Category: Lesson & Course Planning

Prepare clear and organized learning programming from start to finish.

The 10-Minute Countdown: Ensuring Seamless Classroom Wrap-Up

Reading Time: 3 minutesManaging the end of a class efficiently is a crucial skill for any professor, ensuring a smooth transition for the next faculty and maintaining a respectful and organized learning environment. I remember one semester when I was teaching back-to-back classes in different buildings. The rush to wrap up my teaching and make it to the next class on time was...

Alternatives to Graded Weekly Pre-Reading Quizzes

Reading Time: 8 minutesMany faculty wish that students would engage more meaningfully with assigned class pre-readings and other materials. When students show up to class not having spent significant time reviewing pre-work (or even opening the materials at all!), it can feel disheartening and you may be unsure how to proceed. Should you adapt your lesson plan in the moment and go over...

Planning for Post-Assessments: So… What Did They Learn?

Reading Time: 4 minutes“It’s Not What We Teach; It’s What They Learn” – Alfie Kohn Wondering what students have learned in the lesson you’ve just delivered? Have students met the outcomes you set at the beginning of the lesson?  How have they represented the knowledge, skills or attitudes that you are measuring through your course and unit learning outcomes? This post will provide...

Ready, Set, Teach! Navigating Pre-Class Jitters and Setup

Reading Time: 3 minutesYou’ve got your lesson planned, your water bottle filled, and your slides ready, but still, you’ve got butterflies in your stomach as you approach the classroom 10 minutes before the class start time. It’s pretty normal to feel a range of emotions in those minutes before starting to teach: nervousness, excitement, uncertainty, anxiety, anticipation . . . Getting your class...

Content-Based Bridge-Ins

Reading Time: 9 minutesMany of you are likely already familiar with the BOPPPS framework for lesson planning. While BOPPPS is not the only way to plan a lesson in a post-secondary classroom, it has been around for more than 50 years and has proved itself to be a “fruitful, efficient, and effective instructional model that promotes students’ active participation in the classroom” (Zheng,...

Pre-Assessments in Lesson Planning

Reading Time: 2 minutesWondering what students already know about a topic and how this informs our lesson planning? This post will provide a short explanation as to why pre-assessments are important in lesson planning and examples you can try with your students. Pre-Assessments are included in lesson planning for several reasons, these include guiding your lesson in finding out what students know about...

Leveraging Your Slide Deck, Part 2: Engaging Students in the Classroom 

Reading Time: 5 minutesA slide deck can be the focus point of a lesson, presenting key information related to the week’s learning outcomes. A slide deck, however, is not simply an overview of content to be presented to students: it is also a treasure trove of opportunities for  In this Hub post, part 2 of 2, we’ll look at strategies to integrate active...

Dealing with Too Many Slides

Reading Time: 3 minutesAs a faculty member, you may receive or inherit “legacy” slide decks filled with more content than can be covered in a single class. This overabundance of information can lead to rushed presentations, leaving little time for student engagement and comprehension. When faculty focus on covering all the material, students often become passive recipients of information. This approach can overwhelm...

Leveraging Your Slide Deck, Part 1: Scaffolding Assessments for Student Success

Reading Time: 5 minutesA slide deck can be the focus point of a lesson, presenting key information related to the week’s learning outcomes. A slide deck, however, is not simply an overview of content to be presented to students. It is also a treasure trove of opportunities for: In this Hub post, part 1 of 2, we’ll look at strategies to introduce meaningful...

Make Your Lessons “Bloom!”: Leveraging Bloom’s Taxonomy for Lesson Planning Alignment  

Reading Time: 4 minutesAre you ready to plan your lessons with clear objectives and see exactly what students learn by the end? Do you have your BOPPPS template ready to go and wondering how to take your course learning outcomes and put them into ‘action’?   Conestoga College follows an outcomes-based approach to teaching and learning. This teaching tip will explain how to take...