D1 Planning to promote equality, support diversity, and meet the needs of learners.

As explained earlier, my teaching is differentiated in order to give every student the best chance of success. This sort of teaching requires a combination of careful planning and flexibility. I use both macro-planning, which includes year, term, and weekly plans (for samples see this and this), and micro-planning, which includes individual lesson plans (see this sample and this). My macro plans, which are prepared ahead of time, are carefully structured in order to ensure that all students meet the curriculum objectives, but they also leave room for flexibility. My micro plans, which are prepared shortly before each lesson, fill in the details, setting individual lesson objectives that take account of current learning opportunities and of the needs, interests, and abilities of individual learners as they are developing through the term. I also occasionally draw up supplementary plans to address any additional learning needs that may arise. For example, when a student with limited English recently joined my 3rd grade class, I drew up a tailor-made plan designed both to boost his English and to support him in other subjects.

D2. Opportunities for learner feedback and negotiation to inform planning.

Planning that is imposed from the top down without reflection on its effects on learners can be worse than no planning at all, and I regularly adjust my micro-planning (and over time, my macro-planning) in response to feedback from students. Such feedback comes in various forms: I pause briefly during sessions for comments; I hold one-to-one feedback sessions with my FE students and meetings with the parents of my primary school students; I study student responses on questionnaires; and, perhaps most importantly of all, I listen to and observe my students carefully. In my experience, well-motivated students understand well what they need in order to progress, and I am always attentive to their hints when planning teaching strategies and activities. I treat student assessment as a form of feedback too; if my students are under-performing, then so am I! For examples of my analyses of, and responses to, student feedback, see this course report.

D3 Evaluates own effectiveness in planning

Self-evaluation is central to my planning, as to all other aspects of my work. Although I prepare macro plans well ahead of time, I continually review them and am always ready to revise them if perceive the need, adding or modifying content as appropriate. As an example of self-evaluation within a team context, I would draw attention again to this report on the e-tuition pilot I ran for the Open University and on which I also taught with a fellow lecturer. The report draws on a variety sources as well as my own observations and makes numerous recommendations.