Key advice for new teachers: How to start your lesson right

Have you ever planned the perfect lesson but then felt it turned into a complete mess? You’ve meticulously crafted your resources, made sure your subject knowledge is on point and even done some wider reading to make sure you are fully prepared for your students. So, what happens?  Why does all this effort feel like such a waste and how can you avoid that spiraling dip in confidence following a bad lesson?

I’ve personally experienced lessons where, I’m embarrassed to admit, I just haven’t had enough time to prepare. I’ve noticed though that sometimes, these are the best lessons. Even though I didn’t have the experience to draw upon my subject knowledge as I do now, these lessons have gone well, the atmosphere has been positive, and I can feel my students have left the room learning better than if I had spent 2 hours planning and preparing resources for them.

This is by no means a substitute for a thorough lesson plan, but the 5 points below should be a staple in your entrance routine for every lesson. A smooth start communicates control and who’s the boss minimizing chaos later.

1. A friendly reminder: get ready to perform

Whatever us teachers have got going on in our personal lives, however tired, however stressed, we’ve got to leave it at the door and get our game face on. I know you already know this, but sometimes in the real world, it’s tough, so consider this a friendly reminder of the power of a smile.

 Students can sense any negativity the minute they lay eyes on you or hear a tone in your voice. Anything that drains the energy from the room is going to disrupt the start of the lesson creating problems for you later.

2. Greetings

How do you greet your students? Are you fumbling about with your laptop at your desk while they drift in one-by-one? Do you make them line up outside the classroom while you are preparing between lesson transitions? Are you sometimes having a chat with your teacher bestie in the corridor (guilty!)

This refers to verbally telling your students what is coming up this lesson. Yes, I think most of us introduce our learning objectives as part of our lesson plan, but have you tried breaking down your lesson in chunks and telling the students what to expect?. I’ve been doing this for a while, and it really helps the students contextualize and understand your efforts.

All these innocent scenarios send a signal to your students, that you are not really ready for them, so why should they make an effort in your lesson?

I’ve tried and tested it, stopped the line-up routine, stopped fumbling, stood at the door and personally greeted every single one of my students as they entered my classroom. This is known as greeting on the threshold -so you can keep an eye on the classroom as well as the corridor, helping students get to class on time with purpose and feeling welcomed.

Be warm. Some of my students even offer a little cheeky fist bump or handshake on the way in, I never leave them hanging. Ask them how their day has been, ask them what they got up to on the weekend, ask them about upcoming plans as they enter your room.

This small interaction, acknowledging and making every individual in your class feel special, sets the tone for the lesson and gets the students on your side from the get-go.

3. Starter activity

Now this is where you get to business and let your students know that your lesson is worth their time right from the start. Just think back to your time in school, those teachers who had you sitting at your desk while they were loading their laptop. Or maybe they were getting worksheets ready, writing the starter activity on the board. Whatever they were doing, the rest of the classroom was chaos, time for students to be mischievous!

It has taken me a lot of time to craft out the most effective starter activity, and this is by far the best. It is a small worksheet consisting of 6 questions. The worksheet follows the following format:

• The first 2 questions are based on the last topic of learning.
• The next 2 questions are based on content from the last lesson,
• The final 2 questions are based on what you will be teaching in today’s lesson.

Here’s what it looks like, I’ve also attached a free downloadable and fully editable starter worksheet at the top of this post for you to trial in your classroom. You will be able to print 2 per page to save time and resources.

Once you’ve done your register, instruct your students to glue their worksheets in and self- assess their work as you go through the answers. Then you can move into the main body of your teaching, and everyone is calm and ready. As you circulate the classroom during the lesson, have a check on your students’ starter activity to get a feel for how they’ve done. This will also help you address any misconceptions in your upcoming lessons.

Yes, you may think this is a bit much, printing off a starter worksheet every lesson, but believe me, it is worth it. I’ve really come to understand that students love routine, it gives them a sense of trusting the teacher and seeing them as an organized professional.

As time goes on, they will come in expecting that little worksheet and will automatically get to work. You will also notice that your teaching will run smoother and that you’ll be able to trial more student-led activities as your relationship with your students improves.

4. The outline

My outline will be brief and some thing along the lines of….. ‘this lesson guys, we need to look at crude oil and where it comes from. We’ve got 2 video clips to watch, 5 key questions to answer in our books, then there will be some time for you to read through the textbook and add anything I’ve missed.”

As an adult, I like to be prepared. Anytime I’ve sat through a CPD session, I’ve wanted to feel like the person talking to me has structured their talk and is not making it up on the spot.

The more organized you appear to your students, the more they view you as the expert in your subject. You could even be delivering a lesson topic that you are teaching for the first time, but this small outlining effort on your end will make it look like you’ve done this 1000 times and that you know what you are doing.

The hook

Students don’t want the technical details of the teaching and learning. They want context, they want real-life application. Why is learning algebra relevant to them at this age? Why is learning about crude oil still going on if we have got electric cars and other means of generating electricity? Hook your students in with something relatable at the start of the lesson. This is where you can sprinkle a bit of your own interests and wow them with something new.

Truth be told, students today have more access to screens and AI than ever before, they think they know everything, but I’ve noticed if you throw a little bit of history at them, they tend to get intrigued.

For example, a few weeks ago I was teaching crude oil to a middle ability year 10 GCSE class. This class is your typical mix of students; the late-comers, the no-shows, the too-cool for school etc. They are a very likeable bunch, but I can’t say they’ve been the most exciting class to teach with the nonchalant zombie like demeanor when it comes to anything academic.

They had a good basic understanding of the topic, but when I threw in a little bit extra about Saudi Arabia’s modernization following the discovery of oil a  little over a 100 years ago, they were absolutely hooked and hanging onto every word I said. They were wanting to know more about crude oil and understand why it’s such a rich commodity which then linked back into our discussion about its formation.

I promise, this lesson was a turning point for me, a breakthrough even. I’ve struggled nearly the whole year with trying to get these guys engaged. I’ve trialed group-work, independent learning and research based tasks to name just a few things, but this crude oil lesson almost felt like a bonding session. We are getting along much better and I can hand on heart say that they come into lessons and attempt everything I issue. We still have some punctuality issues, but slow progress still counts.

Summary

The start of your lesson is the first point of contact and sets the tone for your expectations and lesson content. Students need to feel like the person delivering the lesson is a safe space and above all, experienced and professional.

To earn their trust, be warm with your students, acknowledge and appreciate them and their unique eccentricities just as you would with your adult colleagues.

The starter activity should be delivered fast and get them thinking. Retrieval-based starter activities establish a flow between lessons and are great at filling in gaps in learning. Please give my printable starter a go and feel free to comment on how it went for you or if you have any successful starter strategies up your sleeve, please share.

Have a wonderful week ahead and see you next week😊

TeacherMama