A very lean UbD based teaching plan

The corona pandemic. The need to keep the teaching and learning going.
Every teacher scrambling and doing what they can with whatever they have.

This is what I’ve been doing, and hope this general, bare minimum, lean lesson plan helps other teachers teaching online (while remaining sane).

I teach in a grad school, and the classes run for 120 mins synchronously, twice a week.

Prep before the class:
UbD based Lesson Plan
a. What is the big idea of this chapter/session?
b. How do I know the students have learnt this big idea?
c. What structure/activities/materials/articles do I need?

Beginning of the class:
Some sort of retrieval practice right from the second class)
#lastclasschallenge
Short Quiz (on Kahoot usually)
Prediction Activity
Check for Prior Knowledge
Front-loading, if it’s necessary for the lesson
Meaning before the details

During the class:
Follow the lesson plan’s structure (oh, this is another huge concept for which I might have to write a separate post)

a. Check for understanding (every 20–30 mins)
b. Check for their presence and attention
c. Give a break (a 8 to 10 mins break)
d. Throw them a few hinge questions

Ending the class:
Never end the class this way -
a. Alright class, that’s it for today. Hope you had a good time.
b. Opps !!! Seems like we ran out of time. Shall we continue it next time?
c. Okay. Let me summarize today’s class. We did this.. that.. and this.

Instead,

Assess
Go back to the way you started the class
Ask students to review, write a summary — make a connection
Reflection activity (Exit ticket)
Evaluation of student learning (even, Self-evaluation)

—

When you are not trying to firefight, take a pause of read some books on teaching or listen to some podcasts.
A very lean list, sort of:

Pedagogy
Small Teaching (Small Teaching Online)
What the Best College Teachers Do
Teach like a Champion

Learning Science/Cognitive Science
Why don’t Students like Schools?
Powerful Teaching
Learning how to Learn

Listen to some podcasts:
Teaching in Higher Ed
Cult of Pedagogy
Lecture Breakers