accountability? Or is this just creating meaningless work that makes teachers feel controlled?” —Educator in Illinois 
    • “2. Lesson planning is often cumbersome and unsustainable. I don’t know many teachers who have the time to write out 5+ lesson plans per day. Realistically, teachers pull from foundational resources and only write out plans when trying something new or complicated.” —Educator in Illinois 
    • “3. ‘What about new teachers?’ Sure, they are the least experienced and might need help with planning. But the reality is that submitting lesson plans isn’t teaching them how to plan. This is just an exchange of information and documents, not a learning relationship.” —Educator in Illinois 
    • “4. Some admins just want to be in the know about lessons, I get that. I imagine it can be somewhat anxiety-inducing for admins to be accountable for quality planning and teaching when they have so little control over it.” —Educator in Illinois 
    • “The only way that submitting lesson plans would make teachers accountable is that whoever is receiving the plans, (i.e. curriculum coach, principal, Planbook) will make time sensitive feedback and suggestions. Just turning them in doesn’t mean that they are being used properly.” —ELA Teacher in North Carolina 
    • “As a principal I had staff submit plans two weeks in advance.I always made time every week to check them. Unskilled teachers got feedback on each individual plan. Skillful ones got notes on glows and grows. All feedback was based on campus priorities and personal growth plans.” —Administrator in Arkansas 
    • “It is just piling on busy work to teachers. I never submitted lesson plans and never really had to follow any arbitrary format for lesson plans. Teachers need freedom to do their jobs.” —Teacher in Florida
    • “​​First, none of us have time to create that 5 page lesson, and the reality is, good teachers don’t need it. Submitting something on paper does not guarantee execution in the classroom. If you want to know what I’m doing, make like a student, and see my Canvas!” —High School ELA Teacher in Oklahoma 
    • “I find that I write my best formal lesson plans when I have a sub, but my hope is that another teacher or administrator could walk into my classroom on any given day and recognize the intentional learning that is happening during our consistent routines.” —Elementary Teacher, N/A
    • “I have so much to say about this topic. Required weekly lesson plans are one of the big reasons I’m not teaching any more.” —Former High School Math Teacher in Georgia
    • “I trust my teachers. They are the experts. No need to collect lesson plans” —Principal in Missouri 
  • “People don’t realize that give or take a week or two after school is out, we are planning for the upcoming school year. And if we teach summer school it is even less time than that.” —Educator in Mississippi
  • “I have a confession to make. I already started working on my lesson plans for next year.” —STEM Teacher in Florida
  • “At the busiest points of June, as we wrap the school year, and I have a lot of work, my brain really wants to dig into planning for next year. Like, I can’t read anything without it generating a lesson plan.” —Teacher in Ontario