Why do teachers hate lesson planning so much? And is it possible to grow to love it?
Let’s start with why teachers hate lesson planning so much. Many teachers hate lesson planning because it is so time consuming for something that they generally already know the direction they are going in. This is especially true of teachers that have been in the classroom for several years.
Let’s take a look at this infographic on teachers views on lesson planning and administrative work:
With numbers like this, it is clear why teachers hate lesson planning and all of the other details of their job that cause them to work so many more hours than most other jobs.
I would like to look at some direct reasons why teachers hate lesson planning so much. Then we can look at ways to make lesson planning become a teachers best friend instead of enemy!
Table of Contents
The Outline
I. Why Teachers Hate Lesson Planning
A. It doesn’t fit into their school day.
B. Administrators keep increasing the lesson plan requirements.
C. It takes so much longer for newer teachers to complete them.
II. Ways to make lesson planning more enjoyable.
A. Don’t get bogged down in the details.
B. Take advantage of other teachers’ experience.
C. Once you have a year (or three) of lesson plans done, you already have an outline done.
Now let’s take a look at them in detail.
Why Teachers Hate Lesson Planning
It Doesn’t Fit into Their School Day
It doesn’t take very long into the school year before teachers are just exhausted. They spend all day with a large number of students who are full of energy at most ages, especially in elementary and middle school. They need to navigate all of the issues of working with kids.
But then, they also have the grading, cleaning up, and planning that didn’t get done because they spent all of their time with their students. And that means they have to take it home and get it done. No matter how exhausted they already are.
Whatever they are simply unable to do ends up getting saved for the weekend. And the snowball continues from there.
The Fix
One way to fix this is to grade papers in class with all of the students helping. Many of my classes had us exchanging papers to grade so that the teacher only had to put the final marks on the papers. To prevent funny business from happening, they would strategically seat us so that certain students sat not-so-close to other students that could cause trouble.
Once the papers were graded, they were handed back to the owners to check to make sure it was done well. Any issues with grading were brought up to the teacher. It did take longer in the class but it was instrumental for the teacher being able to go home without a huge pile of papers. And the teacher has gained at least a couple of hours back for his/her evening.
Administrators Keep Increasing the Lesson Plan Requirements
The concern here is that as school administrators feel the pressure of their authorities to produce better schools, they pass that pressure down to the teachers in the form of more accountability. While it sounds good in theory, it ends up being incredibly distracting at the classroom level.
There is a way to work around this in a way that will save a huge amount of time with a little bit of front-loaded work.
The Fix
Make a form that covers all of the requirements that the administrators are asking for you to report to them. Then you can just fill in the blanks they need to know. And that allows you to concentrate on what you really want to plan. Talking to some more experienced teachers about they handle the extra reporting will also be super helpful. More on this on a later point, though!
It Takes so Much Longer for Newer Teachers to Complete Them
There are a couple of things at play here. First, the detailed lesson plans that teachers are taught to construct in university are overkill in ways that they find out pretty quickly in the real-world classroom. But because they are still new at it, they aren’t sure how to streamline them. And they are in such a rush to get it done and get to the next thing that they don’t take the time to evaluate where they should go with it.
Another problem is that they just don’t know all of the resources available to them, so searching for what they need takes longer. It can take longer for an experienced teacher to find something out of the ordinary, but for a new teacher, almost everything is a new discovery.
The Fixes
For the first problem, as counterintuitive as it feels, they really just need to suck it up and take the time they need to research how to lesson plan effectively for what they are trying to accomplish in their classroom(s). After a weekend, they should be on the right track. And for whatever didn’t work out smoothly, they can tweak it in a fraction of the time that they initially spent researching.
The second fix is just making a well-organized index of all the resources that work well for them. It may even be good to make a list of the ones that didn’t, so that it won’t be so hard to figure out which ones are which hundreds of sites down the lesson planning road.
