What makes an effective lesson?

    What defines an effective lesson?  Is it the engaging strategies that leave the students asking for more?  Is it the building background segment or intense discussions?  How about the fun creative review games right before a test?  I would like to think that an effective lesson contains all of those elements plus more.

    When I think of effective lessons, I think of great discussions and student interaction. I think of my middle school days and the lessons that stood out to me.  Mrs. Renfrow was my favorite teacher.  She taught Language Arts and Reading and every day in her class was different.  Of course we did morning work, homework review, and silent reading but the actual lesson was different.  Book discussions reeled us in and kept our interest in each chapter.  From the time the lesson started, she had our attention.  We left her class wondering why, researching why, and creating questions for the next day.

    What defines an effective lesson?  Your student’s involvement!  Teaching is not all about giving tests and grading papers.  It’s about making your students feel welcome and comfortable enough to open up.  Effective lessons are the ones that take a couple of days to plan.  It builds off of background knowledge and allows students to investigate indefinite possibilities.  It includes different strategies that targets different learning styles.  Direct instruction, modeling examples, and independent practice are all major elements in an effective lesson.

    For me, an effective lesson is getting my students involved throughout the entire lesson.  A great introduction explaining the lesson’s objective, reviewing previous skills, introducing the new materials, and checking for understanding.  I know that’s probably the layout for every lesson but an effective lesson makes a personal connection with each student.  “Conducting effective lessons is at the heart of the teacher’s craft (Slavin, 2014, p.162).