Planning for Effective Instruction Course

Improve learning outcomes and maximize instructional time through intentional planning practices.

Effective instruction begins long before a lesson starts and continues long after it ends. The Planning for Effective Instruction self-paced course helps educators strengthen the intentional planning practices that lead to higher student engagement, stronger instructional alignment, and improved learning outcomes.

Through guided reflection and practical application, participants will examine the full instructional planning cycle before, during, and after instruction to better understand how thoughtful planning influences classroom success. Educators will analyze a previously taught lesson, identify strengths and gaps in their current planning practices, and develop strategies to improve future instruction.

Grounded in research-based instructional practices and reflective teaching strategies, this course explores how effective planning supports instructional coherence, student responsiveness, classroom management, assessment alignment, and continuous professional growth. Participants will also examine how artificial intelligence (AI) tools can responsibly support lesson planning while maintaining educator expertise and professional judgment.

Participants Will Explore:

• The instructional planning cycle before, during, and after instruction.
• How learning goals & objectives, assessments, learning experiences, student needs, and learning environments work together to create coherent instruction.
  
• Strategies for monitoring student learning and adjusting instruction in real time.
• Reflection and analysis techniques to strengthen future lesson delivery.
• Common instructional planning pitfalls and how to avoid them.
• The role of AI tools in supporting efficient and effective lesson planning.

Learning Outcomes:

• Discover the ongoing, reflective elements of the instructional planning process.
• Discover how to design, deliver, assess, and refine instructional delivery. 

Learning Intentions:

• Review a previously taught lesson.
• Determine which elements of the planning process are already in place.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen the planning process for future lessons. 

Format:

• Self-paced eLearning course with interactive knowledge checks and real-world scenarios.
• The estimated time to take the course is 60 minutes 
• Participants will receive editable, ready-to-use planning tools and practical resources designed to immediately support and strengthen their instructional planning process, including the Instructional Planning Reflection & Planning Template, the Before, During, and After Instructional Planning Elements, the Instructional Planning Look Fors & Red Flags resource, and a complimentary copy of the CESA 6 AI Prompt Essentials Playbook.
• A completion certificate is available after completing the course.