I have to admit that I tend to have tons of tabs open on my computer because once I find a great resource, I’m afraid to get rid of it. But the fear of one of the kids walking by and hitting a button that gets rid of everything forever always looms over me. Keeping a list, digital or print, would be great even though it takes a bit of extra time. Plus my older kids will stop hassling me about my “billions of tabs.”
Ways to Make Lesson Planning More Enjoyable
Don’t Get Bogged Down in the Details
Especially when teachers are starting out, they want to make their lesson plans as detailed as possible. There are a few reasons for this. First, they are afraid that they won’t plan enough material and there will be empty space in the school day. The more teachers work, the more they realize that there is actually a serious shortage of time.
Second, they are afraid if they don’t write down every detail, they will forget what they should do and be standing in class feeling lost. That doesn’t take too long to work out of either. If you have planned your lesson well enough it should flow pretty smoothly. There is no need to plan out every word or point. Over time, new teachers’ comfort level of being up in the front of the class gets better. And without the stage fright they realize they don’t have to lean on the lesson plans as heavily as they originally thought.
And that brings us perfectly to the next point.
Take Advantage of Other Teachers’ Experience
I was very fortunate to have another teacher hand me all of his lesson plans when I was just starting out on my own. For the first few weeks, I went step by step exactly by what he had written down. Then within a few weeks I got my sea legs and started being able to comfortably tweak it to fit the direction I wanted my class to go with the students I had.
I think most teachers are eager to help newer teachers in this way. We all remember how it was when we were new. And making life better for a fellow teacher is such a great way to lend a hand.
Once You Have a Year (or Three) of Lesson Plans Done, You Already Have an Outline Done
So I know that this point sounds so long and tedious, but looking back you will not believe how fast that first year went. And if you keep a record of all of your lesson plans you will have a perfect foundation for next year’s lesson plans.
You will definitely want to tweak them, sometimes quite drastically. And that is okay. You will also want to add more features/discoveries into them as you find new things or another teacher inspires you.
Most studies say that it takes 3 years for a teacher to feel comfortable in her class. And that is if she kept the same grade/program for all of those years. Switching up classes, courses or other major things will take even longer. And that is okay. Don’t rush or force it, even though that is what you feel like doing. Even if you don’t feel totally comfortable for a few years, every year will be easier. It will never be like starting over again.
Conclusion
The bottom line here is that at the end of the day, week, year, or whatever time frame, the things we really need to be thinking about are what our students are learning and how well they are learning it. Is your lesson planning helping or hindering that? And how can you tweak it to accomplish the learning that is the purpose of the classroom and life?
One final thought is how can you make your own lesson planning take less time but yet produce more in the classroom? Hopefully the suggestions above will help in those areas. Please comment below to let me know what things worked well in your own classroom!
Sources:
2018 Voices From the Classroom Teacher Survey
responsiblehomeschooling.com — Homeschooling by the Numbers
tdtrust.org — 10 Things You Need to Know About the Teacher Workload Survey
For more information on lesson planning, check out the following articles:
What are Key Components of a Lesson Plan
How to Accomplish More Effective Lesson Planning
Lesson Plans and Curriculum: The Story of Complete Literature
I take my hats off to teachers! I don’t know how you do it! Such a hard job.
One day at a time and some days are better than others. 🙂
I have a few friends who are into teaching and this has been their concern when it comes to their profession, making a lesson plan. But they have to do it, so there’s no choice.
Very true, Agnes. Over time it gets much easier, but those first few years are such a bear. Thanks for sharing!
My friend is a teacher and sometimes we discuss about her job. It`s not easy I must say especially when you work with problematic kids like she. I really admire her its not easy.
It is not easy, Milica. Tell her I said thank you for caring enough to make a difference!
Your blog that shows the teachers’ point of view allows students and parents who read you better to understand how complex it is!
