Beyond the Lesson Plan: Four Essential Moves That Make Great Teaching Possible

Summary for Educators

Author: Sadie McCleary, Director of Content and Strategy, Teach Like a Champion
Source: Teach Like a Champion — Doug Lemov's Field Notes
Published: November 1, 2026
Original Article: Read the Full Article

THE BIG IDEA

Great Teaching Requires More Than a Great Lesson Plan

Having a well-written lesson plan doesn't guarantee an effective lesson. The difference often lies in what teachers do after the plan is written but before instruction begins.

In her November 2026 article, Sadie McCleary distinguishes between lesson planning and lesson preparation. Lesson planning establishes what students will learn, the activities they will complete, and the sequence of instruction. Lesson preparation focuses on the instructional decisions that make those plans successful.

Drawing on examples from highly effective classrooms, McCleary identifies four preparation practices: developing exemplary responses, anticipating student errors, planning purposeful observation, and designing meaningful participation.

These practices help teachers recognize misconceptions, respond intelligently to student thinking, and make adjustments during instruction.

The central message is powerful: Effective teachers don't simply plan what they will teach. They prepare for how students will think, respond, struggle, and learn.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Plan the Exemplar: Know What Success Looks Like

Before teaching, effective teachers complete the essential questions and assignments themselves, creating models of what excellent student work should demonstrate.

These exemplars identify the specific vocabulary, reasoning, evidence, and explanations students should produce.

For example, in a reading lesson, a teacher might write an ideal response that includes textual evidence and explains why that evidence supports a conclusion.

The instructional advantage: Teachers can distinguish between students who have truly mastered a concept and those whose answers are merely partially correct.

2. Plan for Error: Anticipate Misconceptions

Great teachers don't wait until students make mistakes to decide how to respond.

They anticipate likely misunderstandings and prepare questions that will help students correct their own thinking.

McCleary describes these as Back Pocket Questions (BPQs)—carefully prepared prompts teachers can use when students struggle.

For example, a teacher who anticipates that students might identify textual evidence without explaining its significance could prepare the question:

“How does that sentence help prove your answer?”

The instructional advantage: Teachers respond to errors thoughtfully rather than improvising explanations that may not address the underlying misconception.

3. Plan for Active Observation: Know What to Look For

Circulating around the classroom is valuable only when teachers know what evidence of learning they are seeking.

Effective preparation identifies the particular student behaviors, answers, and misunderstandings teachers will monitor.

During one classroom circulation, a teacher might examine whether students selected appropriate evidence. During another, the focus might shift to whether students can explain their reasoning.

The instructional advantage: Classroom circulation becomes purposeful formative assessment rather than general supervision.

4. Plan the Means of Participation: Engage Every Student

Effective teachers carefully design how students will participate in each instructional activity.

Instead of simply asking a question and accepting responses from volunteers, teachers might sequence participation:

Individual Writing → Turn and Talk → Cold Call → Whole-Class Discussion

This approach allows students to develop their thinking independently, rehearse their ideas with peers, and contribute to a broader discussion.

The instructional advantage: More students engage intellectually, and teachers collect better evidence of what the entire class understands.

5. Prepare Using the Same Materials Students Will Use

McCleary highlights a particularly practical technique called Standardize the Format.

Teachers annotate their own copies of student assignments rather than maintaining separate, complicated preparation documents.

This makes it easier to compare student responses with expected answers and monitor progress during instruction.

The instructional advantage: Preparation becomes immediately useful during teaching rather than another document sitting on a desk.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS

The distinction between planning and preparation has important implications for teacher supervision, instructional coaching, and professional development.

Schools frequently evaluate lesson plans for alignment with standards, learning objectives, instructional activities, and assessments. However, these documents reveal relatively little about how teachers will respond when students misunderstand a concept or how teachers will determine whether learning is occurring.

McCleary's framework suggests that instructional leaders should focus less exclusively on lesson-plan compliance and more on the quality of teachers' instructional decision-making.

Rather than asking, “Did the teacher follow the plan?” principals might ask, “How effectively did preparation help the teacher respond to student learning?”

This shift supports more meaningful professional conversations and better classroom instruction.

LEADERSHIP ACTION STEPS

1. Introduce the Four-Move Framework.
Use a faculty meeting or professional learning community to distinguish lesson planning from lesson preparation. Invite teachers to examine how they currently anticipate student thinking.

2. Make Exemplar Planning a Collaborative Practice.
Have grade-level or departmental teams complete important student assignments together and agree on what constitutes a high-quality response.

3. Develop Banks of Back Pocket Questions.
Encourage teachers to identify common misconceptions and prepare targeted questions that redirect students toward deeper understanding.

4. Strengthen Classroom Observation Practices.
During instructional walkthroughs, examine whether teachers circulate with a clear purpose, gather evidence of learning, and adjust their instruction accordingly.

5. Reduce Unnecessary Planning Paperwork.
Allow teachers to annotate existing curriculum materials rather than requiring lengthy lesson-plan documents that provide limited instructional value.

LEADER REFLECTION

If you examined the lesson plans produced by teachers in your school, how much would those documents reveal about their preparation for student misconceptions, classroom participation, and real-time instructional decisions?

What would change if teacher collaboration and instructional coaching emphasized these four practices instead of simply checking whether required lesson-plan components were completed?

© Michael Keany + AI 2026

Original Article

Source: McCleary, Sadie. “Beyond the Lesson Plan: The Four Moves of Effective Lesson Preparation.” Teach Like a Champion, November 1, 2026.

------------------------------ 

Prepared with the assistance of AI software OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com