There seems to be a growing idea among teachers that good teaching doesn’t need lesson planning. That we should simply walk into the classroom, read the room, and respond to whatever happens.
I agree with part of that. We absolutely need to read the room. We need to respond. We need to adapt.
But contrary to what many teachers believe, for me, planning is essential.
Not because I believe every minute of a lesson should be predetermined. Not because I want teachers standing at the front of the classroom desperately trying to complete page 34 simply because it is in the lesson plan.
Quite the opposite. I believe we need to plan so that we can be flexible.
A plan gives us a course to move through. It gives us enough structure to know where we’re going, without demanding that we follow one predetermined route. What happens along the way can—and should—change the plan.
And perhaps that is the balance we should be looking for in our classrooms: direction without rigidity; intention with room for spontaneity.
Planning is thinking before teaching
For me, planning is the thinking that happens before we walk into the classroom.
What do I want my students to learn? What do they already know? What language do I want them to retrieve and use? Where might they struggle? What questions could get them thinking? Where can I create opportunities for them to speak, connect and apply what they know?
And perhaps most importantly: How will I know whether learning is actually happening?
Research into lesson planning reflects this broader understanding. Planning involves translating the curriculum into classroom practice and making informed decisions about content, activities, and assessment, while taking into account the needs, abilities, and interests of our learners.
In other words, planning isn’t paperwork. Planning is intentional decision-making.
Without that thinking, it becomes very easy to fill a lesson with activities without being completely sure what those activities are supposed to achieve.
But then your class starts…
And this is where things get interesting. You can prepare what you believe is a brilliant lesson. And then…the activity you thought would take twenty minutes takes five. Or the other way around.
The topic you thought your students would understand in five minutes turns into a nightmare.
The discussion questions you planned as a ten-minute warm-up suddenly generate forty minutes of meaningful conversation.
This is not where planning ends. This is where teaching really begins: when you can read the room and adapt the plan.
So yes, I believe teachers should plan. Even experienced teachers.
I have been teaching for more than 25 years and I still spend hours planning and checking lessons from other teachers. Experience may change the way we plan. We may not need to write down every instruction, anticipate every possible answer or script every stage of a lesson. But the professional thinking behind the lesson must be there, regardless of how many years we have been teaching.
So, in a nutshell…
Plan carefully.
Know where you’re going.
Know why you’re going there.
And then be willing to take a different road.
Because ultimately:
The plan should serve the learning — not the other way around.
Have an amazing day!