I am married to a high school teacher so I see first hand why teachers don’t like lesson plans. He is in his second year of teaching so he still ‘new’ to teaching so he has to make lesson plans as he goes. He stays after school for an extra hour to work and then after our kids are in bed he will work as well. On top of that, he also has things to grade and power points to put together. This year he seems to be quicker at lesson planning than what he was last year. He has a strategy that is working. We need to give teachers a lot of credit, they work so hard!
Exactly, Jessica! By my third year, I finally felt comfortable in my teacher shoes, so hopefully by next year, your husband will feel settled and his current lesson plans will be easily alterable for next year so he will only have to tweak and not keep having to fully plan everything out. Thank him for his dedication (even though I see what a sacrifice it is to you right now–thank YOU for your patience and support for him)!
Wow I had no idea it took so much to plan lessons. I can imagine how hard it must be! Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
I bet this would be frustrating and tough to do. I know the difficult kids can make things tricky.
I feel like teachers aren’t given enough time to put lesson planning into their school days; we can’t keep asking teachers to do this outside of their paid working hours. It’s just not fair. Teachers do the work of angels – teaching and loving and nurturing children. We have to give them time to do this while they’re on the clock during the school day.
http://www.recoveringsuperwoman.com
There just isn’t time. and unfortunately, the school day is so busy that the time just can’t be manipulated to fit it. Support from other teachers that can help newer teachers is very helpful, but for the first few years, it is just plain tough. Loving the students that they see every day throughout the year also helps them to keep on going!
wow I don’t envy you! I had to build out a 1 hour workshop before and it look a lot of hard work and dedication but i loved the topic and content so it didn’t feel like work!
Most teachers love their work too, so even as hard as it is, they are willing to do it. And after a few years, the lesson planning gets quite a bit easier, between experience and a foundation to build future lessons on. Thanks for sharing!
I can see that lesson plans are time consuming. Teachers do need a better way or some help with planning
Love your tips for growing to love a task. We think we can apply this to our own lives as well!
Teachers are such super people! I am so thankful for all that they do for our kids!
I think it’s terrible how teachers do a lot of work from home and yet get no thanks for it. Nor do they get paid enough to be taking their work home with them (Currently £23,000 annually capped here). Teachers need a lot more respect and help than they currently get, and that includes in planning lessons.
Teachers do have it really hard. And the salary caps are pretty bad. But the one good thing that comes out of it is that the majority of teachers do it for passion for the kids. If the pay was super large, too many people would be doing it for the money instead of the kids. Maybe someday they can figure out a way to rightfully reward teachers and keep the best ones active in schools.
My Father was a teacher for over 30 years and he brought home so much work all the time that it put me off wanting to become a teacher altogether. I believe teachers have the ability to get things done a lot easier now using technology compared to 40 years ago.
Yes, Alvern, technology has made it so much easier. Even bigger for me is the fact that technology gives me so many resources that I never would have had. But there is still so much to do. Thank your father for me that he spent 30+ years teaching!
Some great ideas but I found the. Best one was practice- after a few years I could write a lesson plan in half the time and it would be approved by my HOD straight away.
Yes, Susan! Totally agree! I can now write a lesson plan almost in my sleep, but it took a lot of years to get there.
Teachers have such huge responsibilities every single day. It would be nice if things were made a little easier for them!
I can imagine how time consuming it must be. It sure sounds like a lot of work. I like how you pointed out a fix for each obstacle.
Thank you, Lisa!
This says a lot on how great teachers are. Hours of speaking and standing up plus this. Living hero and legends.
As a teacher, I definitely agree that lesson planning is the least fun part of the job. That been said, I thoroughly enjoyed planning and extra-curricular programme I was tasked with creating a few years ago. I think that was because I was given free-reign and didn’t have to work within the rigidity of our territory’s curriculum.
Yes, Kez, having creative control and knowing it doesn’t have to be approved by someone that doesn’t even know your class dynamic is so much more pleasant. Thanks for sharing!
The part about it taking newer teachers so much longer to complete lesson plans was a bit surprising to me.
Yeah, it takes a lot more research and planning when they are new. Once they have done it, it is quicker to go to the resources that they are experienced with and pump out the plan with much less studying to figure it out first.
Lesson planning can be time consuming, I’ve heard a friend of who’s a teacher complain about this. I would refer to your blog post.
I know how much work goes into lesson planning. That is why I have the utmost respect for teachers.
It is undeniable that teachers are heavens gift to us all.
They are, Christiana!
I remember the first few years…killer! Or changing curriculum-shoot me now! Great ideas to make it easier-not getting bogged down in details is huge. And also, I am a big fan of exchanging papers to grade. :-). Thank you as always!
Yep, those first few years are so hard. It’s impossible to be fully prepared. Hopefully we can share some wisdom that will help the newer teachers to have an easier time of it.
Lesson planning, my new nemesis. I’m not a teacher, and I don’t think I could ever be one. Having to homeschool my kids these past few months has meant lesson planning, and I just hate it. LOL
Wow, that’s a lot of extra work and I can imagine that it takes so much time to do it. Maybe there should be another job position for an assistance teacher that can do only the lesson planning. In an ideal world, of course.
Lesson planning and even worse, grading, are not my favorite things to do. Both of these take time from my evenings and weekends with my family and my self-care. I’ve been teaching for a long time but things are always changing in education. Once you get a good system down pat, something or someone comes along and changes it. I think it’s all about knowing what to teach and how you deliver it to meet the needs of your learners is what is really most important.
I can’t imagine how hard a teacher’s job is. I think with the amount of work they do, they should earn so much more.
Teaching is a lot of work! I have 3 teachers in my family and they are all so passionate about their jobs. You guys are truly amazing! Thank you for sharing your advice for all the teachers who need it 🙂
Reading this article open my eye and understand on how really hard to be a teacher is.
Thinking all the things that they need to do and to be done on that time frame is really hard.
I salute all the teachers that keeps working and loving their works for the sake of our child.
Lesson planning is one of the cryout of most of school teachers here in my country. But your suggestions and motivation can let them learn how to grow and love it.
I never liked it as well (I led classes in sports) it takes patience and I feel pressure to think it all through. Thanks for the tips to make it better
Any way you look at it, teachers have a really tough time with what they do so always, hats off.
i never enjoyed lesson planning myself. but if i cut my planning short, my classes were more difficult and i was racing to fill the full 50 minutes.
A friend of mine teaches high school and you’re right, she is not a huge fan of planning the lessons. She loves teaching though…
Having a really fun planner helps!
I bet lesson planning is very tedious. It’s necessary, but I bet very boring!
Good suggestions for teachers. I have many of my friends who are into this profession and they do talk about lesson planning as a tedious job. But since they are growing up through experiences, they have also devised techniques to speed up the process. Will share your article with them.
Topics sometimes change. For me, teaching plan is a formality. It’s all about following a curriculum and outline but it can be spontaneous during discussion making it more dynamic.
As a homeschool teacher, I love planning. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time I’d like to completely plan, but when I do I enjoy it.
Lesson planning could be a really stressful activity to do, so this article is really helpful! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Making a lesson plan is really stressful and hard. But teachers need to do it for their loving students.
Teachers do I have a job and work on them. I commend you all for the work you do.
After becoming the designated teacher for my kid during the quarantine, I have grown more appreciation to our teachers. They are heroes!
I am not a teacher but I do understand how it can be challenging.
Especially senior teacher don’t like lesson planning because they have experience of many years and they think it is only time consuming activity…. Your suggestion will encourage them to incorporate lesson planning activity in their teaching methodology.
Great perspective for non-teachers to know what goes into the job!
Hhhhmmmm….this is quite a lot to think about and integrate into our programs.
Can’t imagine how you guys do it! This is one of the responsible job. Hats off to you all!